It doesn’t happen all at once. It starts off slow, like the sun across the sky. In the moment, you wouldn’t know it has moved at all, but each second sends you hurtling through space and time. Eyes to the sky, and you won’t see it. The brilliance blinds your view. Turn your gaze to the shadows, the tide of darkness washing away all that you once knew. You’ll see the darkness gather and grow, mustering its forces in the quietude of dusk.

That’s how it happens. One moment you’re living a life—living a dream. The next, you’re picking up the pieces, wishing you could awaken from the nightmare. How quickly what we once thought to be ours can slip away. Promises, vows—shifting sands. It’s not that we don’t mean what we say. Perhaps it’s that what we mean changes. Everything changes. Then, one day, the darkness reflected in the mirror bears no resemblance to the one you used to be.

The strengthened fist turns to trembling fingers. Nothing certain remains. There is no faith. There is no love. There is no god. There is only time and chance. You turn to the broken altar where the supernatural once rested, and all is silent. The sun has set on your life, or what you once thought to be yours, and you understand for the first time that nothing is yours and you are nothing.

Most turn from the darkness, fighting it, gripped by fear of the unknown, yet in it there is a warmth, a familiarity. The darkness within yourself can now be at peace. The base, the depraved creature within you is comforted and caressed by these blackened wings embracing you. Creature of darkness. Creature of the night. This pain you need. This music, haunting and serene. These chords, hallowed and chilling form the walls of your home. You are where you belong. You are what you were always meant to be.