THERE WAS A certain beauty to the darkness that blanketed the entire Earth, stars glittering above like a canopy. Dark shadows of trees and houses lined the streets, illuminated by the moon's silver light basking the area in a soft glow. Fireflies danced in the warm summer breeze, twinkling like stars that fell from the heavens.

The night was Laila's favorite time of the day, when the sunset in the horizon, basking the world in its last warm glow of hues of reds, orange, and yellows before fading into a deep blue and allowing the silver stars to come out of hiding.

Laila saw the beauty in the night, where most people saw monsters coming out to play, she saw angelic creatures coming out to dance to their heavenly song. But the night didn't last long, especially when sleep was a necessity to one's well being. She stayed up until the first crack of dawn, the sun slowly starting to rise and bask the world in its warmth once more. Only then would Laila lay to sleep, knowing she had been awake for the beauty of the morning.

RUNNING THROUGH THE forest, Laila pushed past low hanging branches and tripped over the undergrowth, dodging anything that was in her path. She had the feeling she was running towards something, not away, but as hard as she tried, she couldn't stop and turn herself around to go in the opposite direction.

Her legs burned with exhaustion, lungs pulling in as much air as she could, hair whipping past her in the wind. Yet, she didn't stop, she pushed on.

She seemed to be running forever, and she wondered if she had run the entire forest when her legs finally made an abrupt halt, startling her mind. In front of her stood a man, he looked to be in his late thirties, early forties with graying hair and around pot belly. He was breathing hard, the canopy of trees parting above him to bask him in the moon's silver glow. He was doubled over, panting with his hands on his knees.

Laila's body moved on its own accord, treading towards the many lightly. Her foot cracked a twig underneath it and the man whirled around, eyes going wide with fear. He backed up until his back was pressed firmly against one of the trees.

"Please, no," the man whimpered as Laila advanced towards him. "Please spare me, I did nothing wrong!"

The man was hysterical by now and as if some invisible force gripped him by the neck, he was lifted off his feet, clawing at his throat as he struggled to breathe. Inside her own mind, Laila started to panic, yelling at whatever it was to stop its torture on the man. It didn't take long before the man was blue in the face, killed by his lack of oxygen which slowly made him suffocate.

As if the force let go of him, the man fell to the ground with a thud, slumping over in a hunched form. Whatever had its own hold on Laila, trapping her in her own mind, let go of her, causing her body to jerk forward. She wasted no time in running towards the man, throwing herself down beside him. Her cold hand touched his face, he was still a bit warm. His eyes were open but blank and she reached over, closing her lids with her hand.

"What happened?" Laila asked the deceased man, confusion clouding her mind.

Hearing twigs snap behind her, Laila spun around, hastily getting to her feet. A shadowed figure stood just across from her. She watched with wide eyes as it advanced on her, causing her to back up. As she was backing up, her feet tripped over the deceased man and she fell, bracing herself for the impact of the ground.

It never came.

Instead, Laila started falling into a dark descent into an unknown void. A scream ripped its way out of her throat as she fell, arms and legs flailing all around her.

"Laila!" Someone yelled from above her, calling to her. "Laila!"