Halls of Splintered Souls (Wandering Souls #1)

Chapter Fourteen

I was floating.

It felt like there were nothing around me, like I was nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

I blinked. Suddenly I was standing in the middle of a field. It's the one in my family's property. There's a pond there. My grandfather made it when I was little and filled it with Koi fish.

I looked ahead and realized I wasn't alone. Crouching over the edge of the pond was a little girl. I know her. Her black hair, her dress... I looked like her once. I walked closer to my younger self. She was reaching into the water, as if waiting for someone to take her hand.

And then I heard that song again. The haunting melody that seemed to follow me... or was I following it? I couldn't be sure.

I was following that sound before I blacked out that day. Where did it come from?

I need to find out where the music is coming from but... the music felt like it was all around me, surrounding me. It sounded so close, almost as if the music was inside my mind all along, like it came from a dream.

A dream.

I'm dreaming, aren't I? Didn't I need to do something? Find someone?

Baekhyun. I wanted to find out about Baekhyun. He was playing this song when I saw him. That's why it sounded so familiar, because I've heard it before the accident.

I closed my eyes, picturing myself on that day in the music studio. When I opened my eyes again, I was standing in front of the studio door. The music was still flowing, only this time I knew it came from inside the studio.

I took a deep breath, opened the door, and saw the person I came here to find. Or... I hoped it was him.

"Baekhyun?" He didn't seem to hear me and kept playing. He looked angry. His eyes were closed but he was frowning.

I noticed there was a dagger on the piano. It was such a beautiful dagger. The intricate details, the gemstones covering the hilt... it felt familiar somehow.

Baekhyun stopped playing and the music finally ceased. For the first time in the whole night, everything went quiet. Baekhyun took the dagger, tracing the edge. He whispered something that sounded like a spell. I tried to listen closer...

"Corpus sortira vivamus in spiritu..."

I kept trying to listen but his voice was getting quieter.

"...tenebris immortale."

I gasped in horror.

As he said the last word, he pierced his own chest with the dagger. What was he doing?

I didn't know what I expected he would do next, but that was not it. I felt like I shouldn't be seeing this, but I couldn't bring myself to look away. He was... he was cutting his chest open I realized. There was so much blood, it covered the piano, the floor, it was everywhere.

I realized that this was the image in my first dream. The corpse with the heart in their hands. It was Baekhyun's. Everyone thought he was murdered... but he actually took his own life?

Why?

Suddenly, everything turned black. Like a shadow fell around it. Then I heard a question.

"Found what you're looking for?" It asked me, it sounded like it was spoken by hundreds of voices. "You seem to forget that you should be finding someone else."

Was I?

It spoke again then. "Your sister might be in trouble somewhere."

Ayn. That's right. How could I have forgotten? Where was she?

"Ayn?" I called out, trying to see through the darkness. When I turned, I was no longer in the dark. I was in a... market? It was night and the sky were full of stars, the air smelled sickly sweet, and it was bustling with people and there were a lot of stands selling various trinkets and charms. What is this place?

"Stop that!"

I perked up, that's Ayn's voice.

I looked behind me to find her with a man. I couldn't see his face because his back was against me. He was standing next to her, it seemed like they were fighting. She was screaming something at him.

I walked over to them, then suddenly the man turned his face towards me. Even though I had a clear view of him, somehow, I still couldn't identify him at all. Like he was hidden in the shadows.

"You're here early," he told me.

His voice... I was full of dread when I heard it. It was the same voice I heard earlier. He was the one who reminded me of Ayn. What was he doing with her here? And why were they fighting.

"Ayn," I called her.

"She can't hear you," he said mockingly.

He was right. Ayn didn't seem to notice me. She was focused on him and only him. "Leave her alone."

The man laughed and I felt chills running up my spine. "I promise you, I'm not the one keeping her here."

I grabbed Ayn's forearm, but she held firm. She didn't want to leave. I couldn't figure out what she was saying to him, but it was clear that she was furious. She kept pulling back her arm from my grasp even as I tightened my hold on her.

What if she gets stuck in the dream and couldn't wake up?

"Ayn, we have to wake up," I tried to tell her, but she doesn't seem to be able to hear or see me.

The man looked amused as Ayn kept screaming at him and I kept trying to pull her away from him with no luck. Who is this man? No, what is he? Was he a conjuror like the two of us... or was he something else entirely?

"I'll tell you what," he said as he pushed Ayn away gently, letting me take her. "When you wake up, make sure you tell her to remember me this time."

I held Ayn's arm so tightly as she kept trying to get away from me. "Why should I?"

"Because I'll be seeing the two of you soon."

I didn't have the chance to ask him who he was before I woke.