The vial is warm.

You hold it between thumb and forefinger. The glass is thick. It is heavy. The liquid inside is amber. It glows. It is not wine. It is not oil. It is a compound. You know its name. You know its formula. You have written the paper. You have published the work. The world knows it as a cure. You know it as a poison.

The room is small. The walls are blue. The air is stale. It smells of dust. It smells of fear. It smells of the chemical. The window is barred. The light is dim. It is not day. It is not night. It is the space between. You sit on the chair. Your spine is straight. Your hands are still. You do not tremble. You are a scholar. You are a master. You control the variables.

The door opens.

A shadow falls. A figure enters. It is not a guard. It is not a judge. It is a man. He is tall. He is thin. His face is pale. His eyes are red. He wears a suit. The suit is black. It fits him well. It is expensive. It is old. He does not speak. He walks. His shoes make no sound. He stops. He looks at you. He looks at the vial.

You do not look at him. You look at the glass. The liquid swirls. It is alive. It moves. It wants to be drunk. It wants to be released. It is the fruit of your labor. It is the work of your life. You spent ten years on it. You sacrificed your health. You sacrificed your soul. You did it for the good. You did it for the cure. You did it for them.

The man sits. The chair creaks. It is a low sound. It is a sharp sound. It cuts the silence. He places his hands on his knees. He waits. He does not blink. His stare is fixed. It is a drill. It is a pin. It drives into your forehead. You feel the pressure. You feel the heat. You feel the weight.

You pick up the vial. The glass is cold now. The warmth was a lie. The glow is fading. The amber turns to brown. It is dull. It is dead. It is just a liquid. It is just a substance. It is just a thing.

You think of Eleanor.

Her face is clear. Her hair is gold. Her eyes are blue. She is not here. She is gone. She is in the ground. She is in the earth. She is under the grass. She is with the worms. She is with the roots. She is with the stones.

You loved her. It was a fire. It was a storm. It was a flood. It consumed you. It consumed her. It consumed the house. It consumed the name. It consumed the reputation. It consumed the future. It was a destruction. It was a ruin. It was a end.

She did not take the cure. She took the poison. She drank it. She chose it. She chose death. She chose silence. She chose peace. You could not stop her. You could not save her. You could not hold her. You were a scholar. You were a mind. You had no hands. You had no heart. You had only the formula.

The man stands. He walks to you. He is close. He is very close. You can smell him. It is soap. It is cologne. It is sweat. It is fear. He reaches out. His hand is white. His fingers are long. He grabs the vial. He pulls it from your grasp. The glass slips. It falls.

It hits the floor.

It does not break. It bounces. It rolls. It stops. It is intact. The liquid is still. The amber is still. It is unchanged. It is eternal.

The man picks it up. He holds it up. He looks at the light. The light passes through. It creates a prism. It creates a rainbow. The colors dance. The colors fly. The colors land on the wall. The blue turns to red. The red turns to gold. The gold turns to black.

He smiles.

It is not a kind smile. It is a cold smile. It is a sharp smile. It is a knife. It cuts you. It cuts the air. It cuts the truth.

He pours it.

He pours it into his mouth.

He swallows.

He closes his eyes.

He waits.

You watch. You do not move. You do not breathe. You do not blink. You are a statue. You are a stone. You are a ghost. You are a memory. You are a shadow.

The man’s face changes.

His skin turns grey.

His veins turn black.

His eyes turn white.

He gasps.

He chokes.

He falls.

He hits the floor.

He convulses.

He is dead.

He is still.

He is quiet.

You are alive.

You are whole.

You are free.

The vial is empty.

The vial is clean.

The vial is gone.

The room is dark.

The door is open.

The light is bright.

The sun is high.

The air is fresh.

The world is wide.

You stand up.

Your legs are weak.

Your hands are shaking.

Your mind is clear.

You are the scholar.

You are the master.

You are the god.

You created the death.

You created the life.

You created the choice.

You created the end.

You are not the killer.

You are the witness.

You are the record.

You are the truth.

The truth is simple.

The truth is hard.

The truth is cold.

The truth is stone.

You walk to the door.

You step over the body.

You step into the light.

The light is warm.

The light is kind.

The light is false.

The light is a lie.

The world is a lie.

The cure is a lie.

The love is a lie.

The death is a lie.

The life is a lie.

You are a lie.

You are a ghost.

You are a shadow.

You are a nothing.

You are a void.

You are an empty space.

You are a silence.

You are a pause.

You are a breath.

You are a moment.

You are a point.

You are a dot.

You are a mark.

You are a sign.

You are a signal.

You are a code.

You are a key.

You are a lock.

You are a door.

You are a threshold.

You are a gate.

You are a wall.

You are a barrier.

You are a boundary.

You are a limit.

You are an end.

You are a start.

You are a beginning.

You are a middle.

You are a now.

You are a here.

You are a self.

You are a other.

You are a one.

You are a many.

You are a all.

You are a none.

You are a yes.

You are a no.

You are a maybe.

You are a perhaps.

You are a possibly.

You are a certainly.

You are a surely.

You are a truly.

You are a really.

You are a actually.

You are a in fact.

You are a in reality.

You are a in truth.

You are a in life.

You are a in death.

You are a in between.

You are a in the gap.

You are a in the space.

You are a in the void.

You are a in the nothing.

You are a in the all.

You are a in the one.

You are a in the self.

You are a in the other.

You are a in the now.

You are a in the here.

You are a in the moment.

You are a in the breath.

You are a in the pause.

You are a in the silence.

You are a in the dark.

You are a in the light.

You are a in the shadow.

You are a in the sun.

You are a in the moon.

You are a in the star.

You are a in the earth.

You are a in the sky.

You are a in the air.

You are a in the water.

You are a in the fire.

You are a in the stone.

You are a in the wood.

You are a in the metal.

You are a in the glass.

You are a in the paper.

You are a in the ink.

You are a in the word.

You are a in the sentence.

You are a in the story.

You are a in the end.