Verity woke up slowly, as if awakening from a dream.

She didn't recognize her surroundings at first.

She could only recognize the darkness.

Then she rolled slightly onto her side and realized she was alone in the bed.

The soft yellow glow of the bedside clock was reassuring.

She stared down at the square of ceiling light reflected in the mirror.

She was not alone, after all.

There was a man in the shadows staring at her, and HE wore dark robes.

She had a vague feeling that the dream had been about him.

It had.

But the shadowy figure disappeared as soon as she focused her eyes on it. It seems there was no one there after all. The sun shined in brightly through the window, and Verity went out to meet her mother.

This would be the third breakfast that Caitlin had planned for Verity in as many weeks.

She had offered to prepare a small breakfast of fresh fruit and toast.

Instead, Verity's mother insisted on driving into the small town to do some shopping.

Some of her friends from San Francisco were visiting, and Caitlin thought they might like to meet the town and its small shops.

Verity didn't know who Caitlin was, and promptly shoved her out of the story. Verity left her mother having not eaten anything, since it would've been her third breakfast, and Verity did not want to eat 3 breakfasts. Verity met her friends Kenny and Maro, who were ready to go to the dump. They piled in the old Jeep Cherokee and headed out of town, heading east, away from the tourist trap shops and toward the dump.

In one of the old fifties fashions Kenny had taken along a cheap tin for old tools, and set it on the console between himself and Verity.

Maro, an amazingly tall, lanky black man who appeared to be in his late twenties was going to operate the machine.

Verity was confused. She had forgotten about Kenny's affliction.

He was deaf.

He had told her as much a few days earlier, when he had suggested that they were going to work together on the station.

She had teased him that he couldn't hear a bit of the conversation, since her mother had introduced her to the couple.

She had even teased him about his inability to hear his wife.

She assumed that he would be too embarrassed to tell her about it.

Kenny had told her, matter - of - factly, that he could read lips.

Verity had been surprised.

Kenny was so large, and she had figured that a deaf person could not see well enough to read lips.

But Kenny, he looked well enough to be not so totally out of it.

Verity now realized that maybe it was because he was blind that he wore dark glasses.

She had not been right however, as Kenny was not blind, nor deaf, but simply an absolute troll. It would be quite some time before she realized this though. Maro pulled over the car outside the dump, and Verity and Kenny got out. Maro decided to go home and left them both there (something he would definitely not regret) Verity was very upset Maro had left them there, but Kenny did not seem to mind at all.

Kenny grabbed a fire ax that was laying nearby and a rake and began unloading the trash.

He was wearing a t - shirt and work pants, and Verity could see the sweat as his shirt rolled up.

His arms and forearms were toned and tan, a testament to his devotion to anvil work.

He wore no shoes and the dirt was visible on his feet and knees.

His hair was short, (finally, something accurate to Kennys cannon description) and he had green eyes.

Verity got a small impression of his mustache when he came back to the car.

He had very short hair and no mustache, but she had noticed the shadow that his hands cast on his face.

She thought that she saw a moustache but apparently not (I dunno this thing keeps contradicting itself) They were rummaging through the trash when Verity saw the shadowy figure again. He was holding a piece of paper in one hand and a spear in the other.

He walked slowly over to where they were working and stopped.

The paper was crumpled in his hand.

He unfolded it and read it.

His Theme is a great melody. The shadow man then ran away, and Verity wanted to follow him, Kenny however was not ready to get out of the car.

Verity told Kenny she had to go back and finish eating, and Kenny was upset.

She protested, and he promised he would eat.

They would see each other later, and Kenny and Verity would have a serious conversation about proper pronouns, and how one wasn't supposed to be in a car that had already driven off a while ago. Verity followed the shadow man, and Kenny came reluctantly followed because he knew he had eaten and was a man, and men aren't always great at listening, or following directions, but he didn't say a word.

They met on a bridge overlooking the ocean, and the shadow man spoke to Kenny.

"Take the spear and follow me."

"Your soul will need the spear."

The spear was a white pine.

Verity thought it was strange that Kenny did not fight back, and then realized it was because he had eaten already, and his arms and hands were useless.

The spear then became a sword.

They were now in an abandoned warehouse, and a man with a missing arm, and a missing eye was there too.

Verity thought this was strange, as his armor seemed very familiar.

The moonlight made his skin look like old, dried blood.

The shadows made him look like a demon.

The old man, who was actually a vampire, pointed to Kenny.

The old man's name was "T".

He drank Kenny's soul.

Verity had been following T since he had stolen the soul, but was now very close.

She was close enough to feel the sting of his fangs in her neck.

The last thing she saw

"Look behind you."

Kenny spun around, and he saw nothing but empty air.

"There is a lever in the wall."

Verity whispered.

"The lever will make us invincible."

"Brilliant" Kenny said "but how tf am I supposed to pull a lever without a soul?" Verity did not respond.

She saw T coming towards her.

He was almost upon her, and she could hear him laughing.

She looked over at Kenny and suddenly felt very angry.

She swung her foot into T's face and then did the same to a friend of T's.

The vamp opened his mouth wide in shock, then flew back, crashing through a large wooden beam that he had been standing next to.

His head broke open and his blood spattered over the floor.

T was now dead, but the vampires with him had not been so lucky.

They began to attack Kenny.

Kenny did not have any weapon on him, so he used Verity as a shield.

But then he remembered the sword that the shadow man had given him, and he slew the rest of the vampires. He apologized to Verity for behaving so selfishly, and out of character.

But Verity laughed and thanked him, and Kenny found himself shaking Verity's hand, then kissing her.

"You are amazing."

He told her.

She smiled and then her hand was torn away from his.

"That thing took it."

She said.

Kenny swore.

"We have to get out of here."

She asked him what he meant by 'that thing.'

"The Shade" He said, and Verity told him not to worry.

They were about to head to the back room to take off the head and back them selves out of there when the back room suddenly collapsed.

That was the last thing they remembered.

Kenny woke up in a cell.

"The Shade."

"The what?"

Kenny asked.

He looked around the room.

It was a standard pit cell.

There was a bucket of water to wash his face, and he sat down, wondering where he was.

Verity had already awoken.

"We are in a building."

She told him.

"It seems we are in Charleston."

Kenny stood up, and looked around.

The cell he was in was right next to a river.

There was a lock on the door, but he could see out.

"This is not my cell.

This is an old cell in a building."

Kenny said.

"I was captured by the Shade a few minutes after the initial fight."

Verity said.

"And you are in the basement of an old church."

Kenny was looking around, and Verity told him not to, as she didn't want them to be found.

"You should not be able to see through the wall of the church."

Verity said.

"They probably just used invisible see-through paint to make it see through." This made sense to both of them, though likely not to you. The shadow man then appeared and said, "I need your help to kill the Shade, come with me". He unlocked both of their cells, and they followed him to the back of the church, where a ledge was that ran out the back of the building.

"So why would I want to help you?"

Verity asked.

"It is no use trying to figure that one out" The shadow man said.

"You are the soul of darkness."

"No, not you."

Verity countered.

"Kenny.

You are the soul of darkness.

You have been a servant to the forces of evil for so long that you are a slave to darkness.

You are the reason that light exists.

Do you think that you are the only one who can take your body out of the cell and escape?"

Kenny slowly nodded.

"I have thought about it.

But I am still afraid of the darkness.

I need you to take your power from me.

I don't want to ever have to feel that way again.

Take it and then die."

Verity looked at Kenny and saw he was serious.

The shadow man came over to them.

"I thought you would want this."

He said.

"This is what it means to be free.

Killing the Shade can free you.

His power is truly fatal, and you will be able to make it to the White Room".

He walked to Verity and placed his hand on her shoulder.

The shadows around them were black.

Verity could feel them.

They were everywhere.

She had never been in such darkness.

She didn't know that darkness.

She wanted to pull away, but she couldn't.

The shadow man slowly removed his hand from Verity's shoulder.

Verity got on her knees and started to cry.

"I am sorry" Verity said, not because she was afraid of death, but because she knew that she could never kill the creature she hated most in the world.

She started to pull the shadows off of Kenny.

She focused on his face.

He kept his eyes closed.

He tried to remain calm, to fight back.

She fought the darkness and finally felt the edges of his face disappear.

Verity realized that she had to remove the rest of his face.

She turned back to the shadow man.

"You will be able to find peace in the White Room."

Verity said.

The shadow man nodded.

Kenny opened his eyes.

"Verity is sorry for all of this, for what I did."

Kenny reached out and held her hand.

"I am too, Verity.

I will see you in the White Room.

I will save you."

"But what about me?"

Verity asked.

"I have a son."

Verity broke down and cried again.

"I am so sorry."

She cried.

"I'm going to miss you.

Do you understand?"

"Yes" Kenny said, still not elaborating on where his son came from, or what the white room was.

Verity got to her feet and walked over to where the shadow man's body stood, now in light.

"I will save you.

You will be free.

You will never have to feel this again."

She placed a hand on the shadow man's shoulder and gave him a hug.

The darkness still surrounded them.

The blackness surrounded the whole church.

The silhouette of the church grew smaller and smaller.

Verity turned and