[ TT ] One can only hide from the darkness for so long until the candle dies out .

He had only 15, maybe 20 minutes left. 
 
 This had come too far close too close to the wire, the closest he had ever gotten. He was out of reserves, and he had seen no prey in over a week. Which is really saying something as it is impossible to hide. It is pretty easy to make out a light in the midst of utter darkness after all. 
 
 He walked straight down the middle of the street, he was n't trying to hide from anyone else. He was desperate, he no longer had the luxury to pick his battles, he just needed **a** battle. 
 
 He was down to an inch and a half. He was running now, for no seeming reason, as if coming this close to the end warranted some sort of reaction. It did n't matter really, but it gave him the sense that he was actually *fighting* it. When really it could n't be fought, it could only be delayed, forestalled. 
 
 Barely three quarters of an inch left, and then he heard it: crying. Not that of a man giving up, but of a child, high pitched and shrill. He turned and ran into the house on the left where the noise was coming from. He kicked open the door, not caring for covertness, and noted the distinct flickering of the flame. He ran up the stairs and turned towards the bedroom, ready to rip the candle from whoever had it. 
 
 As he burst into the room however, he saw something that made him stop. Not because he felt anything for taking away the light from a mother trying to keep her and her child alive by any means. No one who survived this long had any morals left. He saw the woman with the crying child both sitting next to a candle, the woman clutching a 3 inch blade in her hand. Her candle had maybe half an inch left. 
 
 As their eyes met, a sense of defeat came over them both. He came over and sat next to her, knowing that there was no point. In their last minutes, they held each other's hand, neither saying a word, neither looking at each other. Ironic, how in their last moments of light, they chose not to use their sight. The baby had quieted now, as if it sensed what was coming. 
 
 And as both candles flickered out, *I* descended. They did n't even have time to react. 
 
 One can only hide from me for so long until the candle dies out.
