i am not afraid

            “ —- ALL THE WAY to Night Vale ? ”                     “ How am I supposed to make it THERE ? ”

          His voice was a frantic HISS, nothing like the cheerful            radio personality he wore during work hours.       The            vent he found himself in was hot and cramped, and he           took care to lower his voice in case it carried sound. In           the back of his mind, Kevin knew he’d be found at some           point, by someone, but that seemed far off. 

                                   “ Okay. Okay. I’ll, I don’t know, STEAL                                     A BIKE, or something. Carlos? I’m                                     KEVIN. I’ll look for you. ”

                   The bike he stole was a piece of CRAP —- the wheels gave                    out after fifteen miles of off-roading in the middle of the day,                     and he managed to snag a couple of bottles of water, but                     he was still sunburnt and exhausted by the time he staggered                     past the city limit sign. WELCOME TO NIGHT VALE.                     He threw up a sweaty hand and slapped the lower corner,                     because it wasn’t like anyone was lining up to high five him,                     and he deserved SOMETHING after a trip like that. 

      He made it about ten feet before the riot suits poured in. 

    A body lay in the corner, torn open and apart, white     coat stained red, and Carlos didn’t want to know who     it was. The walls were littered with deep gouges from     where the beast hard torn at it in its fury, chemicals     and shattered glass covering the floor. Cabinet doors     had been yanked from their hinges and hurled across     the room, dents in the wall where they had struck.

    The team of scientists, now one less, quietly worked     on cleaning up the lab, reluctant to talk about who was     lost. Half of the glass had been swept up when a SSP     officer caught their attention, calling Carlos outside,     saying there’s a man who wants to see him.

    Curiously, he followed the officer, blinking against the     bright sunlight and at the sight of a man. Not too tall.     Not too short. He looked terrible.   }

                “Cecil? Are you alright...?”

    ❛Just a hunch.❜ the tired green of their eyes came with a shrug.        life so close to THE VOID often gets WARPED. physiology changes,     bodies evolves while simultaneously devolving, personalities     transfigure & even physiology transcends.    ( did you know, no one in night vale has a liver? or rather,        none of them NEED one. )

    ❛Most plants don’t scream when I walk away.    Writhe maybe–not scream.❜ 

  the archangel got closer &     – look at that, they calmly burst into flames. again. 

    ❛The problem is: you WATER THEM.❜         what idiot thought of watering them?              obviously, you burn them.

{   And look at that, Carlos is sent into a mild panic. Again.   }

                “Quit that!”

{   Now he’s less hesitant with his actions, grabbing the small     pot and putting it under the sink, the running water extinguishing     the flames.   }

                “Okay, y’know what. Just. Stay away                  from anything that has the potential                  of incineration. I really don’t need my                  samples dying, thanks.”

{   How did this guy even do that, though? Clearly he’s not human;     what human can make plants combust just from being near them?     Maybe he radiates something that can accelerate the particles     of matter, but why hadn’t the objects around the plant gone up in     flames too? Selective radiation? Is that even possible? Well. This     is Night Vale. A lot of things are possible here.   }

            At first, he thought the BURNING was just a side effect of              asphyxiation ; his fingers and toes had already started              going numb, and it seemed perfectly logical to his              deprived brain. When he thought he smelled the barest             hint of smoke, he panicked, STRUGGLING all over again. 

        ( How ridiculous, REALLY. If he can’t breathe, how is he           going to do anything more than H A L L U C I N A T E ? ) 

     When he finally gets some space ( and some AIR !! ) he       takes deep, gasping breaths, trying to steady himself.       Without the Light, he’s weak where Carlos is strong.      That just won’t do.

    Tʜᴇ ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ ɪs ɢᴏɴᴇ. Nᴏ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ sᴏ     ʜᴏsᴛɪʟᴇ. Hɪs ᴠᴏɪᴄᴇ ᴡᴀs ɢᴇɴᴛʟᴇ﹐ ᴛʜᴇ     ʀᴀɢɢᴇᴅ ᴀɴɢᴇʀ ғʀᴏᴍ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ɢᴏɴᴇ.   }

                   “ DESERT BLUFFS, I’m in the radio station, I —- ”

         A door slams open, banging against the near wall, and           the transmission cuts off, warping into muffled, distant          voices and static. He must nudge the dial at some point,           because it starts to melt into CLASSICAL around the time          rise from talking to shouting. By the time he bothers to fix          it, he’s out of breath from running. 

                “Desert Bluffs...?"

{   His end was quiet as he waited for the other to     get back on the line, if that would ever happen.     Gentle tapping, nervous, but gentle. The     occasional sounds of something scratching,     claws tearing along walls, glass crashing to the     ground. Hadn’t he he called for help earlier? Where     is the SSP?

    There’s the man again. Carlos wished he didn’t     have to say this.   }

     ❛…❜ by nature, they’d follow orders from a SUPERIOR– but in this case,              it was a rather unfortunate man of science caught in a world where               the only law was nothing like his own.  

  … [ he retreated, but the flowers started to scream even louder–         they wanted the angel closer ] …

{   Displeased isn’t quite the word he’d use, but then again, he really     doesn’t know much about these plants; he’s pretty far from a botanist.     What he is is inquisitive, and screaming plants is enough to gain     even his interest.

    He took a few steps forward, his curiosity canceling out some of his     caution, though his gaze kept cutting over to the man -- man? --     muscles tense, ready to strike if need be. He was half tempted to ask     him to move back and forth, just to see what they’ll do.   }

           “ Oh, FINALLY !! ”                    “ No one’s been answering for HOURS, I thought – ”                           “ It doesn’t matter. ”

                “ Suits? I don’t think -- “

{   There’s a crash, like glass shattering, and a shout. The sound     of the phone being pressed to clothing, the sound of running.     Howling, inhuman. A door slamming, the noises cutting off.     And then quiet, complete except for the terrified gasps for breath,     muffled somewhat.   }

“ What are you DOING ?? ”

         Kevin couldn’t keep his voice down to an appropriate octave,           and it rose, hysterical. Carlos was tall enough that he had to          rise on his tiptoes to match his height and tilt his chin up to           avoid choking.    He could FEEL the light dying, leaving him empty and   hollow and WEAK. Whatever it was Carlos had on his   side, it was stronger than the Smiling God ; Kevin felt   some small piece of himself balk at the thought, but    that piece was withering away, along with His LIGHT.                 When there was more KEVIN left than LIGHT, he felt                 strangely free, but the    V O I D    what power he used                to wield left in him ached, and no matter the strange                 sensation, he ached for the familiarity of the light,                 burning hot again in his veins. 

    ᴛʜᴇ ℓιgнт ʙᴜʀɴᴇᴅ. ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅɴ·ᴛ ᴋᴇᴠɪɴ ғᴇᴇʟ ɪᴛ﹖ sᴜʀᴇʟʏ ʜᴇ ᴍᴜsᴛ. ᴛʜᴇ     ℓιgнт ʙᴇɢᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ʜᴜʀᴛ﹐ ᴛᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ ᴀᴛ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟᴀʏ ʙᴇʟᴏᴡ ʜɪs sᴋɪɴ﹐     sɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ʙʀɪɢʜᴛ ᴄʟᴀᴡs ɪɴᴛᴏ ʜɪs ᴅᴀʀᴋɴᴇss. 

    ɪᴛ ʜᴜʀᴛ﹐ ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀɪɴ ʟᴇssᴇɴᴇᴅ ʀᴀᴘɪᴅʟʏ. ᴛʜᴇ sᴇᴀʀɪɴɢ ʜᴇᴀᴛ﹐     ᴛʜᴇ ʙʟɪɴᴅɪɴɢ ℓιgнт﹐ ᴀʟʟ ɢᴏɪɴɢ﹐                                                                   ɢᴏɪɴɢ﹐                                                                                       ɢᴏɪɴɢ﹐                                                                                                            ｇｏｎｅ．

    ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀs ᴅᴏɴᴇ﹐ ʜᴇ ʟᴇᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴏʏ ɢᴏ﹐ sᴛᴇᴘᴘɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ﹐     ᴇʏᴇs ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ sᴀᴍᴇ ᴄᴏʟᴏʀ ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ﹐ ᴀs ɪғ ᴛʜᴇʏ·ᴅ     ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴄʜᴀɴɢᴇᴅ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ғɪʀsᴛ ᴘʟᴀᴄᴇ.   }

                  “ Yoυ were ｎｏｔｈｉｎｇ wιтнoυт тнαт ℓιgнт﹐                     αɴd yoυ αre ｊｕｓｔ ｔｈｅ ｓａｍｅ ɴow.                     Doɴ'т тнιɴĸ α lιттle ℓιgнт ѕнow wιll ѕcαre мe. ”

{   Hɪs ʜᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴏᴠᴇᴅ ғʀᴏᴍ Kᴇᴠɪɴ·s ᴄᴏʟʟᴀʀ ᴛᴏ ʜɪs ɴᴇᴄᴋ﹐     ɢʀᴀʙʙɪɴɢ ʜᴏʟᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀᴋɪɴɢ sᴜʀᴇ ᴀ ᴋɴᴜᴄᴋʟᴇ ᴅᴜɢ ɪɴᴛᴏ     ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴀɴ·s ᴀᴅᴀᴍ·s ᴀᴘᴘʟᴇ. Tʜᴇ ᴡʜɪᴛᴇs ᴏғ Cᴀʀʟᴏs·s     ᴇʏᴇs ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴀʙʀᴜᴘᴛʟʏ ғʟᴇᴄᴋᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʙʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ℓιgнт     ʙᴇɢᴀɴ ᴛᴏ ғᴇsᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ᴅɪᴇ.   }