The Howling Dark, Part 13 - "Him"

With a wave of a clawed hand behind him, a kneeling figure began to coalesce behind Aaron's Doppelganger.

Aaron's frantic struggles immediately ceased, his skin became visibly paler than before, his lips quivered and a small bead of yellow and silver trembled in the corner of one of his wide open eyes.

The kneeling figure was sobbing into her hands and even though he couldn't see her face the person in front of him was obviously a Young Woman, that much Aaron was sure of but as he took in what he could see of her features... the length, color, and style of her hair not to mention her skin color, approximate height, estimated weight, and those curves which the skimpy low-cut white blouse and tantalizing short shorts she was wearing did very little to hide but most telling of all were her cries.

They were like knives in his skull and what's more Aaron had heard them many times. His Sister Monica would come into his room when he first became confined to a bed. She would hold his hand and cry and sob until she eventually fell asleep. They were plentiful and painful memories which Aaron fought to suppress.

"Oh Aaron you can't save her and you never could.," The Other Aaron sneered menacingly.

Aaron's Sister looked up at him and he could only scream in horror as he saw his Sister covered in blood, her flesh torn beyond recognition and her left arm was mangled with the bones in her forearm twisted and splintered. Her beautiful face was now withered and charred by heat and flame, her once beautiful and inquisitive light brown eyes now milky and lifeless like those of a corpse.

"Stop! P-Please STOP!," Aaron wailed, fighting the straps holding him as his Doppelganger's clawed hands closed around his Sister's throat from behind.

"Why Didn't You Save Me Big Brother?," His Sister cried out, looking right at Aaron with blood falling from her eyes.

"NOoooooooooooooooooo!," Aaron screamed, his anguish evident as the blackened world around him rippled and the chair shook, creaking and splintering from the intense vibrations surging through it. Aaron could feel something deep inside himself being stretched and distorted, and with this sensation came a quite indescribable pain. On the outside Aaron's entire body was shaking, the veins in his neck and face bulging violently but most frightening of all were his eyes because at this moment his eyes were opened so wide that they were bleeding profusely and his irises were glowing like two spotlights were positioned inside his skull. However, that was what was happening outside. The inside was much more interesting because within a very dark corner of his mind something was beginning to stir.

"There You Are Aaron... The Real You. Try As It Might The Dam Can't Hold Back The Water Forever.," The Other Aaron said in an amused voice as he watched Aaron despair and why not he had swept aside Aaron's protectors while barely breaking a sweat and now he could claim his prize or at least that's what he thought until the sound of laughter caused him to freeze, his clawed fingers visibly trembling around Monica's throat.

The Doppelganger frantically looked all around but when he couldn't find the source of the sound he realized that that ghastly and inhuman sound was coming from Aaron but at the same time it wasn't. It was a sound so horrific and frightening that there are no words with which to describe it. It was a sound that even If some Warlock or Dark Mage from The Middle Ages had harnessed and distilled the very Essence of Madness and then concentrated it into its most potent form it wouldn't have been as terrible as that bone-chilling sound rushing past Aaron's lips like an unebbing Dark Tide.

Aaron's Doppelganger slowly recovering from its apparent shock, involuntarily released its grip on the figment of Aaron's Sister and stood up, unconsciously taking several steps back.

The insane and haunting laughter reverberated through the non-existent air and seemed to be coming from nowhere and everywhere all at once. The dreadful noise continued to rise up like a thunderous wave and as it did The Doppelganger's crushing aura began to fade and Aaron's wounded protectors could breathe a little easier though they were still in no shape to help.

[DRIP.. DRIP... DRIP...]

Slowly over the span of several seconds, another sound began to rise above and dominate the hideous and seemingly unending laughter. It was like the sound of water dripping, slow and quiet at first but then gaining **** with every drop until every drip carried with it the sound of thunder and the weight of a hammer coming down full **** on bare bone.

The Doppelganger's form started to distort and fluctuate and as it looked down at one of its hands with wide eyes, its hand exploded and reformed with every falling drop.

"WHAT IS THIIIIIIIIIS?!!," Roared Aaron's Doppelganger, desperately trying to locate the source of the maddening dripping when suddenly something caught his attention. From the left armrest, Aaron's Doppelganger could see a strange white liquid dripping from the tips of his fingers. It was a strange sight to be sure because it appeared as though the color or lack there of was literally sliding off of Aaron's hand and what's more underneath his frightfully pale exterior was a perfectly normal, perfectly human skin tone... something that Aaron hadn't had in many years not that he was able to appreciate it what with the increasingly insane laughter spilling out of him like a full glass constantly trying to be filled.

With each drop, the ground rippled again and again like a still pond disturbed by a fallen leaf from high above until The Deep Black of The Howling Dark was replaced by a Brilliant, blinding White. The Doppelganger squinted, shielding his glowing Gold eyes with a pale melting hand.

"What Have You DONE TO ME?!!," The Doppelganger growled angrily as he glared at Aaron who had fallen **** the moment The Howling Dark had finished transforming into the brilliant sea of white it was now.

"THAT IS A QUESTION YOU SHOULD BE ASKING ME.," Came a voice like thunder from behind The Doppelganger but it wasn't just one voice but hundreds even thousands of voices of different ages and genders, speaking in different languages but all of them were saying the exact same thing.

Aaron's Doppelganger stiffened as a presence that hadn't been there before suddenly materialized out of nowhere. The Doppelganger spun around ready to fight but there was nothing there but an endless field of white.

"WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?"

The Doppelganger quickly turned but again was met by nothing except an **** Aaron. The Doppelganger hadn't noticed at first but Aaron was no longer the pale, anemic looking young Man he had been moments ago... His face actually had color.

"This Isn't Possible!," The Doppelganger said, Frozen in shock at least until a familiar sound resonated in his ears...

[Drip... Drip Drip... Drip]

"ISN'T IT?!," Came The Many Voices As One before a figure began to rise up out of the pure white ground as if emerging from a pool of water. It was a eerie scene to say the least as the figure rose up and stepped out of the ground which rippled beneath it feet like a shimmering pond. The figure itself was quite strange as it was completely white or more an absence of any discernible color which made it stand out like a black spot on a solid white sheet of paper.

The Entity was tall and lightly muscled but aside from that there were no defining characteristics as its body was devoid of any genitalia or orifices even its head was empty of eyes, ears, a nose, and a mouth, and what's more its form was also hairless with an absence of a navel or nipples. It was like staring at the beginnings of a sculpture that wasn't quite finished but at the same time it gave the impression that this was exactly how it was supposed to be and that made it all the more creepy.

"Speak! WHO ARE YOU?!," The quivering Doppelganger demanded.

"KNEEL.," Came the cacophony of sorrowful voices speaking as one and The Doppelganger found that despite all its strength it could not prevent its body from obeying.

The Doppelganger dropped to one knee causing the ground underneath to crack, shock and confusion evident on its rapidly shifting face as it was soon on its knees in front of pale figure.

The pale figure gestured with its hand and the wavering figment of Aaron's Sister evaporated. Next the pale figure stepped forward causing a ripple to spread out from each step, washing away the cracks in the ground caused by The Doppelganger's **** submission.

Stopping a handful of feet away from the kneeling Doppelganger, The pale figure looked down at him and while he had no expression on his featureless face he exuded an aura like a Father about to chastise a disobedient Son. Just before he spoke the oppressive aura receded a step.

"YOU ASKED ME WHO I AM?," Came the booming whisper of a thousand voices all speaking in unison.

Aaron's Doppelganger flinched, He tried to look up but he couldn't raise his head. He could feel the weight of this mysterious being's words wrap around his body like a straitjacket and settled deep in his muscle and bones.

"I HAVE MANY NAMES... MORE NAMES THAN THERE ARE STARS IN ANY ONE UNIVERSE IN FACT..."

Aaron's Doppelganger swallowed hard at that.

"... I HAVE BEEN CALLED - - - THE BENEVOLENT TYRANT... THE WISE SAVAGE... THE BEGINNING OF MADNESS... THE MONSTER AT THE END OF THE PAGE... THAT WHICH MUST NOT BE NAMED..."

The strange entity laughed somewhat amusedly at that last one but amused or not its voice still shook the endless expanse of white.

"ONE OF MY CHILDREN EVEN JOKINGLY CALLED ME "THE GHOST OF CHRISTMAS PAST" THOUGH MOST OF MY CHILDREN KNOW ME AS "THE WANDERER"..."

Aaron's Doppelganger shook violently as the realization of just who and what was standing in front of him.

"I SEE...," The Entity's aura began to thicken, nearly strangling Aaron's Doppelganger., "... YOU TOO FEAR THIS NAME LIKE SO MANY OF MY OTHER CHILDREN... I SUPPOSE THAT IS WHAT I HAVE BECOME. HONESTLY IT HAS BEEN SO LONG AND I HAVE BEEN CALLED SO MANY THINGS THAT I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT MY NAME EVEN WAS BUT IF I HAD TO PICK ONE TO BE CALLED... IT WOULD HAVE TO BE..."

Aaron's Doppelganger swallowed with difficulty, feeling like he was trying to swallow a stone as big as his own head.

"... FIRST."

The conformation of his fear hit Aaron's Doppelganger like two planets colliding at superluminal speeds. There was only one creature who dared to claim such a Title for itself.

"I Was So Close... Why Is This Happening? Why Is Such A Terrifying Being Here?," Thought The Doppelganger almost in a panic.

"YOU...," Came First's voice., "... WERE CLOSE?," As He stared off into the distance.

Against his will, The Doppelganger's head snapped up and his eyes were wide and teary.

"DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!"

Aaron's Doppelganger swallowed anxiously as each word hit him like a Heaven-Sent Sword driven into his chest with a Celestial Hammer.

"G-G-Gre-Great F-F-Fa-Father I...," The Doppelganger attempted feebly.

"SIIILENCE!," First's many voices cut through the air like a Lion's Roar, causing the ground beneath the Doppelganger to crack and shatter while thick, black blood poured from The Doppelganger's ears and eyes., "WHEN I WANT TO HEAR YOUR LIES AND EXCUSES I WILL ASK YOU FOR THEM."

The Mysterious 'First' took a few steps past the fearfully trembling Doppelganger and the weight bearing down on him lightened. The pale figure held out his hand and multiple spheres of incandescent light formed at the tips of his fingers and he began calling out the names of those that had gathered to protect Aaron and as he did a sphere flew over to them like a small firefly and landed on their forehead, enveloping them in light.

"SELENE...," The Dark-Skinned Goddess' name was the first to be called. Her expression was one of both profound fear and genuine reverence as the tiny light touched her forehead and a soft, warm glow enveloped her and eventually settled on her arm which was broken as evidenced by the bones jutting through the skin. Within seconds, the bones were set and knitting while the muscle, torn nerves and blood vessels repaired themselves and her soft brown skin returned to its former flawlessness while the faded glow from her large red eyes began to blaze again like a starving fire given fresh air to breathe.

"ROKEG...," The next light flew over to The Priest and he too was enveloped in a soft glow that quickly healed his injuries. He was still **** but he was breathing easier and the color returned to his face or at least as much as it had had before.

The third light made its way toward The Flamboyantly dressed Pirate Captain as The Mysterious 'First' said his name who like The Priest was also ****.

"IVOK..."

Next, One of the nimble little firefly-like lights made its way over to The White-Haired Youth.

"CALLUM..."

The Youth's eyes flew open the moment the light touched his skin and his whole body convulsed in apparent agony as the light dissolved into his flesh, its golden glow rushing through his veins while his skin seemed to radiate light from beneath its surface. His ordeal lasted for just over a minute and then he appeared to be fine except for his eyes which were filled with sadness.

"WHAT'S WRONG MY CHILD?," Asked The Many Voices in a singular solemn tone.

"They're Gone... Gone... Gon...," The White-Haired Young Man named Callum mumbled until his voice faded and silvery tears fell from his gold-colored eyes taking the light within with them.

"HMMMM?," 'First' commented quizzically, tilting his head to the side before waving his hand in the air. The space in front of him immediately distorted and a series of images floated in front of him but one in particular came into focus and after seeing it he glanced over his shoulder and while his body language and expressionless face did not change he gave off an aura of Anger and Profound Displeasure.

'First' took a step in Callum's direction and the moment his foot touched the ground he was standing by the crying youth.

"THERE THERE... THERE'S NO NEED TO CRY.," 'First' bent down and held out his hand., "HERE."

It looked as though he were reaching for Callum but then he stopped. The palm of his hand rippled like a still lake and as if peeking up out of the water Callum could see the top of some small creature's head. He couldn't tell much about it at first except that it had white fur and dazzling green eyes.

"HUMANS SAY THAT NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED BUT YOU DIDN'T HAVE TO AID YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTER IN THIS FIGHT AND SO LET ME SHOW YOU MY GRATITUDE."

A moment of realization later and the Ting-Ting of heavy metallic tears falling to the ground quickly ceased as he sat up and reached for the pale figure's hand only to stop mere inches from the strange pale figure's hand and looked up to its blank, featureless face.

Callum couldn't be sure but he felt like the strange entity was smiling down at him as it turned its hand palm up and the top of another head peeked out from beside the other one only this one had black fur with icily cold blue eyes. The two bobbed up and down like they were paddling their feet underwater and the faint sound of splashing could be heard then suddenly the two ferret-like creatures that had attacked The Doppelganger earlier and were killed by it rushed up out of the entity's palm and used its fingers for a springboard to leap onto Callum's stomach, knocking him back flat on his back.

As The Young Man looked up from the flat of his back, The two ecstatic creatures were chasing each other in circles before racing up his stomach where they began nuzzling happily against his cheeks. He looked so happy who would even suspect that this Young Man had killed more people than most large nations or that he had come from a background that resembled Cinderella meets Hannibal Lector at The Donner Party Crossing. His companions called him a psychopath for a reason but right now at this very moment he seemed relatively normal or at least as normal as someone who looked like him and who had a smile that looked like something straight out of a Shark attack victim's worst nightmares could be.