THE 33 KEYS: Key 2 - ANSWER THE CALL "Listen for that Perfect Beat"

CHAPTER 97: TUNNEL OF DEATH

In Kat's absence, the eight colourful women hover over me – including that mad one called Fantum, and I confirm that they really are the same ones from my crazy dream. Or are those serpents I see? Look, I really can't be sure. Thanks to the Mary who's always staring into the mirror, my head's still a bit foggy from those pills.

I search left and right of the dim room for my other two selves now. But they're nowhere to be found. So I search again for Kat – the shadow who buried me beneath the Bloody Sea. I stare at the triangle almost hard enough to cause a dent. Yet it has no effect. I am truly abandoned here with these strangers.

Look! I've had about enough of this madness. If this is a dream, I want to wake up right now.

The white serpent being draws closer, as close as it possibly can without entering my body.

"I'm Xaxu," it says. "My sisters and I have to take you over to the other side now."

"What are you talking about?" I whisper. "What other side?"

"The one they think isn't real."

"Just who are you people?" I look around again. "And how the hell did I even get here?"

"We're the first fruits from our mother's womb. We watch over the flock till she returns."

"What flock?" Then I sit up. "Look! This is crazy! Take me back to Cave Spa!"

"Maybe somebody should tell her the truth," Fantum says with a scowl. "I volunteer."

"What truth?"

"That your world is doomed." Fantum laughs. "And you're the one expected to save it."

"This has to be a dream. But I'm used to it. They always send me back. Just send me back!"

"You've had your last dream," Fantum replies.

"Send me back! I mean it."

"We're sending you somewhere, alright," she announces. "Through the portal. But for real this time. And I can hardly wait for all the fun to begin."

"Portal? What portal?"

"The mirror in your Bunny House room," Fantum confirms. "And once the portal closes this time, there'll be no more Pete, Hazel or even the Mary you know. No more nightmares from the past or imaginations of things to come. Nothing will ever be the same again."

Xaxu, tired of Fantum's banter, waves her aside and the others draw back of their own accord, so that I feel a little less uncomfortable. And there's no fogginess anymore. Just colourful serpent-like creatures with legs, surrounding me.

Suddenly, I realize that I'm sitting on an invisible bed. Xaxu points downward, enticing me to turn on my side and see the multiplicity of beings beneath me. But just as I'm soaking up their greatness, Xaxu waves her hand and the mirage fades. Then I find myself lying flat again, as if I'd never moved. And the eight are holding their positions over me.

Xaxu brings her face closer to mine. Now her serpent-like form becomes a white body of light, changing form as it pulsates, until specks of itself break away from her and start snowing over my whole body.

"Mary," her warm voice oozes. "We're making you our gatekeeper for the Karmic Islands."

"Me? Now I know this is a dream. You heard the violet one, right? I'm just a little nobody."

"Not to worry," Xaxu reassures me. "We'll send many guides."

"Yes," Fantum chimes in. "I promise you, one of my friends will be waiting on the other side, just to make sure you succeed every step of the way."

"Ignore her," Xaxu says. "All that matters is that you remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"You can't die, Mary. You're immortal," Xaxu explains. "No matter how dangerous it gets, nothing will ever touch you. This whole thing is just a game. Remember that most of all."

"How's that even possible?" I say in confusion. "Everybody dies."

"Mortality only exists in minds of the fallen."

"What?"

"Don't worry, Mary. It's all part of the game," Xaxu reassures me. "Only remember that you're the circle, and that our Great Mother will protect you from all her enemies. Every single one of them."

"Enemies?" I say muddled. "Who are her enemies? And how will I know them?"

"Oh, you'll know them," Xaxu whispers her final words. "For they all wear the same clothing. All those who worship. All those who still murder her precious children. All those who chose the broad path. But you, Mary. You will choose well. You won't be ashamed to represent our Great Mother. And that's why she chose you in the first place. You're the one who will bring them all home to her. Then you'll pass through the tunnel just like we all did, and receive her final embrace."

"Who is this great mother?" I ask.

But Xaxu does not say. The last thing I remember is some of her snow melting on to my face and drying as a crystal mask afterwards. Then she changes her mind and finally responds as I drift off into oblivion.

"Go back, Mary. Remember."