Chasing Shadows: An Alice In Borderlands Fanfic (Completed)

Chapter 22: House of Shadows (Jen 1.0)

Karube always seemed to stay a room away. No matter how fast I moved down the hall, no matter how many doors I opened, he stayed just out of reach.

I ran up and down stairs and raced around corners, throwing open doors as I went. Everything was in shadows. And I felt like I was chasing shadows.

Then I came before my door again. The one with the windows.

He was in there. Even before I opened the door, I knew this.

I opened it slowly, afraid he'd disappear if I spooked him.

Karube stood in front of the two lit windows. He turned his head my way when I entered, his face limned by the light coming in.

"He's here," he said and returned to staring at the scenes in front of him.

"I know," I replied, for I could feel another presence now.

Niragi.

"Are you jealous?" I strode across the room to stand by him. That's when I noticed there were actually three windows. The first, a look into my life, was dark. The second showed the other me walking up a dark set of stairs toward a light. And the third? It showed an empty scene of green. A forest maybe? With a cave in the background.

"What's that?" I pointed at the new window.

"A third you. Well, it will be soon."

"Another me?"

"Yeah. When you told the other Karube to go after his Jen, you caused another split. He entered the portal and it glitched. That portal was meant for you. Him going through it caused you and Niragi to split off and choose a different path. It was the time flow correcting itself."

"We messed it up?"

Karube nodded. "More specifically you messed it up when you called Karube's name. That was the first split. You caused a paradox that needed to be corrected."

My cheeks heated. "Whoops."

He smiled and embraced me, pulling me against him. "It's okay. It'll all work out. And to answer your other question, no, I'm not jealous. You know who you belong to."

I pulled my head back so I could see his face. His gorgeous face that I loved so much. I grinned at him because he was right. I belonged to him heart and soul.

Curious, I asked, "Where are we?"

"It's called the Fringe. It's a place outside of our worlds and outside of Borderland itself. It's where the souls who die in Borderland go. But now isn't the time to discuss that. After Niragi finds us, I'll explain more." He cradled my jaw with his fingers and kissed me. "I've been wanting to do that since I first sensed your presence."

I smiled and pulled his face toward mine again. This time when our lips touched, I deepened the kiss.

The third window flashed, drawing our attention to it. A portal appeared on the screen. A moment later. Niragi's back appeared. He emerged backwards, holding me in his arms.

"He's going backwards so we end up in his world, right? The first person through dictates where a couple goes."

"Correct."

I clapped my hands causing Karube to grin at me. He ruffled the hair on the top of my head. "My smart girl."

I snorted. "You know it."

I returned my attention to the window. Niragi swung around and set me down. I had burns, but they weren't bad.

"Chishiya stopped his attack earlier because you reacted sooner," Karube explained. "He didn't want to hurt you."

"He was always good to me, even when I became close to Niragi."

Karube nodded. "I think he was a good guy."

"Can we see the others? Chishiya? Arisu and Usagi? How they ended up?"

Karube hesitated before answering. "Perhaps. Though, I'd concentrate on us right now."

I returned my attention to the window. "Will this Niragi have a happy ending?"

"Do villains deserve them?"

I shrugged. "Sometimes, I think. Or perhaps the heroine deserves the happy ending with the villain."