Date: Sat, 8 Jul :05 -0700
From: jaden.
Subject: The Darkness-Prologue
This story is a work of fiction.
It depicts a romance between two
consenting adult males and may contain some descriptions of sexual acts.
If you are not of legal age to read this kind of story, please leave now.
If you reside in an area where reading stories that include sexual
situations between two consenting adult males is illegal, please leave now.
This story is for entertainment purposes only.
Any similarity to any
person(s) living or dead is simply a coincidence.
The author retains all
rights to the story.
It cannot be reproduced in any form without expressed
written permission from the author.
Please contact the author for any
Copyright 2006.
Feedback...including criticism...is appreciated and welcome.
respond to this story at: jaden.
THE DARKNESS
By Jaden Scott
The darkness was cunning, and its will to survive was strong.
darkness had many weaknesses, not the least of which was its inability to
exist on its own.
The darkness needed a vessel...a host...in order to
The darkness was a force of nature...and a parasite.
The darkness knew instinctively, maybe even cleverly, that it couldn't take
over its current host with brute force.
It recognized that the process of
merging and eventually gaining superiority over any host was a long and
slow process.
Unfortunately for the host, the darkness was very, very
The darkness was also very greedy, perhaps the most damaging of all its
characteristics, at least for the host.
The darkness would not stop
consuming the host until the host was dead.
One trait the darkness never
displayed was compassion for its host.
When one host died, the darkness
simply sought out a new place to live.
In the world the darkness existed
in, there was no shortage of potential hosts.
The current host the darkness resided in had been particularly challenging.
The darkness had waged a war for superiority over this host for close to
fourteen years.
Four separate times the darkness had almost won.
times the darkness had come close to declaring its dominance over the host.
Finally, on its fifth try, the darkness succeeded.
Ironically, the
happiness, the pure pleasure the darkness experienced after its hard fought
victory, was the exact thing it obliterated inside of the host.
But, the darkness was too sure of itself, too content to bask and revel in
its strength.
In the end, it's possible the darkness was simply too
ignorant to know any better.
Victory begat complacency, and the darkness
neglected to make sure the host's spirit was completely extinguished.
Buried deep inside of the host, in the very core of his being, an ember of
light had survived the brutal onslaught brought by the darkness.
speck of light flickered from time to time, but it never faded into
In its arrogance, the darkness didn't worry about this
incredibly small piece of light.
I at least that's what
the darkness assumed.
Despite the fact that the darkness was very clever and extremely cunning,
it had never learned the first rule of war: Know your enemy.
Knowledge is
power, and the lack of knowledge the darkness had about its opponent
eventually proved to be its fatal flaw.
If the darkness had taken the time
to learn, it would have realized that leaving that tiny piece of light
inside of the host was a huge mistake.
The human spirit, while
indefinable, was powerful...very powerful.
There really was no way the darkness could have predicted the external
force that crashed in and began nurturing the small speck of light.
the host didn't foresee this turn of events.
But, when it happened, the
ember of light started to grow and it was only a matter of time before the
darkness was defeated.
However, this wasn't a quick process, and the
darkness desperately tried to fight back.
But, in the end, the flicker of
light grew into a flame that burned so bright no shadows were left for the
darkness to retreat into.
Finally, as it faded into nothingness, the first
and only direct communication between the darkness and host occurred.
the darkness could have understood human language, it would have heard one
simple word...Wyatt.
The darkness ceased to exist.
CHAPTER ZERO: A LIGHT CRASHES INTO THE DARKNESS
The mattress was the color of the sky.
It was the only color, other than
black, he saw these days.
Mostly, though, he saw black, which was
understandable since his eyes were closed for about twenty hours every day.
Even when his eyes were actually opened, he viewed the world through a veil
of blackness.
The bright blue color of the mattress was the only color in
There had been a moment...months ago...when his mind cleared enough to
allow him to realize what was happening to him.
Despite this brief moment
of clarity, there was nothing he could do to help himself.
The darkness
had complete control over him.
The 'darkness' was a term he coined many years ago, when he first
encountered the alien force inside of him.
He was only thirteen years old
at the time, but now, in so many ways, it felt like he had dealt with the
darkness his entire life.
Many battles had been waged over the years, and
each time he'd conquered the horrible feelings the darkness created in him.
He had always survived.
Lying on his sky blue mattress, he couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when
the darkness had started dominating his life.
This time, it had been so
incredibly slow...so incredibly gradual...that he didn't realize the
darkness was winning until it was too late.
When his eyes opened, the first sight to greet him was the color of the
There was a time when sheets had covered the mattress, but he
couldn't recall when he had removed them.
The likely answer was the sheets
were ripped off the worn mattress during his near-constant, restless sleep.
Against his will, he shifted his body until he could see the dust-covered
alarm clock sitting on the dust-covered nightstand next to his bed.
bright red numbers read 10:12, and since it wasn't pitch black in his
bedroom, he guessed it was morning.
He had no idea what day of the week it
was...he had lost track of that a long time ago.
For that matter, he
couldn't clearly remember what month it was.
He thought it was June, but
it easily could have been May or July.
He just didn't know...and he didn't
He realized he couldn't recollect the last time he was awake so early in
It felt so...unnatural.
A terrible aroma caught his attention.
It smelled predominantly like piss mixed with shit.
At first, he couldn't
tell where it was coming from.
Slowly, it dawned on him.
The odor was
emanating from HIS body.
Like everything else in his...existence, he
couldn't remember the last time he'd taken a shower.
It could have been a
week, a month, or maybe even a year ago.
Based on the putridness of the
smell, it was definitely one of the latter two answers.
Fighting himself the whole time, he lifted his head off his drool-stained
pillow and sat up.
He waited for a few moments until the wave of dizziness
that struck him passed.
In slow motion, he got up from his bed and stood
He saw...and ignored...the litter that surrounded him.
of flies, he guessed fruit flies, buzzed by his face.
He halfheartedly
lifted his hand to swat them away.
With no clear destination in mind, he stumbled out of his bedroom,
carefully choosing his steps because there was so much clutter on the
When he reached the equally cluttered hallway, he turned right, his
first inclination to go downstairs into his living room.
But, he caught
another whiff of himself and made a split-second decision to turn left and
head towards the bathroom.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was in reality only about ten
seconds, he reached the bathroom.
Another foul scent reached his nose, and
at first he thought he smelled himself again.
But, he realized the smell
was coming from the bathroom.
Suddenly, he wasn't sure why he was in
A faint voice in the corner of his mind reminded him that he needed
to take a shower, but the thought of doing that seemed so...daunting.
wasn't sure if he had enough energy to perform that mundane task.
During this period of indecision, he happened to catch a glimpse of himself
in the huge mirror mounted above the sink, and this caught his attention.
For the first time in forever, he actually looked at himself, but he didn't
recognize his own reflection.
'Who is that person staring back at me?' he
"Your name is Dax.
Dax Carmack.
Daxton Michael Carmack." He said aloud to
the stranger in the mirror.
Despite saying his name, the figure staring
back at Dax showed no sign of recognition at this announcement.
continued to study the face and body of the person in the mirror.
person sort of looked like him, and Dax guessed the figure was the same
height he was, about five feet, eleven inches tall.
Dax began to look more closely at the face of the person in the mirror.
The first thing he noticed was the eyes, which were dull, brown, and
The person also had a grossly unkempt mustache and beard and,
just like the eyes, this facial hair was dull, brown, and lifeless.
eyes traveled down even further and, if it could have been possible, he
would have seen his lifeless eyes spark for a quick instant.
The figure in
the mirror was wearing a white shirt that was covered in dried, unknown
food stains.
The food stains didn't even register to Dax.
register was the beginnings of a small gut forming on the body.
was actually pushing the white shirt out a little bit.
Dax took his hands
and began running them over this foreign entity.
Despite what he saw in
the mirror, it was feeling his hands running over his belly that convinced
Dax the...addition...to his body was real.
It felt completely unfamiliar.
After a few minutes spent obsessing over this new part of his body, Dax's
eyes wandered back up to the head of the person in the mirror.
person's dull, brown, and lifeless hair was so long, it almost reached his
shoulders.
Dax reached up and started combing his fingers through the long
Suddenly, he felt intensely disgusted by this long, greasy mess.
It had to come off.
An old memory flashed through Dax's mind, causing him to reach down and
pull open the bottom drawer on the right hand side of the vanity.
were sitting there, right on top, just like he remembered.
Dax grabbed the
scissors out of the drawer and put them in his left hand.
With his right
hand, Dax grabbed a huge chunk of hair on top of his head.
thinking, Dax started cutting the hair with the scissors.
He cut so close
to his head, he was in danger of scalping himself.
Dax stopped for a moment and stared at the clump of hair in his hand.
Without warning, an unknown force possessed Dax and, for the next few
minutes, he began cutting all of the hair off of his head.
The only sound
that could be heard during this time was the snipping of the scissors as he
furiously tried to complete this task.
He couldn' he was
compelled to get rid of this nuisance.
When there wasn't anything left to
cut on the top of his head, he focused on his beard.
Dax's eyes, which
burned with an intensity unseen for quite some time, had tears streaming
out of them.
When Dax couldn't cut any more hair from his head or his
beard, he began snipping at his eyebrows.
They were too bushy and had to
be dealt with.
Soon enough, the sound of the scissors ceased and the only thing Dax could
hear was his own heavy breathing.
He threw the scissors down on the
counter and ran both of his hands over his head and face, desperately
trying to brush away all remnants of his brash act.
Finally, Dax slumped
to the floor, collapsed in a heap.
His bare feet were resting in a few
clumps of brown hair that were lying on the floor and they tickled his
After a few minutes, his eyes stopped leaking and his breathing
returned to normal.
He closed his eyes, exhausted by that burst of energy.
His mind drifted off.
When Dax became aware of his surroundings again, he wasn't sure how long he
had been lying there on the bathroom floor.
It must have been quite a
while because all of the muscles in his arms and legs were stiff and his
butt ached, and not in a good way.
He glanced up and caught sight of the
toilet bowl, which sat directly across from him.
He was pretty sure the
bowl had been white at one point, but now it was yellow and brown, covered
in a layer of...well, Dax wasn't too sure.
It looked like dried, crusted
urine infused with shit.
His eyes drifted down, and he was greeted with a
similar sight on the floor immediately surrounding the toilet bowl.
looked like a concoction of piss, chunks of shit, and pieces of toilet
paper was glued to the floor.
The sight made Dax want to vomit.
Slowly he managed to stand up, every muscle in his body protesting
violently.
The site of the toilet bowl and the floor reminded Dax of his
body odor, and he decided he had to take a shower.
He looked to his far
left, to the built-in, wooden shelves next to the sink.
Dax was shocked
when he found a single yellow towel sitting on the middle shelf.
folded and actually looked fresh.
Dax closed the lid on the toilet bowl to
create a clean area to place the towel.
He was disgusted when he noticed
even more dried and crusty chunks of shit on the back edge of the toilet
bowl, previously hidden when the lid was open.
He placed the towel on the
lid, and proceeded to remove his clothing, letting it drop anywhere on the
hair, piss, and shit covered floor.
Dax pulled open the shower curtain.
Like everything else in his bathroom,
the sight his eyes took in revolted him.
The bathtub was extremely grimy.
The entire tub and most of the sides of the shower were covered with brown
soap scum.
Mold of different colors was growing in every crack and crevice
of the tub.
Dax tried to ignore all of this nastiness as he turned on the
He heard the pipes groan as water ran through them for the first
time in ages.
When he turned on the showerhead, some brown colored liquid squirted out at
first before being replaced by fresh, clean water.
Dax adjusted the hot
and cold knobs until the water was warm enough, and then he got into the
shower, pulling the shower curtain closed behind him.
The side of the
shower curtain facing the inner part of the shower was covered in mold too,
which didn't surprise Dax at this point.
Dax closed his eyes and forced
himself to clear his mind of everything he'd seen as the deluge of water
struck him directly on his head and ran down his body.
Dax glanced down and saw a bar soap sitting in the built-in soap dish.
least, Dax thought it was a bar of soap.
It was dried out and had a number
of cracks in it, most likely from non-use.
Dax could have sworn the soap
was supposed to be green, but now it was a dull yellow color.
didn't look clean, and Dax decided not use it.
Dax turned around to let the water reach his back and his butt.
didn't have a washcloth, he decided to reach around and use his hand to
wash out the crack of his ass.
He immediately recoiled his hand after
reaching this area, horrified by what he found there.
He felt some kind of
mushy substance in his hand and, when he looked down, he was horrified to
find a dark brown mess covering his hand.
His hand was covered in
Dax looked down and saw that chunks of shit had fallen out of his
ass and onto the floor of the tub.
For the second time that day, Dax felt
like he was going to throw up.
What in the hell had he done to himself?
How had he gotten to this point?
Dax didn't have any answers.
Despite his revulsion, Dax forced himself to wash out his ass as best he
He even used some of the dried out yellow soap to assist in the
It was quite possibly the most disgusting thing Dax had ever done in
Finally, he was finished, and after he was done, he put his head
back under the stream of water and stood there.
Suddenly, Dax thought he heard a sound.
It was loud, and it seemed like it
was coming from somewhere close to his condo, maybe even inside of his
Dax stood quietly, barely breathing for the next few seconds.
didn't hear anything but the sound of the water coming out of the
showerhead.
Slowly, Dax started to relax.
'Thud, thud, thud.'
Dax heard the sound again.
What was that?
An icy fear shot through Dax's veins.
He suddenly realized what the sound
It was someone knocking on his front door.
The person, whoever it
was, must have been knocking loudly if Dax could hear it all the way up in
his bathroom while the shower was running.
Dax didn't know what to
His heart started beating really fast.
Please, go away!'
Dax shouted in his mind.
Suddenly, Dax heard an incredibly loud sound, many decibels higher than the
other noises.
It sounded like a crack of thunder after a bolt of lightning
struck nearby.
Dax immediately shut off the water and stood very still,
listening, wondering what that sound was.
THIS IS THE POLICE!
IS ANYONE HERE?" A deep male voice shouted
from downstairs.
DOUBLE FUCK!' Dax screamed in his mind.
'I can't believe this.
How in the hell did the police get into my condo?'
The loud crack.
Dax suddenly realized what that sound was.
The police had
broken open his front door.
Dax was frozen in place, water droplets
running off of his body.
"This is the police.
Is anyone here?" The male voice shouted again.
Dax snapped out of his frozen state.
He whipped open the shower curtain
and grabbed his one clean towel from where it lay.
He had no choice but to
"Um...yeah.
I'm up here." Dax replied in a shaky voice.
"Sir, are you okay?" The male voice asked.
"Yes." Dax answered uneasily.
"I, um, I just got out of the shower.
me throw on some clothes and I'll be down in a minute."
"Okay." The male voice said.
Dax dried off quickly and ran down to his bedroom.
He was pretty
sure he didn't have any clean clothes.
Dax started to panic while quickly
searching through the piles of clothes scattered all over his bedroom
He finally found a pair of shorts and an old shirt that didn't
smell too bad.
They would have to do.
Dax quickly put on his clothes, and
then stopped for a minute to catch his breath.
His mind, which had been
focused on finding some clothes, started functioning again.
'Why are the cops here?
They're in my condo!
It's...the whole place is a mess!' Dax thought.
A wave of the most intense embarrassment he'd ever felt in his life washed
People...the police no less...were in his house.
prepared for this.
Oh my god!
They're going to SEE me.
They're going to
SEE everything.
They're going to KNOW what he'd become.
Something occurred to Dax at that moment.
He had cut off most
of his hair, and it was really uneven and most likely looked horrible.
couldn't let the cops see what he had done to himself.
Dax rushed over to
his closet and breathed a sigh of relief when he found one of his old Ohio
University baseball hats sitting on the shelf.
Dax grabbed the hat and
covered his head.
Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do to mask his
beard or his eyebrows.
Are you coming down?" The male voice shouted.
Hearing the cop's
voice snapped Dax out of his paralysis.
"Coming." Dax shouted back.
He took a deep breath and tried desperately to
calm his rattled nerves.
When he reached the top of the stairs, Dax
glanced down and saw two police officers, one male and one female, standing
at the bottom of the stairs staring back at him.
Despite every fiber of
his being telling him to run and hide, Dax slowly began walking into the
lion's den.
"Are you Dax Carmack?" The male officer asked when Dax reached the bottom
of the stairs.
"Y...yes." Dax stuttered.
He couldn't bring himself to look directly at
either of the officers.
He felt so ashamed.
"Are you okay, sir?" The female officer asked.
The officer's question prompted Dax to glance around his living room.
There was garbage piled everywhere, on every available surface, on every
piece of furniture, on every open space on the floor.
Dax realized garbage
was piled so high in some areas that if he stepped in the middle of it, it
would have reached past his knees.
The shock of seeing the police forced Dax to really look at the state of
his condo.
He truly saw, for the first time in months, the foulness he was
living in.
As his mind registered what he was seeing, Dax didn't want to
believe it.
It h it just had to be.
The majority of the trash was fast-food related items.
Hamburger wrappers,
bags, and cups with straws and lids on them littered his entire condo.
Sometimes mixed in the middle of this mess was a towel or an article of
clothing that had somehow made its way to that spot.
Dax's eyes were drawn
to some movement on the coffee table.
He saw a McDonald's cup laying on
its side, remnants of chocolate milkshake still left in the cup.
swarm of fruit flies covered the inside of the cup.
They were so thick in
some places that you could barely see the cup's lining.
Dax tore his eyes
away from this scene and closed them, unable to bear looking anymore.
"Sir, are you okay?" The female officer repeated.
Against his will, tears formed in both of Dax's eyes and spilled onto his
"I...I don't think I am." He replied.
"I...I...Oh my god."
Dax covered
his face with his hands.
"Sir." The female officer said.
"DAX!" She said loudly to get his
attention.
Dax removed his hands and looked in her direction, but he was
still unable to look either officer in the eyes.
"My name is Officer Williams.
This is my partner, Officer Bradley." She
said while pointing at the male cop.
"Can you tell us what's wrong?"
tone in her voice changed from gruff and commanding to soft and soothing.
"I don't know.
I really don't know!" Dax replied, tears still leaking from
"How long have you been...living like this?" Officer Bradley asked.
formal cop tone was absent from his voice too.
"I'm not sure.
A long time, I think.
It's...um...it's June, right?" Dax
asked timidly.
"Yes." Officer Williams confirmed.
"I...I guess about eight or nine months at least."
Dax replied.
suddenly got a pained expression on his face.
"Oh my god!
happening to me?"
"I'm not sure Dax, but we're going to help you." Officer Williams said.
Dax realized Officer Williams was right...he needed to get some help.
looked at both cops for the first time since he had come downstairs.
Despite everything that was happening, Dax couldn't help but notice that
Officer Bradley was hot.
Dax wasn't normally turned on by any kind of
uniforms, but young Officer Bradley was a sight to behold in his cop gear.
Suddenly, something occurred to Dax.
"Wait a minute!
How...how did you guys know that I was in trouble?
did you know to come check on me?" Dax asked.
"Your lawyer, Mr. Webster, called us.
Apparently, he hadn't heard from you
in over six weeks.
He was worried something bad had happened to you."
Officer Williams explained.
"Mr. Webster called you guys?" Dax asked.
He couldn't believe that grumpy
old Mr. Webster had gotten involved like this.
He didn't think that
Mr. Webster even knew who he was.
Both officers simply nodded their heads
at Dax's question.
"Dax, can you tell us how you're feeling right now?" Officer Williams
"Truthfully, I'm exhausted.
Scared and exhausted.
All I want to do is go
back to sleep." Dax admitted.
"Neither one of us are doctors Dax, but based on the state your condo is in
and from what you've told us, it sounds like you are suffering from some
kind of depression.
Pretty severe, from the looks of it." Officer Bradley
commented.
"What should I do?
I...I don't know what to do?" Dax cried out, fresh
tears forming in his eyes.
"Try not to worry.
There's an emergency medical center we can take you to
that deals with this kind of problem.
As a matter of fact, we can take you
there right now.
They'll be able to help you." Officer Williams replied.
Dax glanced around his living room again.
He was terrified, but what
choice did he have?
It was obvious he needed help, and he felt he could
trust the two officers.
"Okay, I'll go." Dax said after a few seconds.
"That's the right decision.
You should probably pack a bag to bring with
you, just in case you need to stay in the hospital for a few days." Officer
Williams said.
"The...the hospital?" Dax asked, fear clearly evident in his voice.
"Dax...you need to get some help.
It's possible the doctor at the
emergency center will want to admit you to the hospital for a few days.
know it sounds scary, but we have dealt with these doctors before.
are good people and they're there to help you.
I promise." Officer
Williams said in that soothing voice again.
Dax wasn't convinced, but he nodded in agreement anyway.
Like it or not,
he might have to spend a few days in a mental hospital.
But, there was
something else that was troubling him.
"I...I don't think I have any...um...clean clothes to take with me." Dax
practically whispered.
His face flushed with embarrassment.
"Dax, that's fine.
Just pack up whatever clothes you think you'll need.
We'll explain the situation to the doctors.
They'll make sure your
clothing is taken care of." Officer Williams said with a reassuring smile.
Dax nodded his head and turned to walk upstairs to his bedroom.
"Dax." Officer Bradley called out.
Dax turned around to look at him.
there anyone you need to contact before you leave?"
"No." Dax replied sadly as he shook his head.
"Everyone's gone.
all gone."
Dax paused for a second.
"Well, perhaps Mr. Webster, since he
did call you guys."
"Someone from our station will contact him since he was the one to call us.
We'll let him know you're alive." Officer Bradley stated.
I...I guess I should go pack." Dax said without much confidence.
Both officers smiled and nodded.
Dax turned and started walking up the
He was scared...terrified, really.
But, one other emotion started
to creep into Dax's soul, an emotion he hadn't felt since the traumatic bus
crash last year.
Dax felt hope.