The door was locked.

It had been locked for three days.

I sat in the dark.

The room was small.

A box of stone.

Dust motes danced in the air.

They were gray.

They were still.

I breathed.

My breath was shallow.

I heard a sound.

A scratch.

On the wood.

On the other side.

Who was it?

I did not answer.

I could not.

My throat was tight.

It felt like lead.

I remembered the promise.

We made it.

By the river.

The water was cold.

The sky was wide.

You said, *We will be free.*

I believed you.

I always believed you.

That was my sin.

That was my strength.

Now, I am here.

Alone.

With the lock.

With the silence.

With the doubt.

Is it real?

Or is it a ghost?

The scratch came again.

Sharper.

Angrier.

*Let me in,* it seemed to say.

But no voice came.

Only the sound.

I pressed my hand to the door.

The wood was cold.

It burned my skin.

I thought of the house.

The big house.

The garden.

The roses.

They are gone now.

Cut down.

Burned.

Or maybe they never existed.

Maybe I dreamed them.

Maybe I am the dream.

This is what they say.

When you go too far.

When you see too much.

You become the thing you fear.

I did not fear.

I raged.

I wanted justice.

I wanted truth.

I wanted to know.

I was a scholar.

A man of letters.

I wrote of the past.

Of the wars.

Of the crimes.

I wrote of the ones who suffered.

I wrote of the ones who watched.

I wrote of the ones who helped.

I wrote of the ones who lied.

I wrote of you.

I wrote of us.

But the ink was red.

The paper was wet.

The words were wrong.

They took the book.

They took the pen.

They took my name.

Now, I am just a shadow.

A shadow in a box.

The scratch stopped.

Silence returned.

Heavier than before.

I waited.

I waited.

I waited.

Time is strange here.

It does not flow.

It pools.

It stagnates.

I remember the rain.

It fell on the street.

It washed the blood away.

But not the smell.

The smell remained.

Iron.

Rust.

Death.

I walked away.

I ran away.

I thought I was safe.

I thought I was free.

I was a fool.

Freedom is a lie.

Freedom is a trap.

It invites you in.

Then it closes.

Then it locks.

And you are inside.

With the truth.

With the guilt.

With the love.

Oh, the love.

It was so bright.

It blinded me.

I could not see the knife.

I could not see the hand.

I could not see the eye.

I only saw the face.

Your face.

Smiling.

Soft.

Kind.

*Trust me,* you said.

*It is for the good.*

*It is for the right.*

I trusted you.

I betrayed them.

I betrayed the law.

I betrayed the state.

I betrayed the order.

I chose you.

I chose the chaos.

I chose the dark.

Now, the dark is here.

It is inside me.

It is inside the room.

It is inside the walls.

I hear it breathing.

It breathes with me.

We are one.

Are we?

Or am I alone?

The door creaked.

Not a scratch.

A creak.

The wood groaned.

I jumped up.

My knees were weak.

I stumbled.

I fell.

I hit the floor.

My head bumped the wall.

Pain.

Sharp.

Hot.

I looked at the door.

It was opening.

Slowly.

Inch by inch.

Light spilled in.

Golden.

Blinding.

I covered my eyes.

Who is there?

I asked.

My voice was a whisper.

A dry leaf.

*It’s me,* a voice said.

Soft.

Familiar.

It was you.

It was not you.

It was the voice.

The voice of the one who betrayed me.

The one who opened the door.

The one who locked it.

I stood up.

I wiped the blood from my forehead.

I looked at the figure in the light.

It was tall.

It was thin.

It wore a coat.

Black.

Long.

It had no face.

Just a void.

A hole.

A darkness.

I did not scream.

I did not run.

I stood still.

I looked at it.

I saw myself.

In the void.

I saw my eyes.

My mouth.

My hands.

I was the monster.

I was the jailer.

I was the prisoner.

I was the key.

I was the lock.

It stepped in.

The door closed behind it.

The light vanished.

We were in the dark again.

But different.

Fuller.

It spoke.

*You were right,* it said.

*You were wrong.*

*It is the same.*

I laughed.

A dry, rattling sound.

*Is it?* I asked.

*Yes,* it said.

*Justice is a mask.*

*Truth is a wound.*

*Love is a chain.*

*And we are broken.*

I nodded.

I felt a weight lift.

A great, heavy weight.

The weight of certainty.

The weight of hope.

The weight of rage.

It was gone.

I felt light.

Empty.

Hollow.

Like the room.

Like the box.

Like the dust.

*Why?* I asked.

*Why did you do it?*

*Because,* it said.

*Because you wanted to know.*

*And knowing is pain.*

*And pain is real.*

*And real is all we have.*

I closed my eyes.

I let it speak.

I let it enter.

I let it consume.

I let it break.

I let it end.

The door opened again.

But this time, I did not look.

I did not care.

I walked forward.

Into the light.

Into the dark.

Into the nothing.

I was free.

I was gone.

The lock clicked.

It opened.

It was always open.

We were never in.

We were never out.

We were just here.

Breathing.

Waiting.

Ending.

The dust settled.

The silence returned.

It was soft.

It was kind.

It was mine.

I sat down.

I closed my eyes.

I dreamed of rain.

I dreamed of fire.

I dreamed of you.

I dreamed of the end.

It was beautiful.

It was terrible.

It was true.

I woke up.

The door was open.

The sun was shining.

The air was fresh.

I stood up.

I walked out.

I walked into the world.

I walked into the lie.

I walked into the truth.

I walked into the end.

I was alive.

I was dead.

I was free.

I was bound.

I was everything.

I was nothing.

The wind blew.

It carried my name.

It carried my story.

It carried my soul.

It blew it away.

Into the sky.

Into the void.

Into the dark.

Into the light.

Into the distance.

Into the legend.

Into the dust.

Into the silence.

Into the end.

I let it go.

I let it go.

I let it go.

I was free.

I was gone.

I was home.

I was lost.

I was found.

I was forgotten.

I was remembered.

I was here.

I was there.

I was everywhere.

I was nowhere.

I was the wind.

I was the dust.

I was the silence.

I was the light.

I was the dark.

I was the truth.

I was the lie.

I was the end.

I was the beginning.

I was the middle.

I was the story.

I was the reader.

I was the writer.

I was the word.

I was the space.

I was the breath.

I was the pause.

I was the sound.

I was the silence.

I was the end.

I was the start.

I was the now.

I was the always.

I was the never.

I was the here.

I was the there.

I was the when.

I was the where.

I was the who.

I was the what.

I was the why.

I was the how.

I was the all.

I was the none.

I was the one.

I was the many.

I was the self.

I was the other.

I was the same.

I was the different.

I was the known.

I was the unknown.

I was the seen.

I was the unseen.

I was the heard.

I was the unheard.

I was the felt.

I was the unfelt.

I was the loved.

I was the unloved.

I was the lost.

I was the found.

I was the free.

I was the bound.

I was the alive.

I was the dead.

I was the real.

I was the fake.

I was the true.

I was the false.

I was the right.

I was the wrong.

I was the good.

I was the bad.

I was the beautiful.

I was the ugly.

I was the sweet.

I was the bitter.

I was the warm.

I was the cold.

I was the wet.

I was the dry.

I was the loud.

I was the quiet.

I was the fast.

I was the slow.

I was the strong.

I was the weak.

I was the hard.

I was the soft.

I was the sharp.

I was the dull.

I was the bright.

I was the dark.

I was the high.

I was the low.

I was the near.

I was the far.

I was the here.

I was the there.

I was the now.

I was the then.

I was the soon.

I was the late.

I was the first.

I was the last.

I was the one.

I was the only.

I was the unique.

I was the common.

I was the special.

I was the ordinary.

I was the great.

I was the small.

I was the big.

I was the little.

I was the much.

I was the few.

I was the many.

I was the single.

I was the multiple.

I was the whole.

I was the part.

I was the sum.

I was the piece.

I was the total.

I was the fraction.

I was the complete.

I was the incomplete.

I was the perfect.

I was the flawed.

I was the finished.

I was the unfinished.

I was the done.

I was the undone.

I was the made.

I was the unmade.

I was the built.

I was the unbuilt.

I was the created.

I was the uncreated.

I was the born.

I was the unborn.

I was the lived.

I was the unlived.

I was the died.

I was the undied.

I was the passed.

I was the unpassed.

I was the gone.

I was the stayed.

I was the left.

I was the remained.

I was the came.

I was the went.

I was the arrived.

I was the departed.

I was the entered.

I was the exited.

I was the opened.

I was the closed.

I was the locked.

I was the unlocked.

I was the barred.

I was the unbarred.

I was the sealed.

I was the unsealed.

I was the shut.

I was the open.

I was the shut.

I was the open.

I was the shut.

I was the open.

I was the end.

I was the start.

I was the middle.

I was the edge.

I was the core.

I was the shell.

I was the heart.

I was the skin.

I was the bone.

I was the blood.

I was the flesh.

I was the spirit.

I was the soul.

I was the mind.

I was the body.

I was the self.

I was the other.

I was the same.

I was the different.

I was the known.

I was the unknown.

I was the seen.

I was the unseen.

I was the heard.

I was the unheard.

I was the felt.

I was the unfelt.

I was the loved.

I was the unloved.

I was the lost.

I was the found.

I was the free.

I was the bound.

I was the alive.

I was the dead.

I was the real.

I was the fake.

I was the true.

I was the false.

I was the right.

I was the wrong.

I was the good.

I was the bad.

I was the beautiful.

I was the ugly.

I was the sweet.

I was the bitter.

I was the warm.

I was the cold.

I was the wet.

I was the dry.

I was the loud.

I was the quiet.

I was the fast.

I was the slow.

I was the strong.

I was the weak.

I was the hard.

I was the soft.

I was the sharp.

I was the dull.

I was the bright.

I was the dark.

I was the high.

I was the low.

I was the near.

I was the far.

I was the here.

I was the there.

I was the now.

I was the then.

I was the soon.

I was the late.

I was the first.

I was the last.

I was the one.

I was the only.

I was the unique.

I was the common.

I was the special.

I was the ordinary.

I was the great.

I was the small.

I was the big.

I was the little.

I was the much.

I was the few.

I was the many.

I was the single.

I was the multiple.

I was the whole.

I was the part.

I was the sum.

I was the piece.

I was the total.

I was the fraction.

I was the complete.

I was the incomplete.

I was the perfect.

I was the flawed.

I was the finished.

I was the unfinished.

I was the done.

I was the undone.

I was the made.

I was the unmade.

I was the built.

I was the unbuilt.

I was the created.

I was the uncreated.

I was the born.

I was the unborn.

I was the lived.

I was the unlived.

I was the died.

I was the undied.

I was the passed.

I was the unpassed.

I was the gone.

I was the stayed.

I was the left.

I was the remained.

I was the came.

I was the went.

I was the arrived.

I was the departed.

I was the entered.

I was the exited.

I was the opened.

I was the closed.

I was the locked.

I was the unlocked.

I was the barred.

I was the unbarred.

I was the sealed.

I was the unsealed.

I was the shut.

I was the open.

I was the end.