Prologue

There is darkness, and there is darkness. There is the darkness of a night sky, deep in winter without starlight or moonlight to show the way. There is the darkness of a lonely bedroom with two people that don't know how to talk to each other. There is the darkness of the human heart, devoid of compassion or empathy.

I exist in darkness, in a blackness so complete, I can feel it crushing me. The weight of this perfect black pushes down like a huge hand against my shoulders. I can't move. I can't breathe in this ebony darkness. I know I'm going to die.

I'm not afraid of the dark. My father used to tell me when I'd cry in the night about monsters under the bed, that there's nothing in the dark that isn't there in the light. I know better now. There are things in the dark that are there in the light.

I hear something rustle in the dark, and my heart begins to pound so hard, I can't move. A weight joins me where I sit, and something caresses my cheek. I can't stop the scream that rises in my throat.

"Help me!"

The weight beside me shifts and a hand yanks my hair so hard I begin to sob. "Don't worry, my pretty little girl. Soon, your beloved will join us, and we'll have so much fun together."