Per Somnum - A Dark Passenger ✓

Chapter IX: Departure

Detective Karl Emmerich's Case Report — voice recorded on 20th September 1958 — Case #1633 — Munich Police Department — Archived Tapes — last recording

A shudder ran down my spine at the thought of being transported into yet another strange place. Luckily, as my brain adjusted to this new environment and absorbed all its sensations, a wave of relief spread over me.

I could feel it in the air—this familiar smell of rain coming from outside and the wet cold stones underneath my hands and feet while I was down on all fours and still catching my breath. 

This was the world I knew and loved. 

I noticed a big Astral Gate behind me, which was turned off. The rest of the room was empty and looked very old, as if the chamber I was in hadn't been visited for hundreds of years.  

The savior standing before me called himself the Wanderer, and judging from his use of the word we, I would assume that this being represented a combination of several minds. It sounds crazy, of course, but at that point, nothing seemed outside of possibility. 

When the being first spoke to me, I could swear a part of its voice was known to me, but I had to hear more to be sure. While the creature looked formidable and quite different from a human being, something about it was calming to my nerves and prevented me from feeling any fear towards it. 

Its body was humanoid but at least three meters tall. The horns on its head pointed straight upwards and had a texture reminiscent of graphite. Its hair was short and pitch black, the skin white as snow, and its clothes were ripped apart. It seemed like they were worn by an initially much smaller body and torn once the wearer's size had changed. The eyes of the creatures were pitch black, as well as its long sharp nails. 

Of course, I already had an idea regarding this so-called Wanderer's identity, but I wanted to be sure. So I asked the creature how it had found me and why it proceeded to save me—and the being explained:

"We can locate souls across all dimensions if we desire. We are free to go wherever and whenever we please. We are explorers of the cosmos and all its realms." 

It made a small pause and eyed me from top to bottom before continuing. 

"We decided to save you before, old man. Letting you die now would mean our failure, and we vowed never to fail again." 

Then it was clear to me. 

Somehow, the creature was Rainer. If I had to guess, I'd say he merged with his invisible friend in some way or form. Of course, I have no idea how any of these things work, but after everything I've seen so far, I had to start thinking outside the box. 

I wanted to know what happened after my departure and how long I was gone. I had a strange feeling as if I'd been gone for weeks, but the Wanderer explained that I was absent for only a few hours and the sun had just risen. Regarding the fight which went on in the Police Department, he added: 

"We became one. They didn't stand a chance. There were no survivors."

Suddenly a faraway scream—muffled by the thick stone walls—reached my ears and interrupted our conversation. My short rest was over, and I rushed through the old reinforced door into the next room. 

It was at that moment when I realized I was inside the ancient Kaiserburg of Kaltenfurt. The grand hall of the castle once housed the lords of these lands and brimmed with life. It was still as majestic as in the old days and seemed to have been kept in good condition.