It had not been simple getting here, yet here I was.

The man before me was ancient, with eyes barley discernible underneath creased and folded skin.

Recessions of years gone by had let a dilapidated industrial forest in its wake.

A forest I had spent the last few weeks exploring.

It had been a path seeded with broken glass, forgotten; rotten furnishings and equipment… and vermin. Both of rodent and man.

All to the end of locating this man. I did not understand how I knew this was the person I sought. Yet the moment my eyes fell on him I knew I had succeeded in my self appointed quest.

The old man seemed to open one eye, looking in my direction, yet I could tell he was not looking at me.

The words I had longed to utter so often, they sit on my lips unformed. I could help but hesitate. As I knew there would be no way back if I did this. The rules of this were simple.

There is a man who is not a man, who wonders amongst our cities industrial bone yard.

Should you find the man who is not a man, and whisper a name to him. That person will die within three weeks.

My heart is pounding, I lean in. I did not want to upset my family over what I wanted most. I was tired.

Of everything really.

If I go out this way, then my family will never know it was all my own doing… yet here I was, and I was uncertain.

The mans eye I realized wasn't there, his eye socket seemed bottomless. This close I also realized his scent was a mix of copper and ink. It made my thoughts spin and my breath short.

Standing between possibilities, my life hung on a conviction to whisper.