Is this what Stevie Wonder sees? Just an endless chasm dripping wet with void... Now I'm even more impressed about 'Signed, Sealed, Delivered' Jacob's cute smiling face was the last thing I saw before the power went out. Troy's- _frankly embarrassing_- screech was the first thing I heard. My baby brother hit a note only the dogs can hear. The air feels sharper, like cool glass against my skin. There's a buzzing rising from the party goers, muttering, whining, and worry. What's to worry about? It's just a little bit of dark. "Amber? Are you still there..." Jacob's hand, warm and solid, collides with my entire left boob. Not just the side-boob, or the nipple, the whole thing. His hand is gone with a yelp, "Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to touch your, um, your-" "My tit?" I laugh, imaging how red his golden tan skin might be. Maybe he's gone full race-car red, like Lightning McQueen. "It's alright Jacob, as long as it was an accident." "It was." He bursts out, desperate to still be the 'nice white boy' in this alien town. It's cute. "I would never try to touch-" "Really?" I interrupt, smiling into the blackness. I like it in the dark, I'm just a shadow. I'm not the 'new girl', not 'black', not 'pretty', not anything but Amber. "You never want to touch my boobs?" There's a choking sound, his breath caught in this throat. Before I can kill this poor boy with humiliation alone, a crisp southern accent slices the void. Jennifer Hawllet; Head cheerleader, straight A student, and homeless shelter volunteer. She's Barbie come to life. "Hey y'all, I know what everyone is thinkin'," The buzzing gets louder, tuning into their Queen Bee's frequency. "Maybe this is the working of Mr. Silent, but I can assure you that my front gate is impenetrable." Mr. Silent? I open my mouth to ask, but a very tall, very lanky body slams into me before the words can puncture the veil of darkness. A flurry of gangly limbs wrap around me, all shaking like a leaf in a tornado - Troy. "If you're not Amber, I'm really sorry." His face is buried in my neck, mouth deep in the fluff of my hair, "Hold me, sweet stranger." My mouth twists into a smile, matching the fond twist in my stomach. Troy has always been a goof; He's the sunshine to my dark cloud. I pet his back, ignoring the subtle rise of anxiety in the air. It smells like puberty in here. "Yeah it's me, doofus." I gently untangle him from me. He crushes me in a quick, brutal hug. "Oh thank god, I think I've intimately touched everyone in here." "You haven't touched me." Jacob pipes up in that oddly confidant yet shy way of his. Troy screeches again. There's a faint ringing in my ear. I blindly shove at him, relishing in the squeal he let's out. Jacob giggles at the sound. "Clam down, stop it," Jennifer's frantic scream fills the emptiness like a heat wave, "Stop trying to open the doors, please, you might let him in." Him, Mr. Silent. I pull Troy against me, his willowy body sticking to me like glue. Jacob mutters a curse under his breath. "What is she talking about?" There's no hiding the dread in my voice, it's as clear as day in the pitch black. Troy jumps in, the shaking coming back in full force. I need to get him back home. "Mr. Silent is this serial killer that cuts the power to the house first, and then he slaughters everybody because they can't see and _eats_ people for _Christ sake_- "It's not Mr. Silent. Trust me." Jacob states, not a single note of worry in his smooth country lilt. The darkness, as sudden as a heart attack, becomes oppressive. My grip on Troy is iron tight; he doesn't seem to mind. A deep southern drawl roses above the chaos, the shakiness of his fear grates against the richness of his voice, "Oh god, does anyone know where Hank is? He was with-" Gargling, that's what it sounds like at first. Then the bubbling wet sound morphs into something vividly clear - Choking. He's choking on his blood. I gasp, pushing Troy down low. Shock shoots through my body in a rush of electricity. Troy whines high in his throat, trembling against my legs. A blood curdling scream rips apart the silence - It sounds a lot like Jennifer. Someone shoulder checks me as they break into a sprint. I cry out, shoulder twisting back sharply. Troy reaches up, trying to help. I can't focus, my mind split on a million different things - I can't see. Everyone is running now, in a blind panic - heh. I reach forward, searching for the sweet boy I met earlier today. Jacob needs to hide, we all have to run and hide. He's not there, I touch nothing but air. "Jacob, where are you? He's here, Mr. Silent, he's in the house." I ignore the stinging in my eyes. No one can see the tears, so I let them fall. "I know." I jolt back at Jacob's voice. There's not hint of that shy boy from just moments ago. His big warm hand grips mine on the first try, easily. It's almost as if he can see perfectly clear. His hand is so warm, sweaty hot. "Get down low, I'll protect you." I tug on his hand urgently, but he stays rooted in his spot. "Come on, Jacob, get low." "You're too sweet, Amber. Do you know that?" The warmth of his hand becomes a furnace. His grip tightens, slowly crushing the bones, "do you know how sweet you are?" His hand is so sweaty, so thick it feels like- Oh, god. The tangy smell of copper hits my nose. Blood. Jacob has blood on his hands. "You're sweet enough to eat, I swear to god." He laughs, and it's all twisted and wrong. I picture his adorable face twisting into some horric creature, fangs dripping in blood, massive buggy eyes the size of golfballs. He's a nightmare. I stare straight ahead, voice trapped in my throat. He's looking at me, I just know it. I feel his gaze on me, as tangible as a touch. It's like that quote from Nietzsche, 'If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you'. The abyss is about to swallow me whole. The blood on my veins turns icy cold, freezing me solid. I can't run. Can't fight. Can't speak. The fear has stripped me of everything that makes me, _me... I'm going to die a stranger._ "God, I can't wait to taste your dark brown meat, it'll be so-" "Shut the fuck up, creep." A gust of wind ruffles my hair as Troy leaps away from my legs, and a sickening crunch rattles in my mind. Someone hits the floor, groaning and whining. Oh god, no no no no. Troy. I cry out, but big cold hands grab me, keeping me from falling to the floor. I thrash, kicking and seeing nothing but red. He hurt Troy. I'll kill him. My baby brother, my poor baby brother- "Amber, chill out, Jesus." Troy's breathless voice hits my ear, and all of the fights flees my body in a nano-second, "It's me, you're alright, it's just me." I spin in his arms, clutching his skinny frame to mine. Relief floods through me, melting the ice away. I can breathe again. I'm me again. I almost died a stranger, but I'll survive as Amber. I tuck my hysterical laugh of glee into Troy's hair - it smells like my shampoo. Little shit. There's a groan from the floor, wet with blood. Jacob. My foot flies out to where the groan came from, it hits something solid and fleshy. Bullseye. Jacob makes some gibberish sound, maybe a name, maybe a curse. I'm too busy boot-stomping him to care. "Ok, he's probably not gonna' get back up, Amber." I force myself to stop, breath punching out of me. My eyes are wide open, swallowing in the blackness. Jennifer is making another speech somewhere in this big, dark house. Little does she know, the threat is nurtilzed. Jacob attempts to speak again, but it's nothing but gargled nonsense. Not so quiet for a guy named 'Mr. Silent'. "Mr. Silent is a lame ass name." I grab Troy's hand, ready to never let go, "Do better, Jacob. It's embarrassing." Troy snorts, and I don't need to be able to see his face to know that smile. I won't ever let anyone harm that smile, ever. "Come one Troy, let's get this psycho behind bars." "What are you, a detective from a crappy crime show?" I slap Troy's arm, smiling despite myself, "Shut up, string bean."