The darkness that greeted Belle was the same as it had been

with her eyes closed. She fell through the nothing, as heavy as a brick
and light as a feather. She may have been falling up, for there was
nothing present to indicate direction. The darkness under her blankets
had never been this complete, never had the monsters under her bed
needed this thorough a defense. She had outgrown those childish
beliefs by this age, but in the overwhelming blackness, age had little
weight. Time had no meaning where there was no meaning for time to
project. She felt small once more, a child pulling back, afraid of the
dark.
She screamed, but heard no sound. She felt the primal shout in
her throat, vibrating with the utmost intensity, eventually dying on her,
petering out. She coughed, but once again, heard nothing. Her mouth
slowly closed, and she swallowed the void, as the void swallowed her.
It took not long for Belle to accept the nothing; her being
unaccustomed was transient. She had felt nothing for so long, so the
change was not a drastic one. Belle pondered the nature of her
surroundings. It did not feel as though the lights had been doused, that
darkness was all too familiar. Rather, it felt as though there had been
no light in the first place, leaving this world enveloped in a great
vacancy. The presence though, felt heavier than simple darkness; the
suffocation of the infinite emptiness weighed deeply on Belle's body.
She could not describe the feeling to herself, for she had no feelings to
make the comparison to. She could not register her emotions, just as
she had found herself incapable of thought countless times before.
Retreat, crawl into a ball. Hide. A survival strategy that had served her
well before was now rendered impotent in the face of the darkness she
had so often yearned for.
She was the pillar of life jutting from the empty belly of the
world.
A familiar thought flitted through her fading consciousness.