My ears rang, and my body shivered as a cool gust of wind blew at the back of my neck. I took a breath and watched as its warmth mingled with the cold before it disappeared. And I took another. The alarm had silenced just a few minutes after everybody had evacuated the town. But I couldn't leave.

The once peaceful temple I grew up in now felt empty as I looked out into the distance; a soft cascade of the purest flakes came accompanied by white noise. The snow was letting up, almost as if it too was preparing for evacuation. And so I remained outside, sweeping the snow away, and gazing into nothing.

The others would be reaching the next town over by now. It wasn't far, but it had a better protection service than we were allowed to have here. My thoughts were with them. We had no idea we were under attack until the alarm shrieked and blasted our ears. They had escaped into the forest that surrounded and concealed the location of the temple.

I continued to sweep. Although my efforts were easily diminished by the wind that kept picking up, throwing the piled snow into disarray over the path that it now covered. I knew this job was useless, I just didn't know what else to do.

I threw my head back and took in another breath. Why didn't I go with the others? I knew why. Why couldn't I bring myself to leave? I knew why for that as well. So I stopped sweeping and sat on a step. The cold, wet ice began to saturate my pants, but I didn't mind. My elbows rested on my knees, and my hands supported my head.

In that moment I didn't know whether to feel empty and alone, or peaceful and content as I sat and watched the flurry of snow slowly make its way down.

But beyond my frosty surroundings, I saw a shadow flicker, and then felt a chill. There was something in the air that suddenly felt off balance. The smell of pine that usually emitted from the forest was now laced with a faraway tinge of sulphur.

Then, the darkness returned. It began to take its misty form and multiply, like an uncontrollable virus. The black mist spread across the horizon and over the forest, drawing nearer.

It was not too long before I realised it was coming for me.

I immediately turned and slammed myself into the door, completely abandoning the broom. My hands shook as I desperately searched for the doorknob. I felt a presence behind me. Growing larger. Moving closer. Finally, I twisted the knob and locked the door shut behind me.

My heavy breathing broke the silence of the cold room. My back pressed onto the strong frame. My mind was racing. They never prepared me for a situation like this...

I frantically searched the room, looking for an escape route. But the room was blanketed under a sheet of darkness. I blinked my eyes and tried to adjust to the dramatic change of lighting. After a few seconds, the only light that emanated in the room was from a sole candle perched upon a roundtable. And then I noticed the shadow of a figure that stood beside it. My stomach dropped.

"Hey," It said, and I took a breath at the voice I gratefully recognised.

"Tobey?" I walked towards him, brushing the snow off my clothes.

"You're not supposed to be here."

His belongings were sprawled over the table: a parchment, a compass, some food, water, and an empty bag. The candle flickered, casting a shadow over his face to a hardened expression I had never seen before.

"You're back!" I said.

"What are you doing here?"

"...No, what are you doing here, man? You're gone for half a year with no explanation and now you're back. Now?"

He sighed and sat down at the table, "Okay," he said. And I followed.

It was hard to believe that only six months ago we were sitting in that spot, completely unaware of what our futures held.

"I went to search for those things outside." He finally said, grabbing his belongings.

"So you know what those things are then?"

"Yes and no." He said while he packed his bag, "I think they're still trying to come up with a name for them that doesn't sound completely pathetic." Tobey cleared his throat, "They're puppets. I don't know where they came from but they're here, and they're looking for something. And my guess is, they're not going to want to leave without it."

I stared at the candle flame that flickered between each word we spoke. Such a destructive force that was tamed by a small bit of string, it made me question, "So who's controlling the puppets?"

Tobey raised an eyebrow and followed my gaze towards the flame, "Well that's the question."

We remained quiet for a few seconds, each in our own thoughts. I wondered how Tobey knew about those creatures before he left the temple, then why he came back at such an unfortunate time...

He had been gone for a few months now. Sometimes he would send a letter every now and then, but they read nothing of what he was doing, or where he was going, or even why. He just wrote about how much better the food was compared to the crap they fed us in the temple.

"You know these guys already swept through Rei?" He said. I remembered travelling to that town once. A great trading place; people from all parts always said that Rei grew the best apples in all of Gaijin.

"What did they do to it?" Tobey didn't respond. He didn't need to. The look in his eyes was enough to tell me it would be impossible to return there for safety one day.

"I was there, I saw the whole thing." He leant back in his chair and played with the wax that dripped from the candle. "These things...they sort of take over you like, like you don't have any control over your body. It's horrible." He sighed, "From what I could see they are not messing around."

"But why? What are they after?"

Completely ignoring my question and my eye contact he continued with a quieter voice, "The worst part were the screams...most of those people had families...and they were just slaughtered in cold blood."

I didn't know how to respond. How would anyone respond? There was a tightness I felt in my chest for these people, and dizziness at the thought of the killers lurking outside somewhere,  waiting for us to get out so they could attack.

"How did you escape?" I asked.

"I kept my distance. I had to see how they operated first before I began my plan of attack." Tobey lightly hit his fist on the table, causing more wax to leak from the sides of the candle.

"Your plan of attack?"

Tobey sat up in his chair, smiled, and took out his parchment from his bag. "You see this parchment? This is the key, my friend, this is the key to unlock the door and reveal the great puppet people."

"Puppet people?" I couldn't help but stifle a laugh.

"Yeah, the people who are controlling those things! And look. See...if you look closer it's written in Ancient Gaijin. How great am I?" He said.

"Oh wow, how do you still remember that?" I shook my head.

"How could I forget? Master Lesi would never let me come back if I didn't remember the great old language of our country," Tobey smirked.

"They were fun times."

"It's even better since we're the only ones who know how to read it."

"I'm pretty sure we were taught by someone who could speak the language...and anyone would be able to pick up on what a great big red 'X' means!" I pointed at the parchment and laughed.

"Yeah, but there is no way anybody would be able to speak the language and read my handwriting at the same time!" He chuckled, putting it back in his bag, "I found out where these guys are hiding!"

"Is that why you came back?"

"Come on, there's a war coming and you know it. Hell, it's already here. But as long as we are still here, those guys will never stand a chance!" He said, "I can't do this without you Hisagi."

There was a moment I had, where I forgot where I was, and I heard the wind howl and rattle against the windows. The ringing in my ears was almost gone now, and I thought about what my best friend was asking of me. He was asking me to be a superhero. That was definitely not me. But after the wind passes and the snow stops falling, where would I go? The silence between us was obvious, and I could see Tobey was thinking something of his own as his eyes were fixed on the flickering flame.

"So what now?" I said.

Tobey remained silent, still watching the flame as the wax of the candle pooled at its base. It wouldn't be long before we would run out of light.

"Well we have to get going then don't we?" He said with a small smirk. Tobey stood and swung his bag onto his back. "Come on." He began to walk towards the front door.

"Wait! Don't we need a plan? We can't just walk out there." The flame flickered wildly, putting up a fight as it neared its end. Tobey peered through a small peephole through the door as I hopelessly watched.

"The coast seems clear, but we've got to be careful." He slowly opened the door. A draft of wind blew through the room, and the strong little flame went out.

My stomach dropped and my body began to tremor. Somehow it moved on its own. I grabbed my bag by the door and followed Tobey outside towards my undecided future.

Behind us, the rusty wooden door slowly closed shut and locked back into place. The echo of the rust pierced through the flow of the wind that accompanied the sounds of our light footsteps. My eyes darted around and my shoulders tensed. I could feel my heartbeat in my hands.

Tobey had walked a few paces ahead. He turned back and signalled to me that we were in the clear. Our plan was to make it to the forest that surrounded the temple. If we made it there it would be harder for them to find us.

Then Tobey stopped, "Do you smell that?"

I raised my nose in the air but I couldn't smell anything. My nose was completely frozen.

But then I did.

"Oh-"

"Run!"

We ran. Our feet crunched in the snow, leaving an unfortunate trail behind. I felt the weight of my belongings bounce on my back. My chest felt tighter with each breath I took.

We headed for the trees ahead of us. The dark forest that I once was too afraid to think about, but had now become a relief to see.

I almost believed we could have escaped the nightmare until I felt something grab onto my shoulders and pull me down. There was a sharp pain in my back as my bag got in the way of my fall. A weight pushed down on my body, and I felt like I was being crushed by a wall.

I lay there in utter panic. The weight felt heavier on my body with each passing moment. I began to believe this was the way I was going to die. My vision blurred as my eyes focused on the grey clouds that consumed the sky on this day of hell.

Intertwining with the grey clouds, the black mist encroached into my vision before it completely washed over me and burnt like an acid. It seared through my clothes and blistered my skin. I couldn't contain my scream.

I tried to move somehow, but that only made the pain more unbearable. I screamed again. This time, my arms felt like they were slowly being twisted out of my body. My head felt this excruciating pressure like it was about to explode. My eyes felt like they were melting into puddles of goo as my body convulsed violently.

Until, suddenly, the pain had passed. The force had ceased and I could breathe again. Though I couldn't gather any strength to move. I knew if I stayed on my back I was surely dead. Why wasn't I dead?

"You need to leave, now!" I heard Tobey say. He grabbed my arm, and with all his remaining strength pulled me up and pushed me aside, into the shadows of the edge of the forest. "Go! Now!"

But I couldn't.

The snow fell once more, and the wind began to blow with brutal force, almost as if it too was urging me to go.

But I couldn't.

I just lay there, hidden and useless.

The black mass swooped in and surrounded Tobey. He turned and swung at the masked puppet behind him. But its misty body dissipated upon impact and reappeared once he pulled back.

He tried again. Kicking off the mask that belonged to one of them. It made an inhumane sound before bursting into a smoke cloud. Tobey covered his mouth and nose. He was having trouble breathing.

Another one lunged at him and flew through his chest. He let out a loud gasp. He tried to fight back but his vision was impaired by the amount of smoke that surrounded him. He threw a punch but missed. He threw another and managed to crack a mask, but it wasn't enough.

Tobey began to grow tired. His body swayed in the whirlpool of black mist that slowly began to suffocate him. He kicked but fell to his knee from the lack of oxygen. And after too many failed attempts, he fell completely to the ground.

Everything in my being was screaming at me to get up and help, to get up and fight. But I couldn't.

I watched as my best friend became surrounded by the mysterious evil that had no reason to fight. I watched as they grew in numbers and began to trap him in a circle. I watched as my best friend began to suffocate with the little oxygen he was allowed to breathe. I watched his skin sear and boil as their acid like beings crashed onto him in waves.

I heard the sound of opening wounds and the breaking of bones intertwine with the ferocious wind. I heard the sound of his heart-wrenching scream as it echoed through the forest and embedded itself into my brain.

And then silence...

I saw nothing more but the red stained snow before I decided to give in and fade into the darkness.