Beyond the Veil

Chapter 35

Day 1

The day was empty. It stretched out before Sera like an endless void, as she found herself trapped within the confines of her house. Restlessness gnawed at her, and the anticipation of what lay ahead added to her unease.

Sera took some ibuprofen for her head. It was an unbelievable searing pain when it happened, but now it was just an unwelcome sting that flared up every couple of minutes.

Sera didn't know what to do with herself, she looked out the window and stared directly at the gray cloud and foreboding sky that seemed to tower over her.

She paced back and forth through her living room, unable to settle into any activity. Her textbooks lay forgotten on the coffee table, a cruel reminder of the finals that now seemed inconsequential in the face of the looming uncertainty.

Outside, the world felt heavy with a palpable tension, as if the very air she breathed held its breath. The skies, once gray and overcast, had taken on an even more ominous hue. It was as though the world itself was waiting for the storm to break. She might be the only human alive that knows what is coming.

Sera tried to distract herself with small tasks—tidying up, checking her phone for messages, even attempting to read a book—but her mind kept wandering back to Saul and the portal. It was an indescribable feeling, being stuck in the house while the world fell apart around you. There is no reminder of your own insignificance quite like the situation she was in. The events of the past few weeks had led them to this precipice, and everything was building toward an inevitable climax. Yet, here she was, sitting in her house reading a book.

She spent time trying to research the one symbol she had drawn, but she never got the notebook from Saul, so all the time she spent by the portal was a waste.

With each passing hour, the weight of the unknown bore down on her, and she felt like a caged bird yearning to break free. She considered the simplicity of her life before all of this, but that reality had long since vanished.

As the day drifted on, the sun dipped below the horizon, casting long shadows that danced across her room.

Sera started to get ready for bed, as she was stepping out of the shower she came out and saw Saul sitting on her bed, waiting for her.

A blush came over her, she did not want him to see her in just a robe, maybe she did... but not right now. Not when she spent all day wondering when she was going to see him again.

"Let me give you a moment of privacy," he spoke to her through the crack of the bathroom door.

"I'll be out in a minute." Sera replied. She entered the now empty bedroom and put on her nightgown. "Okay, come in."

Saul walked in through the door, and looked at the floor so he didn't stare at her in her night clothes.

Sera walked up to him, "where have you been?" She asked him, she was somewhere between worried at not hearing from him all day and desperate to know all the details of what was happening.

"Today was day one. I spent the day by the portal, putting energy into it, trying to buy us more time. Nothing worked, it spit it right back out. It doesn't seem that there is anything I can do in that regard." He paused. "Did you get some rest? How is your head?" He asked her.

She instinctively placed a hand on her head, "It's doing better now. I didn't do much today outside of being a house pet."

Saul sighed, "you know it's not like that, Sera. I know it hurts you to not be involved, but consider that everyone was told to stay in the house."