━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

CHAPTER 23

━━━ ꧁ད ✶ ཌ꧂ ━━━

Reidar cleared his throat. Immediately, I felt the urge to do something that involved movement. Staying under the bed didn't seem reasonable given the situation.

"The fire must have scared the shadows away," Reidar said, and I crawled across the floor before Ashton could stop me. "They followed you."

"You're the one who called them when you tried to light the railway," I scolded as I imagined a possible escape. Ashton could easily take us through the hole in the ceiling, but at the moment, it looked like a tunnel of fire.

"That wasn't my intention." Reidar seemed alerted by something outside.

The shadows might have been still lurking, but what poked its head inside was nothing like them. In the pouring rain, a small titi monkey bravely leaped through a hole and landed on Reidar's shoulder. Skillfully, it moved behind his neck, pushed against the wall, and hopped over several objects before reaching the ground. Its curious journey only stopped next to Ashton, and standing on its hind legs, it offered him a friendly smile, as if it knew he was there, even tilting its head in an adorable gesture. For a moment, I was mesmerized by the little red hat it was wearing.

"Get out." Ashton waved his hand at the titi monkey. "Go away, thief!"

The little monkey jumped back when it realized what was under the bed, but soon emerged again, pushing the music box with dexterity.

"That's ours." I shivered as everyone turned to look at me.

"There are enough reasons," Ashton said, annoyed. "There are things I should have told you before, like this. And now I regret it."

The sound of rain echoed in my ears as I focused on a point created by me on the monkey, trying to understand what he meant. The titi continued its efforts to push the box towards my feet. Then, with its tiny hand, it grabbed the hem of my jeans and pulled, as if trying to convey something.

"You are..." Reidar hesitated, advancing towards us. "Are you her?"

"What?" I retorted disgustedly, and he stopped.

"After what you said..." Ashton sounded desperate this time. The cane materialized in a kind of smoke that, due to the darkness, appeared black as he twirled it with his fingers. I didn't even know when he had stopped holding it in his hand. "By claiming the music box like that, now he thinks you're Ellinor."

I found him looking at me, but it wasn't endearing if it happened in the darkness and from a place that frightened many of us as children.

I didn't know what to say to that. It wasn't my intention to make him think that way. And as if it were the dumbest thing on the planet, I doubted my nature. I had to remind myself that I was born here, in Port Fallen, sixteen years ago. I grew up with my parents and older siblings, and over time, we also created our memories. Besides, circuses never appealed to me, much fewer heights. It was straightforward. I wasn't Ellinor. Reidar shouldn't have jumped to that conclusion so quickly, and I felt the need to make him see that. But all it took was a slight touch to the music box with my foot for the lid to open. The music began like a haunting loop as the trapeze artist spun at full speed.

"Zara," Ashton had to say when he saw me covering my ears with my hands. The sound was loud and piercing. It made my ears throb.

"The song..." I managed to emphasize. Suddenly, my tongue felt heavy, just like the rest of my body.

"What song?"

I couldn't explain. A light emerged from inside the box and captured me.

Once again, the shouts proclaiming the name of Sirius rise above everything else. Those are Ellinor's memories.

A sepulchral silence envelops everything. I feel invaded by a desperate impulse to scream as I realize I'm standing on what seems to be a trampoline at a great height. Darkness reigns around, but with effort, I manage to distinguish the floor eagerly waiting below my feet. The only thing that stands out amid the dimness is a swing suspended just in front and a faint light coming from a spotlight.

My mind commands me not to move, but my body does not obey. With my hands extended, I leap into the void, and halfway to the trapeze, everything suddenly turns black.

Even though I keep my arms extended, hoping to grasp onto life, it never happens.

I experience the fall, the immense abyss twisting my stomach. Despite not being able to see, I know what's happening. I am plummeting straight into nothingness, immersed in a darkness of overwhelming torment, not knowing when I will reach the end of this distressing agony.

I regained control of my body, let out a scream, and took a deep breath as if a wave had pulled me out of the ocean.

"Relax, Zara. You're safe." Ashton's voice pulled me out of the trance.

I breathed heavily as I tried to identify his blurry silhouette, but the rain soaking me made it hard to see clearly. I looked around, hoping for any sign that could confirm that everything I experienced was just a dream, or perhaps a nightmare.

"Zara," Ashton's voice whispered. When I looked back at him, I noticed he had his arms under my legs and back. He was carrying me. "Are you all right? Can you stand?"

At some point, while I relived a memory that wasn't mine, Ashton must have taken me out of the container.

I had to remind myself that I didn't experience that fall firsthand and that it wasn't me, even though it felt so real.

He set me down. The railway and tracks seemed to dance due to the unexpected dizziness. I ended up holding on to his neck as my feet touched the ground, feeling a bit unstable. However, I didn't have to exert much effort as his arms held me firmly and supported me the whole time.

Behind him, I noticed a glow. The container we had left was engulfed in flames that not even the rain could extinguish.

Something must have happened while I was reliving that memory of Sirius. I could also see the monkey standing amidst the flames, but it didn't seem affected at all. Instead, the titi raised its arms, and the fire jumped away from the container like a spiraling wave, engulfing one of the shadows before spitting it back out as a simple vapor a second later.

"Zara," Ashton called my attention.

I looked back at him. It was strange to see him trembling. After a moment, I realized it wasn't him shaking; it was me.

"How do we get out of here?" I asked, and his gaze pointed me to the answer. A few meters away, on the ground, there was a discarded blanket.

"Tell me, how do you feel?" he insisted.

"The monkey... he seems to control the fire."

"Mango took the medallion."

"Mango?" I touched my chest, but it was gone. "He's supposed to come back on his own."

"Mango is the monkey's name, and he's almost as annoying as his ancestors," he clarified. "He's lurking around here. He loves doing these things because he knows they frustrate me. I'll try to get him back, but you need to stay close to the fire. Understand?"

I couldn't even nod. I was still a bit disoriented, and my condition worsened when he put his hand on my cheek and caressed it gently with his finger.

"You'll be all right," he assured me. "I'll be right back."

I watched him as he jumped away and disappeared over the railroad.

The cold was painful, and I could still feel his touch like a faint tingling, which meant I was back in reality.

The wind blew, pushing all my hair from the back of my neck to my face. I pushed it back with my numb hands and looked back at the railway. The rest of the containers were intact, but the one that was on fire... I couldn't see the monkey anymore, but I saw the shadow soaring through the air, chased by the fire.

I decided to approach the glow, wondering if Reidar might still be inside. However, I had to run in the opposite direction and hide behind one of the few flickering streetlights that were short-circuiting. The light blinked almost as fast as my heart was beating.

I didn't need the presence of the medallion to notify me of the danger the puppet with the good rear represented. Every time a shadow appeared, it seemed like a malfunctioning spotlight.

I inhaled and exhaled through my lips, trying to calm down, but it was impossible. Hell had broken loose in that place, and I hoped the fire wouldn't alert everyone in Port Fallen.

The flames were exaggerated, dancing over the container and growing even more. Like the fury of a hurricane, they created giant whirlpools that reached up into the night sky, capturing shadows.

On the other hand, there was no trace of the puppet anymore.

It might be possible that my mind was so overwhelmed that I started perceiving things that didn't exist in reality.

I sighed as I rested my back against the lamppost, and a minute later, it vibrated.

I looked down, thinking maybe it was my imagination, but then I saw it reflected in the puddle at my feet. Like a spider, it was perched on the light, and when it descended, it broke the bulb with its hand and landed in front of me.

My voice got stuck in my throat. It tilted its head and opened its mouth. Its lips tried to gesture something, but, like me, they couldn't say anything. It was strange. It seemed to be mute, but he ended up making a gesture that asked me to keep quiet.

It rummaged in its pocket, and when it took its hand out, the quaint handkerchief fell to the ground, soaking in the puddle of water.

I returned my gaze to its face, and I was puzzled that its skin took on the appearance of an old, dry trunk, making it clear what it truly was: a puppet.

I managed to jump away, but before I could run, it managed to grab my hand.

A sharp pain shot from my thumb to my shoulder, and I thanked the rain for soaking me because when I pulled with all my strength to free myself, my hand slipped out like soap.

I steadied myself with difficulty. It advanced, and a burst of heat passed dangerously close to me, like a cannon shot. The flames quickly consumed it, so it stepped back in long strides. It fell once, but it managed to climb the railway, and I lost sight of it after it reached the other side.

"Are you all right?" a new voice asked.

I turned on my heels to find the source of that voice.

A tall man with a large belly stood between two containers. He had an almost translucent and reddened complexion, with whitish and blondish hair. His mane seemed to have suffered serious consequences of exposure to fire, as smoke ascended like threads, proving it. I guessed he was another member of the circus, another person taken by surprise to see me. However, there was something different in his gaze that I couldn't recognize, and he held an improvised torch with a log in his hand.

"You are..." I interrupted him before he got any wrong ideas.

"Of course, you can't be her. I knew her better than anyone," he said, annoyed.

The monkey ran past my feet and climbed up the man's shoulder. Then, making faces, it raised its arms and pointed to the sky with the glowing medallion in its hands. Above, Ashton flew, chased by what seemed like a couple of dark clouds in the middle of the night. He was fast, but they were persistent.

A ribbon of fire stretched from the man's torch. Fortunately, Ashton saw it and dodged it just before the fire reached him.

The man controlled the fire as if it took no effort and was completely normal.

Ashton descended behind me, to a place where the light from the man's torch couldn't reach.

"I'm going to make him fly!" he exclaimed. A monkey had managed to get him riled up. He looked me up and down, and then at the other two. "They're Mikkel and Mango."

The titi screeched toward the sky again, warning us. It was an off-key alarm, but effective.

"Go," Mikkel growled at me. "You'll be safe when daylight comes. Meanwhile, stay as far away from this place as possible. I'll distract them, so they don't follow you."

I bit the inside of my cheek from the anxiety his words caused.

"But first, tell me... who is with you?"

"What?" I asked, surprised.

He gave me a furious look.

"We noticed you're not alone. Who is it?"

I clenched my jaw.

"Tell him," Ashton intervened. "Let them know I'm with you."

"Ashton," I said, and Mikkel furrowed his brow. "Ashton, son," I clarified.

"They'll need this," Mikkel said, throwing the still-glowing medallion at me as if tossing a coin into the air. But before I could raise my hands, it slowed down and landed softly on my palms. It no longer had the chain I had put on it. "We need to find the missing ones."

That worried me. Mikkel knew that with the three medallions together, everything would return to normal. But what made me even more nervous was the fact that the monkey wouldn't stop growling.

"Move!" said Ashton.

"Just a moment," I requested. "Reidar..."

"How?" Mikkel must have developed a dislike for me. His gaze expressed how much he disliked my existence. "Just go away, girl!"

"Will you keep him alive? There's something I'd like to ask him."

"I'm trying, but damn it, leave already!"

Mango howled along with its owner.

"Zara," Ashton insisted. I stepped back until he could hold my arm without putting himself in danger, and I started walking with him. Then he grabbed me by the waist and lifted us off the ground. I clung tightly. After reliving that memory of falling, my fear of heights increased.

From the corner of my eye, I noticed a couple of shadows looming over the man and his monkey. The scariest part of it all was knowing that those entities couldn't die because they were already dead. So, just like the one in the gym, they would come back over and over until daylight arrived.

"What do you want to ask Reidar?" Ashton kept his gaze forward, then looked back at our backs with urgency and returned his gaze forward.

"Don't you find it strange that the shadows also tried to take his life?" I had been locked in that container with him, and then the door almost split him in half. He barely managed to survive.

"What if he was just pretending?"

It didn't seem like it. His limp wasn't part of any act. All I saw was that they wanted him dead.

"You don't allow yourself to trust at all, do you? Why?" he asked.

"My father gave him the medallion," I reminded him. "Besides, I trust you, and that's enough for me."

"You don't know me," I asserted, and I heard him laugh.

"I told you, a week was enough to know what I needed to know."

"And you also made it impossible for me to sleep."

"I like watching you dream. Besides, it's not as bad as you make it sound."

"Not so much. Monitoring a stranger the way you did with me is considered stalking these days."

"In that case, grant me permission for prior stalking." His words emptied my mind. "I'm kidding. It's just that you have a beautiful expression. It makes me wish I truly existed."

I couldn't argue with that. Suddenly, I found myself thinking about how I felt when he touched me at the station, and the pain in my hand from the puppet returned.

Ashton made it clear that my life was important to him, and that his heart was functioning, albeit strangely, because of me. I wasn't sure how I managed to make something like that happen.

As we crossed the town, the light from the medallion faded, which reminded me that the music box and my backpack were still inside the container. But they were just insignificant objects, or at least, that's what I wanted to believe.

I saw the lake and the small boats. Fortunately, the rain had decreased considerably by the time we reached the dock.

I put the medallion in the pocket of my hoodie while completely ignoring the reason Ashton brought me here. But when I saw the aquamarine-colored hut where they used to sell bait, fishing rods, and other fishing tools, I had an inkling of what it was about.

The place was empty at this hour of the night. There were a few other huts, but Ashton chose the nearest one. He passed through the wall, and just before I opened the door, the medallion lit up and went dark again. Without thinking, I rushed inside for cover.

I took a seat on the only bench I found in the tight space. Fishing nets hung from hangers, cascading towards the center and forming knots on the floor.

"Will they be okay alone?" I asked as I rubbed my arms to keep warm. I couldn't help feeling bad about leaving another person behind, just like the last time.

"As long as they have a source of light, they'll manage," he said, stopping behind me. "I definitely can't leave you alone again."

"What do you mean?" He hugged me, and I turned to stone.

"I saw the handkerchief. The puppets, apparently, also made an appearance at the station."

I swallowed hard when he mimicked the movements I was making with my hands to warm up.

"Did it do something to you?"

"It couldn't. Mikkel scared it away," I repeated. "Who was that man exactly?"

"Some of us were in small family groups. Mikkel, the monkey's owner, was Ellinor's father," he explained, and then I understood why he said he knew her so well, and also why he had this aversion towards me.

"Monkeys don't live that long, but you know about Mango."

"I didn't know him, but it's a family tradition for their ancestors to share not only the same name but also the same pastime. Like his predecessor, this new Mango also enjoys taking my belongings and hiding them. They're a genuine curse."

I couldn't help but laugh at the image of the elegant Ashton running after a little monkey.

"Sly smile," he said, "it's not funny."

"I'm not laughing," I said, and the laughter burst out on its own.

"Of course," he said, taking a turn around me and stopping in front of me. I looked up when he bent down to my level. I almost saw the astonishing color of his eyes.

"What's wrong?" I asked nervously, with him so close.

"Your lips..." He stopped halfway, and the tips of his fingers brushed against my chin, raising my face a little higher. "You're pale, and I think it's because of the cold."

As if responding to him, my teeth clenched as I held my breath. Ashton took my hand, and pain distorted my face when he squeezed it.

He quickly examined my palm, and in the dim light, I noticed some marks that seemed like possible splinters. However, what worried me was the grotesque ring on my thumb. Although I couldn't see its color or that of the giant stone, the engravings in the form of rays surrounding it caught my attention.

"What the hell is this?" I asked.

"It's the puppet... Did he put it on you?" He sounded confused, and I had a resentful jerk at the memory.

"There's no way I put it on by myself. I don't like rings, especially not those with ostentatious designs like rays and..."

"They're not rays; they're Zs," he clarified.

"Zs?"

"The representation of dreams."

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