Blair ©

Chapter 6 - It's Off

"Què?" I raise an eyebrow. Isaac flips open another page of the book.

"Tuviste que haberlo visto venir," he mutters under his breath while he reads intently. I walk back to his side and stare down at the pages.

We stand together and read. The book's pages are filled with depictions of crazy looking entities, folklore, and blocks of Latin that Isaac is chivalrous enough to translate.

According to the book, Tenebra is populated by the spiritual bodies of negative souls that have passed on from the world of the living. While some have actual names, they are collectively referred to as Shadows. Many of them have spent countless centuries in the dark, so unsurprisingly, they are malcontent. In protest of their exile, the Shadows created a weapon that will lead them to freedom. The book includes no further details about what the weapon is or what it does.

Orias is the only documented Shadow that can travel freely between the AP and Tenebra although, again, there is a frustrating lack of detail on why this is true. I run my hands through my hair. There must be some sort of connection between the Shadows' weapon and Orias' decision to contact me.

Overwhelmed, I sink to the ground and rest my back against the podium. After a brief hesitation, Isaac shuts the book and joins me, stretching his long legs out on the worn concrete. A long silence falls between us and I sigh anxiously, combing my fingers through my hair. I don't know what to make of this situation, and I still don't feel comfortable accepting help from Isaac. Unfortunately, he somehow seems to know way more than he should about Tenebra, and it would probably be stupid to refuse him.

"Why now, Isaac? Why would Orias suddenly show up in my life after fifteen years of silence?" I ask.

"I don't know, but that leads to my main reason for finding you. I thought we could do a little quid pro quo," he says.

"And why would I help you? I'm grateful that you showed me all of this, but I don't know anything about you, and my trust doesn't come easily. You haven't convinced me that our alliance would be practical."

"We share a common goal and similar skill sets. You help me find the weapon and destroy it, and I'll help you eliminate Orias," he says.

My stomach clenches with unease. "How exactly do you plan to do that? Our weapons don't work on him, and I'm not going to the AP on a suicide mission."

"They might not work yet, but they will. We just have to do some trial and error in the AP. I've been working on a few ideas that I think might work," he responds, standing to face me.

My heart begins to pound at the idea of traveling back into the AP. I try to hide my fear from Isaac, but my last interaction with Orias has me on edge, and the mere thought of seeing him again makes me dizzy with anxiety.

I can't go back into the AP. Orias is the one thing in my life that fills me with complete terror. He can already pull me out of my dream state whenever he wants, so I don't want to make it any easier for him by offering myself up on an astral platter. But if I agree to work with Isaac, I know there's no other way to test his ideas. Even here in the middle of a library, the thought of those underworldly voids blackening my soul and swallowing me whole spikes my heart rate and raises a cold sweat is on the back of my neck.

Isaac's expression softens. "What exactly happened when you interacted with him?"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, wiping my hands on my jeans. I recall the first time aloud as if I were watching it happen right in front of me. I was ten years old and on one of my first maiden voyages into the AP. Back then, I wasn't afraid. I hadn't met the boogeyman yet.