His sickly pale hand entwines with my own, the delicate bones beneath skin protruding in the light of the full moon. He’s crying, tears silent and cold against his freckled skin, and I can feel his fear ebbing within his blood. He hasn’t been scared like this before, a quiet kind of terror that settles in your heart, though isn’t quite enough to render you stuck.
“Will it hurt?” he asks, his question hanging in the stillness of the winter air.
Truth be told, neither I nor the beast know. So I hope the fantasies I whisper to him are true.
He sniffles, then hiccups. He’s still only a scared young man behind the years of his traumatic existence. Despite the blood speckled across his skin and the dark shadows of his victims looming over his shoulders, he is innocent still. His grip on my hand tightens and I know it is goodbye. For once he is quiet.
“It’s time to make way for the new. Do not be afraid. Peace and quiet will do you good.”
And so his grip relaxes and his hand leaves mine. He looks back and we take one last look at him; the calmness in his hazel eyes is new, different, and his sanity has surfaced to kiss the world goodbye. He seems so tired, yet so awake, the bags beneath his eyes heavy with guilt and lack of sleep.
“Peace and quiet?” he asks.
“If that’s what you wish for.”
Toby smiles, “yeah, I think I’ll sleep.”
I nod. He seems eager for what is about to come with help from my reassurance. I can only hope his wish comes true.
And so he disappears in the night, an echo of his rare smile dancing in the night. The stars wink as he joins them in their twilight ball dance and the moon seems to shine brighter upon her throne within the sky. Toby’s era ends, and as he leaves to sleep amongst the peace and quiet of the stars, a new door opens, ready for new horrors to emerge.