Tainted Lenses Part 1

Chapter 7 - Flames

 I strode down the bustling road, no destination in mind, nothing to guide me. A feeling all too familiar, lost in a strange land. A dangerous world. One misstep into the road and I would be barreled over by a quickly moving vehicle. But still it was confidence, order, freedom. It was dangerous, and yet it wasn't. A strange world.

Terry had sent me with a list of things we would need and some money, dividing and conquering to do just that.

Throughout it I avoided interaction as much as possible, sticking to a set pattern, gazing at every shop to see if it contained what I searched for, but to hardly any avail.

By the time I had found most of it, the moon was already rising over the horizon, and I began to find my way back.

The next morning, I would finally be able to free those people I had left behind.

"Terry Howard!" He whipped around and faced me.

"Ah, just the boy I've been looking for!" He grinned, sweat dripping down his face, a bag on his back filled with most of his possessions.

"You are taking me to the Sanctuary. Now, we leave. I got all the things you've given me and like you said, we took a rest."

"Ahh yes. I will take you now."

He was tense, I could tell. There would be no trusting this man.

We walked, on and on, through the city. On the outskirts of the town I was led to an abandoned warehouse. Everything about it was fallen apart and dusty, reminding me too much of the life I had left behind.

"Are you sure you want to do this? Great danger awaits us inside. We could leave, live peacefully like all these other people, stay with knowledge and out of danger."

"We left these people behind. It is time we brought them with us."

"Yes. Definitely."

Trembling he walked up to the gate, cautiously opening it, dust rising as he did. We plunged, choking into the fog. The grip of the world weighing up on us. On and on we walked. The warehouse had looked so small from the outside but as we moved it kept going.

"This place is a sort of connection between here and the afterlife. Strange things can be found here, so be cautious as we walk."

Faces stared at me from the shadows, figures in the darkness, longing, and that same whisper.

"Betzalel. Betzalel. Betzalel."

The sound rang ever so softly around me, a thousand voices whispering.

"You see, when we're dead, time is no object. Traveling through here we can come to any point with the right people and objects."

"Are we dead?"

"Technically, at this moment we are in the state right in between."

"Odd."

"Certainly."

We continued in silence traveling through the whispers, dust, and darkness.

"We have now moved into the cave portion of our tour. Careful you don't fall. Who knows what the souls of the dead will do to you."

He laughed and it echoed throughout the caves.

Oh how I hate laughter.

We walked on and on, stopping occasionally to rest, but keeping an eye on the spirits around us.