I blink my eyes rapidly, trying to adjust to the lack of light wherever it is we are. We had gone through another one of Yorks portals. I actually almost open my mouth to ask where we ended up, but I quickly snap it back shut. I'm not supposed to talk. I should take that seriously.
I think I'm… in a bedroom?
Yeah.
I look down at the floor and lift my boot up a little. There's soft blue carpet on the ground. My eyes move up to the light green walls, where there are sports posters, pictures of a bunch of teenagers doing various young people things. There was a tan dresser under the closed bedroom window. It had magazines scattered on it, a jar half full of coins. There was a watch, its surface caught the moon's reflections coming in through the heavy wooden blinds.
"I'm a fucking looser." My head snaps to the sound of a boy's voice coming from the middle of the room.
There's a queen-sized bed, with lots of soft looking pillows and a giant green blanket. At the head of the bed, sitting on top of the made up bed, dressed in jeans and a button up shirt, was a teenager.
Sixteen? Seventeen, tops. He was sitting with his back against the wooden headboard, the pillows pushed to the side and falling onto the floor. He had his legs stretched out in front of him, where I could see he was wearing even shoes. I bet they were his church shoes.
"Why would they do this?" I tilt my head to the side as he sobs, tears dropping from his eyes and landing on his phone, which rests in between his legs and stares at him. I glance down at the screen from where we stand. It looks like a picture of him performing oral on another boy.
"Why?" He chokes, wiping at his face.
I then glance at York, who still hasn't moved. His white eyes are fixed on the boy from where we stand in front of his closet.
"Why?!" He screams angrily, slapping the phone away. I watch it fly across the room and smack into the wall. I can hear and see the glass shatter. When I look back to the boy, I have to actually bite my tongue to keep from saying something.
He's holding a gun to his head.
Where did he get that? Where are his parents? I stretch my ears out, but I can't hear anyone else in the house I assume we're in.
My heart is racing in my chest. I have to tell myself I am not here to save him. That is not our job. I know he's going to die; it's why York is here in the first place.
"Fuck." He moans one last time, and I actually jump when the bang goes off. The room is illuminated for a moment. I can hear him fall onto the bed, and the gun crashes to the floor. I swallow, glancing at York as he finally moves.
"Pay attention. This is how you get access to the soul." He says over his shoulder as he approaches the lifeless boy. I nod, still remaining silent. York's face was stoic, smooth. He was definitely in work mode right now. He wasn't jumping around or grinning or laughing or cracking jokes. He was focused on the task at hand, and I think he was taking it very seriously.
He stands over the body, on the right side of the bed. I move around to stand in front of him on the left side.
I watch intently as he leans over the face and brings his finger to his sharpened canines. He pokes the tip of his finger, then holds the drop over the boy's still open eye.
I watch as the single drop falls in. Nothing happens for a moment, and then a very thin, glowing string delicately falls out of the boy's eye. It didn't fall all the way, it was still in his eye, just with one end touching his cheek. I keep myself from asking what it is.
"This is his fate line." York says then, like he was reading my mind. He pulls it for a few seconds, wrapping it around his fingers as he does. "This is what we're taking to another vessel." He says once it's all the way out. I glance down at the boy, and I swear his eyes look more dead now. Was it because he actually didn't have a soul now? It was just a meat suit, left behind and forgotten about.
I focus in again on the glowing string wrapped around York's fingers. He pulls a small jar out of his pocket, pops the top, and gently feeds the string in.
"Let's go. We don't want anyone to see us here." I nod and follow after him once he slashes open another portal with his blade.
Where are we now?
A field.
I look up at the sky, furrowing my brow when I see two moons starting back at me. One was a light pink color, the other a light green.
I look to York, who is already grinning at me.
"I told you, there's worlds out there containing things you've never even dreamed of before, friend." I shake my head a little, staring up in awe at the two moons once again. "This is Opaine, the world inhabited by none." I watch York as he starts walking slowly through the field, letting his fingers run through the grass while he does. Glowing orbs float off when he does. "It's pollen from the moonflowers." York says over his shoulder. I was staring up at the glowing air around us in awe. I'm sure I looked like such a tourist, but I couldn't help myself.
I had never seen anything like this before.