Consciousness was creeping in. The void had been replaced by the starry night sky above as vision slowly returned. A stunning sight in its own right, but it could hardly compare to those shining crystal blue eyes. Those eyes made the gnawing hunger seem so distant.

  He had felt so powerful, but her arms brought him back to earth. Her embrace made him feel so small, yet he couldn't find it in himself to break free. As she stroked his hair, he could feel himself go limp in her arms.

  It made him question if he could stop at all. To be without her, could there be a worse fate? Life was torture without her love there to feed his darkness. He hungered only for more.

  There seemed to be a deep sadness inside her when she gazed at the stars. What was the point of the joy she brought him if they couldn't share it always? He wanted to wipe all that sadness in her eyes away and reduce it down to nothing. But how would he even begin to do so when he didn't even know what had caused it?

  He pretended he was looking at the sky, but all he could focus on was her form within the periphery of his vision. Could all those countless stars ever truly compare when all he desired was an eternity by her side?

  They were the only sign of life on the premises. The mansion stood there, dark and empty. It cast a long shadow over them that spoke of a sad and distant past. Had she been all alone during all this time?

  "You sleep like the dead," she whispered to him.

  "I never dream," he stated matter of factly.

  "But would you dream of me?"

  He hesitated for a moment. To see her in his sleep would mean more moments by her side. She would be his everything, that much he had promised. The fact he couldn't see her in his dreams made something inside of him ache.

  "It would be a wish come true to be able to see you in my dreams."

  Something in her seemed distant. She appeared to be deep in thought before she opened her mouth to speak once more.

  "It'd be best if you made your way home."

  It was very late in the night. The trains went all night, but he would surely arouse some suspicion from his parents if they didn't see a sign of him in the morning.

  With some hesitation he separated himself from her embrace and stood up. The heart screamed for him to stay, but his mind knew it was time. Only the fact his heart would point towards her always gave him the strength to start moving.

  "We'll see each other again very soon," she said to him as he left.

  The empty streets felt so cold and hostile. The darkness no longer showed any kindness. The world itself seemed malicious that night. The day had always been the enemy, and now night was a friend no longer.

  As he boarded the train and sank into the nearest seat it became all too real. Every moment away from Jane reminded him of the emptiness he once thought he had accepted. Having seen new light had made the old darkness too painful to bear.

  The last few steps before he reached the door of his home made him feel as heavy as lead. He yanked the door open and stumbled over to the living room couch. Sleep took him the very moment he collapsed atop the cushions.

  In the darkness he saw her. She illuminated that abyss with her brilliant radiance. He rushed towards her and threw himself into her arms. That familiar warmth washed away all thoughts. Time had no meaning. Face to face with what was finally a not so empty dream.

  Discomfort. Something light was hitting the back of his head. Something small poked his chin. A high pitched noise was echoing within the darkness.

  "Al, wake up already!"

  His blurry vision slowly cleared as his mind slowly shook off the last of the cobwebs. Long raven black hair, a sharp aquiline nose, and eyes so dark they almost looked like lumps of coal.

  "Fuck off, Jennifer, I'm sleeping..."

  Couldn't she just let him sleep for a few more minutes? What could be so important she had to disturb him? His little sister would either have to try a lot harder or learn that he couldn't give less of a shit when it came to what she wanted from him.

  "You're lucky I'm not gonna wake up mom and dad, they would be furious if they found out you were out drinking all night."

  "I wasn't out drinking, I'm not that stupid," he muttered.

  "Fine! I really need to talk to you..."

  There was hesitation in her voice. If left alone, she would surely do something stupid. All her problems eventually spiraled into eventually becoming completely unbearable when he didn't step up to deal with them.

  He sat up with his hand over his eyes to block out the morning sun. His other hand slowly reached for the packet of cigarettes in his breast pocket as he stepped out the front door with his little sister hot on his heels.

  They seated themselves on the steps outside the door. He reached for the lighter with a loud sigh. As that was happening she snuck one of the cigarettes in his pack to her lips as he lit his own.

  "I'm not gonna light it for you, Jennifer, I'm throwing it in the trash the moment we're done here."

  He inhaled deeply and felt the smoke filling his lungs. The nicotine made him feel like he was soaring for one short moment before reality flooded back all at once.

  "Annie's hospitalized again, Teddy is off his meds again, Lee is going on a fucking frenzy screaming for justice, and Andy is barely holding it all together!"

  Jennifer was visibly shaking. The situation was clearly taking a significant toll on her. She was the spoiled younger sibling and handled stress about as well as a piece of fine porcelain.

  "Leave it to the adults to deal with, you're just kids."

  It had probably been Annie's uncle that put her in the hospital this time. That slimy piece of shit was a fat bundle of uncontrolled aggression and hate. The fucker had always made his skin crawl whenever he saw him. Just thinking about him awakened a darkness that had dwelled inside him for far longer than his emptiness.

  "I j-just don't know what to d-do," Jennifer said on the verge of tears.

  "It was her uncle right?"

  Jennifer's tears fell to the ground like like tiny droplets of rain. Her small hands barely covered her reddened eyes.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  "You fought in all those competitions back then, so can't you just do something?!"

  "It was point score and I got banned for life after what happened, which ended up burning me."

  He rubbed the scars on his arm as the memory of the pain flooded his mind. It had been a massive slip up on his part and he had paid the price for what happened in more ways than one.

  He had only just started getting some of it back, but could he give it all up over this? He now had power far beyond what Jennifer could imagine, or anyone else for that matter. Would it mean breaking his promise to Jane if he used his powers for his sister's sake? There was strange excitement building within him, and he knew it was the old darkness returning to the forefront of his mind

  "Stop crying, you're far too old for it seeing as you're starting high school next year," he said as he pulled the unlit cigarette from her lip.

  "So are you gonna help then?" she asked as he stood up and began walking towards the train station.

  "It's not my problem and it never was."

  It really wasn't. Helping her wasn't on the agenda whatsoever. But feeding that piece of shit that put Annie in the hospital to the nothingness would surely sate the darkness inside somewhat. Not to mention the fact it would show him what the nihilation was truly capable of. Helping Jennifer wasn't even an afterthought for someone like himself.

  "We're being impatient," the shadow whispered to him from a pool of muddy water on the side of the street.

  He could feel the growing smirk on his lips. It wasn't impatience, just an accelerated training schedule if anything. Testing new techniques always worked best when the opponent displayed proper resistance.

  "We're just gonna see what we can achieve with our new power."

  The shadow spoke once more, but this time from the reflection of the sliding doors of the station house, "He would've been just as helpless before we gained it."

  "We both know you're not really complaining."

  "We're not," it whispered from the reflection in the polished floor.

  The train ride to the city was nothing special. It passed him by in complete silence. The sounds of the other passengers were muted by the memories playing in his head.

  The last match of the youth championship had been the greatest mistake. That excitement had suppressed all reason up until that point when the world turned red. And the embers that had burned their mark into his arm had been the beginning of the emptiness. It was the sign that joy was something he never truly deserved, but now Jane had pulled him from that pit and the world was his for the taking.

  "Oh so you're dating again?"

  The words shook the memories away. He quickly tuned into the conversation between the two women next to him. Something about them had made his mind hyper aware of their conversation, but he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

  "Yeah, but he's the typical ordinaire fling so I'll probably drop him within the month."

  That word stuck out like like a sore thumb. But it hadn't actually been the word that had made him take notice. He felt something indescribable coming from them. For some reason being in their presence felt like someone was pressing a sheet of plastic foil against the parts of his body facing their direction.

  Power surged from his heart to the tips of his fingers like a weapon at the ready, just waiting to be fired. They went dead silent in an instant and turned to face him with eyes wide open.

  "Sorry are we bothering you?" one of them asked him somewhat shakily.

  He pushed the sensation back into his chest as best he could. That strange feeling they had evoked in him had made him far too jumpy.

  "Sorry I'm just a bit on edge right now," he mumbled.

  As he exited the train he overheard one of the women whispering, "You think he's one of them?"

  What had she meant by that? They had somehow sensed his power surging inside him, and it seemed to scare them. Was he really that imposing in their eyes?

  The hours slipped by in the blink of an eye. When bell rang signaling the start of the lunch break all the students filed out into the yard like a massive swarm. The rooftop was bathed in the light of the midday sun, and the railings showed no sign of having been destroyed the day before.

  "Come on and eat already, I made it for you with love."

  Jane had handed him the largest sandwich he had ever seen. So big you'd have to unhinge your jaw just to take a bite. It tasted alright, but eating it was a long and arduous process.

  "You haven't been eating well and I can't let you weaken yourself with that bad habit of yours."

  He usually ate quite a regularly. The last two days had simply broken his streak of caloric and nutritional completeness. He had never particularly enjoyed eating, but from a functional perspective it had been no more than a minor inconvenience to just scarf down some food to maintain his body.

  Jane ate quietly and only occasionally looked up from her food to throw him a warm smile. Her presence warmed him like a roaring fire. The urge was growing inside him, but could he afford the tell her what he was about to do?

  "I can feel your heart wavering, Al, now go ahead and tell me what's wrong."

  She had read him once more. It was as if she could sense whenever there was turmoil growing within him. The strength of their bond really showed in moments like that.

  "My sister has a problem, and it'll get on my nerves if I don't make it disappear."

  Jane reached out and squeezed his hand gently. Her touch made it feel like he'd been struck by lightning. His heart beat with excitement as she raised her voice.

  "It's your power and it needs to grow, as far as I'm concerned you're just swatting two flies all at once."

  Support. The nothingness would receive its sacrifice in blood. The void would no longer hunger, letting him feed upon her plentiful love in peace. A change for the better.

  "I know where we'll find the problem, and getting there will be no concern," he said to her as she began to lean in closer.

  "Then we'll move once school ends so you can squash that bug."

  How could she be so endearing even when she said the most menacing things? It made his heart race to see that darker side of hers. That darkness lurking within her that only he was allowed to bear witness to.

  The hours passed quickly and the excitement only continued to build. They arrived at the concrete box of an apartment building under the cover of night. Jane's presence made his building anxiety stop in its tracks as they stepped into the stairwell.

  They approached the door of the Witts residence in silence. Jane nodded to him encouragingly. He raised his hand towards the lock and spoke the word quietly.

  "Nihilate."

  The locking cylinder blew out with a quiet pop and a low thunk echoed out as it landed somewhere inside the apartment. The door swung open and they stepped inside the darkened apartment.

  "He'll probably be back within the hour," he whispered to Jane.

  "No need to worry about the noise, Al, no one outside the apartment will be able to hear a thing."

  Al seated himself by the living room window and basked in the dim moonlight shining in. After what could've only been half an hour he heard the footsteps echoing from the stairwell and he felt the power surging within him.

  The man pushed the door open and slammed it behind him as he stumbled into the apartment. Without its lock the door just rocked back and forth idly.

  "Nihilate."

  With a loud bang, blood spewed forth from the man's leg as the kneecap was reduced to naught but ruined flesh and bone. He fell to the ground screaming in agony while clutching his now useless leg.

  "Oh that felt real fucking good!" Al exclaimed as he got up from his seat and walked over to the man rolling in pain on the floor.

  The suffering fed the emptiness inside. The prospect of reducing his soon to be victim to nothing filled him with an unspeakable sense of euphoria. He laughed almost uncontrollably as the excitement overwhelmed him all at once.

  "Like god damn that knee just went in an instant!" he practically screamed out in excitement.

  Al could feel Jane put her arms around his midsection as she leaned her head against his back. He raised his finger and pointed towards the man's arm next and let the power do all the work.

  "Nihilate!"

  There had been far more power in that one. The arm exploded like a blood filled balloon and launched bone fragments that buried themselves in the furniture surrounding them.

  "Nihilate!"

  The other leg went like the arm and ended up as nothing more than a slimy bloodstain on the carpet. There was no more screaming, just barely conscious gurgling.

  "Ha just look at that he's like a legless fucking chicken!" Al screamed through his barely suppressed laughter.

  The magic kept flying until the body was reduced to nothing more than a useless heap of flesh and a big stain on the floor. The stinging sensation in Al's fingers felt so minor this time. Was he growing quickly or was the pleasure just far stronger than the pain?

  "Did you fucking see that, Jane? Amazing right!"

  She moved to face him and looked up to meet his eyes. He saw that unmistakable Jane smile on her pale lips. He pulled her closer just so he could feel her slow and steady heartbeat against his body.

  "It was just perfect, Al," she purred.

  "He just fucking exploded like that shitstain of a cat!"

  "I promised you endless joy didn't I?"

  Was this what he had been denying himself all that time? The intoxicating feeling of seeing others helpless before him. How had he lived without it for so long? Would he have continued existing like that had Jane never found him? Slowly letting the void devour everything within until nothing remained.

  He pressed his lips against hers and kissed her under the moonlight. The darkness that predated the emptiness had returned in full force. He was truly alive, and it felt oh so good.