It was the sound of the tree crashing against the window that woke Riley, but as she tried to get her vision to focus, her eyes burned and there was nothing but darkness.

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Panic set in and she clawed at her eyes frantically, feeling a thick liquid seep from her sockets. The more she clawed, the more it oozed out.

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With no sense of vision and locked into perpetual night, there was no escape from the voices that had always occupied her mind. She lived alone, but the incessant dialogue meant she was never lonely. Days and nights continued to pass in one long stretch as she endured her new dark world. There was nothing to do but obey the commands that had begun to consume her.

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Beckoned to go down to the basement, she felt her way to the staircase that she’d used countless times before. One wrong step and she tumbled, crashing against the uneven wooden panels.

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Riley’s twisted and contorted body lay at the bottom of the stairs, her neck bent unnaturally. With no way to move, the thick liquid continued to run down her face, collecting in her open mouth. Gurgling and choking on the viscid liquid, she convulsed until her body went still, the bleeding ceased, the voices stopped.