The Darkess Within

Chapter 1 It is dark.  I can hear the muffled sound of cars passing by, but it is distant and distorted. The sound grows louder and then recedes like waves. It feels like I'm underwater... am I?  My mouth tastes like blood, so I am bleeding too. As I look in front of me, my vision is blurred and fragmented. I can say my eyes are swollen, but I can't remember why. I can say I am shivering, but somehow I know that it is not cold outside. I feel nothing, there is no pain now, but there isn't anything else either. A light comes rushing in my direction, what is it? but before hitting me it moves away with a deafening sound. I try to cover my ears from it but feel a stab of pain in my ribs that makes me keep them down. As the pain dissipates, I look up and see a car rushing away still buzzing its horn at me.  -       Bellebelle? - a trembling voice comes from behind me. I know it. I Look to see him, Henry, his face is wet with tears, his eyes are wide as he looks at me. Scared. he is terrified. As I gaze at him, everything comes back to me as a wave, but unlikely the cars, this one come ripping through me, washing me over, the memories of that night.   I can feel it all over again, the pain, the fear, and the rage. Henry is on de sidewalk but as I reach for him, a cloud of smoke appears in the middle of us. I try to go to where he was, but the smoke hardens, like a wall keeping me from moving. -       Bellebelle? - Henry calls me from inside the hurdle.  It is teasing me, I know it. I need to get him back, but no matter how hard I try to move, it keeps me stuck in the ground.   -       Bellebelle? - His voice is becoming more muffled and the thought of Henry underwater sets every muscle on my body to fight. -       Bellebelle?  I try to yell for him and the smoke enters my mouth burning my throat. I can't make a sound, around me the silence is only broken by henry's voice, farther away every second.  -       Bellebelle? I wish someone would scream anything, just say something to break this. I remember now, it is the silence of a funeral, the lack of life is quiet. And then there was the other voice. -       Come here, boy. Those three words sent a shiver down my spine that paralyzes me. Henry is with him inside the darkness.  No, no, no, no, no, no. I start to fight, punching everything in my way, struggling aimlessly trying to move. I can't breathe, the pitch-black smoke in front of me looks endless, worse, it feels endless.  It is useless, I will never find him. And that realization is what jolts me awake