Oculus — J.L. Mac; L.G. Pace III

Most people only believe in what they can see. Born without the most basic gift of sight, I rely on my other senses to guide me. Yet, what I believe in most is a phantom that resides in my dreams. Under the blanket of twilight, I smell him. I feel him. I hear him. I taste him. But above all else, I see him. And I want him. I have no evidence that he's real. But if he isn't, why do I wake with the taste of him on my lips? I long for someone who doesn't exist and even if he does, he's forbidden, dangerous. He's from a different world, a frightening place beyond the walls that protect me. The Dark Lands, a broken world beyond the reach of the corporate control is what's outside the gate. A lawless hellhole full of death and chaos, where savagery thrives under the cloak of darkness. The irony is that my phantom, the one I want so badly, seems driven to destroy everything I've ever known.