━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

CHAPTER 19

━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

My head was spinning, and I rubbed my arms because, even though I was wearing a warm hoodie, I felt a cold that sent shivers down my spine.

"What reason led him to omit a detail like this?" I insisted. Thomas' silence was pressing. With one hand still stretched toward me, he seemed torn between indecision. But suddenly, he clenched it into a fist and slowly walked to one side.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about that part," he said, frustrated, ruffling his hair. "But it wasn't the only reason..."

"Speak plainly."

"The medallion. I didn't find it by mere coincidence."

"Are you two conspiring against me? It's as if you both conspired to hide the truth from me."

The sarcophagus shook violently. Thomas rushed to it and tried to open the lid, but fortunately, it seemed to be sealed shut.

"What are you doing?" I lunged to grab his arm and stop him.

"I finally caught him, and I'll make him talk," he muttered, looking at me with determination.

"Are you crazy? He won't say anything if you expose him to the light!"

As soon as I finished speaking, he stood still, hands open on the ancient wood.

"One night, I saw Dad coming in here; he seemed agitated," he began to say. "You know his job; that's the first thing anyone would think, but I also sensed there was something else. The next day, I stumbled upon the medallion while I came down to look for him. But I didn't find him. And Zara, I never saw him leave this place."

"You told me that he..."

He shook his head.

"I lied to you. Not everything I told you was true. I found the medallion in a box covered in dirt, alongside a photograph of my grandfather and the circus owner. But what shocked me was discovering your photo there too."

The lights flickered. However, I was in a trance.

The presence of my face in that photograph could be due to various reasons. It might be because Thomas's father had the idea of keeping it as a curious memory. I wouldn't be surprised, given his sense of humor.

Thomas was desperate to find clues about his father's whereabouts and thought he could get information from Ashton. However, he wasn't thinking clearly. In the presence of light, Ashton wouldn't utter a single word.

"And you involved me in all this despite everything?" I felt deceived and deeply hurt. "What made you assume the circus had something to do with your father's disappearance?"

"I saw the photographs and the medallion, and I researched a bit about the topic. I didn't know about the relationship those two had, but everything was right there as if someone wanted me to find it," he exhaled, looking at the sarcophagus. "It doesn't matter now. You and I are in the same situation, except that at least you know where your family is."

"No. Don't compare us," I refuted. He stepped away from the sarcophagus and stared at the ceiling, his brow furrowed. But if he was trying to distract me, this time I wouldn't fall for it. "Unlike you, I couldn't involve my best friend in something like this. Even if you weren't sure of anything, hiding things from me only makes you an idiot."

My words caught him off guard. It was the first time I had insulted him.

"You're right," he admitted.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my skin, as I held his gaze. But before I could decipher it, suddenly all the lights went out.

The temperature had dropped within minutes, and I only became aware of it when my teeth started chattering.

This wasn't normal. It was too cold, but there was also a breeze that reproduced the sound of bells, knocking some objects off the shelves and even setting off a music box playing a lullaby.

Darkness enveloped the place like a heavy cloak, but the medallion on my chest began to emit a faint glow. Its intermittent light seemed to pulsate like a heartbeat. It had done something similar at the school coliseum when Natale lost consciousness. And although it was weak compared to the prevailing darkness, it allowed me to glimpse the first shelves and Ashton standing next to me. The medallion's light illuminated his face, casting eerie shadows.

"I was starting to feel claustrophobic," he said, his agitated breath revealing he wasn't joking. Then he glanced around and rushed, "They're here. We have to go."

"Who? Wait a moment. Thomas."

The medallion, as if receiving an energy boost, intensified its glow for brief moments. It revealed Thomas trapped in a thick curtain of black quicksand. Something was pulling him inside. That mass of darkness was unlike anything I had witnessed before. It had life. It moved. It was pulling him in.

I lunged to reach his hand, but Ashton held me back, embracing me from behind.

"It's too late," he said in my ear, and before my eyes, I saw my best friend being taken by it.

"I could have reached him!"

"Yes, but it would have dragged you along with him. We need to get out of here. Zara, are you listening?"

My breath turned into vapor, and it was possible that due to the cold, I couldn't move either.

First my family, and now Thomas too.

Ashton took my hand to get my body working because I was paralyzed. As he guided me down the stairs, my mind became a complete mess. I could only occasionally turn my head in case Thomas suddenly appeared, but he didn't.

It was challenging to keep up with Ashton, but he managed to maintain a steady pace while the medallion illuminated the stone steps.

We didn't stop, not even when he raised the cane and the door banged against the wall, opening our way.

The house was shrouded in darkness, but it wasn't as deep as in the basement.

Once again, it looked like a moonless night. However, I almost stumbled when the light tone of the walls darkened as if a corrosive acid was charring everything in its path.

The same thing that happened at the fair was happening again. The walls, the floor, and everything else were slowly taking on that sandy, lifeless appearance, advancing rapidly.

Back in Thomas's room, we faced the desk. The music box remained in place, just as it had been left.

"Take your things," he said, and automatically, I put that last item in my backpack as the mahogany tone of the door began to darken. I was so nervous that I couldn't close the zipper, and I had to leave it open.

The curtain was torn away by the movement of Ashton's cane, and the window opened by itself.

"We can't go back," he clarified when he saw my expression, and a nervous giggle escaped my lips.

"Are you planning to jump?" I could at least think of something.

"If it scares you, close your eyes. I'll hold onto you, Zara, as I promised."

"Yes, of course," I replied, although my words sounded distrustful.

The desk moved until it met the bed, and the squeak produced by the chair as it rolled on its wheels made me shudder. That corrosive poison called darkness reached them all, carbonizing them.

"Quickly," he urged. "Watch your head."

I climbed onto the windowsill and hung my legs on the other side. One wrong step could send me falling straight into the front yard, which now looked like a desert of black sand.

But this time, the darkness wasn't staying confined to the property; it was advancing toward the street, intending to turn Port Fallen into an apocalyptic place. The same fate that befell my family and all its inhabitants.

I pressed the backpack against my chest. Ashton settled beside me and watched me.

"Don't worry, this will be like child's play."

I looked at him in horror, and his lips curled into a reassuring smile. Then he extended his hand toward me. But instead of taking it, he grabbed my waist and pulled me with him into an endless fall into endless darkness.

The ground was close when, like a kite, we suddenly soared upward.

"You're crazy!" I gasped. "You almost killed us!"

My heart was in agony.

"I'm already dead."

"Ah, thanks for reminding me that only my life is in danger."

"No, Zara," he said calmly. "When I said I would hold onto you, I meant I would stay by your side, even in the toughest moments. I won't let anything bad happen to you. I'll do everything I can to protect you, even if it means risking my sanity."

He spoke those words with his gaze fixed on the horizon, a smile lighting up his face.

"Even if it's the last thing I do," he added.

I was stunned. How could he smile even in the worst of times?

I couldn't find words as Ashton held me firmly. His declaration caught me off guard, and his determination was evident in his eyes. Despite everything that happened, he seemed willing to protect me at any cost.

✶ ✶ ✶