Glittering Gold | ONC 2024

Chapter 10: Finally Together

CONTENT WARNING

This chapter contains mature and sexual themes and a lot of profanity that may not be suitable for a very young audience.

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Danilo had spent the remaining fifteen hours of his waiting time in the park. He stayed in the Rose Garden for the day to avoid his ex-boss near the lake, but when evening came, he moved to where he would meet Dulnuan.

Despite his excitement, he forced himself to nap to have the strength for tonight. Not just to pass through the veil but to be with Dulnuan.

7:46 p.m. He checked the time. Only a few more minutes to go.

At this time of the evening, there were still plenty of people in the park, though it was already Sunday night.

AT 7:48 p.m., he stood up from the bench he'd been sitting on and walked up to the spot Dulnuan told him about--the spot where the veil was thinnest at night. He looked up at the moon, round and dazzling bright.

"Danilo, you're here."

He looked down to find Dulnuan in front of him. He grinned. "I'm here," he said.

A passerby looked his way. He was talking to no one. But it didn't matter. These people didn't matter. No one else was more important to him at this moment than Dulnuan.

"So, what do I do?" he asked.

"Come to me," Dulnuan said. "Just come forward to me."

Danilo took a deep breath. He was ready and unafraid. He trusted her, and when she nodded, he took a step toward her.

A chill climbed up his spine. The hairs on his arm and the back of his neck rose. A gripping sense of terror burst in his chest, but he pushed forward. "I'm coming to you, Dulnuan."

Her eyes were determined, encouraging him to continue. She raised her arms to him and caught him in an embrace when he passed.

The cold feeling faded. The alarming sensation dissipated. He looked at their arms tangled with each other. He could feel her. Touch her.

He gazed at her face--no longer the transparent girl he saw every night for the last week. She was full, solid, and here in his arms. He grinned. "Did I make it?"

"Yes," she laughed. "You're here."

He let out a shuddering breath and glanced around. They were no longer in Burnham Park. It was a forest--full-grown pine trees overtook the land. He craned his neck, face to the sky to see its dimness. It wasn't day or night. It was dusk, graying the surroundings in an eerie manner.

"Come. I want to show you where I live." She took his hand and looped their fingers together, guiding him through the forest.

"So, is this the other side?" Danilo asked as they walked, twigs crunching under his feet.

"It is a layer of it," Dulnuan said. "This is the outermost."

"Really? How many layers are there?"

"I don't know. I have not ventured deep enough to find the other end. But I have found at least seven layers," she explained.

This was some Divine Comedy shit. Danilo had not read the book, but he remembered his teacher in high school telling the class that Dante Alighieri wrote about the nine circles of hell.

He wondered what was in each layer of the other side. And why were there so many? But it wasn't important now.

He glanced down at their intertwined fingers and smiled. "I'm so glad I'm finally here."