Incubus

Chapter 2

Knowing your own darkness is the best method for

dealing with the darkness of other people 

~Carl Jung

He shrank against the building behind him, cold brick and stone pressing into his skin as he waited with baited breath. He flung his gaze upwards and looked at the colored clouds as they seemed to kiss the descending sun. The sun had started to set. It was almost time. He had to get there before it became too dark.

He flipped the hood to his jacket over his hair and kept his head lowered as he made his way down the street. People pushed past him as he continued his steady pace down the streets of Queens. He knew he had to bide his time, for if he didn't, he might draw unneeded attention to himself; something he would not so freely do.

He knew where it was he needed to be, and he knew how to get there. He just had to play his cards right. Nobody could know where it was he was heading off. But more importantly, she couldn't find out either. He had to ensure that she would never know what it was he was up to, and that she would never see him skulking about while it was dark out.

He moved the hair out of his eyes and looked up at the sky. Time was passing very quickly, and he knew he had started to run out of time. He had to hurry if he wanted to find the building in time. Where was it again? 

His eyes roamed the buildings that stretched down the long street. Cars littered the road here and there as it the sun continued to set, and time passed. People on their cell phones became less and less as the street lamps overhead flickered to life, one at a time. The moon swung out from behind the taller buildings in the distance and sent the sun around to the other side of the world for the time being. His eyes wandered up, first to stare at the moon as it began to regain more and more of its phosphorescence, and then up at the apartment buildings. He glanced down at the watch around his wrist and smiled. He was on time. And he had found the correct place. He slowly shrank into the dark recesses of an alley where the streetlamp lights didn't reach and waited. The moon hung above his head, now surrounded by stars. He waited, and he watched.

Time went by, and he wasn't sure what would happen. He only knew that he had reason to be where he was. But was skulking in a darkened alley the answer? Perhaps it wasn't. He stood up slowly, grimacing at the creaking bones in his legs as they cracked back into place. He tentatively took a step out into the deserted streets and saw his foot as it entered the pool of light from the streetlamp. His eyes flickered upward, just in time to catch the lights as they came to life in the building. He jumped back into the darkened alley and saw the curtains slightly move. A face peeked out from the other side, searching for something. His eyes narrowed as he beheld the face. It wasn't for whom he'd been waiting. But she seemed vaguely familiar. His head cocked to the side as he tried to place her face when the curtains suddenly jerked back into place. Dread almost rushed through him, as he remembered to remain calm and collected. Had she seen him? Was it possible?

He sank against the wall of the building behind his back and rubbed his head. He knew that face from somewhere. Granted, he hadn't seen the entirety of her face, but something about the shadowed one he had just spied seemed too familiar. He only had to dig into the remnants of his mind and retrieve the memories that he had tried so hard to extinguish. Perhaps her face lurked somewhere within the hell that was his past.

---

The shrill ring of the alarm clock marked the start of my day. I groggily slammed my hand down on the snooze button and rubbed the sand out of my eyes. As I entered the kitchen, I quickly made myself breakfast and reached for my cell phone on the counter. Its screen lit up and indicated I had received one call from Emmalyn, which I had chosen to ignore due to my hazy and foggy mind.