Riley's Box

Part 61

Allowing my pen to continue to scribble down notes on today's lesson, my thoughts started to drift towards other matters. I felt as though time slowed down as I remember what had happened over the course of the past few days. One memory stood out in particular, though, and it was a memory of the dog that I had seen on the opposite side of the street. 

Now, ordinarily enough that would have just been a normal dog, I wouldn't have paid it much attention. This time around was different. I was beginning to realise that the dog that I had seen, a simple, cute, Labrador hadn't looked quite right. Why did I think that? I had only really noticed it in hindsight, but the eyes of that dog had not been a usual colour. They had reminded me of the eyes of a particular creature that I had thrown a pebble at a few days prior, and if my theory was correct, that meant that there was a very clueless dog owner out there. 

After English class was over, the bell signalled that it was time to leave. 

Otius jolted awake from his nap and then followed me out into the main corridor. 

I told him that he could return home to the others, because I was going to stay a little later to get on with some work. 

Sat in the silence of the library, I managed to get about five pages of study notes completed, before I glanced towards the clock and realised how late it was getting. 

My eyes naturally glanced out of the window, after I had finished off my work for the day, and I noticed that the sun started to become hidden behind the cloud. The sky had started to turn amber. 

Knowing that this meant it was probably time for me to leave, I stood up from where I had been sitting and walked out of the school. 

I took the late bus home and arrived back at my house to find that Jason was inside watching anime in the living room. 

As I knocked on the door of the room to get his attention, I prepared to tell him what I had thought about in class today. 

"We need to talk," I said. 

Jason paused his anime. 

~*~**~*~

Jason decided to stay over night, once I had told him my theory. 

"So, let me get this straight. You think that the random man's dog is a shadow spirit in disguise?" he asked me. 

"In basic terms, yes," I said. 

"In not so basic terms?" 

"I don't know, Jason. Like I said before, it's just a theory. Are you sure you want to stay over?" I asked, my eyes glancing towards a darkened sky that now had a scatter of stars visible in it. "I don't want you to have to stay up with me. I care about you and that means all of you. You need your sleep." 

"Hey, are you forgetting that I care about you, too? I'm staying over. We need to talk about this," he said. 

I felt my lips twitch into a smile then, as I grabbed my sketchbook out from underneath my bed. 

Next, I was able to get to work on drawing a picture of the man's dog. Well, that was assuming it was a dog. I remained unconvinced. 

I could tell that Jason was thinking over everything, so I looked towards him with an expression of inquisitiveness. 

"Are you okay?" I asked him. "I know that there's a lot going on here but...thinking about it, that last sighting of a shadow spirit happened not too far from here." 

Jason raised an eyebrow. 

"Then, the shadow spirit just disappeared. They had no clue what happened to it and nobody in the human world, besides us, really has a clue as to what they are. I know it's a stretch, but maybe it couldn't be seen anymore after that because it transformed into something a little less threatening...into a dog, for instance," I said. 

"I think you might be onto something there, Riley," Avidicci said, as he came to sit beside me. He crossed his legs, as a thoughtful expression took over his face. "Shadow spirits do have some magic, like the Sins. They can shapeshift. So, can we. We look like this, here, because we believe it makes us appear a little less threatening to humans. This is only our Earth form." 

I was both intrigued and a little frightened to know that there were versions of the Sins that looked different to the ones that I had got so used to. 

"My theory could be right?" I blurted. 

"Your theory could be right," Avidicci confirmed. 

"Believe me when I say that I am so glad that I have you two here," I said. 

Jason's lips quirked into a smile, as he rested back on my bed. 

"Well, I'm glad to be of service, even if I haven't said much," he said. 

"You just being here helps me feel less alone in all of this," I said, knowing that I meant every word. "I have a good feeling about this. Well, maybe good isn't the right word but...if my theory proves correct, then we will be able to find this final shadow spirit and send it back." 

Jason sat back up again, so he could nod in agreement. 

"You're an old soul, Riley. That's another reason why we picked you as our safe keeper," Avidicci said. 

Now, this took me by slight surprise. 

"I am?" I asked. 

"Indeed. Old souls are more skilled when it comes to matters regarding the Otherworlds," he said. "For instance, Heaven and Hell." 

"Does that mean that reincarnation is a real thing?" I uttered suddenly. 

Avidicci's lips curved into a smile. 

"There's some truth in all religions," he said. "So, yes. Heaven is somewhere that souls that want to rest for a little while go, before they're reincarnated again. Truly, truly bad souls go to Hell. They cannot be. That's why they try to come to Earth in their shadow form, really. That's why they are so dangerous. They're not supposed to be here. The very universe argues against the idea."