The Edge of the World

Chapter Thirty-Three

"Me? A witch?"

You're more than you know, Tatum, the voice murmured, the sounds of footsteps hitting the hardwood floor. A spirit encompassed the room, a ghostly presence whose sexless voice reached her mind, and the sensation of the strange timbre made her feel oddly soothed. The sound of it was like that of a welcoming friend, easing the tension in her shoulders. This being was no threat to her but who was it? And why was it wanting to help her?

"I'm sorry, but who are you?"

The voice laughed, a soft, gentle sound yet not of mockery. But true humor and she thought for certain she felt fingertips trace the curve of her chin. Uncertain why, her eyes closed at the wispy contact, the sensation of comfort warming her despite the chill battling the warmth radiating from the stove.

I am unexpected, I suppose. Not even the Blessed Father knew of my creation, even though he was the one who created me. I am everything you see. I am everything you feel. I am the reason you live and the reason you thrive. I am both your mother and father. I am the seed and the womb which birthed your originals. I am the voice, the heartbeat, and the soul of this place. I grew you, child, nurtured you and still do. You need only to wish it, and I see that it happens. You're demise, as well as the murdering of your children left me grieving and silent. but when my children return, I awaken for like all parents, I am always waiting for your next visit. I love you, need you, and suffer without you.

The tone it emitted was laced with pain and her eyes welled with tears. The suffering it spoke of shot her with sentiment through every word and she was compelled to mourn with it. Never had she been loved before but now, in her death, she found herself spun in it, like a fly in a web, and it was too much.

Do not weep, Tatum. Now is not the time. You have much to do and little time to do it. The sky is turning cold and once the winter resettles, your final stint will be up. If you wish to defeat her, you have to move now. We have much to do still and already I feel the silence encroaching.

Swiping at her eyes in frustration she nodded.

"You're right. Can you tell me who she is?"

I cannot. After you were taken, this place grew cold. Even when she came it was no longer the paradise it once was. The pain of losing you and the children was too much and I accepted eternal night. I did not awaken until you returned. It is the same every time you and he leave me.

"What is this place then?"

Another laugh.

It is your world. It was created for you and him. You're the originals, the first as is this land. But the world of mortals cannot find it, nor will they ever.

"Why? Because they have to be dead?"

No. Mortals believe themselves so much more than they are. In their death, they simply die. In your death, you do not. Not really. You were both immortals in your original states. But only while you were here. If you leave this place you die, just like the mortals. You're too much a part of me to survive out there whereas mortals are not a part of me. This realm can never be theirs. If you do not remain here, this realm will simply fall away for no longer will the gate remain open to you. Only if you and he succeed can you be here, stay here, and only then, when my children remain together, can I live. Without you, I see no reason to live.

The spirits words make her wince. Damn, but that was some mean pressure. If they fail, an entire dimension will cease to exist? It lingered inside her, weighing her down like she swallowed a bowling ball.

"But the witch is a part of you? And the monster?"

The witch is immortal in a darker way and can find any realm. And that is no monster. He is merely a lost child in need of forgiveness. Come, Tatum. Let me lead you to answers. You must remember for my words are merely that: words. Pointless things, words are. They mean nothing without feeling them.