━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

CHAPTER 22

━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

Finding myself in a whirlwind of nerves, I counted three figures flying over the church dome. The intermittent glow of the medallion continued on my chest, and I took it as a warning. For some reason, it flickered every time the shadows appeared, or something bad was about to happen. In the end, I decided to hide it under my hoodie, trusting that its brightness wouldn't be intense enough to be seen through the fabric.

Suddenly, the rain poured down with force, as if it had waited for the worst moment to intervene. Ashton hurried and hugged me from the side.

"Hold your breath," he said, and I complied. When I clung to his shirt, I noticed he was dry while I got soaked. "We need to find a hiding spot."

We levitated, and I felt the raindrops hitting me like small stones, making it hard to keep my eyes open. It didn't take long before we descended next to a container where his father's portrait was. I tried to open the door, but I couldn't.

"It's locked!" I exclaimed.

"Wait. This one isn't as rusty as the others," Ashton said, phasing through the wood.

The wind blew fiercely, plastering the wet clothes against my body. I looked up at the sky and noticed that the shadows seemed to have delayed their approach due to the storm. However, a glow in the first wagon stood out.

I hoped it wasn't a fire, although, with this rain, it was unlikely to spread. Still, I didn't feel relief until a sound drew my attention back to the container.

"Ready," Ashton warned from inside.

I slid the door shut, and it emitted a screech. I closed it behind me and tried to take out the medallion to get a better view of the place, but he stopped me.

"It's better to keep it hidden, just in case," he said.

"Where are you?" I asked, unable to see anything, not even my own feet.

"Right beside you," he said, brushing my arm, and I held his hand. My heart raced in terror.

"I hope I never go blind because darkness terrifies me," I confessed. "It has a greater effect when it comes from unknown places. You never know what's hiding behind."

"In a room submerged in darkness, I'll be by your side. It's a promise. But for now, you need a powerful light source, or they will enter without any trouble."

"That would be worse than trying to escape," I analyzed.

"There's a lamp, but it's attached to a base. I can't give it to you, so you'll have to go closer."

"How do you know? Can you see in the dark?" The scenes from the bathroom came back to my mind, paralyzing me.

"Zara," he scolded.

"Fine," I responded reluctantly. "Guide me to that thing."

"Three steps forward," he said, not moving away from my side, taking me left, right, and forward. "Here. Find the knob and turn it." He brought my hand to the object and then stepped back.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked, unable to see anything, not even my own feet.

"Do it. Don't worry about me."

After a small spark, the light slowly turned on. When I turned around, Ashton, of course, was no longer there. But something told me he was close by.

I dropped my backpack to the ground to drain the water from my clothes while inspecting the place. It was cozy and austere, an improvised room.

Colored lights hung from the ceiling, though they were off. To my right, there was a single bed with a patched sheet, perfectly extended to the floor. In front, there was a small wooden wardrobe with blue-painted stars and a mirror attached to the door. Behind me, a drum structure screwed to the floor held the oil lamp that I had just lit. Both objects formed a single unit. Finally, on my left side, there were a couple of large cushions around a hollow pallet serving as a central table.

There was no dust, and everything was in perfect order. It was evident that Reidar had been living in this place.

The only imperfection was the remains of advertising posters that had once adorned the walls. I approached the best-preserved one, and on a yellowed piece was written the name "Canopus." The typography was extravagant, and I remembered that Ashton had mentioned that star at Thomas's house.

The man in the poster was handsome. His muscular figure stood out in a tight white suit with red lacing on the thighs and chest. He hung from a trapeze, although that part was not visible. I immediately noticed the resemblance to Reidar, and it was clear that he had changed a lot.

Something hit the door with force, shaking the container. Objects inside wobbled, and all I could think of was keeping us safe.

I approached the wardrobe, but I couldn't move it because it was too heavy. Frustrated, I ended up kicking it.

"What are you doing?" Ashton scolded me.

I turned to his voice, walked towards the bed, and got on my knees to lift the sheet and peep outside.

He was there, lying down and as calm as ever.

"This is where you were hiding," I commented in astonishment.

"I often seek refuge in these kinds of places, but I guess I've been lucky to have them nearby. Besides, I have a preference for ones that don't involve possible claustrophobia," Ashton replied.

"I didn't plan to get you inside. I intended to use the light from the lamp and the wardrobe to create shadows." It may not have been one of my best ideas.

"I appreciate your ingenuity, but I don't enjoy places that resemble trunks."

There was a brief silence, followed by new blows against the container, each one stronger than the last. As a result, it started to tilt at one corner. It was not surprising that after those hits, we risked being overturned.

Another impact.

I lost my balance, and the bed levitated next to me. The last time I saw my backpack was when it slid across the floor.

The first object to fall was the wardrobe, but before it could crush me, a cane appeared out of nowhere, and the furniture crashed violently against the ceiling.

The wall that had been behind me moments ago was now waiting for my forced landing. I closed my eyes, but my body experienced the magic of the medallion, suspending me in the air for the seconds Ashton needed to position himself under me. When the pressure disappeared, gravity turned Ashton into the lifebuoy that caught all my multiplied weight.

Seconds later, far from us, the large cushions softened Reidar's fall against the container's side, which had now become the ground at a terrible angle.

Although everything stopped moving, the wood still creaked annoyingly. And despite falling on Ashton, my chest hurt.

In some way, I managed to look at the drum. It was the only object that remained in place thanks to its screws, although the lamp's oil was beginning to drip.

The bed blocked the light, creating a kind of shelter with the wardrobe and pallet. It seemed molded since the way they stayed in the air didn't look natural.

Ashton cleared his throat, and I breathed unevenly. Together, we turned around until he could lean the bed against his back like a magnet. Then he held me in his arms, and I wrapped mine around his waist.

We levitated and floated in the middle of all that space before another blow caused the container to flip and land on the roof, this time.

The light was now above us, and the bed became our umbrella.

Shortly after making sure there were no more hits against the container, Ashton lowered us to the ground, and now we both hid under the bed. From there, we observed Reidar lying down. The man stared at the door that suddenly made a sound above him and threw one of the cushions away.

The penetrating screech of forced metal wreaked havoc on my ears. The door was suddenly torn off, allowing the rain to fall on Reidar, who quickly rolled away just in time as the door landed right where he had been moments before.

Reidar reached for the white lamp and glanced at the one on the ceiling as if he wanted to put it out.

I rushed to follow his plan just before he carried it out and crawled out of the place that seemed the safest. However, Ashton grabbed my ankle, but luckily, I reached for the sheet and threw it over him and the bed, covering them.

Both lamps collided, and suddenly there was an explosion of fire that spread across the ceiling. Shortly after, hell began descending from the walls. We were trapped in a cage of infinite heat and light.

Before I could do much more, Ashton pulled my ankle, and I ended up crawling back under the bed, but also under him.

"You won't do another crazy thing like that," he scolded me angrily.

"But he..." I tried to say something, but Ashton put a finger on my lips, silencing me.

If someone started with craziness, it was him. He had saved me repeatedly, even in the presence of light. Did he have any idea what was happening outside?

When he stopped preventing me from speaking, I opened my mouth to scold him, but all that came out was a strange moan as the cold water soaked my back.

The heat decreased, but not just because of the accumulated rain now forming puddles on the ground. The fire might have been dying out. I needed to check, so I raised my hand to lift the sheet, but he stopped me just before I could do it.

"I just want to see," I clarified, and he allowed me to do it.

The fire was no longer on the walls; instead, it moved across the ceiling and spiraled out of the main door, as if someone were taking it for a walk.

"Impossible."

"The situation with Reidar annoys me," Ashton muttered.

Surprised by the fire's occurrence, I watched the poor man struggle to get up. It was like watching a turtle. His leg wasn't helping.

"Damn it!" he exclaimed bitterly. He managed to stand several minutes later, took a deep breath, and turned to us.

"Are you comfortable down there? Can I offer you some help?" he asked.

The villain's profile I imagined didn't match the one in front of me. Besides, they had also attempted to kill him.

"I have no doubt," Ashton said grudgingly. "She was his partner."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Ellinor and Reidar were boyfriend and girlfriend," he clarified bitterly.

Surprised, I remembered the moment I first saw him, when he started crying. He had also mumbled something: "She... She..."

Now I understood, and it was terrible. At that moment, I thought he was high, but he was crying for his deceased girlfriend. And, dramatically, it turned out that I resembled her.

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