The Colors 

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By Jonathan Leoniak '29

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Millie woke up from her nap, a headache pounding in her head. The house felt like dark emptiness. The only illumination came from a tiny night light on the wall. She dropped her legs over the edge of bed, put her feet on the floor, and walked to the door, stumbling in the darkness. When Millie opened the door, she realized that something felt off about the house. The stairway looked the same, but the hallways seemed like they went on forever, into the void. She reached her hand out trying to find the hallway light switch so she could see where she was going. She found the switch plate, but there were no switches. All she could feel was the cold plastic plate and nothing else. There weren't even any holes where the switches should be. Millie thought that she was still dreaming or losing her mind. 

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Millie remembered that she wanted water, so she found the stairs with her feet and clutched the railing as she walked down them. Once she got to the bottom of the stairs, the house seemed warped in a way. The walls had no paintings on them, the hallways seemed to go to nowhere, and the doors seemed to disappear and reappear every time Millie looked away. Millie went into the kitchen and poured herself a glass of water in the dark. She drank two  glasses of water, but her headache would not go away. 

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Suddenly, the television set behind Millie turned on, causing her to jump. Although the television set was producing only static, it was able to light up the entire room. Millie looked around and realized that she was in someone else's house, but she couldn’t remember whose. The TV went off abruptly, leaving Millie to fend for herself in the dark again. She then saw a dimly lighted face come out from the TV. The face had no features. It spoke to her, saying,  “Come to me.” Without thinking, Millie moved closer and closer to the TV. Her body was being controlled by the featureless face. She stopped in front of the TV, now seeing the featureless face more clearly. She felt that she was safe, huddling in the warmth of the small light that it was emitting. 

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Then she heard something creeping behind her, lurking in the darkness of the house. She cried out, “Who’s there?” but there was only silence. Again she cried out, “I know someone’s there,” but again to no avail. There was only silence. 

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The featureless face on the TV said, “Go closer to it.” She turned toward the TV. 

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“But there's nothing there,” she said. Millie turned back around again to see a dark figure standing in the corner or the room, standing still like a predator, waiting to catch its prey.

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 “That is nothingness. It will give you joy. It will make all your pain and suffering go away,” the TV said joyfully, now changing its tone of voice to seem more upbeat. Millie stared at the nothingness, almost hypnotized by it as she stood facing away from the TV. The light from the TV started to fade, and the room got darker, making it seem as if the nothingness grew larger. Millie turned toward the TV, but now it was gone. There was nothing left but a giant white wall, leaving only Millie and the nothingness in the room.

 

The nothingness then started walking toward Millie, slowly trying to consume her entire body. A radio suddenly appeared right beside her, emitting static as a voice came out of it. “You need to run,” it said. Millie tried to run, but now the nothingness was emitting a colorful light. The light flooded the entire room as the nothingness moved closer to her. With all her willpower, Millie was able to break free of the trance. She ran toward the stairs, trying to get to the room in which she had awakened. The nothingness chased after Millie, running faster and faster, almost catching up to Millie as she ran up the stairs. The nothingness grabbed onto her foot as she ran up the stairs, causing her to trip.

 

Millie kicked the nothingness, making it fly down the stairs, hitting its head on the floor and becoming lifeless. Millie ran into the hallway, trying to get to her room, but every time she got close to the door, it seemed to move farther away. Millie heard a roar behind her but did not dare to turn around as she ran toward the room. Millie made it to the room and closed the door before the nothingness was able to get her.

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Millie turned around to see that she was standing in a different room than before. The wallpaper had changed, and the bed was different, but the same night light was still there. But something was off about it, sort of dimmer than before. She then remembered that this was the room that she grew up in as a child. She didn’t know how she remembered but she could still remember that this was her room. Suddenly, a loud banging sound came from the door. The nothingness was trying to get in. Luckily, Millie had locked the door before it arrived. The nothingness emitted the same colorful light behind the door. The colors seeped under the door like a cloud of smoke. But Millie was far away so that it didn’t get to her. The radio then appeared next to her again, rasping a static sound as it turned on.

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“The nothingness will try and get in, but you can’t let it absorb you,” the radio warned.

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“How do I do that?” Millie asked, trying to understand the situation. 

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“The more you encounter it, the stronger it becomes, and you can’t kill it.” 

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“Well, how do I avoid it?” 

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“That’s the problem, you can’t. You can only make it weaker by not letting it control you,” the radio now said, seeming to emit more than one voice at a time. Each voice was distorted by the static of the radio, but Millie was able to make out what it said. The nothingness was banging louder on the door, about to break it down. 

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“How do I not let it control me?” Millie yelled frantically trying to finish the conversation before the nothingness broke down the door.

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“Don't look into its face. The more you look into its face, you can’t stop. It’s like an addiction.” Suddenly the nothingness tore a hole through the door, looking through it peering into Millie’s eyes as she backed up into the corner of the room. The nothingness emitted its light through the hole of the door, hypnotizing Millie as she tried to back away. It put its hand through the door, unlocking the doorknob as it still peered through the hole. Millie tried to resist. While Millie was backing away, she cried out for help, but the radio was gone. The nothingness opened the door, creeping toward Millie one step at a time. Millie huddled in the corner, thinking that her life would come to an end soon. 

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Millie remembered what the radio had said to her, and she looked away, closing her eyes knowing that the nothingness was coming closer. She felt the colors as they washed over her like a giant wave. It felt like a warm blanket falling on top of her as the nothingness walked slowly toward her. As the nothingness sat down right in front of Millie, she felt its cold lifeless breath against her neck. Millie was replaying the same images in her head over and over again. There was a staircase, a hospital bed, and, most important, a TV. Millie could feel a sense of dread and depression coming from these images that played repeatedly in her head. All the dread and depression were building up inside of Millie, but she knew to keep her eyes closed. She started to want to look now, wanting to feel the goodness and warmth of the colors, it was almost addictive. She took one tiny peek to see the colorful lights that were coming from the nothingness. She opened her eyes wide, letting all the colors flood into her. It felt so good. It made her forget about all the dread and depression she had felt. The colors wrapped her with warmth. The nothingness moved closer and closer until suddenly a void opened beneath Millie, and she fell into a pit of pure pain and suffering. 

“Hello?” Millie screamed, seeing if anyone was there. “Where am I?” The void started changing right in front of Millie, altering into some sort of room. Millie was frozen in place and couldn’t move. She could only observe what was happening. Then, the room changed into a living room with a couch and a TV. The door opened on the other side of the room, and Millie saw herself walk through.

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Millie was arguing with her parents about her homework and school. “Why haven’t you been doing your schoolwork, Millie?” her mom screamed at her. 

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“It’s not my fault that you guys decided to go on vacation for the entire weekend,” Millie shouted to her parents. 

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“Go to your room, Millie! You're being grounded for a week,” Millie’s dad announced as she stormed out of the room. 

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“What are we going to do about her?” Millie’s mom asked, sounding concerned.

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 “I don’t know, we’ve tried every method,” her dad said. “I guess we’ll have to wait ‘til she gets older.” 

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“I guess so,” Millie's mom supposed, walking out of the room. Millie watched the room disintegrate as it started to shift into another room. The room became a college dorm, filled with smoke and littered with trash. Millie was sitting on the bed smoking a cigarette when her phone rang, startling Millie and making her jump. Millie picked up the phone to see it was her mom. “Hey mom,” Millie said, putting the cigarette into the ashtray.

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“How has your work been going?” asked Millie’s mom.

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“It’s been going really well. I’ve got my stuff together and everything.” But that was a lie. The truth was that Millie was failing at college and not even taking care of herself. She was one giant mess. 

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“I gotta new boyfriend, Mom,”

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“That’s nice. What’s his name?”

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 “Well, I wanted to keep him as a surprise for Dad, so I’ll tell you everything about him at dinner tomorrow. Okay?”

 

“Well, I’ll guess. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

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“See you!” Millie put the phone down and the room disintegrated. 

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Millie watched from the void as the room turned into a staircase, but there was no light at all. The staircase had a sense of despair coming from it, and Millie didn’t feel comfortable. The room disintegrated again. All that joy and warmth from the colors had now drained out of her, leaving her filled with nothingness. She curled up into a fetal position and started crying tears of pure sadness. She reminisced over her life and what an awful person and daughter she was. She knew she would never succeed in life and so she resorted to “living in the moment” as she called it and did whatever she wanted. A sudden burst of light came out from the void and called  Millie's name. Millie reached toward the light and was transported back into the TV room. The TV was now two times larger. It looked more ominous and cast a dark shadow over the entire room. The face reappeared on the TV and greeted Millie saying, “Hello again, Millie” in a distorted voice. 

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“What am I doing back here?” Millie asked. 

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“Why, I saved you from that awful void, didn’t I?” the featureless face said. 

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“Why did you lie to me?” Millie asked. 

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“What do you mean?” 

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“You told me that the nothingness would help me, but it just tried to kill me.” 

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“But how did the colors feel? It made you feel good, right? And wasn’t that what I told you it would do?” 

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“I know but…” 

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The featureless face interrupted Millie. “I could bring it back if you want, to let it absorb you, let it get rid of all of your sadness and sorrows.” 

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“No thank you,” Millie whispered under her breath. “I have one more question,” Millie said sternly.

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 “And what is your question?” 

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“How do I get out of this house?”

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 “Hmm, I knew you were going to ask that question sooner or later. Well, the only way out is to trust me with everything you have.” 

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“Well, what about the radio?” Millie said, trying to get answers from the featureless face. 

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“Do not trust it,” the featureless face said quickly, not even hesitating. 

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“Okay then.” Millie said, hesitating briefly. 

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“What do we do now?” Mille asked, not knowing what would happen next. 

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“You must let me have full control over you.”

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 “I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Millie said, trying to back away, but she realized she couldn’t. Millie was frozen in place and had no control over her body. 

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“You said you trusted me,” said the featureless face, starting to sound more agitated. 

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“No, not this, anything but this!” Millie began to panic and struggled to find a way out. The featureless face on the TV started coming closer and closer until the light from the TV brightened the entire room. But the darkness was still there, hiding itself behind the TV as if it were being controlled by the featureless face.

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 “You are nothing, no one loves you. You abandoned your entire family just to be a drug addict,” said the featureless face on the TV, speaking in a villainous tone. 

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“No, that’s not true!” Millie screamed. 

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“You just push everyone away when you hear the smallest bit of disappointing news.”

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“No no no no no no no no, stop it please!” Millie said, starting to cry because she still could not move. The featureless face seemed to like her sadness and be feeding off it. The face grew larger and larger until the TV was practically the size of the room. 

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The TV kept on repeating over and over again, “You are nothing without me,” entertaining itself by making Millie cry. 

Millie, still crying, said “Fine, I'll do anything you ask. Just make it stop.” 

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“That’s a good girl,” the featureless face said, reverting to his original tone. At that moment, Millie had full control and realized that the featureless face was feeding off Millie and  growing stronger and stronger. And Millie realized that the only way to stop it was to destroy it. Summoning all her willpower, Millie punched a hole in the screen, letting the darkness escape.  

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“NO NO NO NO NO, why would you do that, you coward?” The darkness that was flooding from the TV started flooding into Millie too. She felt the jolt of a shock as it just kept rushing into her second by second. She realized that the only way to escape was to embrace what she was hiding from this entire time. 

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The room suddenly fell into darkness exactly was it was when Millie first discovered it. The TV was gone. The featureless face then appeared in the dark, seeming to loom over Millie.

 

“I’m not afraid of you, you coward, hiding behind a screen, using the nothingness as a way to make me vulnerable, using the darkness as a way to confuse me. But that won’t work anymore. I realized that the only way you make yourself stronger is by feeding off of my own darkness.” Millie felt like a spout of water shooting out words toward the featureless face. 

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“I may not have control over you, but I still have control over the nothingness,” the featureless face said, laughing at Millie. 

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Suddenly, Millie heard the nothingness crawling on the ceiling right above her. She could hear its fingertips clanking against the ceiling. The featureless face disappeared into the darkness but not before Millie called him a coward. She could see nothing in the room now; but knowing that the nothingness was in the room with her, she quickly bolted toward the door. In the darkness, she tripped, falling face down on the floor and not even knowing where she was. The nothingness jumped down from the ceiling, landing on top of Millie. She tried to crawl away, but she couldn’t move. The nothingness crept up her body, leaving her paralyzed with fear. But then she realized that she did not need to be afraid. Technically, it was only a shadow, so she could walk right through it. 

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Millie screamed, “I am not afraid of you!” as she kicked off the nothingness. She kept on repeating, “I am not afraid; I am not afraid.” The nothingness burst into a ball of shining colors, lighting up the entire room. The room then fell into complete darkness again as the nothingness disintegrated. The radio appeared again right beside Millie, lighting up the room and emitting a static sound. 

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“Would you like to know how you got here?” asked a voice on the radio. 

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“Yes please,” Millie said, still panting from what she had recently encountered. The door to the room opened, showing something even darker than before. 

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“That room is how you got here; and once you go in there, is no coming back,” the radio explained.

“Who are you?” Millie asked.

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“I am the ones that love you and the ones that you need.”

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Millie was confused, but she thought she understood what it meant. Then Millie stood up and walked through the passage. Engulfing herself into the darkness as she walked on and on until the room shapeshifted into the same stairway that she had seen before.

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Millie had been getting ready to go to her parents’ house, to show her parents her new boyfriend. She had been in the bathroom for ages putting on makeup and doing her hair. 

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“You really are doing a lot just for a small dinner,” Millie's boyfriend said, leaning on the doorway to the bathroom. 

“I haven’t seen them in a while, and I want to make a good impression with you,” Millie said,applying foundation to her face. 

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“What’s that supposed to mean?” Millie's boyfriend replied, sounding agitated. 

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“Well, as you know, I have hooked up with multiple guys before, and they haven’t lasted very long. So I thought if I looked nice, it would show that I want to stay in this relationship with you.” Millie said, trying to de-escalate the situation. 

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“What? So you’re saying that I’m not as nice as your other boyfriends?” Millie's boyfriend said sarcastically. 

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“No no no no no, that’s not what I meant,” Millie said, walking out of the bathroom. 

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“Why are you ashamed of me?” Millie's boyfriend asked, escalating the situation like a ticking time bomb. 

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“Can you just shut up and stop with all this nonsense? This is MY family, and all I wanted was to make you look like a good person. Is that so bad of me?” 

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Millie's boyfriend felt shocked by what he had just heard and stood there in silence. Millie grabbed the car keys and started walking down the stairs. But in a fit of rage, he pushed her. 

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Millie saw what had just happened and looked up the stairs. It was filled with complete darkness as if someone had turned off all the lights. The darkness seemed to grow and grow, but Millie noticed one thing: the featureless face appeared again in the darkness. She finally pieced everything together. The featureless face was her boyfriend all along. 

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And with that realization, the door at the bottom of the stairs opened, emitting a bright light that flooded the entire room, chasing away all the darkness that had been there before. Millie slowly walked toward it, not looking back. The light slowly engulfed her as she kept walking forward. All the pain and dread were still there, but she felt good this time. She chuckled a little as she disappeared into the light, walking endlessly in the void.

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Millie woke up in the hospital with a pounding headache. She looked around, seeing all her family and friends surrounding her. Everything she had just experienced started flying away. She tried to hold on, but the dream slipped away. She looked to her right to see her parents sitting beside her. She bawled and hugged her parents as she cried on their shoulders. 

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“I’m so sorry for everything I've done. I promise I'll try and be a better daughter.” 

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“Hey, it’s okay. Luckily your boyfriend called the ambulance before you bled to death.” Millie's parents said. 

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“Wait, what?” Millie asked.

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“He said your heel broke, and you fell down the stairs.”

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“No, no, no! That’s not true. He pushed me. I don’t remember it clearly, but I do remember that we were in an argument and then he pushed me on the stairs,” said Millie.

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“Well, let's call the police,” replied her parents, reaching for the phone. 

 

Epilogue

 

In the end the boyfriend went into hiding and was never found. Millie quit her addiction and started focusing on school and her friends and family. At night, Millie still thought about what happened to her boyfriend, wondering if he was alive or not. When she was dreaming, she swore she could see a fearless face in the corner of her dreams, peering in the darkness, waiting to come out at any moment.