Beyond

Part 2: Nouns and Adjectives: Seeker's Slope

Okay, so before we move along to the actual story (I'm sure you're excited for it), there are a few things to note:

1- There will be changing point of view throughout this next part. Only between Seraina and Adam, and this will be noted at the beginning of each chapter to help you readers keep track of who's talking.

2- Good news for you guys, the chapters are getting longer! I don't know if that's actually noteworthy, but I felt it should be mentioned.

3- Enjoy it! And vote on it! And comment on things! As always, I'd love to hear from everyone.

Sorry for getting sidetracked, here's the actual first chapter of part 2!:

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Part 2: Nouns and Adjectives

Seraina: Seeker's Slope

I could still see Adam's face, blueish tears running down his monochromatic face, almost as if it had been carved into the inside of my skull. I could feel the heavy-hearted slow melody pouring from his eyes, even though all I had was a memory.

I wasn't even at the bottom of the hill. I had stayed on Seeker's Hill because it felt safe, from all the time I'd spent there.

After I'd seen Adam like that, I'd tried to run back, but I couldn't move. I had been frozen in place, the rain giving my skin a layer of ice out of nowhere. The song had cracked with static, almost like my connection was breaking.

Once he left, and I'd watched him go, the ice disappeared.

Now I was left staring out into the fog.

The visions had gotten strangely much more vivid, and I wasn't always sure if I was still in reality, or someplace else.

I felt someone's hand on my shoulder. They leaned in, crouching behind me.

It's no one, they aren't there, there's no one there, you're fine, open your eyes, you're dreaming, my mind raced.

I felt their hair brush my neck, and I squeezed my eyes tight, trying to block out the fog.They leaned in even closer, so their neck rested on my shoulder.

"Seraina..." Their voice was low, and deep, which reminded me of the mysterious symphony of the fog. "Sing for me." He said.

I couldn't answer. This was just the way I'd treated Adam, as if he could read my mind, and I could feel the regret, deeper than the stranger's voice, burning me from the inside.

My mouth wouldn't move, my lips were glued to each other. I distantly felt the cold freezing me slowly.

I blinked, and there was no one there. I was on my own, sitting cross-legged on the slope of dead grass and dirt. I could, however, feel a warmth at my shoulder that hadn't been there before.

When I gingerly reached up to touch my shoulder, my fingertips felt like icicles to myself.

I shuddered. The words he'd muttered into my ear, the way he'd said my name as if I knew him from somewhere, made me curious.

I listened for the fog, the wind, the trees... and opened my mouth. I couldn't match the song I heard, because no sound would come out.

I was voiceless.

I would have cried over it, but my tears would have frozen to my cheeks.

Instead I stood up, and walked down the hill, all the way to the bottom.

Before I could think it through, I was reaching out my hand, letting the fog devour it. In that moment the fog intensified, the rain, wind, and my heartbeat crescendoed into an earsplitting roar. The music filled me with heavy vibration as I stumbled into the fog, head first.

When the fog cleared, the song came to an abrupt stop, because long before I had, the song had fallen into the huge pit that had opened under my feet.