Are the two so dissimilar? [They aren't talking about the same sort of "ruin."] When darkness spreads, men's hearts fall prey to many things, so many of them present already: terror, hatred, or grief.

[She thinks of Jack, yelling and destroying the foyer the day before. Shintaro, sobbing as she held him last night. Who could fault any of them for being terrified of what might lie in store for them? It would be so much easier to give in to their fears, to lash out in defense before something lunges for them from the shadows.]

When one succumbs to true despair, actions once thought unconscionable become justifiable. Ruin, destruction... the result is the same. A dream becomes but a nightmare, unable to be woken from until the light appears once more.