Duality : Book 1 of Codex Elysium

Chapter 23 (edited)

Chapter 23

Alexia's scream of terror shattered the mansion's silence. Cassie sat bolt upright in bed, a dagger in both hands. She looked down at them in disgust, ever since she had been on the run from the witch hunters, she had taken to sleeping with blades in her bed and now it had become a habit that she couldn't shake. She looked across at Alexia who was also sitting up with tears streaming down her face.

"What's the matter? Did you have a bad dream?"

"It was more than a dream, it was way too real!"

Cassie threw the daggers down and crossed the room to Alexia's bed.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I saw that bad man, you know the one from the hilltop? He was alive and leading a massive army of those zombie things straight here."

Alexia sobbed quietly as Cassie wrapped her arms around the young girl.

"It was only a bad dream, they've all gone back to that rotten city and we never saw that man rise-up again."

"You cannot kill that which is already dead. In the land of the dead nothing can die it can only be damaged."

Alexia looked intently at Cassie. The two of them had become like sisters in the past week but Cassie was still surprised by what Alexia said.

"Where did you get that idea from?"

"It's the truth, I understood it all in my dream!"

Cassie frowned and desperately tried to think of an answer, of some way to disprove what Alexia had just said. The trouble was it did make sense.  How could you kill something that was already dead? Cassie had been wondering that ever since the hilltop when she watched those ashes reform into the Passus. Her dark thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of boots pounding across the courtyard and the clanging of metal. Both girls turned their heads towards the window.

"What's all that noise?" asked Alexia. Cassie got up and went to the window.  Dawn was just beginning to break and Cassie scowled down at the scene below.

"We need to get dressed now!"

***

Jason cried out in pain and opened both of his eyes. The bedroom was in complete darkness and the forest, Jason realised, was nowhere to be seen. His chest was soaked through with something warm and wet but a quick check revealed it was only sweat. Jason looked down at the sleeping form lying next to him,  Eva was dead to the world and snoring gently. It was only a dream? But it had felt so real.

"Don't worry about her, that girl can sleep through anything."

Jason jumped at the sound of the voice then looked towards the doorway. He could just dimly make out the form of Tiberius leaning against the doorframe.

"I haven't been here long if that's what you're thinking." Tiberius crossed his arms and shifted his weight. "I couldn't sleep, something about this night feels very wrong. So, I took to walking around these halls trying to find the source of my unease."

Jason rubbed the sleep from his eyes and asked, "did you find the cause?"

"No!" Tiberius sighed deeply, "but judging by the noise you were making, I guess you know."

Jason looked down at Eva's sleeping form again. How much noise was I making? Did she really sleep through it? "

Janus may not be dead."

"Get dressed, we need to talk." Jason made no move as he realised he was completely naked under the sheet.  Tiberius arched a bushy eyebrow, his voice was full of amusement. "Seriously? It is very dark you know; besides I doubt you have anything that I haven't seen before."