Behind My Shadow - Book Three

15. I Just Want To Know You Better

The Shrine of the Alices is way over here on the other side of the gardens. I can still hear the music and the festivities in the distance but for the most part, I feel completely alone.

It's twilight, that beautiful and brief period of time that hangs just between day and night where you're not sure if the day is ending or just beginning. The tunnel of wisterias I wander down seemingly glows in the aureate haze. The Shrine at the end of the tunnel looks like an enormous diamond carved from marble. Ivy nearly covers the entire structure; flowers grow between the vines and fireflies start to rise out of the leaves as I approach.

The door is shaped like a spade and it takes me a moment to find the handle through all of the flowers and ivy. I hesitate though once I have the handle in my grasp. I can feel my pulse racing in my temples. My heart feels like it's a cage of butterflies, anxiously fluttering, trying to bust out of my chest.

Am I really going to see the spirit of my birthmother?

What will she be like? What will she think of me?

I swallow hard and close my eyes for a second, trying to convince my throbbing heart to calm down, and now I cautiously pull the door open.

It's painfully dark inside.

Not exactly feeling encouraged but knowing I only have an hour to complete this Labor, I force myself to wander inside, struggling to rely on the fleeting light of outside to illuminate the steep tunnel. It keeps getting smaller and smaller in here till I have to stoop and now I'm forced to crawl the rest of the way on my hands and knees.

The door behind me softly creaks as it slowly closes itself.

I freeze for a moment in alarm, briefly overwhelmed by the blinding darkness, but now I somehow manage convince my fear-frozen limbs to take me farther.

Suddenly piercing white light washes over me.

I yelp and hold my hands over my eyes.

"Wha...?" I pant as I struggle to see, I force my watering eyes open. Everything is so painfully bright and glowing, I can't focus on anything! I startle as I see a shadow move in the corner of my vision. "Hello?" I call. My voice echoes.

"Hello, Adara," a girl's voice that is not mine greets me.

"I-I can't see anything!" I frantically exclaim.

"You will," I can hear the smile in her soft voice.

A heartbeat later, my vision clears and everything dims slightly. I mean now it doesn't feel like I'm staring into a flashlight. I look around in awe and shakily climb to my feet. I'm in what looks like the middle of a diamond.

The concave walls all glimmer and shine, reflecting a hundred different mirrors. The multifaceted surfaces cast rainbow rays across the room and the glitter has me seeing stars.

"Hi, Adara!" Another girl's voice startles me back to the present.

"Um...hi," I cautiously step closer to the diamond wall. "Who's there?"

"My name's Inez," she calls from behind the diamond. "I was the second Alice of Raetri. My reign was...I guess over a hundred years ago." She giggles.

"Why can't I see you?" I strain my eyes but all I can see is a hazy silhouette beside my reflection.

"Step closer and find out," yet another girl's voice instructs me.

"How do I...do that?" I timidly put my hands on the diamond wall. Much to my surprise, it feels like Jell-O. I smile with disbelief and press forward. My entire body gets sucked into the wall and now I widen my eyes with enchantment as I realize I'm back outside!