Finding Darkness

Chapter 23

A while later, I hear a yelp from upstairs. I rush up and check all the rooms. When I enter my parents' room, they're sleeping. Something isn't right though. I see Astral with wide eyes, his hands over his mouth as if preventing himself from screaming or vomiting.

Astral turns toward me. "I-I came in here and...found them..." I can tell he's struggling to say this lightly. "In an eternal slumber..."

I nod in understanding, feeling tears coming, not trusting myself to speak. Yeah, an eternal slumber. Just a nice way of saying that their dead. Blood is everywhere. This was a gruesome death.

Astral gets closer, now probing the bodies that used to be my parents. "Blood. Fresh blood. Splattered everywhere. Deep wounds. Fatal stabs. No trace of non-human activity."

I walk closer, the stench of death stinging my nose. "Wh-who would do this?"

Astral shakes his head and disappears in a shower of blue sparks. He's gone into the Emperor's Key, a necklace that he gave me a few days after he came to live with me. I can still hear his words:

"Keep this Key safe. It is an important relic."

Astral only ever goes in there when he's depressed, scared, or confused.

I call Edward's number and tell him to come immediately. Minutes later, Edward and Mitchel stand in front of me, looking dead serious. I lead them inside, and they begin investigating at once. Soon, the bodies are removed, notes are taken, and farewells are said.

I lean against the door of my room, not believing they're dead. Why would anyone want to kill them? They were liked by everyone. What did they do to deserve this? I sigh. I'm not looking forward to the funeral. Funerals are always sad.

At the appointed time, I get ready to go. Astral comes out, looking shaken. He asks where we're going.

"Have you ever heard of a funeral, Astral?" I ask.

"No," he responds, though by the look on his face, he knows it isn't at all happy.

I explain what it is, and Astral nods. I can see him trying to keep a straight face.

I'm not going to go into detail about it. It's too depressing. All I'll say is, I've never seen Astral so close to tears of grief. The entire time, I see him staring down or looking anywhere but the graves. All the while, tears are slowly falling, his sorrow at losing two innocent humans palpable. There have been a lot of innocent people dying, but none as close...even though he's only met them once. I cry too when they're lowered into the graves, and we toss handfuls of dirt into the hole.

When we get home, I feel a dull feeling. This must be what it's like to lose someone so close. Astral suddenly comes up to me.

"Yuma, I must tell you something," he says. "I saw the merest flicker of the murderer. It was at the last second."

I whip my head toward him. "Did you see who it was?"

"No. He escaped before I could make out who he was. He was male, I can be certain. He had average human stealth though. Silent yet not."

"It was a person, then?"

"Perhaps." Astral pauses. "Though the people of my world can copy human movement. We just choose not to because, no offense, it is far too slow for us," he explains.

"So you mean you can walk?" I ask in disbelief. I shouldn't be surprised, though. Astral was walking when he was being controlled by something.

"Yes, though it is very inconvenient for us. Also," he adds, looking a bit embarrassed, "due to the fact that we evolved in such a way where we needn't the ground at our feet, we never actually learned how."