Traveler - The Price (Book 3)

CHAPTER 20

Sometimes, the strongest weapon someone has is a tormented soul on fire. I have always known that inside me was a storm ready to explode, and the calm from the surface was just an illusion.

"Jo!"

"What?"

"You have to listen to me!"

"Where are we? Why is it dark?" 

"I don't have much time, so you have to listen to me! Since Deby did that spell, the magic is almost gone from your world. I am in my world now, and I have found a loophole to talk to you. I don't know if we will see each other again, but you should be aware that in there you are no longer a Traveler! Your mission has ended, so try to stay alive because if you die, you can't come back. You will fill your place in the Underworld, and you will wait for the next Traveler."

"But Ema, no one remembers anything! Only I have this burden!" 

"You were warned there would be consequences! I don't know if this was the price you had to pay for bringing Aaron back, but you should have been prepared for anything!"

"Damn it!" 

"I found out about this just now, when I got into my world."

"Ema, I have known about the fact that I will not be a Traveler in here since I was in the Underworld. I was ready for everything, but not for this..."

"This is your burden, and you have to carry it! I don't know what else to tell you. Just stay alive!"

"Thank you for everything! For infiltrating among Aura's creatures. You saved me! I owe you my life."

"I hope it wasn't in vain. Take care of you, of your new life, and make the best of it!"

"You too, Ema! You too..." 

I was awakened by some weird noises. I woke up, and I realized Ema had communicated with me through a dream. This was the price I had to pay for bringing Aaron back? If I thought about it a little, it made sense. What could be worse than the world where only you know the truth and people around you will never believe you?

I entered the bathroom. The noises stopped, and I suddenly saw Aaron opening the bathroom's door. I remained for a second with my toothbrush in my hand. He was standing on the doorstep, half naked.

"Don't you know how to knock?!" I said outraged.

He grumbled an excuse, and then he slammed the door. Not the fact that he had entered in there bothered me, but the fact that he had remained under my roof and had slept overnight with Deby. This situation was way out of line. After I had got out from the bathroom, I changed my clothes, and I went to fix my car.

I stopped at Andy's bar to buy a coffee. I found Ivy there.

"Hey!" she yells at me.

"Hey, Ivy. How are you?" 

"I'm preparing stuff. We're having a party tonight. Some karaoke. For me to get to know people better. You and Deby are invited! Oh, and her boyfriend too. I heard he arrived last night."

"I will tell them," I said.

Then I had an idea. One that might have started some sparks around, now that Ivy was with Andy. I opened my mouth anyway.

"Ivy, have you ever heard about some woman named Kate Weber?"

"Hmm, I don't know anyone," she says. "But why does this name sound so familiar to me?"

"Oh, what about someone named Ema?"

"No..."

"Fine. What about Eva? Aura?"