Author's note: This chapter was successfully edited. The scratchy writing was fixed, comments taken out, and spelling errors corrected. Keep watch for more updates.

'We fell in this hole that opened up...

Giving up on hope

Living without love

We still type black lines...

When the world is crashing down,

These notes will fold themselves.

Adjust the aperture to focus on the negative,

Like phosphors in the darkrooms ignite.

Like dodging faces in the corner of the print,

Frame by frame this hole is opening up and we fall in.'

How long is the night?

Chapter 1

Returning home

As Leon and Ashley escaped narrowly from the island the sun was quickly setting. Cool night air made itself known as they raced towards home, water splashing them from time to time when the wind changed direction. Leon flipped a switch that turned on a pair of lights at the front of the Jet Ski. They gave him a better view of what lay ahead as they continued to cross the deep water.

Leon's eyelids began to droop over his eyes as the night wore on. He blinked a few times in determination to keep the sleep at bay. The last thing he wanted was to crash into something and have Ashley getting hurt.

He absentmindedly placed a finger over the cut that punctured his cheek. He winced as white-hot pain seared through it. Still fresh on his face and still fresh in his mind, it would be hard to forget what happened. The cut was a nasty reminder of the events that happened on the island, castle, and the area surrounding the mysterious church.

Leon glanced behind his shoulder to check on Ashley. She was mumbling to herself. Her eyes were closed so he figured that she was asleep and dreaming about something.

As the Jet Ski worked hard to keep up with the speed Leon forced it to travel at, the engine stuttered, causing the blond to avert his attention to the front. He searched the open waters for somewhere to rest it. Driving it past its limits wouldn't be too good.

A red light began to blink. Leon looked down to see that it was the one that was a symbol of a gas can.

"Shit," he grumbled.

The lights shone down upon a rock that sprouted out of the water. Leon steered the Jet Ski to the rock, bringing it to a halt and jumped on top of it. He took out some rope from the aquatic machine and tied it to another rock. Then as he made sure Ashley hadn't fallen into the dark waters, he took out a gas container and filled up the gas tank.

After that was done Leon detached the rope and sped off into the darkness. The radar on the Jet Ski began to beep, blaring in the heavy silence that seemed to even block out the wish wash of the waves. Leon looked over to see that it had picked up traces of another island not to far away. He raised his head, eyes trained north and spotted the near invisible outline of trees.

The speed was pushed up high once again. Leon was sure that if Ashley was completely asleep, she would have fallen off by now. They reached the shore, faster than Leon thought possible. The blond expertly parked the Jet Ski and gently shook Ashley awake as to not push her overboard.

"Huh?" she said in a slurry voice. "Where are we?"

"At an island."

"Well isn't that just wonderful," her voice was full of sarcasm.

"Relax the island is only big enough for the both of us to fit on."

Leon extended a hand towards Ashley who accepted it. He pulled her onto the solid ground and began to break dead branches off of the trees. Piling them neatly into a small stack, he took out a lighter and started a fire.

Ashley untied the sweater from around her neck and put it on. She looked around and could see nothing in the darkness, nothing, except for Leon. Besides him everything was black, there was no land around for miles, by the looks of it.

"How much further until we get home?"

"We should be there by tomorrow."

Ashley nodded. She closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep.

Leon on the other hand couldn't. He couldn't sleep being on an island in the middle of nowhere, feeling vulnerable. He placed a hand on his favored handgun, studying it for a moment before putting it back. He took a stick and poked at the burning coals and stared at the dying fire as the night wore on.

Leon had just let sleep get the better of him when Ashley woke up. He rubbed his eyes and sat up. Walking over to the Jet Ski, he waited for Ashley to finish stretching.

"Ready to go home?"

"Yeah," she responded in a nervous voice. "I can't wait to see them again."

They climbed aboard the Jet Ski and went on their way.

It was several hours later. No conversation had been made between Leon and Ashley until the President's daughter spotted something she had missed dearly. Land.

"Look over there!" her voice rang with excitement.

Sure enough they had reached their destination point. It was nothing like they had expected though…

Burning buildings spread across the coastline. Car alarms screeched everywhere and the crumbling noise of falling structures rang in their ears, letting reality crash upon them like a thousand pounds of pure cement.

Ashley and Leon could only stare in shock as they looked at the disaster, open mouthed, at what lay before them.

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