Depth of Silence (LSoE Series)

Introduction

"There is in this world no such forces as the force of a person determined to rise The human soul cannot be permanently chained." ~ W.E.B DuBois

It never really disappeared.  Summer or winter, windy or rainy, it always showed up at precisely ten in the morning.  It would roam the streets like a king soaked in a thick layer of paint, leaving a calming, pale trail of white behind.  The citizens were quite fond of it, although no one in particular could explain why.  No one could even describe it as a "warm embrace", as the air turned quite chilled when it arrived, but it brought people peace.  Almost as if the air was seasoned with a hidden toxin, a sickly-sweet elixir, everyone fell asleep as the cloud passed by them, and woke up when it left.  This would usually only take an hour of someone's schedule, and since the majority of people's days began at four in the morning, no one minded the quick nap.

It's when it started changing colors that everyone began to feel uncomfortable.  A second wave of mist, now a deep gray or black, would appear at odd times.  No one would fall asleep while it roamed through the streets; instead, they were forced to watch the horrors that would unfold.  Sometimes people would witness some of the black mist congregate into a single strand and shove itself down a person's throat like it was being sucked down by a vacuum cleaner enloged in the human's gut.  Other times, people were unlucky enough to be attacked by their best friend while their skin was tainted a deep charcoal.  Inky liquid would drip from their monstrous pointed teeth as they lean over a dying carcass, their hands gripping the person's neck as hard as they can.

There is only one way to stop the killings and return humanity: find the source of the black mist and capture it.  Everyone must learn from the invaders if they wish to stop being invaded.  The only way to grow up is to fight back.