A/N: The line "this is the way the world ends" is from "The Hollow Men" by T.S. Eliot, the latter of which is highly recommended.
-------Malik shivered in his thick woolen sweater, staring out the window of the hotel room to the street below. The lamp on the small end-table cast a feeble glow, a mirror of the parody that was noon outside.
It was unseasonably cold, as it had been for the past several months. Already the temperature in Tokyo had broken all previous records held for the month of June; it had broken record low temperatures for other months as well. The cause of this was being debated by the top scientists of every nation, although all were in agreement that the inexplicable progressive dimming of the sun played a major role.
There had been panic and a major outcry at the onset of that particular event, as people collectively took notice of other events that had been occurring all around them. The days seemed shorter, and the night lingered. Plants and animals alike grew at a slower rate. Hydroelectric dams produced less power; fuels- whether they were coal, oil, or wood- burned slower and less-efficiently. All over the world, people stockpiled supplies and rioted in the streets and screamed about the end of the world. Slowly, however, the hysteria waned. Now, it didn't seem to matter. The pace of life was...slower, somehow.
It had taken all his willpower simply to move from the bed to the window. His own thoughts seemed sluggish, disjointed; as they had been for the past couple of weeks.
"Let me tell you a secret."
An unwelcome intrusion, from the Voice that had tormented him since he was ten years old; the Voice that was as cruel and mocking as ever, seemingly unaffected by the strange lethargy that sapped the strength from his body and mind.
"The world is running down, weak one. It takes energy to keep the darkness at bay, while the darkness requires none; it simply is."
The shadows along the door frame lengthened, though the lamp on the small end-table had not moved. Malik watched this through glazed eyes, with the same numb detachment as before. He voiced no protest as his muscles lost the battle to keep his body upright, and he sank slowly to his knees.
"Foolish other, don't you see?" The Voice, for once, was eerily calm. "This is why I will always win."
-this is the way the world ends-
Outside the window, it began to snow.