"Has it ever occurred to you that when you watch those old sitcoms with canned laughter on the telly, that you're listening to the laughter of the dead?"

"Please. Just let me go."

It was well past dark. Dark enough for the transgressions of the nightwalkers to go unnoticed by the normal daywalkers. That was the lifestyle. Once the sun went down, the monsters from nightmares walked the earth, committing deeds in the night that the denizens of the light could only witness in their thoughts. Shapeless monstrosities in the dark of the woods; those little shadows you ignore when you're trying to get some sleep. You roll over and tell yourself it's all imagination. You lie to yourself. Comfort. But comfort comes at a great price. You ignore the eyes watching you from the shadow of your room. You ignore the creeping feeling on the back of your neck as your hair stands on end. You ignore the figure that stands at the end of your bed. Always watching. The nightwalkers.

Mystica can barely contain his enthusiasm as the man squirms before him on the metal table, his arms, legs, and head held firmly in place by a series of leather straps, knotted into place with Mystica's bare hands. Dressed to the blues, he feels an elegance about him, as though the world has a sense of humour to fate. It is so dark, but the room has a certain light to it that only he ccan perceive. To the man lying before him, the room is pitch black. Only the creeping sense of dread welcoms the man's senses as he hyperventilates. With his head held in place, he can't even see his captor. All he knows is that there is a massive hole in the ceiling where he can see the treetops banishing away the dim light from the waning moon.

"Hush now, sweetness. All your comforts have gone. You can't keep ignoring the shade. How lovely it is."

"Whatever you want with me, I promise...I can make this all worth your while."

"You assume I'm after something," Mystica whispers, tenting his fingertips across his lips. "Pity I'm not swayed by the beauty of comfort like you."

He chuckles deeply, relishing the deep boom and vibration of his vocal cords seeping into his gut. It is a massage of the innards. His core itself trembles in the dark, and he can't help from chuckling more. A self-fulfilling prophecy.

"Oh, isn't it a wondrous night?"

The man does not respond verbally. Rather, there comes a groan from his lips as the dread begins to overwhelm him. Mystica knows this feeling well. It is the moment when despair overcomes all hope. The moment when one becomes resigned to the winds of fate. They can do no more. Life grabs hold with clawed hands, constricts the throat, and doesn't release until you've slipped beneath the tides of anguish and the last bubble rises to the surface and pops, letting the final breath of life extinguish into the night air.

"See, there's a difference between you and me," Mystica mutters quietly as he begins to pace back and forth, dragging a line in the dilapidated floorboards. "You walk the light of day. Busybody. I was told lots about you...by sources. More brilliant men than myself. Sources. You live for good sources, yes? You're a writer?"

There comes only rapid breathing in response. Mystica takes this as confirmation.

"I know a writer. Damn good one. Made a living off of it. Like you. Except...he didn't tell lies. An honest heart. Foolish, but loyal. These are the virtues that survive wars. I know you've seen war, mate. I know."

Mystica freezes for a moment, pausing in his lion-like pacing. He smirks, reaches into his jacket, and withdraws a slender, albeit rather rusted pocketknife. Flicking it open, he admires the dull sheen, pricking his finger with the tip. As a small drop of blood begins to form, he seems to grow more excited.

"But you only saw it from behind a lens. You didn't interfere. How noble. How very noble of you to watch children executed. You know what war does to mankind. You know the dark of the human heart. We are all standing on islands in the vast ocean. You are an island. You are empty. How empty? I wonder..."

He drags the flat side of the blade across the man's exposed wrist, just so he can feel the cold of the metal on his skin. In the dark, Mystica can see how the gooseflesh forms across the man's arm. It is so very satisfying.

"Don't fret, lovey dove. You'll live to see another war. But what will you become? Will you see life as I do? Understand what it means? David says tribes of chimpanzees sometimes go to war. Disproves the idea of war being mankind's creation."

"Who...who is David?"

"Hush! Don't say his name! That brings out the man. You wouldn't like the man. Fruity, effeminate...weak. Too much of a lover and not enough of a fighter. See, that's why I exist. His weakness is my strength. He cannot fight his own battles. He is not akin to the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to. Our kingdom...our kingdom of pain. Did you hear the word? What I am to become? The bringer of pain. The Prophet of Plagues. Recall the name, luv. Remember what nightwalker gave birth to you. Recall the word. Dig deep, and bite the floor as you writhe around, trying to make sense of the madness. All that death you have witnessed, but not raised a hand to stop. You don't understand anything after all. Everything you know is a lie. Take a deep breath and drown yourself in truth. War has no heroes. Only victims. You earn a medal for taking a life. Isn't that poetic? Poetry...only creates results. War creates poetry. And who knows what creates war. But you...you only cover it. Take pictures and write over them in thick black markers. Shine no light on what is to be. What happened. Where have you been, and what have you seen?"

With a flourish, Mystica cut blindly into the mass of wriggling flesh before him, not knowing or caring where the blade went. But he knew. His targeting was right. The eyes. An eye for an eye and the world goes blind. To never see what must become of thee.

"You have seen everything. And nothing at all."

Achievements

• 1x Tag Team Champion
  
• August 2013 Superstar of the Month (Thank you all so much!)
  
• 1x US Champion
  
• 1x X-treme Champion