The Price For Immortality

Darkness and Light

Fall... fall into me...

Zac tosses and turns, every bit of comfort he feels from laying under a warm blanket on a soft mattress is gone. He opens his eyes and blinks a few times, unable to see anything but blackness.

Don't you want power? Don't you want to show Lui that you're not weak?

He rolls over, looking for the other bed. Where has his team gone? He reaches his hand out into the dark. Mick had called the spot next to him. Right now, Zac doesn't feel anyone beside him. Where did Mick go?He can't see anything through the darkness. The darkness that surround him and threatens to consume him. The darkness that's wanted him ever since he was born.

If you want to protect them, Zac, you need power...

An image of the Superstars flashes in Zac's mind. Freddy, Bowie, and Mick. Those three are his family. Of course he wants to protect them. If he loses them, he loses everything. He could already feel himself slipping. Reality is becoming less and less real.

I'm your source of power. Without me, you're nothing. You're pathetic, like Lui says. But if you and I join forces again... you'll be unstoppable.

Zac feels the coldness in the air. He wants warmth, he wants light. He sits up, feeling everywhere for anyone or anything. A chill runs down his back. There's nothing. He's lost in the abyss. He's lost inside the black with no way out. There's no stars above him. There's no one next to him. He's alone in the cold, shivering and fearing what's out there.

Or, rather, fearing what's right beside him, close enough to be part of him. He stands up, and starts running.

Where are you going? You can't escape me. I'm all around you. Lights cast shadows, Zac. We can't live without each other. The day and the night.

Zac trips over something. He looks over his shoulder to see what made him fall. His breathing deepens and his heart rate speeds up with it. Lui is on the ground, laying sprawled out like a limp ragdoll. Zac crawls over to him, unable to make his legs work enough to stand upright. 

"Lui, Lui!" He cries out, shaking the limp form of his archenemy.

Why do you care about him? He hurt you, didn't he? He's dead, Zac. And it could be a reality if you listened to me.

Zac runs his fingers through Lui's hair and feels his pulse. There's nothing. Lui is dead, like the voice said. And he could be dead in real life, if Zac would agree to whatever the voice wanted in return.

"What do you want from me?!" Zac demands.

What do I want from you? I want you to say yes. Give in to me, and I'll make all of your desires come to life.

Zac stands up and starts to run again. There seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel. He's running through nothing straight into nothing. It's all black, everywhere around him. He doesn't know which way is forward or backward, left or right, even up or down. He can't see the floor, the ceiling, anything. It's all darkness, like he's lost in outer space. 

No, it can't be outer space. Even outer space has stars and planets to light the way. There isn't so much as a speck of light anywhere that Zac can see.

"Why do you want me?" Zac asks.

You call yourself the sun when you were born and raised in the darkness. I'm what you should be, Zac. I'm what you were always meant to be.

Zac runs into someone, and gets knocked backwards. He nearly falls over, but he manages to keep himself standing this time. He looks forward at them. It's him, only, in his true form. He sees levitating black hair, floating all around its head like a bunch of snakes. He sees pure black eyes, eyes like that of a deer, or a monster. He sees no emotion on its pale face, a blank, unfeeling stare. It looks like something right out of a nightmare.