Somnia

Chapter Eight

It takes only a matter of minutes to find Jesse. He's at the pub 'lying low'. He doesn't bother to hide his surprise at seeing us.

"Wiles! Destiny! I thought I'd seen the last of both of you here in Somnia." Thanks for the vote of confidence there, Jesse.

"Turns out Wiles' plan worked," Destiny says. "It is possible to get characters out. Now we can free all the abandoned heroes."

Oh, right. I almost forgot about that. The need to find my Author still weighs heavily on my mind, but the only way to get this information is to bring Destiny back to Shep.

I can't do it. I can't let Shep keep her in his basement again. He might have her convinced that staying locked up in a basement is for her protection, but I don't buy it anymore. Shep is up to something.

"Wiles." Destiny is waving a hand in front of my eyes to get my attention. "You still with us?"

I nod. Jesse slaps his hands together.

"Alrighty then. Let us begin," he says enthusiastically. Then he chuckles. "Hey, you realize saving heroes kinda makes us heroes, right?"

Destiny smiles brightly at this idea. I decide just to go along with them for now. Free some heroes, then look for my Author.

The door slams open and the din of the pub falls silent as Shep enters. He searches the faces in the crowd until he finds mine.

"Well crap, he looks mad," Jesse says, backing into the bar.

Shep does look mad all right, but he also looks weak, tired, as if he's just come from fighting a losing battle. As horrible as he appears, the look in his eyes is sharp, alert, and they are locked with mine. We move at the same time—me running, him chasing. Destiny calls after me, but I don't have time to respond.

I crash through the back door of the pub, gather my legs back underneath me, and take off at a sprint. It feels like I'm running in a dream, my feet heavy, speed dropping. Panic screams for me to press onward, but the going feels impossible.

Still, I make progress, leaving the village behind me. I head for the Gate. It's the only place I know I can lose him- if I can get there. A hand grabs my shirt and yanks back. I hit the ground with a hard thud that knocks the wind out of me. Shep stands over me as I work to catch my breath.

"What do you want from me?" I gasp out. He reaches into his pocket and produces a feather and a small glass jar.

"I want you to write my name." Shep gets up off of me and puts the feather into my hand. I hold it up and realize it's not any ordinary feather. It's a feather pen. I sit up and stare at him.

"Why?" It's still hard to breathe.

Shep doesn't answer me. Instead, he reaches around me and rips the journal from the back of my pants.

"Hey!" I cry, taking it back from him. "I thought we already went over this. This isn't yours to take!" I snap.

Shep opens the book without taking it and points at a blank page at the back. He steals the feather from me and dips it into the ink jar. It colors the tip red.

"Write my name," he commands, handing the feather back to me. I can't help but think that the ink looks an awful lot like blood. He clasps the back of my neck and squeezes.

"Do it!"

I don't have time to think through the consequences. Only one thought runs through my head in this moment. Shep has gone insane. The grip he has on my neck is painful. I take my chances and write his name in large, bloody letters on the page. Shep releases me and nods in satisfaction. He then tosses the rest of the ink away over his shoulder. I have the crushing feeling that I just made a horrible mistake. I don't even know what that mistake is. I wrote a name. So what? But somewhere, somehow, I have just sealed someone's fate. Is it mine?