Considerations of youth. Recorded by The Archivist, in Situ.
Pre-Statement[]
John and Martin are walking down a dark street; a domain of The Dark. John is unsettled and would rather leave, and when Martin asks why he explains that there are children in this domain, as they did not simply go away when The Change happened. The Eye prefers the more complex neuroses and disquiets of a fully developed mind. So children are allowed to age and are placed into domains where their fears can mature.
Martin asks him to kill whoever is tormenting the children, but John says that it is more complicated than that. He approaches a house and knocks on the door.
The door is opened by Callum Brodie; the child kidnapped by Maxwell Rayner in 2017. Callum recognises John as 'The Eye guy', and it is shown that Callum is now an avatar of The Dark. He states that everyone is afraid of him now and that his parents are either dead or absent. John and Martin leave his house. They discuss Callum; Martin wants John to use his powers to "make things better", but John states that there is no "better". He asks what Martin wants him to do and Martin asks him to give him a statement. Both Martin and John are uncertain of this, but at Martin's insistence John does so.
Statement[]
The statement follows a child, Jack, as he runs through the darkness of Night Street, trying to escape monsters that he cannot see but knows are there. He runs into the dark because everywhere is dark, and because if he runs then the monsters cannot get him. Jack encounters Callum, who tells him about a new monster. Every time Callum tells Jack about a new monster, Jack must run from this monster too, though he still cannot see it. Jack doesn't want to hear about the new monster, but Callum will "put him in a hole for a very long time" if he doesn't listen, and "friends don't tell each other to be quiet". The only way to stop the new monster is with a torch, but there are no torches here. Jack continues to run.
The statement then changes to follow Kaitlyn, who is hiding in her wardrobe as monsters search through her room for her. She cannot see them but she can hear them, and knows that they look like the deep-sea fish she saw once in a picture book that gave her nightmares for weeks. Her mother is downstairs, laughing at the TV, and does not like it when Kaitlyn is awake, so Kaitlyn is quiet. She finds Callum hiding in the wardrobe with her and tells him to go away because she is trying to hide; Callum shouts to draw the monsters to her, so Kaitlyn leaves the wardrobe and runs to find another hiding place.
Post-Statement[]
John asks if Martin would like to hear more, and begins to tell the story of Luka who sleeps, but Martin cuts off the new statement. He says that it did not help, and John apologises. Martin says that they just need to get to the Archives to stop this. They resume walking.
Continuity[]
- Related Entity: The Dark