"When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow."

Ursula K. Le Guin

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James rested his fingers on the windowsill, watching people down below scramble through the streets. A red curtain hung around the glass, with silver embroidery detailing the cloth. The moonlight splashed James; revealing the shadow of a man with little meat on his bones. Dark locks fell to block the view of his eyes, and those crystal blue orbs shone in the light of the rising moon. As James leaned forward, his wooden chair from many years ago creaked against the peeling floor. His hands moved to grip the armrest, and his eyes moved hurriedly as if they were looking for something specifically.

His back was rigid and straight, and his feet were shaking as if he was ready to bolt. Unease creased the edges of his eyes, and his breathes were audible in the silent room. James looked every inch of paranoia, and pocket knife resting quietly in his pocket only further proved the concept. Down below, a tenant climbed the many steps of the Berlanian complex. Bang. Bang. With every step the tenant took, James recoiled in his chair, moving quickly to his pocket with the knife.

15. 16. 17. 18. The tenant’s pace slowed as his steps began to reach James’ floor. 19. 20. 21. 22. He faces away from the door, as if James was trying to deny what the future was bringing. The people down below, hurrying and speeding through the streets, was where James has wished he was. He wished he hadn’t uncoiled that paper, hadn’t smoothed it out, and hadn’t read it to the world. 23. 24. Each step made him jolt, and at every count he breathed out, like he was blowing out the world from inside him.

25. The tenant’s boots clicked as they approached the door. James could hear them fumble for their keys, mumbling under their breath, and shaking a keychain. “...ot it!” James heard the tenant say in excitement. He breathes in one last time, exhaled, and laid his hands to rest beside him. For a brief second, his eyes travelled to where the moon slept in the center of the sky, wrapped in a blanket of stars.

Click. The door whispered to James as it was pushed open, and the tenant dropped their keys into a bowl, resulting in a clang. The tenant removed their coat that was the color of the sky where the moon now slept. His fingers shook as he waited for the tenant to look up, and maybe cry out in fear, or yell to the neighbor nearby, or perhaps call the cops. It was his luck, after all.

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“Lukas Robins.” James spoke, his voice echoing in the room. He could hear the tenant stop, he could hear the freeze that the tenant did, and he could hear the thumping of his own heart. “Only son of Gavan H. Robins and Mary C. Laer. Twenty-seven years old, born on September 14th.” He remained facing the glass, for if he turned back, James was unsure if he could continue. “Whadda you want? I haven’t done anything!” The tenant questioned back, and their feet traced back to the bowl where their keys laid, and the tenant’s hand rested on the emergency phone. The tenant was silent as they began to punch a number in. “I wouldn’t do that, if I were you.” James advised strongly. With wobbling knees and shaking hands, he rose from his chair, and spun to face the tenant.

“If you had the chance to destroy evil, would you do it, knowing it would destroy you too?” He voices, never going above a whisper. The tension in the tenant’s shoulders seemed to grow. “Whudda question is that? Of course nah, I would never risk my life for something impossible.” The tenant responded. James merely sighed. His feet dragged against the tile floor, and he squared up the tenant. “Tell me,” he began slowly, “..if I were to press a button, and destroy your entire life, your entire world. Your parents, gone. Your friends, not that you had many, gone. Your beloved Sara from many years ago, who you wished you hadn’t let go from, gone. If I were to destroy them all at this very moment, would you stop their heads from rolling on the floor?”

The tenant’s gaze grew cold. Something flashed in their eyes, something James came here to find, the one thing he needed to discover. The final part of his research. After years, he had the final key. The final part of the last plan. Loyalty. “...Do it. See if it bothers me. Go on ahead, I don’t care.” James froze. No, no, no. This wasn’t what he was planning. This wasn’t supposed to happen. The tenant was to resist, put up a struggle, not agree with it! The tenant had shown signs of familiarity and happiness with these others. The tenant was supposed to stop it. “You do understand that the moment I press this button, all your loved ones will die.” James responses hastily to the tenant, the tenant had to agree. At this statement, the tenant’s eyes narrowed. “I know what you said. Get on with it.”

Nobody talked about what to do when the situation ended up like this. There was no excitement, no glee to feel when an unwilling tenant’s face falls once they realize their family is gone. How were they going to react when they realize James had failed?

He stood tall. No. James did not fail. He will never lose to a man like the tenant. James raised his hand from his pocket, that gleamed of a silver button. “Say goodbye, Robins.” He spat out, before pressing down on fate. Goodbye, indeed.