I'm taking a break today.

I'm also taking her out to lunch later.

Crap.

...

Type: Psychic/Bug

Chapter Eleven

You are lost, aren't you?
I have been watching you for a while.
Follow me.

. . .

Night. Day four. Lane had a soccer game today. They didn't go, of course. Lane certainly wasn't playing, and by the time Eldritch and Aly realized what time it was, the game was already over. Eldritch sometimes helped coach. Aly sometimes baked cookies for the team. Not today. Everything ordinary, everything normal, was put on pause until this abnormality–to put it lightly and in one, neat word–was settled and solved.

All Eldritch knew now, besides his unshaven beard and bloodshot eyes, was the hospital. Once you enter through those sliding glass doors, you're greeted with the information desk where a couple of nurses or receptionists or nurse receptionists were working. Then there were multiple hallways. One hallway led to patient rooms. The other led to the E.R. Another to surgical wards. One was pediatrics. So many facets of life were contained in the hospital's hallowed halls. Life, death ... and the things in between.

Eldritch knew the cafeteria well (God, he must have gained some weight digesting all the crap he couldn't help shove down his throat) snug between the information desk and one of the gift shops that sold stuffed animals. It wasn't that he was hungry all the time, but it was somewhere to go that wasn't Lane's room but was still nearby. For a few minutes every few hours, Eldritch wasn't that troubled father worried for his son but ... nothing. He was nothing except a man staring at a jiggly cup of orange Jello.

Alyson had joined him tonight. She rarely did; she was often in the hallway on her cellphone, talking to relatives, friends, other doctors–anyone, really–and if she wasn't there, she was guaranteed to be in Lane's room, sitting. Waiting. Hoping. But she joined him tonight, a mug of coffee in front of her. It had lost its steam a long time ago. He didn't question it – er, her being here.

"I'm tired," she began as he poked his plastic spoon into his dessert. Alyson rubbed at the corner of her eyes, smudging the tips of her fingers with black eyeliner. "It feels like we've been here for years now. Did you know it's the twenty-first?"

"I know it's Monday. Does that count?"

She gave him a light but awkward laugh, staring down at her coffee cup and rubbing her eyeliner-smudged finger along the white ceramic rim. He stared at the side of the cup. "Canalave General Hospital" was what he read in the dark red print. "You're not in trouble with work for taking so many days off, are you?"

"No. They're pretty understanding about the situation. It is taking away my vacation days but ..." he trailed off. "But even if I did get in trouble, I wouldn't want to leave you and Lane alone to deal with this."

He noticed her staring at him for quite a while, almost alarmed (he thought of stantler), before snapping her head back down, wavy, brown hair falling over her face and hiding her eyes. She tucked the rogue strands behind her ears. He saw tears build up in her eyes, making watery blues more watery.

"What's wrong?" he asked tentatively, reaching across the table to place his calloused hand over Alyson's slimmer, smoother one.

Her hand retreated into the folds of her jacket at his cold touch, wiggling her fingers against her stomach. "Nothing," she replied, sniffling and shaking the tears away. "I'm just on edge over ... you know." She pointed her head up, staring at the dim fluorescent lighting. The cafeteria had closed shop for tonight, though the dining area had remained open. She sighed, switching her attention to the vending machine filled with brightly-colored snacks. "I wish this whole ordeal was over with. I wish someone knew something. Four days. Four days and we have nothing?"

"Lucas says he might be onto something," Eldritch murmured. "He's going to investigate it tomorrow. That's what he told me anyway."

"Our hope resides in another child?" she chided.

"He ain't your typical trainer, Aly. He's sharp. I trust the kid."

"I suppose I have to, too." She sighed again, picking up her spoon and dropping it delicately into her mug, letting it clink. "God, I hate this." She propped her elbows on the table and dropped her head into her hands, digging her fingernails into her scalp. "What did we do wrong? Could we have prevented this from happening to him?"

"These things happen, Aly," Eldritch replied, staring at the top of her fallen head.

"They shouldn't," she grumbled back. "Not to us. Not after all we've been through. Mortgages and shaky work schedules and–"

"You say it like we're the only people in the world with these problems."

"I know we're not. But we finally seem to have come to something that resembles a stable livelihood, and to have this thrown in our face after we settle in is just ... it's just bad luck. All we get is bad luck."

She lifted her head. "And I get it, Eldritch," she interrupted as Eldritch opened his mouth to speak. "I get that ... that this sort of stuff happens to everyone, but I'm always reminded about how unfair it is anyway. I'm not trying to blame anyone for our current predicament, but ... there must have been something we could have or couldn't have done. What if I didn't yell at him that one afternoon? What if I came earlier before he even got close to that inn? Or what if I talked to him about it instead? I knew he was mad at me, but I should have at least tried."

"Aly, come on. Blaming yourself isn't going to get you anywhere."

Alyson dug her fingernails into her palms, imprinting crescent-shaped marks on her skin. "Or ... was it you? Maybe you were too rough with playing with him or something."

"Blaming me won't get you anywhere either," he replied coolly, scooping up a small bit of Jello onto his spoon and slipping it in his mouth.

She ignored him, staring past his head, the low light from the vending machine reflecting in her eyes. "Maybe if you were around more, he wouldn't need to go out and try to find 'adventure.' Or maybe he wouldn't want to be so adventurous if you weren't so adventurous."

"This again?" He suppressed his urge to glare at her, channeling his energy into his grip on the plastic spoon. He heard it start to crack. "You know I have little control on when I'm shipped out and where. And I never know how long I will be out at sea."

"I know that," she snapped. "I can't help how I feel, though."

"That's always your reasoning. 'I get what you're saying but I'm going to be irrational anyway,'" he mocked while his eyes rolled, placing his spoon in his half-eaten cup of Jello. He wrapped his legs around the metal legs of the chair. "Please."

"Please, what?" she asked dryly.

"Please nothing," was his quick retort. He turned his head to the left and stared at the counter where lunch was served, school-style. Slanted glass protected the food from the people – or was it the people from the food? "What do you want me to do about it, Aly? I can't do anything about my schedule. And it hasn't bothered you before, not for a while. Why is it bothering you now?"

"It's not," she lied, drumming her long fingernails on the table. Her left eye twitched a few times.

"Really."

"Really what? I'm fine."

"No you're not."

"I just said I am."

"Well, okay."

She huffed, nose wrinkling. "If I have to tell you what my problem is again, then I'm not sure what the point is in telling you again."

Eldritch gaped for a bit but quickly regained composure. "When did you ever tell me ... anything?"

"All the time! Every time we talk!"

"Now you're just being contradictory. We don't talk about this all the time."

"You know what I mean!"

Eldritch rocked back and forth a few times in his chair out of frustration, hearing the plastic seat from his chair squeak and crack. He rubbed the sleeves of his polyester jacket against his chest. He was putting on a musical, an annoying musical of squeaking and cracking and rubbing and scratching. "Look, we both know you're here for some reason other than lecturing me about work." He stopped moving, the symphony coming to an abrupt end. The silence surrounded them with its tension. He stared her straight in the face. "So why don't you come out and say it?"

She dug her teeth lightly into her bottom lip, red lipstick tinting the tips of her front teeth as her eyes darted left, right, anywhere that avoided the vicinity of his face. He watched her hands as they played with the sleeves of her jacket, the ends of the table, before finally resting around her lukewarm cup of coffee. She let out a small sigh, inhaled sharply, then released slowly. "I'm pregnant."

He just ... stared at her after that. He heard her right, right? This wasn't a dream, a trick of the mind, right? He asked her a dumb question: "With what?"

"With a ... child?" she replied, dumbfound, blinking rapidly a few times.

The onslaught of dumb questions continued: "Is it mine?"

"For the love of Arceus, yes."

He sat back in his chair, bending the back a bit, and crossed his arms, rubbing his fingers against his chin. "Another kid ..." he said softly, slowly. "What does this mean?"

Alyson raised an eyebrow. "That we're going to be parents for the second time? That we're going to have to go through diaper duty again? That we get to wake up at three in the morning after one hour of sleep to tend to a crying baby? What do you mean by, 'What does this mean?'"

"Well, what are we going to do, Aly? We are already cramped in that house as it is. I mean, imagine our apartment a few years ago but two times as worse. We can barely afford our current lifestyle as it is – and you're bothered by me being gone for long periods of time because of work. And then we still have Lane to worry about – granted, he does want to go out on a journey once he earns his license – why am I even thinking about that now when he's still in that coma or sleeping spell or whatever the hell it is?" He exhaled deeply, eyes alarmed.

"Shit," he summed up simply.

Alyson stared down at her coffee, barely making out her reflection in the brown liquid. The conversation sounded oh so familiar. "In normal families, people rejoice about pregnancies," she murmured quietly.

"It's not that, Aly. I mean, I'm hap–" He paused. "Well, I just ... I thought we were ... 'careful' this time. We both knew we couldn't afford another kid, even with my recent promotion."

"It's been eight years, Dan. Things happen."

"It's not like ... we've been ... you know." The poor sailor was fully stammering now, and if Aly looked close enough, she could see the sweat starting to form on his forehead. "We haven't ... yeah lately."

"Well, we did have 'yeah' a month or so ago. It's still early enough for it to be a possibility."

"So ..." Eldritch scrolled his eyes back and forth across the ceiling. He always wondered why most major facilities–schools, hospitals, what have you–always had those tiny holes in their tile ceilings. "You're positive you are?"

"I took a take-home pregnancy test a few days ago, and it tested negative–" She suppressed her snort as she heard Eldritch exhale loudly in relief. "–but I really think I am. Womanly intuition, I don't know. You know my luck with those tests." She sighed this time. "I scheduled an appointment with the OB/GYN tomorrow afternoon. I know you missed a bit with my pregnancy with Lane, but since you are around now, I thought you might like to find out with me."

Eldritch stared at her so she continued. "I know it's bad to think of Lane's ... 'illness' like this, but I think it's a blessing as well as a curse. Of course I want him to get out of it as soon as possible, but at the same time, it's been nice to have you around knowing that you'll be here tomorrow. You know?" Alyson released her death grip on her mug and reached out toward Eldritch, placing her hand on the table. "Are you going to say anything?" She waved her hand across Eldritch's face. "Dan?"

He didn't respond and continued to stare. At least he didn't faint this time.

"I ..." Eldritch opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again only to close it slightly, running his tongue against his bottom lip. "I ..." He grunted, shaking his head a few times before gazing into Alyson's distraught face. "Look, I know things will work out, and I will try to be there for you when you need me. I know I'm being a complete pussy–" He ignored Alyson's cringe. "–right now, and I'm sorry for that." Eldritch scooted his chair back, the metal legs scraping against the polished linoleum, and stood up, pressing his hands against the table and leaning his weight into them. "But can you just ... can you just give me a minute to process all this? I need some fresh air."

It was Alyson's turn to say, "I ..." before trailing off. She nodded. "Yeah, of course. I suppose it is getting late. I should go see Lane before heading home. I'll see you there?"

"At home? Yeah."

"Aaand ..." she looked up at him, tucking her hair behind her ear out of nervous habit, "you're coming with me tomorrow?"

He didn't ask why she asked it so breathlessly. "Yeah," he said, trying to hide the unsureness in his voice. "I'll ... see you soon."

"Yeah," she replied softly with another nod. "I'll see ya."

. . .

Do you know what an abyss is, child?
It is bottomless, the gulf of chaos in the ancient cosmos.
It is space; it is nothing but, at the same time, everything.
It is also endless.
Do you understand, child?
This is before your time, of course.
Before the Creation.
Before intellect.
And morality.
Some call it hell.

. . .

"Why are we here tonight?" asked Lucas briskly, pocketing his hands in the folds of his jacket, shifting his head so the brim of his cap wasn't blocking his vision. "I thought we were taking a break from all of this today."

Dawn had to skip a bit to keep up with Lucas's long strides. "Well, yeaaaah," she replied with an eye roll, slipping her hands into the sleeves of her red pea coat to protect her nimble fingers from the nippy cold. The frays of her scarf blew past her shoulders. "But if we plan to get to Crescentmoon–"

"Fullmoon."

"–Fullmoon Island tomorrow night, we have to have some idea about how to get there – ew! I think I just stepped in gum!" She immediately stopped walking and headed over to the railing, wiping the bottom of her boot against it, a disgusted look twisted on her face. Lucas headed over toward her, hands still snug in the pockets of his jacket, and looked up toward the moon, the silver glow casting his skin in a pale, peculiar light. The people of Canalave were quiet tonight, though maybe that was because of the sea. The waves were crashing loudly into the wooden pillars of the docks and sending up a light, salty, ocean spray.

Lucas was glad for the stop as Dawn continued to grumbled about the gummy substance that was half on her shoe, half on the railing. His stomach was still full from lunch earlier. Apparently a restaurant in Sandgem was holding an open buffet, and you can't take buffets for granted. You just can't. It's the law ... at least for a boy. Dawn, watching all twenty pounds of her weight, only ate two plates, one of them being completely desserts. The shame! The shame!

He shook his head and focused his attention on the ships past the railing. They, too, reflected the pale moonlight, reflecting the light back at him. They were bobbing rather wildly, the ropes– evil fiends–that anchored the boats to the docks stressed from all the manic tugging. "I suppose we could charter a boat," he answered. "There were sailors that use to ship trainers back and forth between here and Iron Island."

Dawn gave her boot one final scrap against the railing before dropping her foot. She grabbed the cold railing in her covered hands and pressed her body against it, looking at the bobbing boats. "A boat, huh?" she repeated. "Guess that would be the best way. Was thinking we could use our pokémon or something ..."

"Yeah, let's go swimming in freezing cold water in waves that will surely rip us apart to an island that is an unknown distance away." Lucas grabbed both ends of his scarf and pulled on them, trying to warm up the back of his neck.

"It sounded like a good idea in my head!" she whined.

"Even if it were calmer weather and the water wasn't so icy," he replied dully, "you only have a piplup for a water-type. He wouldn't be able to carry your weight for long."

"Are you calling me fat?"

"No, I'm calling your piplup scrawny." Lucas immediately sidestepped after this comment, missing Dawn's swinging fist with a small smirk. "I have a few water-types that may be able to make the journey, but it's too risky. You know, the whole freezing-your-balls-off thing."

"Lovely imagery," murmured Dawn with a grimace, releasing the railing from her grip to pull down on her hat. She rubbed her legs together, trying to rid them of goosebumps. "Gah. This weather. Why is it so chilly here but not back home?"

Lucas looked the girl up and down. "The ocean," he said. "Plus you're wearing a skirt still. What is the point of bringing a jacket if you refuse to throw on pants?"

"I have fabulous legs that need to be showed off," she answered as if it were obvious. She motioned toward her legs. "Helloooo? Besides, it wasn't that cold earlier."

"Ah." He pursed his lips and nodded a couple of times, eyes rolling to the side. "Right. Anyway, boat it is."

Dawn flipped over and leaned her back against the rail, Lucas following suit. "So how do we get someone to take us there? Do they ship there?"

"I figure not en masse since it's not a popular destination." Lucas sighed, catching sight of a wooden building that was snuggled between the sets of docks that dipped down toward the sea. He slowly walked toward it, stepping into a puddle and kicking water into his shoes. It was hard to ignore the mushy feeling that seeped through his socks and into his toes. He heard Dawn follow him, stepping in the same puddle and kicking droplets toward the back of his jeans much to his dismay. They stopped in front of the booth.

"Hmm," he said, stepping closer and lightly pressing his finger against a board that had an engraved list of names on it. "... Yeah, Fullmoon isn't on here." He looked toward the glass of the booth, noticing the sign placed inside it. Closed.

Dawn spotted the sign as well and scuffed her boot across the concrete. "Now what?"

"I guess we wait until tomorrow and ask around." Lucas ran his tongue across his dry lips and turned around, facing the girl. "I can't believe you talked me into this."

"Hey, we have no other leads except this," she argued, poking him in the chest, which made him step back. "You told me that cresselia is the counterpart of darkrai, and the book says she's protector of those who fall under darkrai's spell, and according to the 'dex, cresselia is rumored to take rest at Fullmoon Island, so if we want to have a fighting chance of curing Lane, we gotta at least investigate it."

"Use more than one sentence to speak," he muttered.

She ignored his snark. "Besides, what can it hurt?"

"Even if cresselia is supposedly there," Lucas brushed past Dawn, and Dawn walked beside him, "what do you except us to do? Talk to her and tell her about Lane's situation?"

"Don't be stupid. This isn't a fairy tale." Dawn sighed, noticing that it was cold enough for her to see the water vapor in her breath. "You're going to catch it!"

Lucas made a weird choking noise before coughing a few times, his eyes starting to water up. "You want me to what?" he asked, bewildered, rubbing at the corners of his eyes.

"Catch it."

"Are you ... Woman, you are insane."

"Are you not pokémon champion, pokémon champion?" She nudged her elbow into his arm, sneering. "Come on, pokémon champion. Be a pokémon champion for once, pokémon champion."

"Stop saying that, and no, I'm not catching it. It's powerful, according to data, and there's only a few of its kind. Either way, I wouldn't feel right about catching something near extinction ... even if I could. You look into your little Fairy Tale Book," he nudged his head in the direction of Dawn's bag that swung from her shoulder, "and see if there's another way to use cresselia without her actually being there. This is your brilliant scheme after all. I'm just being your bitch for now."

Dawn pouted. "Fine. But you find us a way to get to Fullmoon."

"Fair enough."

The two walked down the sidewalk that lead toward the bridge and stopped, listening to the cacophony of screeching wingull and crashing waves. Dawn gripped the strap of her bag and looked in the direction of the library, its four-story height a dark silhouette against the moonlight. A few of the windows were lit gold; people beside her and Lucas stayed in libraries past eight o'clock? Freaky stuff.

The scent of something burning made her nose crinkle, and she turned her head, her hair whipping around her shoulder. It was a man smoking a cigarette while he leaned against the railing, the smoke from the glowing orange tip rising hazily into the night before being swept away with a sharp breeze. The man was fiddling with his lighter, opening and closing its lid with a click. He must have felt Dawn's disdained look on his side as he turned his head, stopping.

"You two are here awfully late," the man said gruffly, shifting the cigarette to the side of his mouth so he could speak. He pocketed his lighter into his jacket. "I thought you were taking a break today."

Dawn looked at Lucas, confused. The streetlights cast the man in awkward shadows; she could make out his shape but couldn't see the details of his face. "Yeah. We got a little worried about how we would continue tomorrow, though," replied Lucas, unfazed by the smell of smoke. "We need to get to Fullmoon, so we were looking around for ways to get there from here."

The man pulled the cigarette out his mouth and threw it on the ground, stomping and grinding it into ash against his heel. "Fullmoon, eh?" The man walked closer, and Dawn recognized him as Eldritch, his dark hair tousled from the wind. Brown eyes directed themselves toward the boats before redirecting themselves at the duo. "Yeah. Not a lot of people go there. Maybe for the occasional wedding. Gorgeous place. Desolate, though. Why do you have to go there?"

"We think darkrai had something to do with what happened," answered Dawn, "and Fullmoon is the host island of cresselia, darkrai's counterpart."

Eldritch rubbed his chin, feeling up his five o'clock shadow. "Ah, right. I heard stories about darkrai. Fearsome beast, ain't he? Induces nightmares or something like that. And cresselia tries to protect those who are inflicted by his attacks. Popular tale at Halloween around these parts. Of course, I thought it was just a story ..." He shrugged, directing his attention toward Lucas. "What about you? How do you feel about this?"

"As skeptical as you, sir," replied Lucas, shifting his weight between his feet, "though I suppose data can support it. Darkrai has been reported to use hypnotic-type moves, though I've never heard it using its attack on people. I figured it was a solitary breed. Can't say I know much about cresselia either. But why not? I'll just blame her if we're wrong." He nudged his head in Dawn's direction.

"Please." She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, do you think we'll be able to find someone to ship us there tomorrow afternoon?"

"Why tomorrow afternoon?"

"I have a battle presentation in Jubilife in the early afternoon," Lucas piped in. "I also figured cresselia would be more active at night. Though maybe it would be better to find her if she were dormant ..." He shook his head. "Either way, doesn't matter as I won't be able to get out until at least three or four." His brow furrowed together in thought. "Hey ... Uh, I know you're busy with Lane and all, but I remember you shipping me out to Iron Island years ago. Do you think you could help us find someone who can take us to Fullmoon tomorrow?"

"I'll give you one better, kid. I'll ship you both there myself."

. . .

"Heck," he corrected.

Pardon?

"Heck," he repeated. "Mom told me that the h-word is a bad word, so she tells me to say 'heck.' Even when I use 'heck,' she gets mad at me. She tells me there's no reason for me to use that word. Maybe I have a real reason to use it now." Lane smiled, scrunching his cheeks so the dimples in his cheeks showed. "But, um, I guess she's not here. So ..." He looked around the dark space. "Hell, hell, hell, hell!" His voice echoed, and he laughed.

Child?

"Lane," said Lane. "Call me Lane."

It means nothing to me.

"What?"

Lane. The name. It means nothing to me.

"I thought nothing was everything here," he said, spreading his arms out and spinning. "Isn't that what you told me earlier? So I am also everything to you. I think I'm the only thing here from the looks of it." He stopped spinning and looked up. Black. Down. Black. Left and right. Black and black. "How come you're here, whoever you are?"

I have been since the beginning, since time started ticking, and perhaps even before. This is how it should be.

"Oh." The child's voice was simplistic; it held no pity, no fear. "You don't get sad from that?"

What is the meaning of this word, sad?

"You know! When you feel ... I don't know. Sad?" Lane brought his hands up to his face and inserted his fingers into the corners of his mouth, tugging down on them to the point where he revealed the inside of his lower lip. "Like this." He took his fingers out. "When you get a frown on your face. That's when you're sad usually."

Then no, child. I do not get sad.

"What about happy? Do you know what happy is?"

No.

"Mad?"

No.

"Lonely?"

I do not know.

"Oh," he said again. Lane did back flips in the dark open space, spreading his arms wide again. "Have you run out of things for me to think of?"

This bemuses me, child. Are you aware of where you are?

"Not really. I know all the weird stuff suddenly stopped happening. I know it's not home. Can you let me go home?"

No.

"Oh. Mom, always gets me for this. May you let me go home?"

No.

"Why not?"

I do not know the meaning of this word. Home. Describe it for me.

Lane stopped flipping, flattening his hair back down to his scalp. "I live in Canalave on Dark Water Drive. It's, like, three blocks away from the library on the west side of the docks. Know where that is?"

I do not. Continue.

"Canalave is in Sinnoh. Sinnoh is north of Kanto. Kanto is where Lance is. Do you know who Lance is?"

No.

Lane grinned. "He's the greatest. He has three dragonite and a charizard. Isn't that nuts?"

I am not sure. Continue with your definition of this "home."

Lane wrinkled his nose as he thought. "I live with my mom and my dad. Mom stays at home and Dad's a sailor. He brings me back neat stuff from his trips! One time he brought me home a moon stone from the Kanto region! It was awesome! I lost it, I think. Don't tell Dad." He paused, resting a finger on his chin.

"Mom is bossy," he said thoughtfully. "She tells me to not do this, or do that, or eat this, or don't eat that, or stop being so noisy, or speak up, or sit down, or stand up." He sighed, hooking his thumbs on the belt loops of his jeans while looking down at his untied shoes. "But she does make the best chocolate chip cookies! And she taught me how to blow bubbles out of bars of soap! One time she took me to Kanto to meet Lance!" He paused, looking around. "So where's home for you?"

Child, if I were to use your definition of "home," then I do not believe I have one.

"No! That's my home, stupid! Everyone's home is different! Is this your home?"

Perhaps.

"You must get bored here. You don't have any TVs or video games! What do you do for fun?"

I read into others.

"Read?" Lane's face twisted in disgust. "Bleh! You should get a TV. What good do you get from reading others? Sometimes me and Julie sometimes go to Francis' house because he has this big TV, and we watch pokémon battles. It's awesome. I think it'd be funner than reading others."

Who are they?

"Who? Francis and Julie?" Lane blinked a few times. "They're my friends from school. Julie lives next door. Francis is a few blocks away. Francis sometimes bugs me because he calls me short and 'Dumbo', but he has the best pokémon cards, and he keeps the bigger, older kids away from us. Julie is cool. She always has her hair in these two pigtails. I tug on them when I want to make her mad."

Continue.

"We have lots of fun. One time we had a water balloon fight, and I hit Francis so hard with a balloon, he fell backward into some mud." He laughed again, keeling over and clutching onto his stomach. "It was funny." He recomposed himself, containing his laughter. "Do you have friends?"

No. I have no idea what those are either.

"So you must get lonely sometimes, right? Is that why you do it? You pick pokémon or people and poke around in their head so you're not alone?"

I do it for energy, child. It sustains my health. It keeps me going. I harbor no feeling toward my prey. I do this because it is how it should be. It was how I was created.

"You know, I can be your friend," Lane said, tilting his head to the side. "I have no idea who you are, but you sound sad – even if you don't know what that means. I'm lonely here, too. But if we're together, we're not alone anymore, right?"

Enough of this, child. You have amused me far enough. You are nothing but an energy sack. Go back from where you came.

"I'm trying," Lane replied sadly, lowering his head to stare at his feet. And then he was gone.

* Note: Part of the "abyss" definition came from Merriam-Webster. Lulz. Also, narrative for everyone else's scenes were more straightforward since I think it would have been too much with Lane's scenes. Or maybe I was lazy. One or the other. Thanks for reading. =P