"Where are we, Tris?" I ask as we trail down the forest where I had often seen the shadow.
"The well that Professor Ton told us? I found it!" She answers.
"One of the portals to the underworld?" Ash adds.
"Why are you searching for that? That's void, Tris." Philip sniffles.
Tris suddenly stands on a stone and stops to face us all− who's for this moment, are her followers and critics. "Curiosity, folks! Curiosity!" Tris grunts and we remain silent.
In a second, she steps forward and as if we are bound to follow her, we pursue her course while eating. We only have an hour break, so we packed our snacks to have them eaten on our voyage beforehand.
"Tris, 30 minutes left." I remind her as the exhaustion subsists and the trail goes steep. I'd never gone too far from our building nor onto the academy for that matter. We violated already the rules and policy of the academy to never go beyond its vicinity. But as Tris said earlier, curiosity grows our venture to know certain things.
"There it is!"
Tris stops. She's right. The well nestled at the entrance of an enormous cave as Professor Ton claimed, is real. It was all magnificently covered with black and squishy mosses and grasses. However, though it appears to be beautifully and particularly framed out of magicks, it is depressing to see. No wonder why they declared it as one of the portals to the netherworld.
"Really?" Ash murmurs from behind.
"Let's check that question," Philip utters and walks to the well.
Tris also moves forward to see it and as inquisitive as her, I walk too. All of us keep our stance inches away from the well. No one has the courage to even lay a hand on the structure but Tris removes her necklace and hangs it on her hand straight to the hole.
"Do you believe on the spirit thing?" Tris asks while looking at me. The well was rumoured to be cursed. When you toss a silver thing on it, a guard will come out. Not an ordinary guardian but a spirit of the underworld, and it will either take you to his world or possess you to stay on the living realm, disseminating void aspects to inflict on the humans.
"Don't do it," I say to her. "It doesn't matter."
Tris holds back her hand and keeps her necklace on the purse of her robe.
"Hey, Master Will! Are you there?!" Ash unexpectedly jokes and shouts on the well.
Master Will was once a pyro initiate when he began to practice dark morals using his magicks. He was a candidate to be a protector but he disapproved and rebelled the tradition that a decision was made to suppress him. A war against him took place and together with the other initiates who were at his level that time soon seized his life. Old folks said that he's now a keeper of the netherworld while Protector Esther replaced him.
"Can you take Max as your assistant? It suits him!" Tris echoes.
"Yeah! Take him with you!" I yell at it.
"Ah, let's throw this!" Tris rapidly takes out a black crystal from her purse. "It's not a silver thing guys, don't worry. Just to grant our wishes."
Ash grabs the crystal out from Tris and shoots it in the well. "Down deep, Max!" He roars.
We laugh at the thought of it as we turn to get back. We are supposed to be in the academy by two and we only have 20 minutes left, so we must hurry.
Our footsteps are all in a haste as I remind them of the time but we quickly stumble and fall as the world begins to shake. Then, fogs begin to blur our sight.
Philip was able to find me. He supports me to get back on my feet after the quake. Ash and Tris also find themselves on the other side. I blink twice, only to discern that a man's spirit splits us. He seems like a miner but he's skin were burned so as he's ripped loose clothes.
"You okay?" Philip asks, barely a whisper, to me. I nod as an answer and stare back on the spirit.
I grip Philip's arms tightly and conceal myself at the back of him as the spirit comes slowly forward to us. This time, I hinder myself from looking at it. Human being must escape the probability of staring at the spirit's eyes as the old men said on a book.
"Don't feed them off of your scared eyes
For their sorrow reflects your dark side.
Close yours from their sad gaze
So, horror will not embrace."
"Liars!" He growls to Philip.
"Fool!" He says to me and goes to the other side.
"Death Curious!" He bawls at Ash and Tris.
"And You! You asked for me! You summoned me! And I will take you!" He yells to Tris.
Tris' hands are shaking on the arms of Ash that is holding her. It's my first time to watch her scared and trembling and I couldn't help myself but barge in.
"Get away from her." I barely hear myself but it draws the spirit to look back, which I immediately avoided, while he gets to me.
"You? Who do you think you are?!" He grunts as I'm only seeing his muddy and shredded boots.
"You can't even look me in the eyes." His voice wheezed at my ear and I felt a burning sensation.
"Don't look at it." Philip reminds me.
"Can you replace her?" The spirit asks.
"Selfish is a trait of a human being. Especially to death!" He remarks, constantly pervading my ear. "Creatures like you are curious yet scared! Get away from her, you say?!"
"You can't even speak a word, missy! And I doubt, you can." He continues and every word hit me.
I have been telling myself of all the things that I am incapable of. Those aspects that are keeping me from willingly doing my own bed, meal, and paces in the morning. It's funny how a dead person reminds me finally, of how much I drag myself down. I am not an initiate but I do believe that I had an ample sorrow and hatred; and the fact that I am still living with it, I am much more powerful than any evil spirit could be.
"I can," I say straight onto his hollow eyes.
No-el.
The spirit smirks as I stare at him but I notice his gaze shifts from tricky into sceptic.
"Who are you?" He sniffs and smells me, then as if misery slaps him, he goes back to the well.