Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 24: Cross Purposes

Alexis

"Are you sure? This is the man you saw?"

"What was he wearing?"

"What was his condition?"

"Did he speak to you?

"What did he tell you?"

The questions sound alike and repetitive. Marty, Nick and Halitus blast them at me. I fumble to answer.

Meanwhile, Ethan stands silently in the corner. The world outside is starting to wake up. The sky paints the forest a bluish-grey. The birds sing their early morning choir. The dawn is supposed to be quiet and peaceful, regardless, there is chaos in our cabin.

"It has to be a misunderstanding; she can't possibly talk to him." Halitus goes over to Ethan.

"She recognized the photo." Ethan sighs hopelessly. He didn't seem agitated like the others. He seems to believe me right away.

"Maybe, she saw someone else." Marty butts in.

"Or Maybe, she must have seen him before in some photo." Nick suggests.

"This is bad. If he can talk to her, he can do anything." Halitus lowers her voice, while Nick and Marty argued besides me.

"Either way, we are doomed." Ethan mumbles.

"Why are we doomed? What's going on?" I rise from the mattress and stumble my way through them.

Nick and Marty follow in my wake.

"Alexis, Calm down. We don't know anything for sure." Halitus places an assuring palm on my shoulder.

"What is bad? Who is he?" I probe Ethan, who is showing signs of frustration.

His annoyance aggravates as he strides up to me.

"The Man that you saw in your dream, is Asmodeus." Ethan lets out.

...

"What?" I whisper to myself. "No-no, it can-it can't be." I inhale, "You are bluffing."

I search his hazels for a reply, he is definitely kidding right now. He is messing with me, they all are.

"Do I look; like I am bluffing?" Ethan's tone is solemn.

"But, Asmodeus is a murderer. He is evil." I reason.

"Yeah, that's what he is!" Ethan snaps back.

It feels like someone generated an ear-deafening explosion. Every sound in the room drops to a mild tinnitus dial tone. Blood pounds inaudibly to my ears as the room seem to blur out of sight.

"That means... I was talking to him... all this while." The words confide in my throat.

"Alexis..." Halitus begins but is immediately cut off by Ethan.

"Wait a minute, what did you say?" He looks into my eyes.

When I don't respond he asks me again.

"How long have you been talking to him?" He slowly approaches me.

"Ethan..."

"How long?!" He barks at me.

I gulp, "Since the very beginning, since it all started." I tremble with fear.

"Jesus Christ!" He pinches the bridge of his nose and turns to walk away.

"Alexis, why didn't you tell us about this earlier?" Halitus sounds dejected.