"Mom, Dad. What time are we going?" Kaz's voice did not hide all the excitement he was protruding.
"Calm down," Paul chuckled. "We'll leave here by lunch."
Kaz's corner of his lips arched upwards, making his eyes curved. He ran toward his room and opened a small drawer. Inside was a small black box that was sitting quietly and a red ribbon lay on the top lid of the box. It was his present for Lev. He opened the box and inside was a round, time measuring machine. Its strap was made of silver metal and there were three hands that could be seen beneath the circular, convex, crystal glass. The shorter one, that was denoting hours and was pointed in between 9 and 10, and the larger one, that was denoting minutes and was pointed in 6, were colored black. The third hand that was long and thin was colored red and it ticked every second with perfect precision. The bezel was colored blue, with gold inlaid on its outer layer, and a golden crown.
Kaz made sure that the watch's time was correct. He lifted his left forearm and checked his wristwatch and looked at the time. It was 9:30 a.m., same as the one that was in the box. He closed the box and pushed the drawer.
"What will be Lev's reaction when I give him this? I'm sure he'll be stunned," Kaz muttered. "I think I should bring some food too."
Kaz went to the kitchen, wore an apron that was hanging on the refrigerator, he washed his hands, took out the knife, and started slicing some onions, garlic, ginger, and other spices.
Honey noticed the noise that was coming from the kitchen. She held her hand by the doorframe of the kitchen and asked with a chuckle in her tone, "What are you cooking?"
"I'm planning on cooking a Spicy Honey-Brushed Chicken Thighs with Mashed potatoes and Buttered Corn," Kaz replied while slicing the spices.
"Yummy!" Honey exclaimed. "It turns out that our little boy is becoming a master chef"
Hahaha. Kaz laughed. "It's for Lev. I'm planning to give him a delicious dish that is made by me."
"I'm sure he will be surprised," Honey's voice was soft like a gentle wind, gently caressing the plants and trees.
.....
It was 7 a.m. Lev woke up with a tired look. He didn't sleep well last night. He swept his gaze at the windowsill to see if Glib was there.
It was empty.
Maybe it was just a dream after all... Lev thought. He was disappointed and sad. He thought of trying to call out his name but he didn't. The reason why is because he didn't want to expect that if he would try to call him, there would be no response. That would only hurt him. Expectations.
A noise came from his left.
"Glib?" Lev turned his head, somewhat expecting that it might be Glib.
"Who's Glib?" Lola asked. Her calm demeanor made Lev uncomfortable.
"Uh. N-no one," Lev shook his head. "I was just dreaming about something."
"I see. There's bread on the table," Lola walked out the porch and continued her daily routine.
"The shadow only feeds on her mind every evening," Glib observed as he materialized on Lev's right shoulder.
Lev jumped from the bench, literally jumping, making Glib surprised on what Lev did. Lev fell on the floor, lying on his backside and Glib landed on the floor gracefully above Lev's head.
"Why'd you do that?" Glib scrunched his face from all the racket that Lev made.
Lev was speechless on what Glib said. He crawled towards Glib and took a closer look. "You're real? I thought it was just a dream."
"Do you want me to agree with that?"
"Only if it's true, though."
"Then, no, you're not dreaming. And yes, I'm true, true enough for me to slap you in the face, if that's what you'd like me to do," Glib raised his tiny voice up.
"Woah," was the only response Lev gave.
"Speaking of shadow," Glib walked and entered the house, "We should try entering her room to see what's inside." Glib suspected that the dark shadows were nourishing in her room.
"But Lola said not to enter her room," Lev blurted out. He quickly stood and chased Glib.
"That's because the shadows were growing in that room. Didn't you see? Her condition is growing worse night by night. If we let it grow and feed on her, then she would end up spiritless and the shadow would take over her body and then they would commit something bad and then that would be the end of her," Glib nonchalantly said as though it was just nothing.
Lev was silent. It was true that her condition was getting worse while the shadow was getting stronger. He followed the cat and stood in the dark, wooden door.
"If you please," Glib gestured his hand, telling Lev to open the door.
Lev gulped. He was full of doubts. He reached out at the doorknob and turned it clockwise.
A creaking noise came from the door. Glib jumped up at Lev's shoulder and waited for him to enter the room.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Lev slowly entered the darkroom. Thick curtains blocked the glass-window, preventing the sunlight from entering the room. The room was filled with black oozing smoke that was just suspended in the room as though it was sleeping in the air. Lev was hardly breathing, the smoke was suffocating him. Fear invaded his mind. He wanted to turn back. The darkroom made him feel alone but thankfully Glib was there. He could feel his weight on his shoulder, and it gave him a little confidence that someone was with him in the darkness.
"Open the curtains," Glib whispered in Lev's ear.
"Why are you whispering?" Lev whispered back.
"We don't want to disturb its slumber now, do we?" Glib jokingly replied.
Lev slowly walked towards the curtain. Seconds passed, but for Lev, it felt like hours. Every footstep made a faint creaking noise on the floor. Finally, he reached the curtain then grabbed it and slid it leftwards. Bright sunlight greeted Lev and Glib, making them squint their eyes from the blinding light. Their eyes slowly adjusted from darkness to brightness. Lev turned around and noticed the thick shadow slowly dissipating in the air with a distant hissing sound.
"That's it?" Lev was somewhat disappointed. "Well, that was... anticlimactic."
"Yeah," Glib agreed, "Nurturing shadows need darkness and a host to grow stronger. If sunlight reached their epicenter, then BOOM! Gone," Glib waved his both front paws, motioning an explosion.
Lev "ohhhhhed", amazed by everything at what Glib was saying.
"Look at the walls," Glib pointed with wide eyes.
Lev looked at the wall where Glib was pointing. He was shocked at what he saw.
DIE!
It was written in black ink. It was dry and scary to look at because of the excess ink that ran down from every letter, like blood dripping down from the skin when wounded. It wasn't only that portion of the wall that has such a threatening word, it was all around the room! The walls, the ceiling, and on the floor too!
I WANT TO DIE!
I DON'T WANT TO LIVE ANYMORE!
WHAT'S THE POINT OF LIVING?
STUPID LIFE!
I'M A TOTAL MESS.
Lev could feel the negative emotions in those words. Fear, regret, jealousy, anger, disgust. It was filled with malice.
"So that's why," Glib concluded.
"What do you mean?" Lev's voice was shaking from all the horror.
"It's just a guess. The method for the shadows to grow is through a host. The host may be a human or an animal. If human, then that person should be filled with negative emotions for them to make it their host. If an animal, it doesn't require negative emotion to make it their host," Glib carefully explained.
"How do you know all of these?" Lev asked.
"I'll explain later. But right now, we should leave this room."
Lev nodded. He was about to step out of the room when he noticed a black book lying on the desk. It was the same black book that Lola brought.
"That's the book I saw her reading back in the library," Lev said while extending his arms towards the book.
"Oh, yeah. I forgot to ask you about that. Silly me," Glib smiled.
Lev opened the book and saw mysterious symbols with hexagons, skulls, stars, and lidless eyes.
"What's this?" Lev gasped.
"What is that?" Glib had the same expression but his tiny voice masked it.
"You don't know?"
"Duh. I'm not an all-knowing being," Glib retorted.
Lev took the book with him and went outside to alleviate his mind from the tumultuous waves of emotion that afflicted him.
…..
Lev was walking on the lakeside with a cat on his left shoulder.
"You should smile more often. You're a handsome boy, you know," Glib casually said.
"I don't want to force a fake smile," Lev countered as he carried Glib from his shoulder down to his chest. "And I told you to stop sitting on my shoulders when there are people around."
"Sorry. I forgot," Glib replied while staring at the lake, "Is that normal here?"
Lev looked down at his chest and looked at where Glib was looking. Clouds have covered the alps as though a black curtain was hanging on the front of the mountain, covering its light blue layer made of snow and ice.
"I don't know," Lev said honestly. "Maybe? Nevermind that. Anyway, I have a lot of questions to ask you."
"I'm all ears."
Lev sat on the rocks and placed the cat beside him. "Explain to me everything. How do you know about the shadows and the 'growing' stuff? What is this 'Order of Fate'? Where is this Kingdom that you're talking about? What was with the weird lady that we saw yesterday?" Lev attacked with a series of questions.
"Gosh." Glib was taken aback with all the questions. "Fine," He sighed, "Let's start with the first question."