Beyond the Void

Chapter 42, Inevitable

ANDREW

One moon and four tens since the Mark of the Other One blossomed.

A silence settled as Eric, Robert and Kauri stared at Andrew incredulously.

"That thing was huge, how on earth did you... You brought it along?" Eric finally stammered.

"You heard me the first time." Andrew mumbled and turned away.

"I don't believe it! I am a fucking idiot." Eric was pacing around and gesturing. "It's the same scroll Becca was talking about. You have that same fucking scroll. She kept taking it out and I am a fucking idiot for not noticing sooner."

"Calm down." Andrew said.

"Calm down?!" Eric's eyes were bulging. "Do you know what that thing even does? Half of us went crazy. They were no longer in control of themselves and... OH! This explains so much. And you are carrying this thing around!"

"It does not affect me. It's contained. Right now it should not affect you either!"

"Why would you even bring it along? Why? We don't know what it is, what it's used for..."

"It felt inevitable..." Andrew mumbled, but another drowned his voice.

"Why did who bring what along?" Sarah had wandered closer. "What are you arguing here about again?"

"That crystal thing." Andrew, Eric and Robert said all at once. Sarah looked at Kauri, who shrugged.

"What about it?" Sarah sounded wary.

Eric tried to say something, but Andrew talked over him. "I brought the monolith along." There. He said it. Might as well let them have it all at once.

Everyone was listening now, even Becca had opened her eyes and was staring towards the four guys.

"Shut up." Andrew told Sarah as she opened her mouth. "It was the best situation I could come up with."

"Best situation. That thing, what it did to us! Are you completely insane?" Sarah demanded, outraged.

"I could not leave it there. It would have been a mistake."

"You are insane!" Sarah said in a shocked voice.

"It's contained in here." Andrew patted the end of the scroll. "It does not affect you anymore. If it did, you would have felt it during the past week."

"You can't know for..." A small voice cut Sarah off.

"He can know for sure." Becca and everyone else had gathered around Andrew and the guys. Her voice sounded small, but there was something defiant and angry in there. "And he is right. It does not affect us. I did not know he had brought it with him until the last time those demons came. That monolith caused the crater. He let it out of its prison."

A chorus of voices rose and everyone had something to say. Andrew covered his ears, and he was ready to run away.

"SHUUUUUUUUT IT!" Sten was yelling. "Bottom line it!" He growled at Becca. "Does it do anything to us, right now?"

"As long as it stays in there." Becca pointed at the scroll. "We should be okay."

"What is it and why was it there?" Becca only shook her head. "Look here you!" Sten growled. "I am sick of your riddles. We need to talk like normal people. We need to know things. We don't need to listen to your fantasy stories."

Becca mumbled something in an incredibly tiny voice and she grabbed Anna's sleeve.

"Say it again, please."