AFTERLAND and The Cryptic Prophecy

28: The Initiation Cell

A wave of pleasure ran strongly through my veins as I embraced Harris. I could hear his heartbeat while smelling his shirt with a scent of vanilla. He was tall and my head could only reach his chin, but I could smell his breath like aromatic fresh mint. He rubbed my back and touched my head, giving me a feeling no one could hurt me.

I could not help gluing myself to him, but after a moment of feeling his muscles, I realized I shouldn't have acted that way. I wiped my tears and tried coming back to my senses.

"Where are the others?" I asked.

"I don't know. After our fight with the Revenants, they brought us here inside the Thorned Castle. I don't know where the others were taken. The Revenants led them in a different direction."

"Where did they take you?"

"Dawn was with me when they caught us. I tried to run away, but I lost consciousness when someone hit my head. When I woke up, I found myself in that room." He pointed to a room ten meters away from where he found me. "I make a way to open it and then I heard you."

"I hope everyone is okay."

"That's why we need to keep going now," he said, holding my shoulders side by side. The fear inside me dismounted as I looked into his eyes. His voice made me regain my confidence.

We walked along the corridor with black carpet. Aligned columns had potted roses on top. We examined every corridor corner, making sure every turn we took was safe to avoid the Revenants. However, when we took our fifth turn, a bunch of Revenants appeared.

"Run!" Harris shouted and pulled my arms.

While running, an open door that led to a room caught our attention. We went inside it to hide. Harris locked the door and sat beside me. I clamped my mouth shut. Only our breathing could be heard in the entire room. Moonlight coming in from the window was the only light that illuminated the place.

Footsteps thudded on the other side of the door. Harris stood and peeked through the peephole. After a while, I heard the Revenants walked away. My heart lightened a little as I heard the footsteps dying away. I let out a breath I had been holding. Again, Harris sat next to me for a quick rest. I pressed the back of my head against the wall, trying to relax for a minute. I pushed aside whatever was bothering me to regain my strength.

"Charlie, I'm sorry," Harris voiced gently.

I turned my head to him. "Why are you keep on apologizing? You are not to blame for our situation."

"No, not about our situation now. I'm talking about what happened in the past," he clarified. "I wasn't able to say goodbye to you."

That was unexpected. It had been years since then and all I thought, he had no intention of bringing up what had happened in third grade.

"That's the worst thing I ever did in my life, left without saying goodbye," he said.

He was afraid. I could tell. He was apologizing because he's also not sure what might happen to us, whether we could make it out of the Thorned Castle alive or not. He didn't want to have any regrets, so he's asking for forgiveness now.

"Did you ever think to go back?" I found my courage to ask.

"I did, but Professor won't allow me," he said.

"Professor Diogo has a reason for sure."

"Maybe, but I'm glad he finally allowed me to go with you here." His eyes gleamed. "I'm not saying I'm happy about what happened to your mom, but I'm glad that we meet again through this mission."