Chapter 1 – Just Black

All he saw was black.

Everywhere.

No matter where he looked all he saw was black.

He could hear, if there was anything to hear, it was deathly silent to his ears, but he could hear his own breathing, recognized the slight panic in his tone.

He could feel too.

He was hyper-aware of the beads of sweat on his brow, and the shaking in his hands as he felt around him.

And he could smell.

That was the worst.

It smelt of burnt wood and grass, and blood, he could smell the rusty metallic scent of blood, despite his de-vamping that sense never left him, and now it surrounded him, like a blanket.

He just couldn't see.

He could feel himself blinking, shutting his eyes then re-opening them, but the view never changed, just black, it was like all the light in the world had been sucked away. He raised his hands, he knew they were in front of his face, when he breathed the hot breath bounced off the palms and hit his cheeks. He felt his thumbs just a hair's breadth away from the skin on his jaw. His hands were covered in something, a liquid, thicker than water, but warmer than mud.

He heard his heart thump louder.

He felt his skin crawl.

He just couldn't see.

He ran his hands over the ground beside him searching for something, anything, a phone maybe, a lifeline of some sort to save him from this endless black.

He felt his mouth open, and he heard himself cry out for help, his voice strained and panicky. He felt hot tears slip down his cheeks as he felt around.

"Is anyone there?" he cried.

He heard no answer.

His hands came into contact with something, soft, fleshy, cold.

He tried to see it with his hands, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, pulse?

No pulse.

He backed away from it as more of the sticky wet substance touched his fingers.

The smell filled his nostrils.

He let out another audible cry as he moved rapidly away from the dead body; it wasn't a creatures, it was human, and it was dead. Not even in rigor mortis yet.

"Please anyone help!" he cried again, the panic in his chest rising more. His ears were filled with the sound of his heart thumping like a drum.

"Come on, SEE!" he shouted at himself, smacking himself across the face. He felt the sting, and the heat, but he saw nothing.

His hand slipped and he fell along another body, he felt around for the pulse, he felt everything but and he moved away just as he did the first one.

He was surrounded; by the smell, the blood, the great expanse of nothing, the silence, the blackness.

There was no way out, and he didn't trust his legs to stand, they couldn't stand. It hurt too much, that he felt all too well.

Everything stung, even his chest.

"H-help!" he cried once more, the panic finally bursting through, and his chest heaved, and the trembling in his hands moved toward his whole body, he felt himself fall on to his back, he couldn't tell if he was still falling or not.

He reached a hand up hoping someone would grab it as he let out a pained scream.

He was falling in black.

All black.

Just black.

And there was no one alive to hear him scream.