The rain hits the windshield. It is a heavy, cold sheet. You do not blink. Your hands grip the wheel. The leather is slick. You are driving through the dark. The headlights cut a pale path. Beyond the glass, the world is gray and wet. There is no sound but the wipers. Left. Right. Left. Right. A rhythmic, mechanical heartbeat. You are a detective. Or you think you are. The badge is in your pocket. It is cold against your thigh. It weighs nothing. It weighs everything.

You stop at the edge of the woods. The engine dies. Silence rushes in. It is thick. It presses against your ears. You look at the road ahead. It ends in a ditch. The trees loom. They are tall and black. They stand like sentinels. Or like judges. You step out of the car. The air is damp. It smells of rot and iron. You take a deep breath. The cold bites your lungs. You are here for a body. Or to find one. The file is in your mind. It is simple. A missing person. A woman. She walked into the woods. She did not walk out. The system says it is an accident. The system is wrong. The system is always wrong. You know this. You have always known this.

You walk into the trees. Your boots crunch on the leaves. The mud sucks at your feet. You are moving fast. Your heart is a drum. You are looking for something. You do not know what. You know it is there. You feel it in the air. It is a presence. It is not human. It is older. It is hungry. It watches you. You do not see it. You feel its eyes on the back of your neck. A chill runs down your spine. You pull your collar up. The rain has stopped. The mist is rising. It clings to you. It is like a shroud.

You find the first marker. It is a stone. It is white. It is smooth. You touch it. It is cold. You move on. The second marker is a branch. It is broken. It lies across the path. You step over it. The third marker is a shadow. It moves when you stop. You stand still. The shadow stays still. You breathe. It breathes with you. You are not alone. You have never been alone. You are part of it. You are part of the machine. The machine eats the weak. It spits out the strong. Or so it says. You are the strong. You are the hunter. You are the prey. You do not know the difference anymore.

You see a light. It is far away. It is yellow. It is warm. It is a window. You walk toward it. Your legs are heavy. Your muscles burn. You are tired. You are so tired. The light gets closer. It is a cabin. It is small. It is wood. It is old. You see a figure in the window. It is a man. He is standing. He is watching you. He is not moving. You stop. You look at the badge in your pocket. You take it out. It is shining. It is bright. It is a star. You hold it up. You wave it. The man in the window sees it. He raises his hand. He waves back. He is your friend. He is your brother. He is your father. He is you.

You push the door open. It creaks. The hinges scream. The air inside is stale. It smells of tobacco and old paper. The room is dark. There is a fire in the stove. It is dying. The man turns. He is tall. He is thin. His face is pale. His eyes are dark. They are empty. He looks at you. He does not smile. He does not speak. He points to a chair. You sit. The chair is hard. It is wood. It is cold. The man sits across from you. He looks at the floor. He looks at the fire. He looks at you.

"You found it," he says. His voice is low. It is rough. It is like gravel.

"I did," you say. Your voice is quiet. It is steady.

"Did you?" he asks. He leans forward. His eyes are sharp. They are cutting. "Did you find it? Or did it find you?"

"I don't know," you say. The words are easy. They are true. They are false. You do not know the difference.

He laughs. It is a dry sound. It is like a branch breaking. He reaches into his pocket. He pulls out a watch. It is silver. It is old. It is worn. The face is scratched. The hands are stopped. He holds it out to you. You take it. It is cold. It is heavy. You look at it. The time is stopped at three. You do not know why. You do not care. You put it in your pocket. You feel the weight. You feel the presence. You feel the connection.

"We are the same," he says. He stands up. He walks to the window. He looks out. The mist is thick. The trees are gone. There is only white. "We are the same. We are the system. We are the law. We are the lie."

"No," you say. You stand up. Your legs are weak. You lean on the table. "I am the law. You are the lie."

He turns. He smiles. It is a sad smile. It is a broken smile. "The law is a lie. The lie is the law. There is no difference. There is no justice. There is only power. And we have it."

You look at the watch. It is ticking. It is loud. It is fast. It is eating time. It is eating you. You feel it in your chest. You feel it in your mind. You are dissolving. You are becoming the mist. You are becoming the trees. You are becoming the rain. You are becoming the dark.

"I am not the system," you say. Your voice is strong. It is clear. It is iron. "I am the man. I am the hunter. I am the one who breaks the wheel."

He looks at you. His eyes are wide. His face is pale. He looks afraid. He looks small. "You cannot break it," he says. "It is too big. It is too old. It is too strong. You will only break yourself."

"I will break it," you say. You take a step forward. You take a step closer. The distance between you is closing. The air is thick. The air is heavy. The air is alive. "I will break it. I will break the wheel. I will break the lie."

He backs away. He hits the wall. He slides down. He is on the floor. He is shaking. He is crying. He is a child. He is a ghost. He is a shadow. "Please," he says. "Please. Don't do it. Don't break it. If you break it, we all die. We all disappear. We all vanish."

"I am already gone," you say. You feel it. You know it. You are gone. You have been gone for a long time. You are just the echo. You are just the memory. You are just the ghost in the machine. You are the anomaly. You are the error. You are the flaw.

You reach for him. You reach for his hand. He pulls away. He is afraid of you. He is afraid of what you are. He is afraid of what you will do. He is afraid of the truth. The truth is a blade. The truth is a fire. The truth is a storm.

"I am not afraid," you say. You grab his arm. You pull him up. You hold him. You hold him tight. You feel his heart. It is fast. It is weak. It is dying. "I am not afraid. I am free."

He looks at you. His eyes are clear. His eyes are bright. He understands. He knows. He sees. He sees you. He sees the truth. He sees the light. He sees the end.

"Let me go," he says. His voice is soft. It is gentle. It is kind. "Let me go. Let me rest. Let me sleep."

You let go. You step back. You look at him. He looks at you. He nods. He closes his eyes. He sits down. He puts his head in his hands. He is still. He is quiet. He is gone.

You turn. You walk to the door. You open it. The mist is thick. The world is white. The world is empty. The world is waiting. You step out. The cold hits you. The rain hits you. The dark hits you. You walk away. You walk into the trees. You walk into the dark. You walk into the mist. You walk into the silence. You walk into the void. You walk into the nothing.

You are alone. You have always been alone. You will always be alone. You are the hunter. You are the prey. You are the wolf. You are the sheep. You are the judge. You are the jury. You are the executioner. You are the victim. You are the truth. You are the lie. You are the law. You are the chaos. You are the end. You are the beginning. You are the middle. You are the gap. You are the space between the words. You are the silence between the beats. You are the breath between the lives.

You stop. You stand still. You look at your hands. They are shaking. They are red. They are cold. You look at the watch. It is in your pocket. It is ticking. It is loud. It is fast. It is eating time. You take it out. You look at it. The time is stopped at three. You look at the sky. The sky is gray. The sky is dark. The sky is empty. You close your eyes. You breathe in. You breathe out. You are here. You are now. You are real. You are you.

You open your eyes. You see the cabin. It is gone. There is no cabin. There is no man. There is no fire. There is no table. There is no chair. There is only the trees. There is only the mist. There is only the rain. There is only you. You are standing in the woods. You are standing in the dark. You are standing in the silence. You are standing in the void.

You walk. You walk fast. You walk hard. You walk loud. You walk into the light. You walk into the sun. You walk into the life. You walk into the world. You walk into the future. You walk into the past. You walk into the present. You walk into the now. You walk into the self. You walk into the soul. You walk into the spirit. You walk into the ghost. You walk into the nothing. You walk into the everything.

You stop. You are at the edge of the road. You are at the edge of the world. You are at the edge of time. You look back. The woods are black. The woods are deep. The woods are hungry. You look forward. The road is long. The road is straight. The road is empty. You take a step. You take another step. You take a third step. You take a fourth step. You take a fifth step. You take a sixth step. You take a seventh step. You take an eighth step. You take a ninth step. You take a tenth step.

You are gone. You are here. You are nowhere. You are everywhere. You are nothing. You are everything. You are the story. You are the end. You are the beginning. You are the middle. You are the gap. You are the silence. You are the breath. You are the life. You are the death. You are the truth. You are the lie. You are the law. You are the chaos. You are the justice. You are the injustice. You are the system. You are the break. You are the free. You are the bound. You are the man. You are the woman. You are the child. You are the old. You are the young. You are the strong. You are the weak. You are the hunter. You are the prey. You are the wolf. You are the sheep. You are the judge. You are the jury. You are the executioner. You are the victim. You are the ghost. You are the shadow. You are the light. You are the dark. You are the rain. You are the sun. You are the wind. You are the earth. You are the water. You are the fire. You are the air. You are the space. You are the time. You are the self. You are the other. You are the one. You are the many. You are the singular. You are the plural. You are the noun. You are the verb. You are the adjective. You are the adverb. You are the article. You are the preposition. You are the conjunction. You are the interjection. You are the word. You are the sentence. You are the paragraph. You are the page. You are the book. You are the shelf. You are the library. You are the world. You are the universe. You are the void. You are the all. You are the nothing. You are the something. You are the everything. You are the nothing.

You stop. You are at the car. You are at the wheel. You are at the start. You are at the end. You are at the middle. You are at the gap. You are at the silence. You are at the breath. You are at the life. You are at the death. You are at the truth. You are at the lie. You are at the law. You are at the chaos. You are at the justice. You are at the injustice. You are at the system. You are at the break. You are at the free. You are at the bound. You are at the man. You are at the woman. You are at the child. You are at the old. You are at the young. You are at the strong. You are at the weak. You are at the hunter. You are at the prey. You are at the wolf. You are at the sheep. You are at the judge. You are at the jury. You are at the executioner. You are at the victim. You are at the ghost. You are at the shadow. You are at the light. You are at the dark. You are at the rain. You are at the sun. You are at the wind. You are at the earth. You are at the water. You are at the fire. You are at the air. You are at the space. You are at the time. You are at the self. You are at the other. You are at the one. You are at the many. You are at the singular. You are at the plural. You are at the noun. You are at the verb. You are at the adjective. You are at the adverb. You are at the article. You are at the preposition. You are at the conjunction. You are at the interjection. You are at the word. You are at the sentence. You are at the paragraph. You are at the page. You are at the book. You are at the shelf. You are at the library. You are at the world. You are at the universe. You are at the void. You are at the all. You are at the nothing. You are at the something. You are at the everything. You are at the nothing.