Madness

chapter 13-face of madness

The black that surrounded Elena wasn't a colour but a void, nothing. It clouded her mind, pressing against her vision. Her mind was dazed, unable to grip on her surroundings. Was she dead? I didn't realise being dead felt so alive, she thought, solemnly.

Around her, the suffocating darkness lifted a little, so it was a colour: as a black as night shadows on deep water. Soon the craggy cracks in the veil of black became deeper and larger as if the void was being torn away. Glimpses of a velvet blue and tall, brick worn roofs were visible as the black became shabby. Her senses managed to catch onto the cold, brick floor she lay in a mangled heap on.

Focusing her gaze on the world around her, Elena managed to make out a blurry outline of a small, winding town. As the darkness was pulled away with one final tug, the image before her strangled her saneness.

The town before her was achingly familiar like a forgotten childhood home. No Name Lane.

Pushing herself of the leaf littered road, Elena stared up at the crooked, misshapen buildings with wide, curious eyes. The man's words echoed throughout her skull, a dull reminder, it will open itself to the soulless three times.

And she was soulless. Perhaps now she'd finally make sense of the mayhem that disturbed her life. Suddenly, she was reminded of the little time that she'd had last time. Without a single thought or hesitation, she began running, her feet slipping outwards on the slippery, autumn leaves.

Autumn leaves? This place has different weather too. Glancing upwards at the midnight blue sky, Elena frowned. Instead of a single, medal-shaped moon there were two crescents facing away from each other. Instead of stars littering the thick, night sky silver streams of light speckled the air.

"Wow," she breathed, a partial smile shyly crawling on her face.

Something passed over her mind. Why wasn't she questioning the magic of this place or how different it looked from last time she'd visited.

She arrived at the apothecary, her breathing forcing its way out of her throat in short, crippled heaves. After gathering her composure, Elena took a deep breath in before pushing open the door. Â The familiar d chime rang through the fine layer of dusty silence.

"Is he with you?" The same voice from the last visit echoed from the other side of the room but this time it was rushed and clipped at the edges.

Steering through the shelves crammed with glass bottles and herbs, Elena shook her head. "No." After a moment of confusion, she asked, "why should it matter?"

"There are things that I can'tt say, things bound by magic," he replied, his voice had a tone of searching. Scuffles scrapped against the wooden floor from a little further in the room.

Following the voice, Elena frowned. "So why can you tell me?"

He let out a long-drawn-out sigh as if his patience was being tested. "Are you that blind? Your soul has been cursed with dark magic. You're the reason why this is happening, the main answer. There's a rip in the balance of the word and that revolves around you," he answered, testily.

"So, where the bloody hell are you?" Her tone was strained and cracked.

"In here." This time his voice was much closer.

"Very specific," snapped Elena, with a long sarcastic drawl.

Still drawn by the echo of his voice, Elena somehow felt herself be ushered through a wide door and into a small, crammed room. of place that was made up of solemn rules. It looked like a once seemingly elegant room that had been through years of neglect and had taken its toll. The walls were burnt grey and stood out against the scatter of queer, mismatching furniture.