My tears turn to ice as they cut across my cheeks.
Please, I beg. My voice trembles in the darkness.
This darkness- I thought I'd known what he was capable of before, but this?
This is the type of dark that breathes on its own and can call the shadows to do its bidding. I have only ever seen it in glimmers when I dare to meet his eyes, but now I am in it and I am lost, and oh god-
My thoughts shatter as his fingers brush my neck.

Why are you doing this to me? I ask, words swept away by the raging wind. My teeth chatter.
I was happy. I was living and I was enjoying it. Why do you keep pulling me back here?

He snakes his arm around my waist, pulling me further into his abyss. The last, precious gulps of air bubble behind my throat, their sweet taste a reminder of everything he will take from me, everything I leave behind. I kick and thrash, but nothing hurts those who do not exist. His hand on my hip tugs me harder.

I break his grip and run, only to have him appear by my side and shove me to the ground. My head rings dizzy with the darkness.
You are nothing without me, he says.
I close my eyes to him, but he is painted on the underside of my lashes.
You are nothing without me, he says.
Slowly, I open my eyes and bow my head. He gloats over my huddled form, for he knows that I will always give in.
I am nothing without you. I answer his summons, and the clarity I once knew melts away.

He calls the sun to burn itself out and it must obey,
So who do I think I am to disagree?