Interlude Two:

Inside the mind of Kindness/switching pov again

I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark...

...And all the things in it. There's something, I know. I can feel it. The cold chill is creeping slowly toward me, around me. It's like some slimy rodent, slowly working its way nearer to the source of its new host. Actually, I guess that that makes it a parasite. Like some flea under the carefully guarded gaze of the dog. It's weary, uncertain. As if it knows that I know it's there.

I hate the dark, the damp, damp dark. I hate the dark. And the blackness that surrounds me. It's familiar. I've been here before, felt this controlling chill, listened to the echo of silence as it moves without a sound. It's everywhere, this black cloud of cold, slowly circling, coming closer, drawing back. It's waiting for something. I think it's waiting for me.

I'm not talking to it; I refuse to respond to the cool touches that lance at my arm. I don't retreat into myself, but stand straight in the dark. It won't intimidate me, won't control me. If it wants me for something, it's going to have to fight me every step of the way. I will not give in without a struggle. If it was looking for an easy prey, it has come to the wrong place.

In this place where I am, it's cold. Like standing in the doorway on a winter morning, wearing no more than your pajamas. Or standing near the bottom of a waterfall, where the air is chilled. I can't feel my fingers, though I'm gripping my hands tightly together. My hair is damp, as if I've sweated a lot, or it's partially dry from a shower. It adds to the cold, making me uncomfortable.

I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark, I hate the dark...

I want to go home. I'll face up to all of my fears, tell Davis to just ask Takaishi out. Tell Matt how I really feel. I'll own up to all the things I keep hidden, all the things I've pushed away in denial. I'm ready to take the risks, if I can just find a way out.

They'll come for me eventually. My friends will come for me. They would never abandon me, leave without me. They'll come, and I won't be alone in the dark.

Because I hate the dark.