text: I looked in the mirror, brushing light pink eyeshadow over my eyelids. A bristle from the brush poked my eye. I blinked several times, trying to get the powdery dust out. My eye stung badly. I turned on the faucet and splashed some fresh cold water in my eye. I wiped my eye with a towel, but a cold mist washed over me, making me feel cold and forgotten for a few long seconds. I shook off the feeling and blinked some more, but all of a sudden the light above me flickered. I stopped blinking and closed my eye to look up. The light stopped flickering and was blaring at me. Weird. My eye felt normal again so I continued putting on the eyeshadow until my right eyelid was filled with a small explosion of light pink to go with my teal dress. I moved on to the left eyelid, blinking a few times. The lights flickered again. They flickered in rhythm to my blinking. Extra weird. I ignored it. All I needed was to get through getting ready. I continued, brushing my golden brown hair, making it silky and smooth. My lipstick matched perfectly with the rest of the look, a nice brick red. Still, every few seconds, the light above me would flicker. I convinced myself it was just an old bulb, though it still blinked to my blinking. I put one last clip in my hair, then looked at my full self in the mirror. I have to admit, I looked good. My teal dress had skimpy noodle straps and a fitted waist, then it flowed down to right above my knees. I had wedges on that made me look four inches taller. My hair flowed down my back. My long bangs clipped on each side. I batted my eyelashes and blinked as I walked out the bathroom door, only to find every light in the house blinking with me. I panicked. My breaths were hot and fast, my heart was beating so hard I thought it was going to jump right out of my chest. I blinked back tears, but that only made the lights blink even more. Then, all of a sudden a light from the kitchen burst and shattered on the ground. The once whole bulb was now in millions of pieces. My tears stopped so I stopped. I stopped blinking, I stopped breathing so hard, and my heartbeat was back to normal. I took a deep breath and reached out a shaky hand to turn the lights on for real, but I didn’t have too. When I started blinking again, the lights started blinking. Even the fallen light. The glass was shattered and broken, but the light still flickered with me. I screamed only to find the hallway light shattering too. I didn’t know where to go. The lights kept flickering and stopped me from focusing. My only thought was to go outside. I crossed my arms over my head and ran for it. I fumbled for the lock on the door, only to realize that I had locked it, not opened it. Once I slid the lock out of place, I swung the door open and ran outside. My eyes were squeezed shut and I stifled a sob. Eventually I opened my eyes. What I saw made me scream. Last I knew it was 9:00 p.m. Now the sun was up. I blinked rapidly. The sun blinked rapidly. It flickered from day to night, night to day. I was trapped. Trapped in my own world. I looked around, trying to find something, anything. I was tired of seeing the sun come and go. Popping up one second but being gone the next. I slowly got up, wiping my wet teary eyes with the back of my hand and went inside. I didn’t know what time it was, but I went to bed. Once I touched the soft bed with the soft fluffy pillows, my eyes were closed. I had a dream. I was in my bed, though I wasn’t myself. I was something else. I was hungry. Hungry for more. Hungry for more power. I moved closer to the bed. I needed her. She was my way to what I needed. I moved even closer. All I needed was her. She would be my way. I locked my eyes with her closed ones. I am Shormist. Sizing up my prey, I jumped into her body, making us one. My eyes bolted open. I was sweaty but cold. I was also very hungry, but not for a meal. I got out of bed, and steered my way to the front door. It was early morning, still naturally dark. I was willing to let the people keep their sunrise, so I kept my eyes open and alert. I started walking through the neatly trimmed grass, striding down to the sidewalk. I let the people wake up and start getting ready for the new day. More cars made their appearance, along with tired people drinking their morning coffee. I stopped walking at an electrical tower. It stood tall and in charge of all light. I started my climb to the top of the tower, my eyes still open. When I reached the top I saw the eyes of people staring and doubting. I turned towards the tower. It would have to end its power in ruling all light. It would have to work for me. I stared at the tower, willing it to do as I say. I turned to face the town. My hunger was slowly being satisfied, but there was one thing that would make me full. I would be in full rein of all power. No daylight would ever be seen again. I closed my eyes. One fast, cold, hard blink. And that made all dark and all ruled by me, Shormist. I heard them screaming and yelling. Shouting at a teenager to get down, and other harsh words. But this was how it was going to be. Darkness forever. My eyes were still closed as I climbed down the tower, letting my senses carry me. At the bottom some came immediately to see if I was ok. Others thought I was the cause of the eternal darkness, and they were right. “What did you just do?” said, what I sensed was a tall man. “Bill, this girl was not the cause of that!” said a lady with a shrill voice. “Why are your eyes closed? Open them!” “Did you do that?” “What is the cause of this?” And then I spoke. One simple word. “Darkness.” I let my senses make my way up the tower, And when I got to the top, I stayed there for the rest of eternity. I stayed there for eternal darkness. And I stayed there for me, Shormist.