Nothingness surrounded me.
It was not merely darkness but an abyss, a void that stretched into the infinite. The kind of emptiness that made you question whether you ever existed at all. Yet, despite the overwhelming black, I could see myself—alone, adrift in this space of nothing.
"Chris, Japheth, Joshua!" I called out, my voice swallowed by the void.
No reply came. Not even an echo.
"Am I in that place again?"
A low chuckle slithered through the air like a whispering snake. "Here is a place only meant for us." Malvick's voice resonated from everywhere and nowhere all at once. "Here is a domain for only users of the night."
A pair of gleaming yellow eyes peered at me from above, descending ever so slowly. As they approached, they took form, revealing a dark silhouette that stood as tall as I did. My breath hitched.
It was me.
"Surprised, boy?" Malvick spoke through my own reflection.
"What the hell?!" My voice cracked as I recoiled. "Stop using my face for your games!"
"It's not a game, Darren." The grin that stretched across my mirrored face was unnatural, inhuman.
A shiver raced down my spine. The sight of my own face twisted into something so monstrous made my stomach churn. I gritted my teeth, trying to push away the unease, focusing instead on the most pressing question.
"Why am I here?" I asked, forcing strength into my voice.
Malvick chuckled darkly. "Why indeed?" His form flickered, vanishing into the void beneath me like smoke. His voice slithered around me. "You felt it, didn't you? When I took control, when the power surged through your veins… the taste of absolute power—it was intoxicating, wasn't it?"
"You made me kill him," I whispered, the weight of those words pressing on my chest like a stone.
"And he would have killed you." Malvick's voice was eerily calm. "But he isn't dead, Darren. Not truly. Donavan has given him a body again, just as he can do for all who swear loyalty to him. A never-ending cycle of death and rebirth… an endless war until there is nothing left. Donavan's furies will never stop hunting you. That is why I gave you a helping hand."
From the nothingness, a figure emerged—one I recognized all too well.
Christopher.
His mouth was sewn shut, yet his lips stretched into a grotesque smile. Muffled screams tore from him as his body trembled under unseen forces. Malvick appeared beside him, placing a hand on Christopher's back. Christopher's body stiffened, his eyes rolling back as if caught in an unbearable euphoria.
"Stop!" I covered my ears, turning away. "What are you doing?!"
"Draining him," Malvick said, his grin widening. "Draining him of his essence. Soon, he will be nothing. No heaven, no hell. Just… gone. Forgotten."
The stitches over Christopher's mouth tore open violently. His laughter, distorted and manic, filled the void before fading into silence.
Malvick stepped closer, his voice turning into a whisper that slithered into my mind. "We are already connected, Darren. My power is greater than any god who controls life and death. You may think you're in control, but my darkness is like a disease, eating away at you. One day, I will take over completely."
I opened my mouth to scream—but the world shattered around me.
---
I bolted upright, drenched in sweat, my body screaming in pain from the sudden movement. My breaths came in ragged gasps, and the pounding in my head was unbearable.
My bedroom door creaked open.
Samantha entered, scanning the room before her hazel eyes settled on me. "You look like hell."
"You came to gloat?" I tried to joke, but my voice was weak, the pain still gnawing at my body.
She rolled her eyes. "I'm here to heal you, idiot. Now turn over."
Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to move. A soothing warmth spread across my back as her hands, glowing with a faint blue light, worked their magic. The pain dulled, my body relaxing under her touch.
"You should be alright now." Samantha took a step back. Her legs wobbled, and before I could react, she collapsed onto me.
"What the hell?!" I winced at the renewed pain. But when I turned, I saw she was fast asleep.
Cleondra entered, sighing. "I told her healing all of you would drain her. But she insisted she could handle it."
I gently laid Samantha onto my bed. "That's… a useful power."
"Curanderismo," Cleondra explained. "In Mr. Hernandez's country, only women can learn the ways of the Bruja—healers or magic users. Samantha is still a novice, but she's talented."
I exhaled heavily. "So what now?"
Cleondra smiled. "You're on break. Samuel's orders. Rest up. The next mission is coming."
---
Days later, I stood before my childhood home, watching its warm glow against the evening sky. I knocked three times.
The door flung open, and in a blur of motion, Amber and my mother crashed into me, squeezing me tight despite my barely healed wounds.
"Where have you been?!" they cried in unison.
I hesitated, remembering Cleondra's warning: "We work in secret."
"It's my new job," I said with a strained smile. "It's like a school, but I get paid."
Mom's narrowed eyes told me she wasn't convinced. "If you say so."
Amber lingered, her eyes filled with something deeper. "Let's go for a walk."
As the sun dipped below the horizon, we sat in the park, ice cream in hand. My vanilla cone dripped onto my shorts, but my mind was elsewhere.
"You're quiet," Amber said, breaking the silence.
I forced a smile. "Just thinking."
"About what?" She studied her ice cream. "You left without a word… after what happened. And I saw, Darren. I saw what you did. You and your friends… you're different now."
The weight of her words crushed me. I wanted to tell her everything. But I couldn't.
Instead, I leaned in, and she did too. Our lips within a hair's length of each other.
"Sir Darren?" Came a voice from our left side.
A young man dressed in the Arawak's attire eyed me for a bit and finally concluded that I was who he called out for.
"It is you!" A smile came across his brown face. "I must thank you for your help, it's thanks to you that our tribe and my father survived." He knocked his chest three times.
"Uhhh... Who are you." I gave a friendly smile and felt embarrassed to ask for this person name as they knew me, but not the other way around.
"My manners." He gasped. "I am the son of Ren Ol. The future cheif of our people, Mike Ol."
"Nice to meet you." I got up to receive a form handshake. He gave the same gesture to Amber.
"I thought the Arawaks barely leave their home." Amber wondered.
"Yes." Mike Ol agreed. "Only the chief has the right to leave, and because I am next in line I'm on a pilgrimage of sorts."
"I understand." I smiled. My thoughts came across the way his father fought against Christopher earlier. "Mike Ol I..." My eyes turned to Amber. "Is it alright for me to speak with you later?"
After taking Amber home, Mike Ol and I walked the quiet streets of New Port. A setting sun hung low on the horizon sending shades of orange into the sky above.
"The way your father fought..." I began. "I want to learn how he did it."
"Sin Jayeon?" Mike Ol rubbed his chin. "That kind of of battle style isn't something that can be easily reached to others. Especially outsiders."
"I... I really have to learn that skill." I pressed into the matter. "There are others like Christopher and I have a power to stop them but it'll take over my body if I abuse it. I want to use that power as little as possible."
Mike Ol went quiet for a moment.
"You've saved our people, so I think father would teach you."
"Thank you, Mike Ol." I felt a smile come to my face.
"To use Sin Jayeon you would need to leave the comfort of the city life for a while." Mike Ol began his explanation. "Sin Jayeon requires an individual to be one with nature, and to reach such a point you must void your mind and heart of earthly desires."
"How long do you think it would take for me?"
"Half a year at most." He evaluated. "So if your serious I suggest you get your affairs in order."
I called Samuel after speaking with Mike Ol to ask for the time off.
"You feel that this is the only way?" Was the question that came through my phone's receiver.
"Yes." I answered. "If Malvick takes over, I don't know the damages he'll do. So I will only use the darkness as a last resort."
Silence was heavy for a moment, until sound's lightness came into our conversation once again.
"If that is your judgement I'll trust it." Samuel sighed.
I gave Mike Ol the green light and I began my training with Sin Jayeon immediately.