[ His hands clench into fists; he's not angry, not really. He knows that she's right, but he's still trying to come to terms with it all... to process it. Maybe he never will. Or maybe talking about it will help. It seems unlikely, but what does he have to lose? ]

The Dark Presence. At least, that's how I know of it. Maybe it's called something else, but- it doesn't matter what it's called, it's just bad news. No, it's the worst news you could ever receive.

[ He falls silent for a minute or two as he tries to think back to something that he's learned, something that might help Elizabeth understand what he's trying to communicate. ]

Maybe they do happen somewhere else, but- I think they can happen to anyone, anywhere. I think... it happened to me, or at least I think it did. [ He rubs one hand against his chin as he tries to bring up exactly what happened at Bright Falls the first time around. ] It happened to other people first. A man named Carl Stucky... I think he was a nice guy, but he got pulled into the story, and things happened to him that shouldn't have.

The Dark Presence took him, and I think- I think it was because of a page that I wrote. [ Wrote, or was forced to write? ]