Summoning Hope

Author's note: This was a contest entry.

While the chapters here form a somewhat self-contained story, this word dump is incomplete. There's no real ending or sense of conclusion. Please bear that in mind if you proceed to read this. It was a freestyle contest, and I'm weird like that. This may be thought of as a random stroll through my (demented) imagination. 

With explosions.

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CHAPTER 1

Seventeen year old Tori found her surroundings just a tad unusual. A trio of men in black coats stood along the wall, nearly melting into the creamy plaster. They refused to interact with anyone else. A few paces away, a man with sandy hair was arguing with the waitress. From what snippets Tori could catch, it had nothing to do with his order. The tables were, by and large, unoccupied. A couple sat in the corner sipping coffee while an old man with greying beard had his face buried in the newspaper, occasionally glancing at the waitress and the increasingly agitated man with some interest.

Technically, Tori wasn't supposed to be at the cafe. Not during school hours at least. But that didn't faze the young woman. She had not landed in trouble the last three times that she had done this. Having the gatekeeper on your side did have some perks. As she patiently waited for her espresso and waffles, Tori began to absently play with her auburn locks. She glanced at her watch. Lunch break will be over in... let's see...ten minutes. Next period was contemporary history. Tori internally groaned. As she fought to keep her thoughts from drifting to Mr. Friedman and his droning lectures, she felt a pair of eyes boring into her.

She looked up. Of the three men in black still glued to the wall, the one in the middle was staring at her. The brown in his eyes indicated a strangely unsettling absence of thought. Yet they remained unerringly trained on her features. But that wouldn't be quite correct. No, it was as if he was looking at something below her features, beneath her skin. Something less... tangible. Ever so slowly, realisation crept into the man's irises as though he finally began to see what he was searching for. Tori felt distinctly weirded out. Talk about rude.

She looked down at the pale tabletop. The wood was chipped at the corners. Very faint traces of a stain lingered on the surface. It had been much the same at a different place. Livelier walls, more crowded tables. The din and bustle of a city restaurant during business hours. Her parents had been there, talking about something the eight year old girl could not understand. Nor had she been particularly inclined to as she indulged in her admittedly delicious sundae. In later years, Tori found herself wishing more than once that she had listened.

The clattering of metal brought her back. The old man had dropped his spoon. Creepy Coat continued staring at her. Time apathetically marched on, as is her custom. A cursory glance revealed that the waitress was in no hurry to remember Tori had asked for something. Sighing, she got up and decided to just have it in her car. Six minutes later, she was out of the cafe, white plastic bag in hand. The streets of Oldhaven were lined with rusty leaves and people moving about with their lives. A chilly end-of-autumn wind greeted her like the clammy fingers of some ghost reaching out to her bones. She hugged her jacket closer. She could see the outline of a Toyota Prius in the distance. Sleek grey, and only slightly worn, it had been a gift from her uncle. Her school was not far off but she would probably be late to class. A blessing, then.

As she opened the door of the hybrid four-wheeler, she failed to notice a cat looking in her direction from a fence a few metres away. It seemed to be struggling with something internally. As though it were sitting on the fence in more ways than one. Just as Tori was about to fire up the engine, the tabby decided. With a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan, it descended to the ground and strolled towards the Prius. A few seconds later, the sandy-haired man walked out of the cafe.

"Unbelievable! To think that she would dump me just because it doesn't 'feel special anymore'! Dammit Sandra!"

He turned to survey the street outside, eager to look at anything other than that accursed cafe. But there was nothing to be seen. Only leaves.

Oldhaven was not an especially big town. A realm of cold and shadow and brightly coloured cafes, it tended to draw mixed reactions from both denizens and visitors. Tori had lived in it for nearly a decade. She sped along Spencer's road out of the town proper towards Oldhaven High. Built on a rather spacious campus and relatively secluded from the noise of the urban locale, the school was a somewhat sleepy place. To those with a romantic bent of mind, it was reminiscent of one of those old gothic British boarding schools. Except it was really nothing like it. The rules were lax, the authorities lenient, and all students day schoolers.

 The parking lot was located within walking distance of the main campus. Killing the ignition there- coffee cup still in the car- Tori got out and started on the trail. A couple of minutes later, she stood before the time-worn gates of the high school. Mr. Folding greeted her with a smile. Its warmth reached his wrinkles. A stout man with rapidly balding head, Folding was a survivor of two devastating divorces. He still clung on to the whims of life, ever the optimist. Even if he was- understandably- in the habit of occasionally grumbling. To Tori he would often bemoan the overpriced vending machines found on campus. A friend of her uncle's, he usually looked the other way when she decided to 'take a break' from school.

"You are late, Tori. Break ended a while ago. "

"Sorry. Car problems."

He looked at her dubiously. "I told your history teacher that you had to go to the nurse's office."

"Thank you, Mr. Folding! You're the best!"

The man shook his head but couldn't help chuckling. "Alright now, be careful!"

Tori made her way towards the academic building. Trees lined both sides of the path. The grounds were deserted. She had to make a turn near the gymnasium to reach the school entrance. Just as she reached the turn, a voice called out to her. "Miss Jensen."

Tori turned. There was no one.

" A little lower."

A tabby sat there, its green eyes regarding her. The young woman blinked.

"Thou seest me."

It couldn't be. The cat's lips were closed but it was as if...as if it were speaking to her with its mind. Tori was at a loss.

"What hath robbed thou of thy speech?"

"Are you...talking to me?"

"Indeed."

Oh what the hell, thought Tori. Fine. I'll humour it.

"So...assuming that cafe does not spike its patrons' drinks, how are you talking?"

"That is not the question thou should be asking. Ask me why I came to this grassy green."

"Why did you come here?"

"Thy life is in peril."

"What?"

"Danger is about to befall thee. Thy life is but forfeit unless thou heed my words."

"I don't understand. Why do you talk like that?"

"It is not up to me. Not entirely."

"I don't-"

"Listen, lass. An ill wind blows thy way. Thou are about to be attacked by a force most malevolent."

"...Right. No, I suppose the plot won't progress until something comes after me. "

"Plot? What plot?"

"Oh you know, just that of my life. So far it's been quite boring. I feel like a conflict is long overdue."

"Thou art a most frustrating maiden. Listen-"

"No, you listen. I just want to get my classes over with and then head home. I don't know anything about-about malevolent forces. Why don't you just...go and catch a few voles or something like a normal cat?"

"I caught a vole this morning. It will provide sustenance enough till eventide."

"Eew. Gross. Okay, I'll just get going then. I can't be late any further. "

"Get thyself somewhere else. Attend not thou any more classes this day."

"I would normally have no complaints with that. But when it comes from a talking cat, I find it a little difficult to take seriously. "

A couple of girls emerged from the gym. Seeing Tori talking with the tabby, they giggled between themselves. Great. Just what I needed. As if I wasn't labelled enough of a weirdo already.

The cat's whiskers twitched. "Hast thou something against my race?"

"Wow. Quick to play the race card, aren't you? I have nothing against tabbies. Or cats. I just…I can't afford to miss more classes. Being late to Friedman's is one thing, but ditching them all will get me in serious trouble."

"Thy concern for thy grades is not unbecoming but thou hast to remain alive. The plan demands as much. "

"Plan?"

"I implore thee with renewed urgency. Get thyself out of here. Do so with utmost haste."

"Look, I'm sorry. You seem like a nice cat and all but I really need to be heading inside. Can we talk later?"

The talking cat made a peculiar noise of annoyance. Like one that has hunted all rodents of the world to extinction and now finds none left to be consumed.

"Miss Jensen. It was a mistake most misfortunate to think it would be easy. Thou leavest me with no choice. "

The feline evaporated into a mist of air. It was gone just as abruptly as it had appeared. Silence reigned once more. It was as if the conversation had never happened. Tori remained standing there for a few seconds. She looked around to check if the cat had truly left. Shaking her head, she finally turned the corner and disappeared inside the building.

As it turned out, the Shakespearean cat had made her miss contemporary history. She had intended to show up at the last minute and get the attendance credit but that plan went haywire. Tori sulked her way to math class. The room was spacious and well ventilated. Pale green walls surrounded a sea of brown benches. Students were seated- some poring over their textbooks, some talking with their neighbours, a few absently gazing out of the glass windows- and a faint humdrum of scattered conversations was punctuated by the periodic tapping of Mr. Brook's chalk on the board. Tori's entrance seemed to raise no eyebrows. She walked to the back of the class and sat at an empty desk. Maggie noticed and discreetly changed desks to sit beside her.

"Hey. You missed Friedman's."

"Yeah, I know. "

"What happened?"

Tori briefly considered telling her exactly what had happened. Maggie would have likely kept it between them. But her better judgement prevailed.

"Of course I didn't go to the nurse's office."

"Of course."

"I drove to town but...I ran into some problems. It involved a cat. "

"Oh? I like cats. They are cool."

"You wouldn't have liked this one. He was just tiring."

"Why do you say that?"

"I couldn't understand him at all."

Maggie paused. There was a curious, tiny smile on her cherry-red lips. "Do any of us ever really understand cats?"

Tori found her features contorting into a smile of her own. Not many talked with her at this school even though she had been studying there for years. Part of the reason was that she kept her own company. But Maggie was not adept at respecting people's personal spaces- indeed, the girl had an uncanny gift for invading them. She was the closest to what Tori could call a friend.

"Do you believe in fate?"

Maggie blinked in surprise. Tori too found herself wondering why she had asked something like that. She wasn't in the winding business of spiritual matters and philosophical enquiries.

"I don't know honestly. It's comforting to think that some higher power has a plan for each of us."

It began to rain softly. The conversations had died down to whispers. The teacher was busy at work, his back to the class. The gentle rhythm of drops on the pane along with the continued tapping of chalk on board created an almost hypnotic tune. Quiet. Sleepy.

"But then there are things. Things like disease. Accidents. Wars. You start wondering if we should perhaps be best left to our own devices."

Her silken voice became coated with sand. "Or perhaps, it's because there was no divine plan for any of us to begin with. We ended up doing all of those things on our own."

The rain turned from a dripping showerhead to a steady drizzle. The skies had become blacker.

Tori nodded. "Yeah. I'm sure you are right. It's difficult to arrive at an answer."

Apparently that did not extend to high school math problems. Not as far as Mr. Brook was concerned. He demanded silence from the class as soon as he was done and asked them to find the answers. Fifteen minutes went by. Tori was about to begin the fifth problem- her soul sapped of all vitality – when someone walked into the class.

"Excuse me. May I borrow Miss Jensen? She has been called to the Principal's office."

Shit. Tori half-prayed that Mr. Brook would say something like, "No, sorry. These students are all trapped in my dungeon of horrors until they overcome the sums I have set for them. Or till eternity's end. Whichever happens sooner."

Of course, the bespectacled teacher replied, "Sure. Take her. "

With a forlorn look at Maggie, who winced and nodded in sympathy, Tori followed Alex out of the classroom. Alex, the president of the student council. Alex, the champion of squash regionals. Alex, the debating club's pride and joy. Alex, the principal's favourite minion. Figures he would be the one to escort me.

They walked in silence down the long corridor for a while. The sound of their footsteps felt deafening to Tori. "Look, if this is about my missing Mr. Friedman's class-"

"Oh no, you are not in trouble with the principal. "

"Why was I called to his office then?"

There was no response. Tori waited. She had not talked much with Alex in the past, but from what limited interaction they had shared, she knew him to be fairly polite and courteous.

"Alex?"

Oldhaven High was a fairly large school. The way they were headed was the longer route to the Principal's office. She had thought they would turn left and take the staircase a few paces before. It would have saved time. Surely he knows that. He has taken that route a million times.

"You are not in trouble with the principal. Tori."

She froze. The way he said her name... something was wrong. It was not in the way he said it, per se. It was a chill hidden below his utterance. Something most ears would miss. They were near the boys' washroom. Alex noticed Tori had stopped walking.

"What is it? Why did you stop?"

"I don't think the Principal uses the boys' toilet to relieve himself."

"It's beyond this. We take the next set of stairs and continue to his office on the ground floor."

"Why come all this way? We could have descended down the first staircase. His office is adjacent to the landing."

Alex turned to face her fully. The girl had a brief flashback to the cat's words. The memory came unbidden. Malevolent force.

Tori slowly backed up. Alex sighed. "We could have delayed this, you know. It's a shame you are so wrapped up in the details. But I suppose I should thank you. The boy's cologne was killing me."

Alex's face melted. Then his limbs and torso followed. They sank into a viscous blue- the darkest shade of blue- that came like a mist and covered the boy's frame. It slowly began to dissipate and in a matter of seconds, the inky blue and Alex were gone. What remained was a humanoid creature roughly six feet tall. It had skin the same shade of blue. Two sickly yellow eyes and a mouth bearing multiple rows of tiny, needle-like teeth adorned its face. It had no nose. And where its arms were supposed to exist, there were scythes, one on each limb. Long and silver and sharper than the deadliest sword.

Tori had been standing there, shackled with horror. Her current situation sank in when the creature raised its scythes and smiled a world's worth of daggers. "I am the only trouble in store for you, Tori Jensen. And I shall be the last."

It lunged at her, cutting through the space between them with one scythe. It moved faster than the human eye could follow. There was only one rational thought in Tori's head. Move!

She leapt out of the way. It should not have been possible. It- the monster- had come charging at her all too quickly. Her midsection should have been sliced open. But she stood a metre back, heart threatening to burst out of her ribcage. The monster fixed its eyes on her. There seemed to be the tiniest hint of surprise on its inhuman features. "Interesting. So it has begun."

It lunged at her again, aiming to pierce through the centre of her chest. Once again, something in her head said – no, screamed- move! She sidestepped and leapt back out of range. There was an odd fluidity to her movement. Tori had never been one for the athletic arts. She led a largely sedentary life. But now, both the range and magnitude of her movements surprised her. An adrenaline rush should not have this much of an effect. She yelled at the top of her lungs. Her throat felt hoarse. Someone ought to have noticed!

The scythe demon shook its head. "I am afraid they can't hear you, girl."

Tori hurriedly looked through one of the glass windows on her right. The students inside the class were all seated at their desks, looking at the instructor. She banged hard against the glass and shouted. The students were unaffected. Not one head turned in her direction.

"They exist in a world of sound different from yours and mine. I didn't want them to interrupt our little meet cute. I am sure you understand. It would have meant more bodies."

Tori desperately searched her surroundings. Nobody could hear her. She was alone with the monster in the corridor. What if she ran back and tried making it down the flight of stairs? Could she make it?

No. He will catch you. That strange, throatless voice floated inside her head. The scythe demon charged at her again. She jumped backwards. But this time, she wasn't so lucky. He had adapted his strikes and now he moved even faster than on the first two occasions. He nicked her left shin. Blood spurted out. Tori landed heavily on her rear and fought to subdue a scream of pain. Her leg burnt. It was as if his scythe was coated with an invisible flame.

"End of the line, little one. I might have had some trouble if you knew what you possess. But you will die without ever knowing. You will die right here", he inched closer, " on this cold stone floor", his blade dragged along the ground sending sparks into the air, "and they will find nothing but blood. Red, sticky, indelible blood. "

He was nearly upon her now. "But don't worry your pretty little head. I will make your death quick. Well, quicker than my last victim's."

He raised his scythe and sliced through the air in a vicious downward arc. It would have been her end. But Tori didn't want to die like this. Not in front of the boys' toilet. She rolled to one side. The strike cut through the stone. She kicked at his right leg with all her might. The demon fell on his left knee. With no time to think, she made a break for it. The voice had said she would not be able to outrun the demon. So she entered the boys' washroom which was, thankfully, empty. She locked the door and quickly scanned her surroundings. There it was. A window high up on the wall. Just big enough for her petite frame to pass through.

A deafening noise resonated behind her. A scythe was poking through a tear in the door. It barely hung on to its hinges. "Slippery little fish. There isn't enough water for you to swim in. You think you can run from me?"

The door would come apart any moment. Tori took a deep breath and ran towards the wall. Backing up all of her strength, she jumped like a coiled spring a few arm lengths from the rough cement wall. Her newfound strength kicked in. Just as she took to the air, the door flung open violently and the monster was at her heels. She was able to jump higher than she could ever have in the past. But she had miscalculated her trajectory. She braced herself as her body crashed against the window frame.

...And tore it clean off as she hurtled out of the washroom into the rain-soaked air outside. She was airborne. The window had been on the first floor. She expected to be hurt but just as she was about to hit the ground, an envelope of air surrounded her and cushioned her landing. She rolled onto her side and pushed herself up on one hand.

"Wha-"

In her wonderment, she paused a second too long. A shadow descended from above. She tried to leap out of the way but one blade struck true. With a sideward arc, it gashed her back. She screamed in agony. The pain was unbearable. Warm blood trickled down her spine. She could not move.

"Okay, I hand it to you. You have been difficult. Entertaining, even. But our dance must come to an end here."

The scythe-wielding creature of the abyss gleefully sauntered over to her. Tori closed her eyes. Her body refused to exert itself any longer. The demon basked in the sight. How many times had he done this before? He raised both weapons and prepared to deliver the killing blow.

"Alright, that's enough outta you."

A barrage of bullets raced through the air and struck him. It was like a speeding truck. The impact generated enough force to send him flying back a few metres. Tori lifted her eyelids. The monster was on the ground, writhing. Steam rose from his body. An approaching set of footfalls caused her to turn and look at her unlikely saviour. It was a woman.

She had wheatish skin and flowing hair the colour of night. Clad in black jeans and a leather jacket, she held a bronze pistol in her hand. Her eyes, brown like mocha, briefly held Tori. She looked the girl over for injuries. Before Tori could manage to speak, the demon howled. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him racing towards the newcomer, scythe extended and bathed in malice.

"Watch out!"

The woman never broke eye-contact. With a motion as natural as breathing, she raised her arm and pulled the trigger twice. The demon stopped in his tracks and clutched his chest. Two holes could be seen where the bullets had hit him. Steam oozed out of them. He let loose another inhuman shriek.

"How dare you? How dare you get between me and my prey? I will end your life. I will rend your limbs from their sockets. I will tear you to shreds!" he charged anew at the gunslinger.

"You never shut up, do you?"

The woman finally turned to look at him. Dodging his jab with practised ease, she fired once more. Her aim was true but rage had consumed the monster and he kept up his wild, vicious arcs and thrusts, fighting through the pain. It was a strange sight to Tori. Both moved quickly- almost too quickly for human eyes to follow- but she was able to keep track with some difficulty. Woman and beast briefly tussled in something that could be called hand-to-hand combat. The lady in leather searched for an opening to shoot while the demon attempted to deflect her shots with one scythe and pierce her with the other. Finally, the gun was knocked out of her hand and sent skidding on the ground. She kicked into the air and got out of range before he could follow up with a slash.

Steam hissing from his myriad puncture wounds, the monster croaked in a ragged voice, "Lost your gun? Not so tough now, are you?"

But before he could punctuate his taunt with another attack, the woman muttered something under her breath. From the folds of her jacket, an ethereal chain sprang out. It shimmered as though not made of earthly material. It dispersed the sunlight like a prism. Tori had never quite seen anything like it. It blitzed through the air and wrapped around the scythe-bearing creature. He struggled violently but the chain held firm, immobilizing him. The woman made a dash for her gun. Realising what was about to happen, the demon performed a throwing motion. One of his scythes detached from his elbow and flew towards the woman's neck. She ducked and slid under. A tree just behind her had half its trunk cut open. She picked up the bronze gun and rose. She made a semi-circular motion with her free hand. Bullets emerged out of thin air in the likeness of a halo around her. They glowed warm orange with a light of their own. The woman levelled her gun at the monster and pulled the trigger.

"Good riddance."

The bullets hanging in the air obeyed her will and whizzed through space straight at the murky blue horror. The last look Tori saw in those yellow eyes was one of fear.

As soon as the bullets struck his flesh, he was enveloped in a raging flame. Its roar drowned the monster's screams. The fire burned so bright Tori had to shut her eyes. When she opened them next, all that stood in his place was scorched earth. The prismatic chain fell to the ground. Slowly, Tori let out a breath she had been unknowingly holding in for so long. Boots on soil reached her ears. The dark-haired woman stooped and picked up the chain. She then turned to look at Tori as though just remembering the girl was still there.

"You may want to consider dropping out of school."

CHAPTER 2

The faint whirring of motor permeated the cabin. Leaves and branches zipped past the window as the Prius drove down Spencer's road away from Oldhaven High. Tori stared through the windshield. There were not many vehicles on Spencer's during school hours. Even then, it was unusually deserted. Beams of light filtered through a patchwork of dark clouds in the sky. The trees on either side with their canopies, and the strange absence of humanity made her wonder if they were driving off to another world.

The sound of the motor. It helped calm her nerves. Of all the events that had transpired in the last couple of hours, the sound of her car's machinery was the most real, the most mundane, the most comforting. It was something she was used to hearing nearly everyday. She glanced at the woman behind the wheel. Her eyes were fixed on the road.

"You never told me your name, you know."

Trees fading in and out of sight, mingled lines of green and grey. A shadow through the window. The soft humming of the engine. The woman quirked her eyebrows as if just realising what Tori said was true.

"Call me Maya"

Maya. Tori hesitated. "Thank you for saving my life back there."

"I did nothing quite so dramatic as that. But you're welcome. You did pretty well holding your own till I arrived."

Silence emerged from under their seats again. It took up abode in the air. Both women looked ahead. One seeing clearly the road, the other seeing nothing in particular. Each was courted by a host of thoughts. Tori reflected on what had happened after the fire.

The woman – Maya – had a vial of ointment stashed away in her jeans. She cleaned Tori's cuts and applied it to the wounds on her shin and back. It had stung in the beginning but now all that remained was a dull throbbing. The areas felt numb. She had then rushed inside the school building and returned with bandages. No one else had come to check up on them. The rather conspicuous hole in the wall of the boys' lavatory convinced Tori she had not dreamt up any of it. Yet the school continued as though nothing unusual had transpired.

"You are Tori, yes?"

She had nodded.

"You need to come with me. I'm sure you seek...answers. "

Answers. Yes, she did indeed seek answers. She was just struggling to frame the proper questions. She suggested they take her Prius. Maya nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, good call. I took a cab here and sent the driver away. I was not sure how long the fight would last."

They had been driving for nearly half an hour. They entered the heart of Oldhaven and then Maya took a turn, once again leading them away. She saw the outline of Vermillion park, famous for its fountains, garden patches and neat little benches strategically hidden under the shade of trees. Couples had been frequenting the place for generations.

"Alex" was the first thing she had said after boarding the car.

"I'm sorry?"

"It- he – appeared in the form of a student at first. Is Alex...was he...?"

"I see. That creature you met can take on the appearance of a person you know. The original individual remains unharmed, unless it specifically goes after them. Which was not the case here."

"Are people at the school safe?"

"Yes. They have not been harmed. The aberration was only after you."

"Aberration?"

Maya didn't offer a response.

"Do you come across others like that...that thing...often?"

"You could say that." In her eyes, there was an eerie quality. A quality of great depth. Tori thought she could glimpse an alien sea, and below the waves, shadows of great and terrible icebergs. Yet how far into the depths each sunk was unfathomable to her. This woman had seen much.

"Why was it after me?"

Maya seemed to be thinking. Weighing how much to tell her. "It seems you have certain abilities."

Wait. That's it? I nearly got flayed alive and we are going to leave it there?

"Abilities?"

"Yes. I am not the best person for explaining this. I don't yet know a lot of what's at play here myself. But it is safe to say that there are some things you are capable of doing. Things which would greatly irk certain individuals."

Irk. Irk them enough to have me killed?

So I have...what? Magic? I'm like Harry Potter? The Chosen One?"

Maya cracked a half-smile. It didn't quite reach her eyes. "I am afraid our world doesn't operate that way."

"I don't think I follow. What are these abilities exactly?"

At that point, the gunslinger had turned to look at her directly. Her eyes were inquisitive. Searching.

"It will be helpful if you can tell me what happened during your encounter with the aberration. If you remember anything unusual or out of the ordinary."

"You mean other than a demonic, sadistic maniac with scythes for limbs that impersonated our school's squash champ to lure me out of class and then attempted to slice me like salad right in front of the boys' toilet?"

"Right. Other than that."

Tori resisted scoffing. Then paused. "Now that you mention it...well, I was able to move quickly. Much quicker than usual. I would not have been able to evade the monster's strikes otherwise."

"Hmm."

"What?"

" No. Nothing. I thought as much. Your movements should start to feel more graceful. You will also probably experience sudden bursts of strength."

"I feel like there's a lot you are not telling me."

"All in due time, Tori. I am taking us to someone who will be able to tell you a lot better. And I am still trying to piece together information that could be useful. Is there anything else?"

Tori shrugged.

That had been ten minutes ago. They had driven largely in silence after that. They were coming up on Gilmour Avenue now. It had been named after a famous guitarist. Tori's dad used to play records by his band in the early hours of many a Sunday, much to her mom's chagrin.

"They couldn't hear me."

"I beg your pardon?"

Tori wondered if she should have left the silence undisturbed. "I yelled at the students sitting in their classes. It was like they didn't know I existed. The monster said something about us living in different worlds of sound. I dunno."

There was a grim expression on the driver's face. The colours on her cheek seemed to darken. Tori could not tell if it was a trick of the light.

"It was his doing. He was a dangerous foe. I did not expect you would run into someone with his capabilities. Not this early."

"There is something else."

"Yes?"

"I could hear a voice in my head. "

Maya seemed unsure. There was a pregnant pause. "Well, you see, sometimes when we are in danger-"

"No. It wasn't my conscience or the primal parts of my brain or anything like that. It felt like another presence."

"Another presence?"

"Like a different person. But not really."

"I am afraid you are not making much sense."

"I suppose I'm not. How do I put it? It was like this voice belonged to someone that wanted me to live. It urged me to keep moving and said I couldn't outrun that monster. Then it abruptly went silent."

They were losing light. The embers of evening slowly fizzled out. Twilight was descending on Oldhaven and the temperatures continued their tumble. The scenery outside her window was only vaguely familiar to Tori. She had rarely been to this part of town before. The Prius drove east, moving farther and farther away from the town centre. The dwindling number of houses and shops reminded the seventeen year old girl that she and the others lived in a tiny bubble. Beyond it, there were trees and forests and creatures that hid from the sun's gaze. Creatures she till that morning had believed to only live inside second-rate horror novels.

Maya was looking at her in a curious way.

"You think he cut off half my brain, don't you?"

"No! Not at all. In fact, I think you are taking this remarkably well."

"How so?"

"For someone who met a murderous aberration with scythes for limbs, suffered a couple of serious injuries and nearly got killed, you seem to be unusually calm. I would think you were used to this sort of thing."

"Freaking out will do me no good. It's not like you gave me a choice before dragging me off in my own car to meet a mysterious stranger in a shady part of town. Very reassuring."

Maya chuckled. It was a slightly husky sound, strangely pleasant to the ears. Tori got the impression the older woman could laugh more often.

"I swear on the flamehewn steel of my gun, Tori Jensen, I have no nefarious intentions towards you!"

"Flamehewn steel?"

"Never mind."

"You are annoying. You know that?"

 "The person we are going to meet told me that a long time ago."

In the pale twilight glow, something glinted on the black leather of Maya's jacket. Tori watched the bronze object poking out from a pocket. A dozen bullets burning with their own fire flashed across her mind's eye.

"This person you are taking me to meet...will they be able to help?"

"I can think of none more suited. He knows much. Although you might not exactly be thanking me for taking you to him after you receive the answers to your questions. Truth has a price, and it always comes to collect."

There it was again. This woman seemed to fashion an invisible cloak made of mystery, and wrap herself in it every other minute. Tori decided to ignore the ominous undertone to her words for the time being. She had pieced together that there was something she possessed which put certain unsavoury individuals at risk. Who was to say they wouldn't send others like the blue scythe demon after her? Maya was strong and she sensed no ill will from the woman. The gunslinger had promised her much-needed explanations. Sticking with her till then was the logical option. Or so she tried to convince herself.

The street lamps on the outskirts of town came to life. Minutes passed. When even the soft thrumming of the motor failed to register and Tori felt the silence inside the cabin turn deafening, she plugged in her phone and opened Spotify. Green Day's Holiday blasted through the speakers. Maya offered no comment but Tori couldn't help thinking that neither the lyrics nor the general vibe suited her present situation. She changed tracks. The opening riff from Boulevard of Broken Dreams now enveloped the confines of the Prius. Yup. Much more like it.

The young woman couldn't be sure how much time had elapsed. At some point, she found herself staring into empty space. The car ground to a halt.

"Come on, we are here. Let's go."

Tori looked through the windshield. Stylised gates of black metal rose high above the grass. Behind them, an impressive expanse of green – now the colour of night- was lit at intervals with the weak silvery glow of lamps. And beyond that stood the largest house those almond eyes had ever seen. A sprawling mansion, a dark fairy tale carved in brick, wood and stone.

"You still with me, Tori?"

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry. "

"Don't be. He likes luxury."

"Clearly. I had heard of this estate before but I never ventured so far east of town. Seeing it in person is...like looking down a rabbit hole."

"Riddled with worms." The woman's smile was cryptic. She had already stepped out of the car. Her boots clicked against the pebbles.

"Hey, um, Maya?"

The gunslinger turned. She had to bend so that her face would be visible through the doorframe.

"Yes?"

"How did you know I was in danger? Back at the school, I mean."

Maya seemed confused. She looked at the girl as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"The tabby."

Tori waited.

"Now you coming or what?"

Tori had had enough of 'what?' for a day. Realising she wouldn't get a more elaborate answer in the car, she got up and followed the strange woman to the gates. The sound of their shoes echoed in the night. Maya raised her left hand and gently touched the cold, dark metal. The gates pushed inwards as though they had been unlocked all along. The woman continued walking without skipping a beat. They were now walking on a straight path paved with stones and lined with ancient-looking lamps situated wide apart. The lights made Tori think of lost spirits, sentenced to live out the rest of time on that estate.

She was able to get a clearer look at the mansion. It was four storeys tall and possibly had an attic. It was so wide that Tori was convinced it had over a hundred rooms. The style of architecture made one think of neo-gothic manors in all their decadent glory. It was the night palace, home to many mysteries and curiosities that only exist under moonlight. A thin veil of fog and the forested never-ending hills behind the estate served to fully unchain Tori's imagination and let it run wild amidst the lamp spirits. Glancing behind to make sure Tori followed, Maya led the way to the doors of the house in the middle of nowhere. She tapped on the mahogany with her knuckles thrice. The two women waited. After a few seconds, the doors slid open. There was no one on the other side.

"Weird. Are the doors automated?"

"In a manner of speaking," Maya replied. "Come on in. Casper should be lurking somewhere nearby. Stay close to me."

A high-vaulted ceiling. Decorative velvet carpet. Walls made of luxurious dark wood and interrupted by an oil painting of a landscape or inanimate object every now and then. A spiralling staircase at the back end of the hall. These were some of the sights that greeted Tori's eyes upon entering. She could make out a few doors carved into the wooden walls near the back, probably leading to guest rooms. Maya had ventured up the staircase calling for – what did she say his name was? Tori's feet led her to the base of the stairs and she was about to follow her companion when she noticed something on a table situated to her left. It was a jar. It seemingly contained nothing but air. Yet, she could make out momentary lights inside. Tiny sparks of blue and pink.

They shimmered into existence and vanished into the air encasing them, only to emerge again. There was no discernible pattern to be found but Tori felt an inexplicable rhythm in their motion. Whether it was the need to investigate, or the quality of the lights itself that drew her to the jar is anybody's guess. But the young lady found herself walking towards the table, towards the jar, towards them. She gazed past the glass wall. The lights, blue and pink, continued their dance. They weaved in and out of existence. Sometimes a single tinge of blue and a multitude of pink. Sometimes, the reverse. At other times, there were none and the very next second, a tiny orb someplace inside the jar. They were everywhere and nowhere. Tori stared and stared at them. She was past the minute hand's reach. There was something in their blinking, hypnotic pattern. The girl concentrated, peering deeper into the lights. And before she knew it, her surroundings changed. The lights stopped moving and grew still. They had now become stars in the sky. A sky with blue and pink, and green and mauve stars as far as the eye could see.

She was no longer standing on the carpet in the hall but she was falling through the clouds. The night air parted for her descent. She was overcome by a sudden pulse of terror. She flailed her arms and legs wildly. Then she stopped. She realised something most odd. She was not accelerating under gravity. She was falling at a slow, steady pace through the air as if she had invisible wings that defied the earth's pull. Before long, she had left the clouds and now found a city of lights below her. Houses and towers and churches stretched for miles on either side of a great river, its blue waters glittering like diamonds in the sun. Grand industrial chimneys made of soot-blackened brick sent up plumes of dark smoke into the air. The dusky clouds grew larger, and larger, and larger until all the lights below had dimmed. Tori could no longer see the houses. Yet the clouds of smoke continued expanding until they engulfed the river and the highest tower in the land. Finally, they reached up to Tori and her world was consumed in a veil of black. She turned to look up at the sky. There were no stars to be seen. All was smoke, darker than night.

The darkness was that of her eyelids. Tori lifted them. The jar was before her and she was back in the hall. She could almost feel the carpet through the soles of her shoes. The glass vessel was empty. She waited several seconds but the lights did not appear again. Tori stepped back. She gripped her forehead. The experience had felt so real. So vivid. The cool night air had been pressed against her skin moments ago.

"Maya?"

There was no reply. She called again but neither sound nor sight of the woman was to be had. Tori looked around. Everything was as she remembered. What was she supposed to do now? Wait? But for how long?

As she scanned her surroundings, she found another object that piqued her interest. At the very end of the hall, pressed up against the wall in one corner, there was a thick book perched on a stand. Tori made her way to it. A heavy brown cover made of leather bound the tome. Surely, the book could not have had fewer than a thousand pages. She ran her fingers over the ancient cover. She could have sworn she heard faint whispers. They were in a language she did not understand. Tori looked behind her. There was nobody there. Just the wind, then? The door was open. Not everything in this hall had to be magical or supernatural. It was just a book.

Taking a deep breath, she flipped open the cover and turned several pages. She stopped at a random page. She peered over the text. As expected, she could not read it. The letters made no sense. She didn't even know which language they were written in. She tried reading the first letter of the page. Tracing its outline and shape with her eyes. And then, the book spoke to her. It was like leafing through someone else's photo album. Not with your hands and eyes, exactly, but with your mind. As crazy as that sounds, it is the closest to what Tori felt. That intangible 'organ' suddenly gained the power of sight. It absorbed and saw every photo in that album. Except Tori didn't have the choice of stopping the flow of information. The book read her as much as she read it.

The indecipherable words spoke directly to her mind of a swordsman whose village had been burnt down. The royal army had razed the place and killed his family. His mother's corpse lay on the street in the pouring rain, blood and water coming together to create an unsightly shade of red. He had survived by hiding under a pile of rubble. He saw the victorious prince waving to throngs of adoring people. A celebration of genocide. She felt the young swordsman's despair, and then that despair giving way to seething anger. She felt his emotions so deeply that they become hers, and she wept tears of rage and sorrow.

Then, she saw the swordsman with his blade drawn. She was now the prince. He swung his sword repeatedly at her. None caused her physical pain but each tore through her mind, cutting and slashing at something deep inside her being. Each strike tormented her like the death of a dear friend. With each passing moment, she felt her sense of being slipping away. Finally, the swordsman's blade tore her world asunder. She was now looking at a blood red sky. Inky black clouds rumbled with thunder in the distance. A nightmare world at the end of days.

And from that sky emerged a creature whose very appearance threatened to dissolve her sanity. It had a host of trunks that became tentacles and a singular large vertical eye ringed by smaller eyes, each the same shade of red. Two massive wings the size of houses sprouted from its back and where its legs should have been, there was a sea of ooze that moved and writhed and undulated in the air as though the substance were alive. It let out an earth shattering roar that struck up fear in the girl like she had never known before.

"Make it stop! Make it stop! Please! Make it stop!"

She yelled and pleaded at the top of her lungs but the creature did not relent. The terrible roar consumed her ears and mind completely and her sanity was chipping away, lost to the world of red and black.

"Breathe."

That voice. Where had she heard it before? It was leagues away. It came from the bottom of a deep, deep lake.

"Breathe. Please, just hold on a little longer."

Hold on? How? The mad roar still reverberated in her mind but she felt its intensity lower ever so slightly. To hold on. If it was possible for a sane thought like that to penetrate her mind in this world, could there be...could there be hope?

She felt a hand on her elbow. Its grip was gentle but firm. The dread creature before her eyes grew fainter, the skies a softer red. She felt it happening so very slowly at first. Then the transitions grew faster. The roar grew more and more distant.

"Tori? Tori! Are you okay?"

She was in the hall. Maya was looking at her worriedly. She rushed over to the girl. A hand reached out and closed the book shut.

"Heavens, Tori! I told you to stay close to me!"

Tori turned around. The person that had closed the book was holding her elbow with his other hand.

"I see you've become acquainted with my book, Miss Jensen."

There was a flicker of a kind smile across his face. The deep, inky pools of his eyes reflected her shaken visage.

"You are alright now," he said, letting go of her arm.

"Th-thank you." Tori managed. Her eyes met with Maya's. The woman heaved a soft sigh of relief. Then her poker face went back on. She nodded.

Tori turned to address the man. "So you are Casper."

"Indeed. Maya has informed me of the events that occurred at Oldhaven High. It is a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, Miss Jensen."

"Tori, please."

"Ah. My apologies."

With the same slow smile never leaving his face, he turned and gestured for them to follow him up the stairs.

"We have much to discuss. I am afraid I may have to borrow your ear for quite a while. I hope you are listening, Tori."

"Yes. Of course."

"Good," He looked at her over his shoulder. The lines on his face shifted. "Because there's a decent chance all of us will wind up dead before morning."

CHAPTER 3

Curtains covered the window. A dim red light filtered in through the gaps and edges. It was the only source of illumination in the room. Rory's head hurt. He felt like he had been buried under the earth for millennia. It took several seconds for his grogginess to dissipate. He could vaguely make out the shape of a person on the floor in front of him. A girl, it seemed. She moaned weakly.

Rory brought a hand to his throbbing forehead. Where was he? What was the last thing he remembered? There had been a bike. A young man laughing and riding off on a dirt trail. Rory had chased after him on his own motorcycle. He remembered a sense of jubilation. Voices behind him had yelled something. Discordant. Was he on a trip with friends? Honestly, he couldn't remember. The images led to nothing. There was a big, dark gap between then and now.

Something shifted in his periphery. A figure got up and steadied itself against the wall. "Nina? Sweetheart? Where are you?"

The girl on the floor groaned in response. She tried to get up.

"Nina? Oh, thank God!"

The figure rushed over to the girl and helped her up.

"Dad?" The girl turned in his arms. "Wh-where's mum?" She weakly managed.

The man looked around the dark room. "Alice? Alice! Are you okay?"

Rory's pupils had been slowly adjusting. He looked in the direction of the man's gaze. A body he had missed earlier was propped below the window. It stirred. The man made his way over with the girl still in his arms. Alice regained consciousness. Seeing the two, she let out a cry of joy and hugged Nina.

"Oh! Oh, thank goodness! Are you hurt, dear?"

They had not yet noticed Rory. He racked his brain trying to recall how he ended up there. Why was he with them? What exactly...?

His stream of thoughts was cut short. He heard footsteps outside the room. More than one pair of shoes clicked against the floor. He waited, listening. The sound travelled alongside the wall and stopped just before reaching the corner. There was a noise of metal sliding, like the lock of a door. Air entered the stale room. A rather large door he had missed in the dark hung open.

The family was sitting huddled together. The father rose cautiously. Two figures stepped into the room, one after the other. They were not close enough to the ominous red window for Rory to make out their features.

"What the hell's going on? Why are we here?"

There was no response from the two. Alice held Nina close. Rory felt the air thick with anxiety. Neither party seemed to have noticed him yet. He stayed very still. A laughter suddenly broke out. It was a male voice. Rich, full, melodious. Somehow full of mirth even in that bleak room.

"You find this funny?"

"Steve..." Worry laced the voice of the girl's mother.

The stranger's laughter continued for a little longer, before finally settling down.

"Yes. Yes, I do find it funny."

There was something in his tone that raised the hairs at the back of Rory's neck. Someone with that voice had to look handsome. It was refined, regal, almost inhumanly crystalline. Crystalline. It was not a word the young man ever thought he would use to describe a person's voice. All that, however, served to mask something sinister. Rory could not tell what it was, but it made his body want to bolt through the door.

"I find it merely boring. Is this what you brought me here to see?"

A woman. She spoke softly. To Rory's ears, her voice was like satin dipped in poison. Something was terribly amiss.

"Ah, ever so impatient! Please wait just a little longer. He will be joining us soon."

"Look," The father cut in, "I'm going to ask one more time. What the hell is going on?"

He started walking straight towards the pair. One of them raised a hand. The man stopped in his tracks, all too suddenly. It was like he had hit an invisible wall.

"Steve?"

Steve started violently coughing. He staggered and stumbled, his coughs grating like sandpaper. He collapsed on his knees.

"Steve!" The woman holding tightly onto Nina screamed. She turned towards the shadowy figures. "What did you do?"

The man continued as though nothing had happened.

"Did they summon the lightseer yet?" He asked his companion.

"No. I don't sense his presence."

"Shame. This makes things far too easy. Not that I am complaining, but...I like a bit of entertainment. Wouldn't you agree?"

Rory could hear the grin on his face.

"I am not like you, Stefan. I don't toy with my food."

"So you say."

"What. Did. You. Do?" The girl's mother yelled in rage. There was still no answer. Steve kept coughing terribly.

"Dad?" The little girl whimpered. "Daddy?"

At once, the man's coughing ceased. He remained bent over, heaving. Nobody said anything for a few seconds. The two figures by the door seemed to be waiting. Rory heard a new set of footsteps. They echoed outside, the owner apparently in no haste.

"You sure kept us waiting, friend." The man – Stefan – said to the newcomer, his voice light and breezy.

A third individual entered through the doorway. He didn't answer. He kept walking until he reached the window. A trickle of that odd red light fell upon him. He was tall and wore a dark button-up shirt. Rory thought he could see medium-length hair. He was too far away to discern the man's face.

The mother lifted her chin. "Who are you? Why are you keeping us here?"

There was desperation in her voice. "If you want money, we have it. Please. We can help."

The man by the window said nothing. He made no motions. He simply stood there, staring at her. The woman was breathing heavily. The girl buried her face into her mother's neck. Steve tried to rise. "She's right. We don't want trouble. If you just tell us what you-"

But he stopped mid-sentence. Rory couldn't tell what was going on. He was too afraid to make a move. He then saw the mother tensing up. Her body grew stiff. Without a word, she lifted the girl from her lap and set her on the floor.

"Mum?"

The woman got up and stood still as stone. She then walked toward the strange man until they were less than a metre apart.

"Alice? What are you doing?" Steve seemed to have regained his voice. But there was no response from the woman. She continued staring at the tall figure. He nodded. Alice went to the window and reached behind the curtain.

"Alice! What did you do to her? Answer me!"

The man's wife turned slowly. She was finally facing him. In the eerie light, her eyes seemed emotionless. There was no expression on her face. She kept staring at Steve. Then, she suddenly rushed towards him.

"Alice? Honey, what are you-"

She stabbed his chest. The tip of a knife poked through the other side. The girl let out a blood-curdling scream. Rory watched, horrified. The woman drew back the knife and stabbed again. And again. The sound of metal cutting into flesh filled the room. The woman kept stabbing, over and over, until Steve fell to the floor and stopped moving. He lay in a pool of dark liquid. The girl continued to scream. Her cries of terror tormented Rory's very soul. He brought his hands to his ears and let out a silent scream of his own.

The man stood still by the window throughout the ordeal. Alice's knife glinted red. She then turned to her daughter, screaming on the floor. She advanced. The girl crawled on her hands until her back was touching the wall.

"Mum. Mum. Please." Her screams stopped long enough for her to let out a sob. She begged and pleaded with her mother. The girl's words seemed to have no effect on Alice. She kept walking towards the terrified girl, knife drawn.

It was at this point that Rory decided to get up. He could no longer sit still and observe. With the three dark figures continuing to watch, he charged towards the mother and rammed into her. Both fell to the floor. The woman struggled and swung her knife. She drew blood from his right arm. Rory bit his lip and tried to wrestle the weapon away from her grip. Alice thrashed violently but the young man was stronger. He knocked the knife from her hand and it clattered on the hardwood floor. The woman had lost her sanity. She clawed wildly at his face. Her sharp nails dug into his cheek. He had no choice. He reached for the knife. Just as his fingers closed around the handle, the woman was on top of him. She fought like an animal, throwing punches and clawing at him. She missed his eyes by millimetres. Rory twisted with all his might and managed to shake off her balance just enough to push her to the floor. The woman was relentless. I have no choice, he told himself. I have no choice. I have to save the girl and myself. I have no choice. He repeated it in his head like a mantra.

The woman had almost risen on her feet and was about to come at him again. Rory's grip tightened on the knife and he stabbed her belly. He felt his fingers turn slick. But the woman did not stop. She punched his nose hard and threw him to the ground. I have no choice.

As she clambered on top of him once more, he pierced the centre of her chest with the blade. He pushed to the back of his mind Nina's renewed screams of terror. He withdrew the knife and stabbed at her other vitals desperately, his life on the line. He was drenched in sweat. Blood coated his hands and shirt. At last, the woman collapsed on top of him. Her arms hung limp at her sides. Her chest stopped moving. Rory crawled out from under her and stood on shaking knees. He was still clutching the knife in his right grip. He felt a tremor go through that hand. He willed his arm to steady but it would not stop trembling. The knife hung loosely.

I had no choice. I had no choice. She made me do it. The man made me do it. The bloodstains on his shirt were beginning to dry. I had no choice. The girl was hugging her knees to her chest, her face buried. Her frame shook every once in a while. She had screamed her throat ragged.

"It's okay. You are safe. It's over now." The young man half-walked, half-crawled towards her. "It's okay. I won't let them hurt you."

Nina lifted her tear-stricken face at him. She released a hollow sob and flinched away. The young man stopped. He got up and turned to face the man by the window. His companions were still standing in the doorway, as if watching a play unfold before their eyes. Rory's grip tightened once more. He walked on firmer footing towards the stranger in the dark shirt.

"You. It was you who did that to the woman. You made her kill the girl's father. You...you made me kill her. You have no right to live!"

He proceeded to thrust the bloody knife in the man's neck. He was consumed by the thought of killing him. And that thought left his mind just as the tip was an inch away from the stranger's neck. Rory felt it slipping like sand through his fingers. It was as if it had never been there to begin with. His hand refused to move.

"Sink."

The man's face was still obscured by shadow. But Rory could have sworn the man hadn't spoken. Not with his vocal chords.

"You have no dominion over your thoughts. They were never yours to begin with. Sink into madness."

Memories fleeted through his mind. Camping with his parents. Visiting the arcade when he was ten with his best friend Tom. The tears when Tom moved away with his family. Flunking trigonometry for the first time. Meeting his high school sweetheart under the old willow tree. The memories fleeted through his mind and, one by one, disappeared. They all disappeared until there was nothing left but empty space.

"That's right. You are nearly there. Isn't it liberating to have no memories weighing you down? To have no thoughts? There is no need to worry anymore. Everything will be exactly as it should."

He tried to think of the dark room. Of the man and woman standing by the door. Of their sweet, scalding voices. Of the window with curtains drawn and the red beyond. Of the corpses on the floor. Of the girl sitting there all alone. But he could not think. He had forgotten how to spin thoughts into existence. How strange. I-I don't...

He could not finish that thought either. The man. He spoke once more into his mind. "Yes. Very well done. Thank you for returning to me what was mine. You can rest now. Sink into dreams."

The light left his eyes. They grew cold, and then, turned into voids without description. His mind was a lake with no ripples.

"Sink."

Rory continued staring at the man by the window. Then, slowly, he turned. The knife was still in his hands. He walked up to the girl who was staring at him wide-eyed with horror. She tried to melt into the wall against her back.

"Pl-Please. Please don't k-kill me...mum and dad...please..."

But no sound from the surface reached his ears. He was walking along the bottom of a lake. Then the lake gave way to the infinite vastness of space. Stars twinkled all around him. A celestial fish, golden and ephemeral, swam before his eyes. He thought his face had a stupid grin. Like the time he and Stacy had gone to that ice-cream parlour after school. She was so pretty. Her laugh had been as beautiful as that heavenly fish swimming through space. Why did he let her go? He wondered what she was doing right now. What Tom was doing right now. Could they see the same golden fish?

That man with no face. He had freed his mind from all thoughts. Why then was he seeing these visions? Wondering such things? Rory didn't know. He just felt happy. He knew he had to catch that fish. In his hand he held a gleaming fish net attached to a stick - the kind one uses to lift fish out of the water in an aquarium. He chased after the golden fish, happily swinging his stick. He thought he could hear a scream coming from a place far, far away. But that thought disappeared just as quickly as it had come. The fish somehow slipped through the net each time he swung. It was difficult to capture starlight.

But he knew he had to catch it. It was such a pretty thing. Full of joy. He kept chasing after it through the field of stars and swinging the gleaming net. Finally, the fish was caught. It did not slip through the net this time. He held it up close. Its shimmering radiance touched his heart. He wanted to gaze at it forever. And then the fish was gone, no light to be kept in a net.

The room turned quiet. The little girl had stopped screaming a while ago. Rory's blade was glistening red. He felt a tinge of sadness at losing the fish but that too evaporated quickly. He walked back to the man by the window. In the reddish glow, Rory's eyes shone wet. He realised he could finally see the man's face. The stranger was smiling. His teeth were so white. Rory found himself returning the smile.

And then, the young man stabbed himself in the neck with his knife. He fell on the hard floor. Everything was so very quiet. And peaceful. He had been having a nightmare but it was over now. No monsters could trouble him here.

Slow clapping resonated in the room. "Well done! You never disappoint, do you?"

Stefan walked up to the man near the window. The woman remained standing in the doorway, staring at the motionless body of the twenty-six year old. Outside the window, under a red sky with rainless clouds, stretched rocky hills and plains as far as the eye could see. There were no signs of life. But in a little fissure nearby- just a narrow crack in the rock- four small flowers bloomed. They had five grey petals with a tinge of blue at the base. There was no one to see how each glowed with its own pale light.

CHAPTER 4

Tori followed the man in the tuxedo through the dimly lit hall. Moonlight streamed in from the expansive windows, creating an ambience that felt to the young woman, for lack of a better word, surreal. She glanced at Maya. The gunslinger trailed a few steps behind. Her expression was grim. They had been walking for five minutes. In that time, she had learnt more about the strange new world she found herself in than she had about boys in the last half a decade. Although, to be honest, that wasn't really saying much.

"There is a chance all of us will wind up dead before morning."

Maya had swiftly walked up to him and punched his upper arm.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"You are scaring her. Doofus."

"Well, pardon me for trying to be honest!" He looked at the auburn-haired girl. "Don't worry. We should be fine. Maybe. Well, I don't know. But we are not exactly defenceless inside this manor."

He then climbed up the stairs and led them through a winding maze of rooms. "I predict the aberrations will attack us in roughly...one hour."

"Aberrations?" Tori had innocently asked.

"Yes." He exchanged a look with Maya.

"I thought it would be best if you explained to her."

"Oh. Well, okay. I will try to keep it brief. No point overloading us all with information in one go. You remember the creature that attacked you at school?"

"Pretty hard to forget."

"Right. Well, we call them 'aberrations'. Some of us call them monsters. Some, demons. One thing all of us seem to agree on is that they shouldn't exist."

"All of you?"

"The Guild of Mages. I never liked the name though. You see, strictly speaking, we are not Hogwarts alumni. What we do isn't magic. Magic, or sorcery, is just the closest word for it."

"What is it exactly that you do?"

"We fight to protect this world and its people from aberrations by...playing around with the rules a little bit. However, we don't always succeed." A sense of great distance enveloped his dark eyes. There was a curious expression on his face. Tori was not sure what to make of it.

"Protect them? Do these 'aberrations' murder people at random for a living?"

"They don't necessarily murder people." Maya chipped in. "Aberrations feed on our negativities. Pain, sorrow, anger, envy, terror, regret. They draw out these emotions from human beings and consume them. In fact, they are often directly or indirectly responsible for causing these in the first place."

"Yes." Their footsteps echoed in the cavernous, empty halls of the Night Palace. Casper turned. "They are creatures of chaos. But they can come to possess intelligence. They can choose to take a life, either because it suits their interests or out of whimsy."

"And they are after me because I am a threat?"

"Oh, you are so much more than that. You have a gift that has not been observed in our circles for quite some time."

The silvery-blue moonlight gave shape to things unknown. The shadows around them seemed to retreat and advance, like planets in orbit.

"Gifts? Abilities? I really don't understand. I'm a pretty normal, run-of-the-mill teenager. Are you saying I can conjure bullets out of thin air like her?"

Maya shot her a half smile. Tori thought she could catch a glimpse of the rainbow from within the dark folds of the woman's jacket. But it happened all too quickly. The chain, or was it just a trick of the light?

"Not exactly, I'm afraid." Casper continued. "Many of us in the guild have certain abilities. They come in various shapes and forms just like the foes we face. Those that don't, help out in other ways or make use of artefacts."

"Artefacts? Like Maya's gun? The one made of flamehewn steel or something?"

"Indeed. It is a specific tool that serves as a weapon. But she can tell you about it a lot better than I can."

 "It creates bullets made of fire, but not the kind of fire over which you toast marshmallows. They will knock out humans without piercing the flesh. They are lethal against aberrations like the one you faced earlier. It's pretty handy."

"Why 'flamehewn steel' though? Isn't fire somehow always involved in the production of steel?"

"I wasn't around during the naming process," Casper said. "Or our society would have been named something a lot cooler. Like Alchemists of Fire. Or Lords of Shadow. But as it currently stands, much of our terminology is quite archaic. You can call it FH steel, if you like. FH as in fractured hip. Fun!"

It was on that disconcerting note that the trio found itself before a great, time-worn door wrought from metal. Two Mesopotamian lions stood watch, carved out of stone in fine detail. Tori half-expected one of them to leap out at her with teeth flashing. Casper reached into his trouser pocket and pulled out a key. With a glance at the two ladies, he slid it into a lock near the handle and turned. There was a cascading sound of clicks and gears shifting. When it came to a halt, the man pushed open the set of double doors. Age and dusk greeted them on the other side.

Casper led the way in. He disappeared somewhere inside the darkness. Tori waited. A few heartbeats later, she heard a switch. An electric chandelier overhead flickered and buzzed to life. The room they were standing in was...vexing.

It was quite large. White sheets with intricate gold and brown patterns travelled the entire length of the four walls. A number of wooden benches and shelves stood scattered haphazardly throughout the room. Each was laden with books, maps, parchments and a bunch of curious trinkets. Tori could make out lamps, bracelets, pens, translucent bottles, miniature hammers, a couple of stuffed toys and...was that a human skull? A lone window stood on the western wall that seemed like it hadn't been opened in ages. A few ventilator shafts high above provided the only other source of airy exchange with the outside world. Everything lay covered in a thin film of dust.

"This place hasn't been vacuumed in forever."

"I know. It has seen better days."

Tori decided to take his word for it. She ventured to ask a question that had been gnawing at her the entire evening.

"I feel like it's time someone finally told me. This might be getting tiring but...what exactly is my ability?"

Maya looked at Casper. He returned her stare and then regarded Tori.

"You, Tori Jensen, are a summoner."

She could vaguely hear the tree leaves rustling in the wind outside. Her top felt cool against her skin. The brief silence that followed was all-encompassing. An image of an astronaut drifting past a black hole's event horizon flashed across her mind for some reason.

"A summoner. As in...one who summons. Stuff. Summons stuff. You expect me to summon something?"

"Not something, Tori. Someone."

"Like, dragons? You are telling me I can summon dragons?!"

Casper had the same slow, steady smile on his face from earlier. "You are going to summon a person. One with whose help we could correct grave wrongs. The two of you will make a formidable team."

"My memory stores are drawing a blank. I don't know any such person."

"You would be surprised. In fact, you are already acquainted with him. Maya tells me you have been hearing a voice inside your head."

She turned to face Maya. The woman simply shrugged.

"Well, it wasn't a very, um, masculine voice. Or feminine. It, well, it didn't have any such qualities. I wasn't sure what to make of it. Anyway, I haven't heard it for a while. It's –"

"I am sure of it." Casper stepped towards Tori. "I knew it when we first met. When you opened the book and saw that ghastly vision in the red sky. I am not wrong about these things. You are a summoner and you have the strength to bring him to our world."

"Bring whom to our world?!"

"You already know it. Heed the voice."

"But-"

The man rushed to a nearby shelf and began searching the stacks for something. Books fell on the dusty carpet in spades.

Tori shot an incredulous look at Maya. But the older woman wasn't looking at her either. For some reason, she suddenly found the window very interesting. Tori was on the verge of making a run for the door when Maya suddenly called out.

"They are here."

What?

She dashed towards the window to get a look. The pale orb in the sky and those ancient lamps outside revealed a dozen or more shapes approaching the house. Despite being so far up, Tori could tell they weren't human. Mortal necks were not made to be bent in such ways. Nor limbs and torsos twisted until they put a new spin on the word 'grotesque.' They resembled zombies. An army of the undead.

"Casper? They are here! You said we had an hour and it's been fifteen minutes at best!"

"I said roughly."

Maya's glare had more fire than her bullets.

"Fine! I miscalculated!"

The woman made a noise of deep discontent. "I'll try to hold off as many as I can. Get to work, you two. Fast!"

Before Tori could get a word in, the woman was off. She ran out through the door, shadows trembling in her wake.

"Alright, we have not much time to lose. Take this," The man in the tuxedo held out an amulet to her. It was a hollow hexagon on a chain. It appeared to have been fashioned out of gold. At the centre of the hexagonal frame, a green jewel caught the light. It seemed to absorb illumination instead of reflecting it. Looking into the crystal was like peering below water. Tori thought she saw something shimmer and move inside its viridian depths.

"What is this now?"

"One of the artefacts I told you about. Keep it on your person. It will...amplify your summoning skills. Well, that's what the old texts say at least."

"You are not helping."

"It has been a long time since we last had a summoner! Don't worry. It will work. Just reach inside your head and try to remember the voice that spoke to you. Will it to appear in the flesh."

"I don't know how! This is...this is beyond unreasonable! Surely you must see that, right?"

A tremendous thud reverberated in the distance. Tori felt a slight tremor beneath her legs.

"Uh...it looks like I better get going too. I'll buy you time. You have got this. If you don't, the three of us will most likely die against these many aberrations. But no pressure!"

He ran towards the other door. Just before he was through, he paused and turned to look at the girl with the necklace limp in her hands.

"Oh, in case this helps- he is rumoured to have had blue eyes. Ok then, see you when I see you!"

And he was off through the patterned door. It clicked shut behind him. Tori stood there motionless. Her brain attempted to process what had just happened. Sounds of gunshot and breaking glass from somewhere beyond reached her ears. It was not a dream. She looked at the golden chain with the eerie hexagon and the eerier jewel. It indeed seemed to be absorbing the fluorescent light inside the room. The chandelier flickered and dimmed every so often. She sighed.

"I guess I'm not getting out of this one..."

"...I definitely am not getting out of this one!"

Maya's racing footsteps resonated through the hall. She had seen no fewer than a dozen of those abominations from the window. It would take some work. Fortunately, she knew the ins and outs of the manor. She had been there only a million times. Before long, she located the entrance to the front balcony. Sliding open the glass doors brought in a gust of chilly night air. The moon remained suspended on the midnight-blue fabric above. Indifferent to humans and their affairs.

Now standing just behind the railing, the woman could see several shapes advancing towards the main door below. She did a quick count. There were more than she had initially thought. She grimaced. Then she pulled out the bronze gun. Nights were cold in and around the town of Oldhaven, but the metal remained unaffected. It felt warm against her skin. She welcomed the warmth and took aim.

One shot. A figure under a tree stumbled back. A second shot. It collapsed. Smouldering ashes and smoke rose from the ground where it had been standing moments ago. Two creatures next to it screeched, their bloodshot eyes rapidly darting back and forth to locate the shooter.

Maya's gun worked differently. She didn't need to reload bullets or mess around with the safety. She willed the gun to ready and pulled the trigger. Two shots in rapid succession destroyed another aberration. She was about to finish off the third when she felt something coming at her from her blindside. Reflexes honed over the years had conditioned her body. She dodged in the nick of time. A bat-like creature, perhaps four feet tall, landed on the balcony in front of her, its mouth frothing. Two red eyes dripped with malice. Another one rushed at her and took a swipe with its claws.

"You guys come with wings now?"

She decided to lead them inside. She turned back and dashed past the glass doors. The two aberrations gave chase, bursting through the door and tumbling over one other. Their bulky bodies hindered coordination. One clawed at its partner and pushed it away before turning on Maya. But the gunslinger had put enough distance between them. She fired at its leathery wing. The creature released an unearthly shriek that threatened to rip apart her eardrums. It took to the air in a lopsided flight with its other wing and charged straight at her. A prismatic chain shot out and wrapped around its ankle. Maya pulled with all her might.

The bat lost its bearing and came crashing to the floor. Maya pulled again and the creature hurtled towards her out of control. It opened its jaws wide, dripping rivulets of acid. The gunslinger levelled the glinting pistol with her other hand. She shot straight into its mouth. The bullets pierced through the back of its head. Its body rapidly disintegrated into ash. But the chain had given it enough forward momentum for a pile of smoked dust to come colliding with Maya. She coughed and shook it off her jacket.

"Urgh. Disgusting."

The other one of its kind was eyeing her cautiously. It prowled near the shattered doors, unsure of whether to attack or flee. Seeing Maya raise her gun, it proceeded to fly through the door. But she was quicker. Three impossibly rapid shots whispered out the light from its eyes. Quiet blanketed the hall once more. Maya allowed herself a sigh of reprieve. Her work was far from finished. Casper and Tori needed her.

She raced out into the balcony again. The horde was nearly at the door now. A few had begun climbing up the walls. She looked at the shimmering chain in her hand. It was about three metres in length, and surprisingly light. Before her very eyes it began to lengthen. Some invisible force held it taut as it stretched to what had to be no shorter than twelve metres. She swung the chain outwards. Its other end embedded itself into the brick wall like a grappling hook well above the mahogany entrance. Gripping the ethereal stretch tightly, she ran towards the railing and leapt over it. She could see their numbers below. She travelled in the arc of a clock's pendulum and bared her gun with her free hand. Nebulous orange lights whistled through the night air.

_____________________________________

"Dammit, I can't do this! It's textbook insane!"

Tori had been standing there for a while. The amulet glistened around her neck. She had tried closing her eyes and concentrating. Tried reaching out to that strange voice inside her head. But there was only silence. That, and her thoughts running at a hundred and fifty miles an hour. She had not, until that morning, any inkling of her supposed identity as a 'summoner'. Hell, she wasn't even sure if that was a real word. What had that man been expecting?

She held the hexagon with the emerald in her palm. She found the jewel fascinating. There was something off about it. Could it be...could it be like that jar with the lights by the stair? She didn't feel like taking any more out-of-body trips for the night. It will amplify your summoning skills. That was what he had said. She kept staring at the jewel and trying to remember a way, a connection with that voice. With that...person. But it wasn't working. She sighed. She had been doing that an awful lot lately. Tori felt much older than her seventeen years of life on this earth.

Will it. Will it to appear in the flesh.

She looked away. The window was as good a sight as any. She thought she heard a faint humming. No, wait. She felt pretty sure there was a humming sound. But now that she strained her ears, she realised it was something else. It was- it was the beating of wings. And just like that, the colours around her shifted and dissolved and she found herself in a meadow. A castle stood on a hill in the distance. In the early morning light, it was a vision out of a grandiose Disney movie. Pale sandstone walls and majestic spires filled her vision. There was that sound of beating wings. Of hundreds of birds taking flight. She could hear bubbling brooks and wind through leaves. Spring was on the air. And...she felt someone else's thoughts. There was a yearning born of nostalgia. Of homesickness. And behind that yearning, there was sadness.

It was like talking with someone through the world's deepest, thickest veil. Ordinary words failed to travel the distance. Not that she would have known what to say. She couldn't frame together what it was that she needed to tell that person on the other side. She thought of all the events that had transpired since morning. Of their current situation and the danger in which they found themselves. Stuck in a big, cold, empty house and terrorized by unending nightmares. They needed help. She prayed her thoughts would reach him.

There was that unassuming window. She could see it again. The four walls of the room suddenly felt a tad claustrophobic.

"Hey, was that you? Can you hear me?"

Nothing but the sounds of fighting far off.

"Hey! A very well-dressed man, possibly with more than a few screws loose, said I had to- to summon you! If I don't, we will probably get mangled and die horrible deaths. I am told. I think. So if you are frolicking in that field somewhere, chasing butterflies or whatever, please get here ASAP!"

There were no electric lights where he stood. A few oil lamps and moonlight from high above illuminated the spacious chamber. It was in the shape of a circle. Casper stood with his hand on a wooden staff. His eyes were unblinking and focussed straight ahead at the door. He glanced at the timepiece on his wrist. Should be any minute now.

He didn't have to wait long. Thunderous steps resounded beyond the entrance and a monster burst into the room. It had slimy, mottled flesh in the shape of a twisting column. A singular eye gazed at him. Soon, more entered the circular chamber. An aberration with pincers. One with the head of an ox. Another with a torso made of chipped wood like that of a tree. Leaves spurted where hair should have been.

None of them appear to have gained sentience yet. Well then...

The creatures advanced towards the man. But Casper remained standing, still as houses. And then a great white fog shrouded the room. It came out of nowhere and suddenly, it was everywhere. The creatures disappeared from his view. A sea of white obscured all. Casper nodded. Two stone lions rushed into the fog from behind him. He could hear sounds of furniture breaking and flesh being torn apart. Inhuman shrieks were met with deep, gravelly roars. The mottled aberration ventured out of the fog and ran towards Casper. He lifted his left arm. The creature staggered back as if punched in the gut. Then with his gloved right hand, he swung the staff at its head. There was a dull, wet echo. He pulled back the staff and thrust its blunt tip at the aberration's chest. It landed on its back a few steps away. A set of stone grey jaws emerged from the fog behind it and bit into its neck. They dragged the aberration back inside the dense white fold.

Soon the noises ceased. Casper figured the fight was over in his neck of the woods. He made to turn and walk to the rear of the room. Then he heard stone cracking. There was a pained whimper. His eyes shot toward the fog. Something leapt through. He swung his staff but it was quick – much too quick. It slammed into him and he crashed hard into a sofa, toppling it. There was a searing pain in his skull. He looked around for his staff and struggled to get up. A weight on his midsection knocked him back down. He saw it.

If darker inspirations had gripped an artist and caused him to draw a werewolf – an actual werewolf that haunts the nightmares of children – it would look similar to the beast that now sat astride Casper. A gaping snout revealed rows of razor-sharp teeth that could slice through his skin in a heartbeat. Its eyes were the shade of a diseased moon. And they contained nothing but animalistic fury.

Ah. Shit.

It let loose a blood-curdling snarl and went straight for his jugular.

"It's useless."

There had been no answer. No signs. No more strange visions. Even the gemstone seemed to have lost its mystique. They would just have to manage with what they had. And there was little Tori felt she could do to help. She surmised her best option would be to find Maya and stick with her. She prepared to make a dash for the front door of the dusty room when something chilled her spine. She saw shadows through the doorway. She was frozen. She begged her legs to move but they wouldn't listen. She felt the first pair of eyes on her.

Grotesque. Twisted. Inhuman. Bent so far out of shape that it would be taxing on one's faculties to begin to describe what it was supposed to resemble. All Tori saw was the colour of a charred corpse. Another monster, no less repulsive to a sane psyche, followed it inside the room. She was trapped. She could try escaping through the backdoor but could she reach it in time? She couldn't fight them. She couldn't outrun them. She couldn't pretend her new reality didn't exist.

But I can make the first move. They had not yet attacked her. She held on to a nearby bookshelf and pushed with every ounce of strength she possessed in her body. She felt it. A pulse coursing through her fingertips. The shelf toppled, setting in motion the one after it. And that, in turn, the next one until an avalanche of wood and tomes and obscure literature came cascading towards the duo. They got out of the way just in time. An acoustic behemoth trampled the room. Clouds of dust rose from the carpet.

The monsters seemed to regard her in a new light. The first one thrust out its hand. Tori instinctively ducked. A stream of something – was that plasma? – shot out from its palm and melted a hole into the wall. The monster realigned its aim. Tori took to her heels. Her movements were faster than normal, just like they had been that morning. The blasts missed her moving frame. She tossed a pile of books from a benchtop into the air and ducked out of view behind an upturned table. It seemed to have confused them. They branched out and began upturning benches and shelves. One of them kept shooting those terrible blasts of plasma every so often. Slowly, very carefully, Tori began to move. She inched along the wall, from behind one cover to the next, trying to circle past them towards the front door. But it was taking too long. They were getting closer and closer. She could feel the heat from each sizzling stream. She paused.

She didn't want to hide anymore. To run from them anymore. From the creatures responsible for upending her life.

Will it.

She did not want to...to feel so powerless anymore. There had been conviction strong as steel in Casper's eyes when he had called her a summoner. He had believed her to be a mage. Like Maya and he were.

Will it.

She imagined running towards the door as fast as she could. She imagined taking all that kinetic energy and storing it in her palms. And then summoning it.

She got up from behind a bench. One of the creatures was standing just in front of the window. It immediately turned. She thrust out her hand in a motion similar to what the charred monster had done earlier. Something unseen by her eyes travelled from her hands through the air towards the monster and hit it square in the chest. It happened in a fraction of a second. The creature was lifted straight off its feet and sent crashing through the glass into the night. She gazed at her palm. Was that...was that her?! She had done it! Was that all that there was to being a mage? Concocting a plan and then willing reality to go along with your schemes? She felt a sense of mild euphoria, of wonderment. It did not last long. She had momentarily forgotten about the other intruder.

Movement from the corner of Tori's eye alerted her. The blast had surprised the second demon causing it to retreat a few steps. Seeing no further attacks incoming, it fixed its sight on the seventeen-year-old. Before it could make a move, Tori shot out her palm once more and willed a kinetic impact. The fiend dug into the carpet with its hooves as if to prevent getting swept up by a fierce gale. It shifted some distance backwards but the force was not as strong as the first time. Tori tried again but the monster was not affected. Her attempts seemed to have only riled it up. It pointed an outstretched hand in her direction. A swirling crimson vortex gathered around its claws. The girl could feel the heat even from where she stood. The bench would not be able to shield her. The nearest cover was at least five metres away. She would not be able to make it in time.

And just when she had begun to get a grasp on this slippery new slope. It was not fair. She had not been dealt a fair hand. In her brief life, she had only ever wanted to be normal. To be invisible. And she had been doing alright. But the threads had unravelled, and now she was staring at a torrent of napalm that would erase her existence from this miserable world. Right there in that cramped, unfamiliar room. There was no point anymore. She decided she would face what was coming with her eyes wide open.

It was for this reason that she managed to spot a small, black ball of something jump at the monster's face. It caught the aberration off guard. Its aim faltered and missed Tori. A column of crimson passed at an arm's length from her face, destroying the rear section of the room. The young woman wasted no time. She ran and dived behind the nearest upturned bench. She tried to think of what her next move should be when something sneaked round the corner and sat beside her. She found herself looking at dimly familiar slits, each in a pool of green. It was a cat. It was that accursed cat!

"You! What are you doing here?!"

It seemed oddly calm for someone who was just as much in danger of getting cooked alive as her.

"Thou look well. I am pleased to see thee yet undead."

It began to lick its paws. Bits of ooze coated its fur. Tori could hear the monster stumbling about and howling in rage.

"Well, we are about to die right now! I tried but I-I couldn't do it. I couldn't summon him. The guy with the blue eyes."

"Thou hast done enough. Now 'tis beyond us."

A bookshelf was blasted to smithereens.

"Oh my god, we are going to die!"

The bench behind which she had hidden seconds ago was flung towards the wall. It shattered and wood flew everywhere.

"Nay. I foresee we shall not meet with our ends in this miserable, mouseless room."

Tori gripped the amulet still hanging around her neck. The golden frame felt cool against her fingers. She took a deep breath. "Alright then. Can I count on you to distract that guy for a second?"

The tabby simply stared at her. Tori waited for a string of thou's. Without warning, the tabby shot out from behind the bench. Sensing movement, the monster fired. A jet of flame arced through the room. But as any cat owner will tell you- they are elusive creatures. Nothing hit the feline. Tori leapt over the bench. The monster's head twisted. She had pictured what she wanted. She closed her eyes. Please let this work. 

There was a shifting of the air. Sparks cackled into existence. A luminous projection began to materialise. Tori concentrated with all her might. Come on. Let this work!

The cackling grew louder and the light turned intense. The photons aligned themselves in the shape of a spear suspended in mid air. It seemed to be in dissonance with reality. Everything in its immediate vicinity appeared distorted and hazy, as though it were encased in a cylinder of frosted glass. The demon seemed stunned. It rapidly took aim at Tori and conjured a blinding wave of crimson. The young woman, however, was ready. She willed the spear to fly towards the monster. As if responding to her wish, the luminous spear cut through the air straight at the monster's heart. It flew true. The tide of burning crimson dissipated. The creature staggered backwards. A blanket of golden light enveloped the charred monster and then evaporated, like fireflies into space. Now, nothing remained except Tori, the cat and the remains of a battle-ravaged room.

"Why, thou! That was delightful! 'tis not everyday one sees such fanciful creations! There resides power in thee."

Tori felt drained. Weak. She had to grip a table for support. Her mind seemed to be running a little low on fuel.

"What...?"

"With which part of my proclamation doest thou stand in expostulation, miss?"

"It worked. It...it really worked!"

"So it would seem. Thy luminous agency hath vanquished our most foul and odorous foe."

"Can you go one second without ruining things?"

The cat looked as though it were about to respond when suddenly, there was a deafening crash. The door at the rear end flung open violently. Two figures stumbled into the room. Casper was leaning on Maya, his face bloodied. His tuxedo and vest-coat were shredded out of commission.

"Oh my gosh, Casper! Are you- are you guys okay?"

"Fine." Maya responded. "Casper's a little worse for wear though."

The man groaned. "Urgh. That wolf did bad things to me. Thank goodness Maya arrived when she did."

Tori rushed towards them to support Casper's weight.

"There's bad news." Maya continued. "I couldn't take out all of them. Several were giving chase."

As if on cue, half a dozen shapes burst into the chamber through the remnants of the wall adjoining the door. A shadow entered through the entrance behind Tori and then another followed. They quickly surrounded the group.

Maya's face was grim. "I take it the summoning didn't go well?"

Tori didn't know what to say. She felt utterly drained of energy. From the frying pan into the fire. Just why couldn't she – why couldn't they- catch a break? The look on her face must have spoken volumes. Maya gave her a half-smile.

"It's alright, Tori. You did great. Don't worry. There's worse ways to go-"

She rose from the ground with her gun raised.

-than to go down fighting."

Tori stayed on the ground, desperately trying to will into existence something like that luminous spear. Were there any vestiges of that left from where it had come? Casper stirred in Tori's arms and struggled to get up. "Wait Maya, don't-"

The tabby hissed and its fur prickled. Maya levelled her gun at the nearest aberration. The ranks closed in.

And then there were arcs of blue energy. Dual streams that multiplied, and multiplied until they were everywhere. A swirling crescendo of living, thrumming energy. They radiated outwards from around the four and struck the aberrations. Sizzling flesh assaulted Tori's eardrums and the azure blaze grew so bright she had to momentarily shut her eyes. When she opened them next, the nightmare was gone. There were no more demons of the dark. A faint trace of ozone hung in the air. Tori blinked and peered hard at the doorway through which she had first entered the room a lifetime ago. And staring back at her were eyes of stormy blue.

CHAPTER 5

The soft roaring from the fireplace was the only sound in the room. A long dining table stretched in the centre and huddled somewhere near the middle were Casper and Maya on one side. Tori sat directly opposite to them. She divided the seconds between staring at her half-empty plate and the duo. Nobody had spoken for the last ten minutes.

"How's the chicken, Tori?" Casper bravely ventured.

"Good...good."

She parted her lips as if to add more, but stopped. Another awkward silence followed.

"And how's your chair?"

Tori stared at him. "Good... it's...goo-"

"Good. Good, I'm glad."

A log of wood sunk into the flames. The fire cackled.

"And Maya, how's your bottled water?"

The gunslinger shot him a look. He stopped trying after that. The seconds seemed to go on forever. The orange flames cackled and roared. Finally, a set of footsteps sounded through the halls.

A figure walked in and stood beside Tori. The young woman hesitated. She felt eyes boring into her. She turned to regard the newcomer.

It was a boy. A boy of about her age. Yet there was a quality of...of agelessness about him. Tori couldn't quite place her finger on it. He was wearing a slightly oversized grey shirt. Dark brown hair fell halfway down his neck. His skin was pale, almost unnaturally so. The most striking feature of all were those eyes. Blue like lightning storms. Tori grudgingly admitted in the safe havens of her mind that the boy could almost be considered handsome.

"You are back. Did Casper's shirt fit you? Are you comfortable?"

He looked at Maya. A nod.

"Good. Good." Casper affirmed.

"Could you please stop saying 'good'?"

"Nice. Umm. So...are you comfortable? Wait. Maya already asked that, didn't she?"

Another nod.

Tori sighed. He had spoken few words since the azure works in the chamber. She had 'summoned' him and he had chosen to heed her call. Casper verbally confirmed as much before she could think of denying. He had then gone on to explain at great length the kind of dynamic they were supposed to share. Right in front of stormy and blue.

"He's kind of like a...a familiar but at the same time, not."

The boy had just stared at the two of them. It was the look of one who was just beginning to realise that he was in a strange, strange new world. One full of terrifying monsters and conversant men in tattered tuxedos. She understood his look. She imagined it was not much different from how she had looked at Maya in the car.

"He has magical powers the likes of which have been lost to history's dusty pages. Actual magical powers."

A leftover spark of blue had whizzed and sputtered through the room.

"There's quite a bit of backstory to him that you should know. But I'm afraid it will be a little heavy after the ordeal we just endured. Basically, he'll look after you until you fully realise your powers."

"Look after me?"

"I mean, he'll see to it that you are safe from harm. The two of you are bound by an unwritten contract. As the summoner, you continually provide him- on a subconscious level- with enough energy to exist in our world, and he in turn ensures your safety as you continue to discover your powers. So basically, he'll keep you from getting killed. Or mangled. Or having your-"

Maya nudged him hard enough to elicit a wince. Tori wasn't sure how she felt about having a magical bodyguard.

"I am not so sure. It has been a crazy ride so far. What are we supposed to do? Why is any of this happening?"

For the first time that night, Tori thought she saw genuine sympathy in Casper's eyes.

" I am sorry. Your gifts- because that's what they are- have made you a target. Our world is currently in a precarious situation. Hanging on the edge of a figurative knife, some would say. We do not choose to be given these powers, but we have a responsibility to use them for good. That's what it means to stand against those who would feed on humanity's weakness, twisting our thoughts and aspirations into malice and fear. Destroying harmless, unsuspecting lives for sport." His voice grew impassioned. "But when one weight tries to tip the scales, the other has to return them to equilibrium. We have to keep the world turning. We have a right to live and if damnation inevitably awaits us, it will be of our own making. We will not die at the hands of these creatures who do not know the sun's warmth, or a cool summer's shade, or the feeling of wonder when you look up at the sky on a clear, smokeless night, or what it means to be human. To be kind." His voice began to lower and he seemed to return to his usual self.

"Do not worry, Tori. You are not alone. You have us."

A slow smile appeared on his face like a pale moon through a forest canopy. Tori looked at him, unsure how to respond. There was a foreign weight on her heart. But it was not uncomfortable. Inexplicably, she felt glad it was there and the idea of losing that burden, that weight, scared her.

"And you have him. He was the one you heard in your head. He has been trying to help you for a while now. Your connection runs deeper than you might imagine."

"Connection? How does he know me? What's in it for him?"

"Hmm. You enable him to be present in our world. At this point in space and time. That's essentially what summoning is- willing something or someone to materialise. However, sometimes, it is a two-way street. I am fairly confident that he is here because he chose to answer your call. Of his own free will, that is."

"His own free will...?"

At that point, Tori had turned to look at the boy. But he was gone.

"Hey. Uh-are you here? Where did you go?"

Maya beckoned to Casper. Tori slipped outside the chamber through the doorway. Her footsteps quietly echoed through the hall. She was about to call to him again- though she had no idea what she would say if she did find him- when her eyes perched on a figure standing on the balcony, past the shattered glass.

"Hey. Are you...alright?"

There was no response. His back was turned to her. With slight trepidation, Tori navigated her way around the glass shards and stood beside him. The darkest part of the night had passed. With the hills in the distance and the deserted grounds of the manor, she felt as though she were on some distant alien world. Just the two of them cast out of earth to try and survive somewhere far, far away. She felt her cheeks slightly warming.

"Uh, look. I wanted to thank you for, you know, saving us back there. No hard feelings that you were late. You- you understand what I'm saying, right?"

Finally, he turned to face her. There was understanding in those eyes. But he still didn't say anything.

"Is something wrong?"

"Cold."

"I'm sorry?"

He brought his arms close to his sides. Was that a shiver?

"It's cold."

Tori would later think to herself that if the guy was pure magic as Casper seemed to believe, he could have just created a blanket or space heater out of thin air. But in that moment, almost instinctively, she slipped off her jacket and wrapped it around him.

The boy seemed surprised. There was a look in his eyes that Tori didn't quite know how to place. It persisted for several seconds. The girl blinked. He held on to the jacket.

Great. Now I'm cold. Way to go, Tori.

"We should probably head inside. It's warmer there. It would suck if we died of cold after all that."

He nodded.

That had been a while ago. Maya and Casper had put together an impromptu, very-late-night dinner in a spacious hall on the ground floor. Seeing the boy's loose white clothes- trousers and a tunic of some sort- under Tori's jacket, Maya had suggested that he go upstairs and borrow some of Casper's clothes. And now they were seated around the table with the boy hovering close to Tori and the flames cackling in the fireplace. No one was saying anything. It was beyond awkward.

"You can speak, you know", Tori said to the boy.

He shrugged. "I have nothing to offer."

"...Right."

It sounded as if he had not used his vocal cords in a while. It was a soft wind instrument from which the dust and debris were slowly being shaken off.

Tori felt a vibration in the pocket of her jeans. She pulled out her phone. It was a call from her uncle.

"Crap. I completely forgot. Excuse me, I have to take this."

She walked off to a corner of the dining hall.

"Tori? Where are you? I have been worried sick."

"Hey, uncle. I know. I-I'm sorry. I should have called earlier but- well, a lot of things happened at once."

"Where are you now?"

"I'm with...friends. I kind of got dragged into something."

"What? Are you alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine. I didn't mean to worry you."

"Look, Tori. You know I'm cool with you- with you living your life the way you want. It's your teenage years and you deserve freedom. But there are bad things in this world. A call once in a while won't hurt, to let me know if you're okay or staying out late. You know I'm here for you, right?"

"Yeah. Of course."

"Are you coming home?"

She looked at the three of them. The boy had pulled a chair and was sitting beside hers. Maya seemed to be asking him something. Casper's searching eyes were on Tori.

"Actually, I'm having a sleepover. Of sorts. I think I'll directly leave for school tomorrow morning. I will meet you later in the day."

"Alright. That's fine. And Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Be safe."

Her uncle told her that often. She was about to reply in the affirmative without really thinking about it as always. Then all that had happened dawned on her. Her new reality was just beginning to sink its jaws into her subconscious. She had nearly been killed twice in one day. Was there such a thing as 'safe' anymore?

"I will."

Her voice was firm. She had to believe things would work out. She had to remain alive. For her sake, and her uncle's. There had to be a plan.

"Yeah, no, we don't really have a plan."

Tori stared at Casper. The blue-eyed boy was nibbling away at a slice of pizza. Nobody blinked.

"I mean, there's a lot we don't know yet. Aberrations are fairly common but it has been a while since we received reports of them turning up in such large numbers in one go. We saw first-hand how many of them there were. It's possible someone is...coordinating them."

"Coordinating them? For what?"

"The guild is still working to find out but we can be certain it's not for philanthropy."

Maya had been quiet. She fixed her gaze on the dark-haired man. "But surely you must have the beginnings of a plan."

A tremor of a smile found its way on Casper's face. There was a glint in his eye.

"I might, Maya. The two of us are going to investigate."

He turned towards Tori. "Meanwhile, you and Alfenstone should head back to school."

"What?"

"Well, you know what I always say. Schoolwork can take a backseat to saving the world. But in this case, the two are a little related. You are-"

"Alfenstone?!"

"Oh right. I didn't tell you. That's his name."

"It is actually not."

The three of them turned. The boy had actually spoken. He was still holding a slice of pizza. They waited. As if just realising that they were expecting more, the boy added, "It is what some used to call me. It is not my given name."

"What is your name?"

He drew in a small breath to reply but paused. He tried again but he still seemed to be searching for words.

"I am sorry. I seem to be unable to remember."

"You don't remember your name?" Tori asked softly.

"It's...people have been calling me by different names for a long time. Each name meant something different from the other. It reflected their expectations of me or their thoughts of who I am. It did not seem important to hold on to my birth name and now, I cannot remember. I am not sure if that makes sense."

Tori looked at the boy, a thread of cheese hanging between his lips. She knew practically nothing about him or who he was supposed to be. Yet...

"How about Al?"

Casper gave her a funny look. She ignored him. The boy's eyes fixated on her face. Once again, there was that strange look in them. The one that had been in those stormy blue orbs on the balcony.

"Al...", he said, as though trying out the new name. "Yes. I like it. Thank you."

The seventeen-year-old couldn't help smiling. The air inside was warm, peaceful.

"Right, then." Casper's baritone felt unnecessarily chirpy. "Tori, and Al. Off you go to school. Maya and I will tell you more information as soon as we have it."

"Well, that is what I was planning on doing but- will it be safe? For me and the other students?"

"Probably not."

Tori held back a sigh. Maya looked at her kindly. "You remember that aberrations feed on our negative emotions, yes?"

The young woman nodded.

"What's one place where a lot of those build up?"

"...school."

"Schools, colleges, hospitals. The office, the cemetery. These tend to be hotspots for aberrations. It's likely more will show up at your high school sooner rather than later. If we are looking for answers, that's the best place to be at."

"I see."

A shadow moved in her periphery. Tori turned to see a cat had walked into the room. She groaned.

" 'tis good to see thee as well, maiden of the Jensens."

"It's Tori!"

"Will! There you are," Casper called out to the feline.

"His name is Will?!"

"It's actually Meowilliam Felinus Mewford. Will is easier on the ears."

"Who on earth named him that?!"

"He chose it himself."

"Of course he did."

" 'tis merry banter is well with me but I fear there is more to this unfolding of affairs. For what reason hast thou presently asked me here, to this gloomy habitation?"

"Will, we are going to head out to try and gather some answers. We are counting on you to hold down the fort."

The tabby's whiskers twitched. It looked at Casper and slowly blinked. Then it trotted off somewhere outside the room. Casper addressed Tori. "There's more to him than meets the eye. He's a very capable cat."

"I am sure."

Their food had gone cold. The logs burnt and sizzled under the mantel. Casper suggested he could re-heat the edibles but no one felt inclined to eat more. It was nearing morning.

"You sure you're not coming with us?" Tori asked the duo near the front entrance.

The boy- Al- was still wearing Tori's jacket. He had stepped outside and was shivering slightly in the cold early morning. It was perhaps a few minutes to five. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon. Strange colours hung in the sky. The lamps were still switched on, orange spirits in a sea of fog. The boy seemed to be taking in his surroundings with some interest. Like one who had seen such things before but never paused to truly look at them.

"I am afraid not. I never was much good at school. Besides, we will cover more ground if we split up. There are certain things Maya and I need to take care of on our end."

The gunslinger went to fetch Tori a fur coat. She was grateful for its warmth. The older woman smiled at her. "You stay safe, you hear? Keep a low profile and wait for us to contact you. Don't get into a fight unless you absolutely have to. And remember- the mage may be there to protect you but you have a responsibility to look out for him as well. If you two work together, you will be surprised at the things you achieve."

Tori nodded and forced herself to put on a brave smile. The road ahead was uncertain but her heart didn't have to be.

"We will see you sooner than you might think."

They said their goodbyes. The 'summoner' walked up to the boy- still taking in the sights and sounds of the night palace at dawn- and gently touched his arm. He turned. She indicated the winding road which lay before them. Her Prius was parked out front.

From a window on the first floor, Casper watched the two of them disappear into the fog. His right hand rested on an ivory cane. A black bird flew in and perched on the ledge. The man turned to regard it. There was intelligence in the bird's eyes.

"Keep a watch on them, will you?"

The bird flapped its wings once and took to the skies. Frigid gales buffeted it but the little black bird continued its flight. It dived into the fog and navigated its way around the wisps and clouds. Before long, it was able to make out a sleek silver car driving down the deserted road. Tori was at the wheel. It would take them some time yet to reach the town proper and then make their way towards Oldhaven high. But for once, she wouldn't be late to class.

It had been a sleepless night. The adrenaline had kept her awake but it had long since receded. She fought to stifle a yawn. Coffee was long overdue. She glanced at her companion. The boy's eyes were fixed on the road ahead. Streaks of sunlight filtered through the fog and dew. The faint humming of the motor and the sound of rubber on road drifted through the cabin.

She had been wrong before. The boy- Al- did not have eyes like lightning storms. Now that she got a better look at him, she realised they were blue like the sea. There was calm in them.

A contract. One whose terms she really didn't know. All she knew was that she somehow kept him tethered to this plane of existence and he was supposed to keep her from getting sliced, diced and victimised. There was also nothing about him which she knew. Her mind should have been burning with questions.

Yet, a voice inside her head- her own this time- told her that there would be time. After what they had survived through, a brief spell of silence was much welcome. She thought back to one last question she had asked Casper before leaving the manor. Maya had run upstairs to fetch her a coat and Al had been wandering outside.

"Casper, there is something I have to ask you and I want a clear answer, if such a thing exists."

His features turned concerned. "Yes?"

"Monsters, or aberrations, or whatever you call them- they feed on our negativities."

"Yes."

"Often they are responsible for causing those painful emotions in the first place."

"Also correct."

"Why is it that they exist? What makes a monster?"

Casper seemed to mull over her question. He looked past her, at the pale light and fog outside. Tori wondered if he was searching for something there. But a sense of distance clouded his irises. He was looking at something else entirely.

"The prevailing theory", he began slowly, "is that they are born from unfulfilled wishes."

Wishes? A mere thought- the idea of its coming to fruition or not- had the power to generate such creatures? Could something as trivial as unfulfilled wishes create such monsters, powerful physical beings, that apparently stopped at nothing to kill her?

"It may sound silly. But you have to realise something."

His eyes focussed on Tori. There was an intensity to them. An invisible fire. "Most people take their dreams to the grave. Live to see yours through."

The Prius sped down the road. The houses and shops increased in number. A signpost by the road read in bright red, "Welcome to Oldhaven." Just below, in faded ink, someone had scribbled, "We hope you never leave."

The sign could not be missed. That was Oldhaven. Its own unique brand of welcoming and creepy. Golden rays skidded and glistened against the glass. Tori turned on the stereo. Doc Aquatic's Arrived began to play. Al looked at the stereo curiously and then at her. She returned his stare and a small smile began to form on her lips. The guitars increased in volume and the two of them sped down the wide empty road.

No broken dreams this morning.