<div style="text-align: justify;"><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #00BFFF"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">David</span></span></div><br/><br/>David could feel the blanket of strangeness beginning to cover the hallway he was in. Suddenly, the emptiness felt very acute. Minutes ago, he was in a room with tons of people, and now there was no one. There should be people filing in and out as they made their way through the museum. <br/><br/>“You’re making my job so much easier.” <br/><br/>The voice came from the painting. The man in the bowler hat had no eyes. Only lips peeled back to reveal white sharp teeth. <br/><br/>David didn’t know how to react. Was he going crazy? <br/><br/>“The last batch of kids had more spunk. You’re generation is the worst I’ve seen.”<br/><br/>John wasn’t reacting. He just stood there, not moving. Not even when the thing in the painting started to climb out. <br/><br/>“I guess they don’t make them like they used to,” he started climbing over John, who remained motionless, “two generations ago there was this redhead. She could spit fire. A little obvious, but she had spunk. Never got to eat her. She died in that wretched rain-world.” The thing was shaking its leg, which, like the rest of it, went from being inky to looking very solid and real. “Why am I telling you this? Bored, I guess. I just killed three of you in the past hour, no fun. My colleague is going after one of you right now, a girl, 17, pretty. There’s another in Canada, he’s being chased by The Tractor. Don’t know why they call him that, looks nothing like one.” <br/><br/>The entire time the thing was talking, David could feel himself go cold. The hall seemed to bend and grow longer then get shorter again. The thing moved closer and David kept screaming at himself in his head - RUN RUN RUN.<br/><br/>It reached out a hand that slowly turned into a large triangular sword, inky black. <br/><br/>“John,” the word came out of David as barely a whisper. <br/><br/>“Oh he can’t hear you,” the thing said lazily, looking over at John. “It’s not even really him. We’re not really here.” <br/><br/>He looked at David than said, “Oh,  let me explain - this,” he made a motion to encompass the hallway, the point of the sword nearly reaching him, “is an After Image. This John here was your John, but now he’s a statue, a left over from the moment in time that was captured.”<br/><br/>“What are you,” David breathed. <br/><br/>The thing smiled and blood seemed to pour out of its mouth a little. “We’re locked in battle you and I. Our destiny is happening now. This After Image is here so you can choose if you want to be... oh why should I explain anything to you. It’s an old fashioned decree no one really follows anymore. Now we just get to the killing. More fun.” <br/><br/>David started to feel himself get his strength back again. <br/><br/>The thing lunged forward, the point of the sword headed straight for his head. Everything seemed to slow and David ducked out of the way, his muscles feeling like they were burning with the effort. He fell onto the floor and the the painting and wall exploded as the thing rammed the sword into it. The smile wavered and the thing looked at him, puzzled. <br/><br/>David crawled backward as the thing worked to get the sword out of the wall. It snarled as it yanked the sword out and started coming for David. He stood and dodged the sword, landing a punch on the things face. It felt strange, like touching inky leather. It jumped back and snarled. <br/><br/>“I’m going to take this slow, boy!” It jumped at him, things seemed to slow down again, but it was hard to move. It was like he could see in slow motion, but his muscles had to struggle to listen to his brain. Like when, in a dream, movement feels like going through molasses. The sward moved passed him, but nicked his neck slightly. <br/><br/>The small cut stung, but David ignored it. <br/><br/>“What are you!” David screamed it this time. <br/><br/>The thing just smiled and it’s other arm turned into a sword to mirror it’s right arm. It went to John and sliced through him. John melted into an ink puddle on the floor. <br/><br/>The thing said that it wasn’t really John, but David didn’t know what to believe. He screamed and suddenly the hallway seemed to flicker and for a second, the hallway was full of people before being empty and gray again. The thing looked puzzled again, almost fearful. <br/><br/>“What did you just do?” It snarled, “The After Image is supposed to stay until-“<br/><br/>David didn’t bother to listen any more, instead, he rushed the thing and kicked it straight in the chest. It fell back against the wall with a loud thwack! It became inky again for a moment and stumbled. <br/><br/>“How dare you!” <br/><br/>David was running now, straight for the door at the end of the hall, away from the stairs. <br/><br/>“I’m going to kill you!” <br/><br/>David reached the door and looked back as he went through it. The thing was coming after him, half flying, half running down the hall. <br/><br/>“No!” It screamed as David slammed the door shut. <br/><br/>Silence. Nothing but silence. The creature never slammed into the door. He waited for it to burst down, but nothing happened. He tentatively opened the door. There was only darkness beyond. He could feel a cool breeze coming in and he could make out shapes, like shrubbery, but it was too dark to see more. <br/><br/>There were a few stars in the sky. David wondered how the heck this was happening since he should be underground and he never went back up the stairs. When he looked back, he realized he was no longer in the museum. He was in a house, a mansion. <br/><br/>His eyes roamed around the room, which was enormous. It looked like a giant entry way, with two spiraling staircases at either end of the room leading up to the next floor. There was an archway in the middle, between the staircases leading to more rooms. <br/><br/>David was about to say something when a voice, coming from everywhere and nowhere, said, “You should close the front door. We have another coming.” <br/><br/>David, because he had no idea what was happening and because he had nothing else to do, closed the door and stepped away.</div>