Work Text:
I loved to understand people, decode every piece, understand the very being of their existence.
Maybe understand whats below the skin. Or in the head.
. . .
I walked down to the bar.
Maybe a drink would help me.
I sat at the bar, ordered something not too strong, but also not too weak.
The people near were chatting.
I couldn't help but listen in.
They were just talking about plans at a coffee shop.
. . .
Everything felt uneventful.
I noticed someone sitting alone.
I sat up, and sat next to them.
They seemed young-ish. Twenty five max.
I decided to speak to them.
"Hello, i noticed you're alone."
I spoke with sheer indifference. No emotion present. nothing present.nothing
"Yes... i moved in around here a while ago."
. . .
I didn't reply after that.
Just took another sip of my drink, zoning out and staring at the counter. The silence was palpable. Most likely she thought of it as awkward. The shadows of the bar felt... there.
After a minimum of ten minutes, she got up and left.
I felt... the overbearing urge to follow her.
Any reasonable person wouldn't
. . .
I wasn't reasonable.
I got up and followed. I felt the cold air of the settling night hit my face, sending a subtle shiver down mg spine
I stayed at least twenty feet away.
The streets were rather bare as night fell and people wrapped up their days.
I kept following. Soon, she took a right. I took a right. She seemed to not notice me. She didn't look behind her, didn't say anything, just kept a confident stride.
Soon she took another right.
. . . Then another.
And next thing i knew
It had been four hours.
. . .
Circling the same space over and over.
That time doubled.
She knew, i knew.
I can wait.
. . .
Maybe this is a good time to tell you, the reader a bit about him, Kade.
Hes nothing. Or... something, that has nothing. You'll maybe understand... later.
It had become hour nine.
Circling.
or, at least.. thats what i think.
I was hungry, and in immense pain.
. . . I'll find more out later.
Right as i thought about going home.. she was gone.
Where? I wasn't sure.
... was there truly nothing?
Why didn't she call the police, if she knew i was following?
People don't just circle a block for nine hours then disappear when their follower looks away.
. . .
I went home.
Home, was an apartment.
I was alone, once again.
My hunger was gnawing at me.
. . .
I didn't want to make anything, or get anything.
Especially not after nine full hours of walking.
I collapsed onto my couch.
I stared at the ceiling, mind empty.
I thought nothing, felt nothing. Did nothing.
I, was nothing.
My hunger had vanished, becoming just background noise of a setting that wasn't there.
But what is nothing. One could argue it depends on who you ask. One person may just say the absence of something.
another person could say it's something.
Something thats defined as nothing. An invisible form, with thoughts and feelings, yet feels nothing and thinks of nothing. It exists,
but you can't tell it's there. Maybe it doesn't either.
. . .
I heard tapping at my door.
Not a knock, but like a finger tapping. Repeatedly.
I didn't feel like answering the door.
Five continuous minutes goes by.
Then ten.
. . .
Then it was twenty.
Fine.
I got up. Zoning back into the world surrounding me.
I opened the door.
. . . No one. nothing
. . .
Okay. Thats weird.
I closed the door.
It felt my actions were futile.
I was probably imaging it.
. . .
I laid back down on my couch. I stared at the ceiling once more.
I felt... watched.
Tapping
Tapping
Tapping.
Tapping.
Inside.
Inside my home.
. . . Theres nothing. No one.
I kept staring.
The tapping...
More insistent, faster. Harder.
. . .
"Stop it..."
I ended up saying, sounding indifferent, but a hint of underlying... something.
The tapping continued. I didn't think, i did nothing.
I got up.
I opened the door, nothing. No one.
Im okay.
The idea of being okay washed through my body, but not my mind.
Futile caring.
The tapping stopped momentarily.
I turned around, ready to go lay on my couch once again.
There they were. A shadow, a silhouette. A person... maybe.
I couldn't tell anymore.
I felt... nothing.
The figure was pure black. My small light in the living room couldn't even touch it.
I laid back down.
A sense of calm washed over my entire body.
It felt like i was laying on pure air.
The figure loomed over me.
It felt like i recognized it.
It felt like I've seen it in every corner of everywhere i went. Though, it also felt as if this figure... was never seen before.
It bent over, face above mine.
I stared up, watching.
My face was expressionless, absent of true feeling.
The figures hand came up to me. Pointer finger extended.
My hand
. . .
Did the same.
Our fingers tapped each other, gently.
It felt like touching something unimaginably cold.
Maybe...
Maybe existence wasn't all there, to begin with.
Maybe, the overbearing color i couldn't describe, maybe the thing there, maybe i... was nothing
Maybe Kade was the hunter. Maybe the girl wasn't there. Maybe... he was hunting, the hunter.