The darkness reached for him, and didn't let go. The familiar shapes of the room were gone - only the presence of a surface to stand on kept Mike from hyperventilating. He sank to his knees, praying to feel the material of his carpet brush his fingertips.

Smooth skin met his searching fingers. He tried to scream, managing a hoarse croak. The skin had become a giant hand that was gripping his shoulders too tightly, it was squeezing and crushing, and he would become a part of the darkness that was closing in and sucking the breath from his lungs -

"I told you, man. That was way too much. It's his first time, for fuck's sake," Louis tried in vain to shake life into Mike, who was standing frozen in the middle of the room. "Turn the light on, will you? I can't see a damn thing."

"Nah, that'll freak him out even more. Let's just leave him alone for a bit, ok? He'll be fine, I've taken way more than that." Nick sighed and led Mike to a couch, pushing him into a sleeping position. "There. Nothing more we can do except wait it out. Hey, you wanna grab some MacDonald's?" The two friends left the room quietly, drawing other curtains as they went.

The skin had transformed fluidly into a monstrous mouth, that tried to grab hold of his legs and drag him further down. He scrambled out of its way, hurtling into the darkness away from the reaching creature. His heart was beating wildly, it was surely outside his chest, he was dying -

Mike breathed out as his fingers finally met something other than the monster. It was sharp, and winked at him in the blackness. It looked familiar. So comforting. He wanted to hold it closer, keep it with him in case the monster came for him. He slammed it into himself, and began to feel stronger as the seconds ticked by. He would be ready for the monster. The darkness was circling closer now, but it seemed friendly. He belonged to it, he suddenly knew. He shouldn't be afraid. He would face the monster.