A Drop of Light in the Night ( Catnap X Dogday )

Chapter 6: Thought Process

WARNING: This chapter is VERY experimental. Figured I'd try something different, as I mentioned last author's note. Please bear with me and play along / think along with Catnap for this chapter! Wi-Fi RECOMMENDED for seeing things in my in-line / attached comments, which will help you play along, but you DO NOT NEED to. This is a looong chapter! Remember to take breaks! Thanks for reading!

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We can even convince ourselves that something's true, no matter how much we know it's not.

All I can do is sit in the dark, my mind still clouded and filled with the same thoughts running through it. I look at the ground, unsure if I'll ever be able to look up again in hope of safety and normalcy. Things are beginning to change too much. I don't know if it's a good thing anymore.

Despite trying to lose myself, an eerie voice calls out once more.

"You're far too quiet for someone with a lot on their plate," the ghastly figure speaks.

"Just go away," I mutter, shutting my eyes tightly.

"How, then, would I be able to watch your pitiful state as you wallow in the despair of your own reprehensible choices?" he replies. "This is a testament to the premises you so cherished. And now you see exactly what has become of them. Your failure is nothing I haven't yet expected."

His words irk me, sending shivers through my body.

"...You're one vile, disgusting creature," I glare.

"Do not be so brazen and speak of yourself in such a way," he mocks with his never changing, wide smile. "There is still enough time, and you have so much to learn."

"There's nothing I would want to learn, you rotting fool," I tell him.

"Why would that be?" he asks.

"I'm just so tired... of this," I motion my hand all around me. "Why must we keep doing this?"

"Because of what resonates within you," the chilling voice speaks, releasing some red smoke from his own mouth. "No matter what you do, you can never run from it. It will always stay inside of you. Created and displaced from your very being. It should be no wonder that you always find yourself right back here, with me."

"Then what do I do...?" I ask, holding my head, frustrated with my own confusion. Even though I questioned it rhetorically, feeling as though nothing could ever be done to stop this, I do still wonder. Is there an answer to any of this?

"Maybe things would be better if I just disappear..." I start to think aloud.

"It can only be said that you have yet to realize the truth," he slowly walks around, examining the area around us instead. "But if that is what you think will help you, then I cannot persuade you to believe otherwise."

"You'd enjoy it immensely if I were to fall into fate's awful clutches, wouldn't you?" I keep my eyes on him.

"Have I ever said that I would be entertained by your downfall?" he looks at me and slowly inches closer. "What I have done is merely stated the obvious. You are a failure and everything you do will amount to nothing. But tell me, when have I said that I am happy to see you deprive yourself of a greater purpose?"

I think about it for a moment while looking at the ground, but it's hard to even recall that he's ever said something like that. He... doesn't want me to fail? That's news to me.

"But the path you walk on is your own. And I've told you many times that it is foolish. That is all," he says. "Eventually, you will see that you and I were always closer than you could ever hope to believe."