I didnt read the newspapers. I didnt watch the news.

But the moment Samantha

Winters disappeared, something snapped inside of me.
I felt it in my body, in the thrumming of my heart. I could see her whenever I
closed my eyes. I could feel her whenever I opened them.
But that was impossible.
I did not know Samantha Winters.
I only knew her name.
But all the same, I had visions of her terrified face peering through the darkness. I
saw her open her lips and call out to me. Yet, as soon as I woke up, the visions
would just go away. Id hardly remember a thing. But every time I let my guard
down, every time I blinked, I saw her terrified eyes. I couldnt make sense of what I
was seeing, but as soon as I fell asleep, it made sense again. The memories,
shattered, fell back inside my head.
The mist came soon after the girl disappeared. I could see it forming in both
my dreams and in the real world. I could feel the mist even if no one else saw it. I
could feel the crystals dancing along my skin, cold and yet burning to the touch. I
could see what no one else saw.
They didnt understand.

****

After all, Samantha Winters was a girl, just like me. And that terrified me.
She was normal until one day, on her way home from a party, she just
disappeared. The most noticeable thing about it in the real world and the visions
was the mist. It had suddenly materialized all over her when she had gone.
A girl disappeared, and cold, dark fog had taken her place. Someones little girl,
somebodys sister or girlfriend, had disappeared in exchange for a horrible
thundercloud.
It was a mystery, a case the police couldnt even see, let alone solve. One minute,
the girl was there, and the next, she had just vanished.
The police couldnt find a single hair on Samanthas head that hadnt vanished with
her. I learned later that her own parents could barely recall a detail about her from
that day. Perhaps it was some malignant toxin in the air, causing their minds to fail
them. Perhaps it was something far more sinister.
Maybe it was magic
I didnt get the chance to see Samantha; I never looked into her eyes and saw what
was hidden there. I never even knew her, not in real life. Our only connection was a

cold, formless dream world. I only ever seemed to hear about her in my head. And I
listened and listened, to all those endless reports and warnings I saw every day,
from people who didnt know what was going on. Dont talk to strangers. Dont
approach white vans. I tired so much of those warnings that, one day, I just tuned
them out completely. I buried my nose in a book or turned off the TV. I ignored the
visions completely. I was so focused on ignoring the bad signs that I was blinding
myself to the real truth.
I should have paid more attention to those visions, those signs.
Maybe then I would have been prepared when they came for me.
But, despite it all, the trouble didnt start with Samantha. It started with the
mist and the strange boy it brought with it.
****
In the dark of night, Fear reigned.
Amongst all that slithered, crawled, or hunted, Fear thrived. It fed off all the evils
and melancholia in the world simply because it could. Fear recognized that true
power didnt come from the gods. Fear was a god, and he remained nameless. Fear
had no name simply because he was called thousands of them per day, on the lips
of all mankind. To men, women, and children, Fear had his own, personal name.
Fear did not have the physique of a god; he was sickly, as fear tended to be,
yet he stood at the height of three men. He remained in his own personal tomb.
Denied the ranks of the Impetus, he stayed here forever. "Exile" Fear whispered,
so quiet that his lips did not even move. "The Impetus have seen fit to exile their
own brother"
Fear tensed, his imposing figure collapsing internally as his alabaster skin
gave off a pale glow resembling that of moonlight in the darkness. His thin blonde
hair hung down his back, his bare skin covered in scars that the mortals inflicted on
him every day they called his name. Nobody wanted Fear. Everybody denied him a
place at their table. Fear was written in the hearts of men, yet they denied him like
he never existed.
Yet in the hearts of those that slithered, crawled, or prowled the streets at
night Fear existed and multiplied. He just had to remind them of it, the mortals
over whom he and the Impetus fought for governance. This hunt of his was meant
to prove to them that Fear was the strongest of them all, to intimidate them
whether he was a true Impetus or no.
He would reign over the mortal world once and for all.
The nameless one stretched his arms out to the sky, calling his shadows to
him. The darkness coiled around him, settling over his bare skin and creating a web
of serpents. He smiled with his lips still not moving, his black eyes unblinking as
they took in the beauty of the darkness. His split tongue ran over his teeth and
wiped the remaining flesh of his dinner from them.

"My children," he sang to them, "Did you find the girl?"

The serpents brought in a terrified young woman, dressed in nothing but a
thin party dress and sandals. Fear gave a scream so loud that the earth beneath
him shook in terror. "No, no, no, shes all wrong! The young girls eyes rolled back
in her head as she trembled so hard that she slipped into unconsciousness. Fear, in
an odd moment of almost maternal care, cradled the young girls head to the
ground, setting her to sleep amongst the silken, thrumming shadows. On the
hemline of her dress was a shimmering, delicate name in gold thread: Samantha
Winters.
"She is not her." Fear whispered to his shadows, "Find herfind the
abomination."
The darkness fled to do its masters bidding, and only silence descended. In
the void, all that remained was Fear and the other girl.
The victim was alone with only Fear for company.
Ive already eaten my dinner. From you, my dear, I think Ill have to pick
something else to sample, something like your soul. The girl wouldnt prove much
of a challenge for his teeth, the teeth so sharp, so cruel. Then Ill wash that down
with your blood.
She didnt stand a chance. He relished putting his lips to her forehead,
tasting her pure, unblemished skin. He held the girl upwards as her knees gave out
beneath her. She shivered beneath his touch, her heart pumping faster with the
thrill of the hunted. The light in her eyes faded slowly, like the light of a candle
fighting to remain lit in a thunderstorm. It was so beautiful, watching her struggle.
Fear had to take a breath. She was beautiful in the quiet, muted way of a mortal
woman. But her death It was indescribable. Watching her die was like art to him.
And the taste of her essence, her mortal soulit was the most intoxicating thing
Fear had ever stolen. Her pulse quickened, her blood draining outwards through her
lips and toward Fears own
And then, all too soon, it was finished. He all but devoured her, from the
inside and out, until all that was left of her was a shimmering silver S. He was
satisfied in knowing that, somewhere out in the universe, a little light was dying. He
was the cause of all that. Fear had another wonderful taste of what true power felt
like, of revenge against the Impetus king and queen. And oh, what fools those
Impetus had been, to exile him for offending the Impetus queen. They couldnt tell
him what to do. They couldn't keep him from hunting these girls in order to find the
one he was really after, to find the girl that would free him from his unjust exile.
Every girl he killed was a just a means to an end, an end to Fears ultimate
freedom.
I will be free. I will kill every girl in the mortal world if I have to. Anything to
be free.

He lowered the girl to the ground, her purpose finally complete. The shadows
writhed over her unblemished skin, dragging her body down to melt within the
darkness. Fear laughed, his shining, white teeth lighting his whole face with a
gruesome glow.
He had just killed a mortal being. Fear had terrified mortals before, but he had
always pulled back before he could do any irreparable damage to their souls. Killing
their bodies was not the same as killing their souls. It was so much more
permanent, more deafening. He had been a good little Impetus, but now he had
been banished and he didnt have to play by their rules any longer. Fear smiled,
exposing his red, gaping maw.
Somewhere, out there, was the real girl he was looking for. And this time, it
would not be as it was with the last one. He would not let her leave him so easily...
Even he would have something to be afraid of.
****
Diana
I shook my head, willing that strange, taunting voice to go away long
enough for me to get some sleep. I was being stupid. Id be thinking more clearly in
the morning.
I grinned wryly at myself. Youre hearing voices in your head. Sleep must be way
overdue.
I turned to shut off the lamp on my bedside table. The lamps warm, yellow light
went out all at once as darkness descended in its place.
For now, I just wanted to sleep. I wanted to forget. No more voices.