The pair of young people set out on their journey to the third floor, careful not to touch any of the shadows that plagued the corridor of the second floor, where the horrifying events had taken place. These remained in position ignoring them, they would emerge and soon disintegrate, like a melting snowman, into a puddle of the same material they were made of.
Then more shadows appeared, replacing the ones that ended up covering the ground. Soon that substance began to accumulate as if the sprinklers had been turned on inside the building.
The pair of young men, to no one's surprise, didn't want to hang around to see what was going on with the shadows. They reached the stairs without any problems and climbed, rushing. When they arrived, the first thing they did was to make sure they were not being chased by the shadows. Having resolved that doubt, Aiden was finally able to receive the new information. To his surprise and delight, as to Acke's, the third-floor hallway, excusing the lack of light, was completely normal, like any hallway in any other building.
The floor did not submerge them, the walls did not try to crush them, and the darkness did not extend to infinity. The most disconcerting was the silence that stretched from end to end.
Seeing that everything was normal, Aiden leaned back against the wall to catch his breath, but he had no time to rest. He was grabbed by the collar of his shirt, just as he had been moments before.
—It's about time you spoke up —Acke said—. Clearly, you know more than you want to pretend. And whatever you did back there, whatever it was, you were prepared. What the hell is going on, and who are you?
—Wait! I didn't mean to get aggressive with you before —Aiden rebuked—. As you could see, I was out of control, everything was. I was ordered to place the talisman on the girl's forehead to stop her, and the wizard would administer energy to her. Even I didn't know whether it would work or not at first.
—Wizard? It wasn't a word I expected to hear in this or any situation, but having witnessed that, I couldn't deny it. In that case, what happened downstairs? Why did everything suddenly change, and what were those shadows?
Aiden grabbed Acke's hand and stared at him before continuing.
—I really don't know. I'm not the most certain about what happened. I only know what I was instructed to do, and that was to place the talisman and prevent the spell from being interrupted until the barrier that currently has us disconnected from the outside is cancelled. Not only that, but I don't even know all the variables inside the condo. Now, could you please let me go? I have told only the truth.
Acke looked him straight in the eye for several seconds, loosened his grip on his hand and stepped back a couple of paces.
Aiden adjusted the collar of his white school shirt and proceeded to scratch his head, clearly exasperated. He remembered the words of the man who had introduced himself a first time as a wizard and his benefactor, and, a second time, as Leyson and Maika's teacher, in that fantastic subway facility.
Leyson had said to him: "After analyzing the spell, this is the best solution to achieve both goals. I prepared a curse specifically for it. The psychic pressure on the victim is so much that the only possible result is to lose consciousness for a good couple of hours, essentially being trapped in an illusion. The barrier caster, on the other hand, will be forced to stop the spell being corrupted given the nature of the curse which constantly injects another "reality" onto her own projection.
¬ She will experience another person's mind waves overlaying his own. You will feel how corrupted data overwrites your consciousness and if you don't cancel it instantly, you will be trapped by it as well. The problem with curses is that they take some time to activate. You should not allow the process to be interrupted until the illusion traps the redhead."
Those were the last coordinates Aiden received to solve this situation, and he had failed. Not only was the barrier still standing, strange and unexpected phenomena had happened one after another. There was no certainty what would happen now. His only clues were the words illusion and corruption of data.
—Essentially, from what I understand —said the boy with rebellious hair—. She should have been trapped in an illusion, and the residual energy would force the barrier's conjurer to break through. But since the spell was interrupted, I can only infer that the strange phenomena are due to that.
Acke merely observed it and Aiden could understand it. Right off the bat, talking nonsense, even after witnessing the events earlier, it was understandable to think he was dealing with a psychotic.
—None of that matters now —added the unruly haired—. That mambo-jumbo, magic, etc. She saved me once, even if she turns into a bloodthirsty monster or whatever, some part of her must still be in there. If it's possible to reach her, I want to help her, I'm here for that.
Taking a few seconds to collect his thoughts, Acke closed his eyes momentarily and let out a slight sigh.
—I'm not satisfied, but fine. I'm with you on that helping deal —said Acke.
—What? Wait. I'm not in a position to say, but it will be very dangerous. No. It won't just be dangerous. You've seen the kind of things you'll be dealing with. And we probably haven't seen everything this place has in store for us.
—I owe her something, too, after all. Besides, I want to see this through to the end.
He could see the conviction in her eyes, a passionate flame, calling for justice, far more vivid than anything that wizard calling himself a priest could produce. Aiden couldn't stop his lips from arching slightly at the sincere gaze of the boy in front of him.
—… Thank you.
Speaking reached an understanding, Aiden was finally able to lean back against the wall and collect his thoughts.
—Do you really think she'll listen to you, that you can reach her? —Acke commented—. She just killed an innocent person in cold blood.
Aiden put on a complex, bitter expression, for he honestly did not know the answer to the question or what to think about what he witnessed. He himself did not know what this was due to; perhaps how irrational it all was, perhaps his experiences with the supernatural so far, even his constant dreams; but he was calmer than he expected.
He had just witnessed a murder, but, rather than his conscience wondering "why", he wasn't the least bit upset about it. Furthermore, he was much more concerned with how to deal with his adversaries and expectant of the mysteries to be unveiled as he began to move deeper and deeper into the darkness.
—I don't know. It's true that she committed something unforgivable, but, at least for now, we must stop her. Then we'll deal with the other thing.
—It makes sense.
—Good. In that case —Aiden paused briefly to look at his fist, told himself it was a reflection of his determination by putting more pressure on his left hand—, come on, Acke, that crazy world and she awaits us.