They warned of it leaving it's cave late at night and floating into the village looking for any little girl or boy that dared to be out at night. The legend says that any child found by the creature would disappear in a flash of light to never be seen again. I noticed through my window that lights often went off in the village at night, yet no child was reported missing.

"Come on, we need to get home before dark or the No-face will get us!"

"You can't really believe that story can you? When has a kid ever went missing? Do you know anyone that went missing?"

"No, but I."

"Exactly!"

I hung my head in shame over speculations I'd had about the truth in the story, despite the fact no other kid believe it was true. So I was dragged into the cave by the other two kids, of which I wouldn't exactly call my friends. As the night grew darker and we walked deeper into the cave, my friends began to get quite squeamish. We heard a creak in the walls of the cave and my friends jumped together while my first instinct was to take a picture with my camera. I huffed as I looked to see what I'd captured, A little spider.

Another noise came from the cave and before I had time to react, my friends had already ran off. As I turned to do the same I saw a flash of light blast behind me and quickly disappear. The cave grew dark again and I was ok. I did not disappear, I did not feel pain. I turned to find another flash, this one blinded me much like a headlight. I gazed to the floor rubbing my eyes to dissipate the black and white bubbles. The darkness was inescapable. So I brought my lens up, zoomed in and blasted light back in the direction it came from.

I heard a hiss and then a laugh.

"Now I know how it feels!"

I turned as the cave lit up the creature hung on the wall above me, with a camera around his neck. He laughed and floated down in front of me. He started poking and prodding me as if I was a stuffed bear. He brought up his camera to his blank face and aimed it at me floating in circles.

"I've never seen one of you like this before!"

Confused, I looked around the cave and noticed the walls had been covered in polaroids of nearly everyone from my town. He had pictures of all of us, even me. He watched as I located myself. He turned with the camera to his face and he giggled then flew over to the picture, picking it up he brought it to me.

"I think we can take a better one!"

He rose his camera in front of us and wrapped his arm around me, yelling "Say cheese!". Another flash came and I saw the dots again. He pulled it out and looked down into the camera waiting for it to turn into the picture he took. My face in the picture was confused at best, but something in the picture... it was different. The creature suddenly had a face and he was smiling! He was nice and happy, not at all the stories they told us.

Him and I spent the night joking around and taking pictures of each other. Each picture I took of him, he had a face. When morning came, it was time to go, as I left he handed me the first picture. This is one I'd never forget. I keep it in my wallet to remind myself everyday of the friend I met, that everyone else calls No-face.

„They say the eyes are the mirror to ones soul, but this guy doesn't have a soul.“

„He is like a flame, if you get to close, he will burn you.“

„If you think you finally caught him, he'll just escape your fingers like smoke and leaves you with nothing left behind.“

„He appears out of thin air and he disappears just as quickly and unnoticed. One moment you feel like you know everything about him, and the next you start to realize that all he appeared to be is a big, fat lie.“

These are only some of the rumors and phrases I had heard about No-Face, before I actually met him. There might be more than a grain of truth in all of those statements, but if you ask me, they don't do him any justice. It might be best if I tell you about my personal encounter with No-Face to describe him a bit better to you, so you can make up your own mind.

It was nearly three years ago, when me and my girls went for our annual Vesnali dinner to Pete's restaurant. The food was incredibly good like every year and the atmosphere was stunning. We laughed and talked for hours and it felt like we were back at college. When Pete was about to close, we decided to relocate our happy gathering and went for a couple of drinks to the Darkheart Tavern. It's not as shabby as it looks from the outside. It's quite cozy and one can get comfortable in there if one lowers their standards for the night. The music ain't to loud, the drinks are cheap and not watered down and other guests mind their own business. It might be a bit dark and one shouldn't look at the floor under the tables, but it is the right place to get a cocktail at 11 pm and it definitely was the right place for us to be that particular night.

We carried on to indulge in our past, all the fun times we shared as teenagers and young adults, and also all the sad stories, when suddenly I got the chills and mechanically looked up to the bar. Only one of the bar stools was taken, and there he was, motionless. I felt his presence in every cell of my body like some weird sort of electricity, like every part of me was magnetically attracted to him. He wasn't even looking at me, his back was facing our little group, but still, I felt him beckoning to me. I raised like in trance and must have babbled some excuse to my companions, while I was tackling my route to him, my gaze stuck at the stranger not even being able to blink.

It feels like a blur talking about the following hours, and I know none of my words can get remotely close to describing the meaning of this life-changing meeting. No word in any language could possibly characterize any of it. It was like an instant connection. Like knowing each other on first sight. For the time being I shared a special bond with him, and I am still bound.

I shared everything with him, from the most trivial stories of my past to my most private thoughts and feelings. I spilled every secret someone ever confided in me, I burst out everything I had to give. I felt like I owe that to him...

I often thought about what he gave me in exchange. I didn't receive any sort of information from him, not even a name. That doesn't seem to matter though, since he listened. He listened to me as if he was absorbing me. He seemed to be hungry for every little detail I had to offer, for every syllable dripping from my lips.

At the next morning my wallet was gone. All my money was gone, and my jewelry as well. I was set on finding this guy. I had to meet him again. I asked my friends and the bar keeper, but nobody seemed to have even noticed him. Kora said I went to the bathroom at some point and didn't come back, my friends just assumed I wasn't feeling to well and went home without saying „Good-Bye“. Not one of the guests at the tavern remembered seeing a guy at the bar or me talking to anybody except the friends I entered the bar with. I went to the Subeta police station to report my missing possessions, and they asked me to describe the stranger, to tell them how he looked like. Yet I didn't look at him, I looked into him. He is truly faceless. I vaguely believe to remember him wearing a dark suit and he might have had ginger hair. Or some sandy red hair, but as much as I try to remember any facial features they seem to be constantly changing. Like smoke in the air.

Every night since this special encounter I have spent at the Darkheart Tavern, waiting and hoping to maybe seeing him again. I ache to catch just another glimpse at No-Face. I would give anything for just another second with him. He enlightened me and every minute I had to spend without him afterwards appears like eternal darkness to me.

Truth be told the most valuable possession I lost due to that night probably wasn't my material goods. Probably not even my friends, my credibility, my job or my happiness. Coming to think of it, it must have been my heart.

Without a face one probably has to feed on love.