Chapter 3: Truth

After she encounters her nightmare, but in reality and being saved by the mysterious young man she learns of the truth about her father.

                                                Chapter 3

                                                   Truth

            Amber’s heart pounded against her chest hard as it got faster with an overwhelming sense of fear that crept through her body and mind. Her mind told her to get up and run, but she could not move and all that could be seen was this haunting image of a shadow that came towards her and with each step the shadow took the world seemed to shake.

 

            She stared, unable to move, then felt something tightly grab her arm and looked up involuntarily to see the man in the trench coat as he pulled her up to her feet and then grab Amber’s face with his hands. They were soft; gentle almost and he then moved his left hand to his face and held up two of his fingers. Her eyes were drawn back to the shadow and it was closer as it started to move faster and then it lifted up an arm and reached out towards her. She could hear it call to her, but with no words just sounds, that felt cold, sad, and simply painful that resonated in the deepest parts of her soul.

 

            That soft hand she felt became hard against her cheek as he pulled Amber’s face back towards his; two fingers were pointed at his eyes and he moved them to hers and then again back to his as he wanted her to look at his eyes and so she followed the lines that moved about randomly on his hands; the tough and strong looking hands, then from the fingers across the short distance to his eyes. 

 

            His eyes were a very deep, dark brown that could not help but be drawn into and the brush of color was pure and unmarked in one solid piece; no lines or strokes as you would see from a paint brush, but what confused Amber or even so frightened her was that she could see no fear in his eyes; they were calm and clear, but with some intensity that gazed into hers and all of a sudden as she continued to look into his mesmerizingly deep eyes she saw everything around them begin to change.

 

            She could feel herself start to relax as the alley walls and the ground; the dumpsters and trash cans, the shadow, they all started to blur and fade into trees and grass.

 

            As everything came into focus they were no longer in the alley and were in a park with the dull glow from a light post that shined down on them. Amber could see other cones of light shine downward on the cold dark grass and concrete sidewalks that surrounded them. Time was normal again and she could hear herself breath; the distant sound of cars on the street, and the wind slightly caress the leaves in the trees. The man in the trench coat let go of her and took a step back and held his head like he had a bad headache that hit him all of a sudden so she started to speak to ask him if he was okay, but he put up his hand.

 

            "We're not done." He said. He shook off whatever was wrong and stepped forward to face her. "Look in my eyes, nowhere else." She barely nodded back in compliance because of how overwhelmed she was by everything that had taken place and after looking in his eyes once again everything started to blur and fade.

 

            The trees turned into brick walls; the dull glow from above moved to her right to become an even duller glow from a small table lamp, the grass was hard wood floors, and a man that laid on a couch with a book in his hand appeared out of nowhere. Amber was in an apartment.

 

            On her left were windows that showed the city of New York with its many lights which dotted the night. The man in the trench coat stumbled backwards before he fell to his knees and he seemed tired and his breathing became heavier than when they were in the park. The other man jumped off of the couch in surprise, but quickly rushed to the man in the trench coat or the librarian and put his hand on his shoulder.

 

            "Jack, you okay?" The man asked the librarian.

 

            The librarian, whom she now knew as Jack, quickly rose to his feet.

 

            "I'm fine. A Shadow's coming." Jack said.

 

            "What's going on?" Amber asked and they both looked at her but for a moment.

 

            "Get her and take her to my room. It has some extra wards around it. Now hurry and go in there. Hopefully, they'll hold." Jack said as he took a deep breath and he no longer seemed tired.

 

            "You can't fight a Shadow, Jack. We have to run and hide." The man said to

Jack.

 

            "I tried to lose it at another location, but it followed us. Now go!" Jack said very sternly. The man did not argue any further and he moved to Amber.

 

            "Come on." He said, but before she could ask anything else he started to drag her across the living room to a door while she looked back at Jack who watched them go.

 

            Time began to slow down again as she saw the wall of the apartment begin to move like a ripple, a splash in water from a pebble, and then a dark hand came through the center of the ripple. Jack turned his head towards the Shadow as it came into the apartment then turned his body to face the Shadow. Jack put out his hand; palm forward and it begun to glow. He moved almost as quickly as the Shadow did and then a red light began to swirl like a snake around

Jack’s hand and slowly up his arm, but before she could see more her view was blocked by a closing door.

 

            Almost as soon as the door shut time became normal again and the man pulled his hand from the door and looked at Amber as a loud sound like thunder came from the room they just left. She and the man jumped back startled.

 

            "Over here." He said as he grabbed her arm and led her to the corner of the room where they crouched down and waited.

 

            "Just wait. We'll be okay." He said though his gaze never left the door and neither did hers.

 

            As they nervously watched the door they could hear sounds of destruction; thunder crashing, and many things that sounded like screams and more she could not describe, there were flashes of light in many different colors that shined between the cracks in the frame around the door and each sound exploded in synchronized rhythm with each light.

 

            They did not say anything and just sat there and waited quietly and from what she remembered her eyes never blinked because Amber was too afraid to do anything and then after a few minutes everything stopped; no sound, no lights. The two sat there and did not know what to do as they turned to look at each other with fear and worry on their faces.

 

            "Stay here." He said as he got up and quickly moved towards the door. The door shook before the man arrived and he stopped, caught off guard by the loud sound that broke the silence. The door stopped and did not shake again and for a moment a deadly silence filled the room.

 

            A ripple appeared on the door and she could feel time slow down once again as the man and her looked to see the Shadow come through the door and they could see its body constantly shifted, like it was out of focus. Amber felt as though the creature looked right at her as its head came through the door and she could feel pain inside of her again. Her eyes were already watery from not blinking for so long, but now she actually started to cry from the pain she felt. Amber did not know what the Shadow wanted, but could only imagine the worst and whoever Jack was it seemed as though the Shadow killed him which left the other guy and her next.

 

            All of it seemed unbelievable as Amber stared at the creature and it begun to walk across the room towards her. She held her breath and the only thing she could think about was her mom and dad and how she was about to join them, how she never learned the secret of her father, and for some reason a strange feeling that things were not supposed to happen this way.

 

            Suddenly another ripple behind the Shadow in the door appeared and a bloody hand reached through the door and it wrapped around the neck of the Shadow. Amber could see small little purple sparks dance around the part of the Shadow where Jack had grabbed it and then pulled the Shadow back through the door and time returned to normal.

 

            The man looked back at Amber and his eyes were wide and she not only saw his fear, but could feel it and it made hers worse. But a small smile slowly teased the corners of his lips as if it amused him for a second then turned and ran to the door.

 

            "Jack!" He shouted as they could hear the sounds of battle again.

 

The man came back to Amber and looked her over to see if she was okay. Amber noticed how scared he was even though he tried hard to hold back his own fear to make her feel better.

 

            "Are you okay?" He asked and she was able to pull her gaze away from the door to the man. He had short brown hair; it was lighter than Jack's and he had green eyes and fair looking skin. The room was lit only by a lamp on the other side of the room.

 

            "Ye.. yes." Amber managed to muster the word as he stared into her eyes.

 

            "You're Keith's daughter." He said and she looked back at him confused how he knew.

 

            "How... do you know?" Amber asked as he sat down in front of her.

 

            "I can tell from your eyes." He said.

 

            "My eyes? What do you mean?" Amber asked.

 

            He took a deep breath. "I don't think I should tell you yet." He answered.

 

            "What! Why not?" That just pissed her off more than anything after everything she has been through, but before she said anything more they both realized it was quiet again. They looked at the door and there was a dull light that came from the cracks of the door. The man got up and went to the door again.

 

            "Jack?" He said.

 

We heard nothing.

 

            "Jack?" He said again.

 

            "It's dead." We could hear Jack speak just loud enough to be heard through the door.

Amber got up and rushed to the door as the man opened it; her fear fell away from her with each step she took.

 

            Amber saw Jack on the floor and up against the far wall of the apartment and he looked awful; there was blood everywhere on the floor and all over him and not all of it was his because some of it was red and some of it was black. His left arm was mangled and disfigured; the bone jutted out and it looked like part of it was shattered, his right leg had a very long and deep gash down to the bone and his right shoulder had what could only be described as a crater; his bones seemed to be gone and part of what she thought was his lung, on his face blood trickled downwards, and as he breathed blood bubbled from his mouth.

 

            The man ran over to him; took off his shirt, and covered the hole in his shoulder and as the man tried to help Jack up Amber looked around and saw a small puddle of darkness that covered the floor in front of them. The puddle looked almost like a black hole; it sucked light into it and nothing escaped it; it was just absolute darkness even the immediate area around it seemed drained of color.

 

            As her eyes wandered around the awful mess she felt her stomach rumble and tight pressure climb up her throat. Amber fell to her knees and vomited. She took a deep breath when she finished and closed her eyes to hide the view of the blood and covered her nose to try to block out the smell of vomit and blood.

 

            "Jack!" The man said in a panic. "I don't know what to do. What do I do?" He asked Jack over and over again as he tried to keep him conscious and Jack was able to mutter a few words that could barely be heard.

 

            "Hide... her. Call Erdois." Jack's eyes rolled up into the back of his head as he started to lose consciousness and the man did not hesitate as he jumped across the puddle to Amber.

 

            "We have to hide you." He said.

 

            "Tell me what's going on. Is he okay?" She asked as the man picked her up and forced her back into the bedroom.

 

            "There's no time. Just wait." He said. "Get into the bed and pretend to sleep. Just stay in here and no matter what don't come out." The man stated very seriously as he turned off the lamp and shut the door behind him as she was left alone on the bed in a dark room.

 

            Amber made her way around the bed to the top and got underneath the covers. It was a comfy bed, it was nice and big which was the most positive thing of the evening. She laid there quietly to hear what happened outside, but all she heard was the man tell Jack to hang on and then the man started to talk to someone else, but could not make out everything, but what she did get was something about Jack needed help and to come over right away.

 

            A hard and loud knock came from what Amber thought was the door to the apartment just a few minutes after the man went silent. She heard the man run across the apartment and then the door open and two sets of footsteps make their way across the floor, a moment after the door shut a third moved around the apartment and stopped at the door of the bedroom.

 

            "Hurry, he's gone into shock and he's lost a lot of blood." Amber could hear the man she met say to the other two.

 

            "Quiet!" Another voice rang out; it was deep and sounded like an older man. From the slight glow that emitted from the frame of the door she could see a green light start to come in the bedroom and it grew brighter for a moment then dulled to the small lamp light that originally filled the cracks.

 

            "He'll be okay." Amber heard the older man say.

 

            "Thank you." Jack's friend said.

 

            "He will probably be unconscious for a few days while his mind and body recover."

The older man concluded.

 

            She then heard someone walk around the living room in a circle and then stopped.

 

            "This is what happens to a Shadow when it dies?" Another man seemed to ask himself and more footsteps came to where the first had stopped.

 

            "This needs to be kept a secret." The younger man said.

 

            "I know." The older man said with an annoyed tone.

 

            "My question for you Joel is why was a Shadow here?" He asked the younger man.

 

            "I can only imagine that he must have some of the Keeper's Aura still around him."

Joel said hesitantly as he thought of how to answer.

 

            "Perhaps," The older man sounded unsatisfied with the answer. "It's unbelievable

Jack survived. And not only that, but he killed a Shadow. I've never known it to be possible except for the Keeper. Anyway, this will be kept a secret for now until Jack recovers and can report it himself. I can't keep this from the Council for long." The older man said.

 

            "I understand." Joel said.

 

            "I'll take the remains of the Shadow with me. Maybe we can study it and hopefully learn something from it that could be used to help us fight these abominations." The third man said.

 

"Someone threw up." The older man noticed.

 

            "It was me when I first saw Jack." Joel covered for Amber.

 

            There was a silence between the three people in the room until the older man said there was nothing else to do. After more silence the two, the third man and the older man, said goodbye and she heard footsteps followed by a door open and close.

 

            Amber got out of the bed and tried to make her way to the door, but before she did the door opened up and Joel stood in the doorway as she stood in the middle of the room.

 

            "Can you help me move him?" He asked and after a moment of thinking she nodded he turned and walked over to Jack and Amber followed him.

 

            There was nothing wrong with Jack; in fact all of his injuries were gone, but there was still blood everywhere. His bone was back in his arm; his leg was closed up, there were no cuts or bruises, and his chest was fine. The puddle of darkness was gone too. Amber had prepared herself for the sight of Jack's mangled body and she was ready to vomit again, but this time the smell was not that bad and her nausea slowly subsided.

 

            "Is he okay?" She asked. The sight of this was unbelievable and at the same time frightful and she could only stood there in awe not able to think of any possible explanation.

 

            "Yeah, he'll be fine." Joel said as he bent down next to Jack and put Jack’s arm around his neck and lifted him up.

 

Amber carefully tried to step around the blood on the floor, but it was everywhere so she carefully stepped into a puddle and heard a sound that was like stepping into a puddle of water, but more gross. She put Jack's other arm around her neck and they carried him across the living room into his bedroom and laid him on the bed. Joel put him underneath the covers and stood over his body and looked at him for a moment before turned to her.

 

            They left his room as Joel closed the door behind us, he then looked around the living room and sighed.

 

            "I hate cleaning up." He muttered to himself.

 

            "Wait." Amber said.

 

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

 

            "I have no idea what's going on. First of all, I'm having dreams that are scaring me. Not only is that happening, but tonight one of them came true. You all seem to know what's going on but I don’t and I'm sick of it." She looked him straight in the eyes. "You will tell me everything I want to know and you will tell me now." She finished.

 

            Amber was scared and unsure whether she should have said that because she did not know what these people were capable of or what they wanted with her.

 

            "Alright." He said. She felt a sudden surge of relief flow through her body as Joel looked at the couch.

 

            "Please sit down. This might take a little while." He walked into the kitchen and pulled out a mop and bucket already filled with liquid somehow. Amber sat down at the far end of the couch near the door and he started to clean up the blood.

 

            "First I will explain to you everything from the beginning." He said.

 

Amber was finally about to get the answers she wanted as excitement and a little nervousness started to fill her.

 

            "A long time ago before recorded history when men were unorganized and roamed the world in small groups of nomads, we were tormented by the secrets of this world. There were superstitions and myths and legends that frightened us and controlled us. Our understanding was limited, but at some point Man began to dream about what they didn’t understand. Scattered about the world individuals began to dream of a very specific island with a natural mountain like spire rising from the center pointing towards the North Star. It was thought that the spire was the axis of the world upon which the sky turned.

 

            At first there were many dreamers that would see the island, the air and the sea upon which it sat, but no one inhabited the island. The island was a safe place that no other creature dared to venture and soon the dreamers realized that this could be a place of sanctuary. The dreams continued to come however no matter what they did or thought and some were very frightened by this."

 

            Amber could see the images he described in her mind as he spoke and the more she thought about it she could almost see and feel this world as if it was a long lost memory.

 

            "The island began to call to them. Soon it compelled them both while awake and dreaming. The island craved for inhabitants. Lead by the dreams, small groups of men left the land venturing out onto the ocean in search of the island. This island to them was a place they would be able to create their own destinies and would no longer have to be afraid and succumb to the will of the supernatural and natural alike. When the first finally arrived it was exactly like their in dreams and many people from different lands and cultures came together peacefully and settled there having found refuge from their struggles.

 

            They searched the island and discovered underground caves that were the dens of unknown beings. They were unsure of what the bones belonged to or why they were there, maybe previous inhabitants, but who or whatever they were was never discovered or revealed to them.

 

            Long after settling the island they still dreamed and new visions were given to them. Soon these visions, which showed them how they could learn about and master all the knowledge of life and existence, built a foundation to their beliefs. Man began to practice isolation from the world in which they would enter the bowels of the island or any cave cut off from all outside distractions and go into a deep sleep where their minds could leave their bodies and wander the astral realms beyond that of the physical world also called Astral Projection. It was here they met “themselves.” It can only be described as an inner awakening. The other selves they met put the dreamers through trials and tested them to see why they traveled on the astral roads and if they were worthy of the True World; or what we would call "Heaven". Many failed and they returned to their bodies filled with sorrow and for some reason unable to journey through dreams again.

 

            But some succeeded and they returned with a soul emitting a glow that was sparked by an unknown fire. The sight to see into the unknown was bestowed on them and they learned the secrets of creation by which the principles and substances of everything was made. They were soon able to call upon the heavens and the higher laws that ruled over lower realms of matter and spirit. They made their very thoughts real, imagination rendered into matter and touch. They created or discovered magic."

 

            As he said that Amber laughed a little.

 

"What's so funny?" He asked.

 

She looked at him with a glare you usually give someone when know they are exaggerating or lying. He understood the glare and shifted his position, but then after a moment he laughed too.

 

            "How did you get here?" He asked.

 

            "What do you mean?" Amber questioned back at him.

 

            "This apartment, you didn't come in through the door did you?" And it was then she remembered everything that happened not long ago. Joel was a good story teller and managed to get her mind off everything that happened at least for a little while.

 

            "I just appeared here with Jack." Amber said confused.

 

            "That's right. We're not quite technologically advanced in today's society to teleport someone with machines and science so we have to rely on more "mystical" methods of teleportation, like magic." Joel laughed again and she sat back in the couch feeling embarrassed.

 

            "Don't worry, it's alright. I felt the same you did." He said with a smile. "Anyway..."He continued with his story.

 

            "They had returned specially chosen or had proven to themselves of their worth. Those that returned were no longer blind and dreamt with their eyes open. The men began to discover humanity’s true potential, the universe beckoned for a master, someone to rule and it was the species of man who rose to the challenge. The many different peoples that settled the island organized themselves into a city-state that was led by the Magi or Chosen and they called it Atlantis."

 

            "Atlantis. Seriously?" Amber said.

 

            "Very." He said as she shook her head in disbelief.

 

            "You're telling me that Atlantis is real?" Amber asked.

 

            "Was." He said.

 

Amber noticed just how serious he was.

 

"All of the myths and legends that you know of are real. They are not just stories told for entertainment. They are lost history." Joel said without a smile on his face.

 

            She had to admit that what she has seen with, "magic" the possibility of Atlantis should not seem so crazy. She felt more inclined to believe Atlantis could quite possibly have been a real place and magic might not be some cheap trick for entertainment.

 

            "As I was saying...” He cleared his throat.

 

            "Soon five men rose above the rest in knowledge and power who were well on their way to mastering all they learned helped to govern the City of Atlantis becoming the first Five Kings. However, the power of creation soon outstripped the wisdom of those that wielded it. The pride of the Chosen rose unchecked and many generations after the first that established Atlantis began to succumb to corruption. Mage turned on mage and so was born the first Wizards' War. The men that ending up winning were traitors to the original five king’s heritage, they called Atlantis their own and created a magical corridor which they used to ascend into the Heavens and claimed the thrones of godhood for themselves exiling the Magi that had lost to the four corners of the Earth.

 

Among them that were banished were the Five Kings of Atlantis who were the descendants of those that established the rules and laws of not only Atlantis, but also the magical laws that helped govern the chaos that exists all around us. Each king had their own beliefs and powers which they used to divide and simplify magic into different categories. Now then they created this corridor to the heavens the subtle veils that were once placed to separate the higher and lower realms fell and the pure mixed with the impure. The universe itself shook with instability.

 

            Realizing the imminent destruction and corruption of the world, the exiled Magi banded together again and assaulted Atlantis. They went through the corridor and battled with the corrupt mages in their heavenly palaces. The struggles were terrible. The Magi’s and the power hungry both won and lost their fight. Some Magi’s stayed on high and continued to resist the corrupted ones that remained while both sides had others thrust back down to the lower realm. However, the damage that ensued from the battle and the foresight of one Magi destroyed the corridor. Reality cracked and fell in upon itself. The Rift, which we call it, was created between the higher and lower realms; a terrible void that sucked life and energy into itself. The abyss that was created divided the realms once more, keeping the high, pure realm from the taint of the low. The subtle veil that used to separate the realms was now a destructive gulf of unreality that was never meant to be. What was once a single, balanced world now existed two. The Heavens and the Fallen World, our world, with a vast rift separating them set the stage for where we are today. Soon the Rift hardened becoming a barrier which could not be passed except by the graces of magic and even then was a difficult task. Shaken by the war in the Heavens Atlantis' foundation crumbled and it sank to the bottom of the sea."

 

            Amber could see it in her mind, all of it. She could see Atlantis as he spoke and it looked just like the city she saw in the clouds. It was a beautiful city and the destruction that came must have been the battle between the clouds and the darkness. All of a sudden she felt sad for some reason; almost like it was a part of her and she had lived through it all.

 

            "This great decline was known as, “The Fall”, cut off from the higher realms by the Rift, chosen souls couldn't maintain their luminosity and lost their magic. Worse so the gravity of that void pulled and weighed down the eyes that allowed them visions of the unknown, even causing their souls to refuse and reject any visions of the higher world. The mages that remained chosen could no longer perform magic in front of the ones that were normal without invoking the dark and destructive powers from the Rift and the doubtful souls of those who fell. Only a few remained chosen keeping the flame of heavenly knowledge burning, while all others forgot everything.

 

And so it became harder and harder to call upon the magical energies across the void, but when they were, by being stronger than the Rift and souls that refused to believe came through tainted or when they just didn’t resist the Rift enough, sometimes the energies arrived warped and twisted, the result of which was unwanted and undesired by the wielder, creating what we call a Paradox. This was caused by those that were normal refusing what they saw and when they did the magic had unpredictable and chaotic effects.

 

            The Magi’s, seeing the threat that the Rift had upon the lower world that caused everyone to fall, broke off their battle with the corrupted mages and traveled through the Heavens using lore beyond the ken of the corrupted. The only remaining Magi’s in the higher world were the Five Kings which had knowledge passed down only through royalty and blood and so with each king, they erected a magical beacon in a single realm modeled after the spire that rose from Atlantis to help guide the normal or fallen people back to the astral roads like Atlantis had once done for their ancestors. These beacons sent visions across the darkness to the Fallen World allowing those that strive to find their way, like flames sending beacons across the vast night to the souls of the Chosen."

 

            When he talked about these beacons they reminded Amber of the five lights that shined through the darkness and the more he told her the more she started to believe Joel even though everything sounded absolutely insane.

 

            Amber let her eyes wander around the apartment, she tried to avoid the blood stained floors and spots on the walls that Joel slowly cleaned up; the apartment looked normal, like any other average person’s home would look like which helped bring her back to reality and away from the unbelievable story Joel told her, at least for a moment anyways.

 

            "Many of the corrupted mages in the Fallen World fought the powers of the Rift in an attempt to return to the Heavens. But they failed and were warped by the utter oblivion of the Rift becoming twisted creatures of darkness and the void consumed their power and even more depressing, their souls. That creature that attacked you; the one that Jack risked his life to protect you from, a Shadow is what we call them, but in reality they are the fallen souls of those ancient and corrupt mages." Joel said as he finished with the mop and set it aside against the nearest wall and then sat on the couch next to Amber.

 

            "There is more than one?" She asked.

 

            "We're not sure how many corrupted mages were cast down to our world, but yes. We know there are at least a few left." He answered.

 

Amber shuttered as a chill went down her spine and could feel a small ball of fear building up in her chest and her emotions started to build up and fight one another for control.

 

            "What about me? How do I fit in all of this?" Amber asked him.

 

            "Only one Magi remained in the Fallen World by the time it was all over. He had been bestowed by the Five Kings their knowledge in order to help guide those that were chosen and to begin the process of returning the worlds to the way they once were before the Rift was created and bring the worlds into harmony. He was deemed, the Keeper." Joel said.

 

            "And I'm a Keeper?" She asked.

 

            "Yes, you and your father. It is passed down through each generation like royalty. You are the ones that are to protect this world from the threat the Rift causes and to guide us back to that perfect world." Joel said. Amber smiled a little.

 

            "No. You're crazy." She said as she stood up and started to walk to the door.

 

            "Amber, wait." He said as he went after her.

 

He stopped Amber and turned her around.

 

            "You cannot possibly believe I'm lying after what you've seen." He said.

 

            "I don’t know what to believe right now. How do you know my name?" She asked.

 

            "Jack and I were your father's friends. We have been for a few years. He talked a lot about you." Joel said as he let go of her. "You can't go. You're not safe on your own anymore." He continued.

 

            "Not safe from what? Nightmares? Dreams? Scary stories?" She said sarcastically.

 

            "If you want to put it that way then yes." He answered.

 

            "No, I'm done and I'm leaving. This is all too weird. You've been telling me wild stories and all this is just a psychotic episode. There's a logical reason for all of this. I hit my head or I have a tumor in my brain. That seems more believable than this." She turned and continued towards the door because Amber had to go somewhere where she could get some help; some psychiatric help. Her heart raced and her emotions began to rise to the surface. Amber had gotten all worked up as she felt anger and sadness battle each other while confusion and fear called the fight from ringside.

 

            "Your father wasn't mugged and shot." Joel said and she could hear him shift around uncomfortable by how Amber had to be told this way how her father died.

 

She stopped at the door, her hand on the doorknob, and all she had to do was turn it, pull, and leave.

 

            "Your father was killed by a Shadow." He said that and Amber felt her hand drop to her side.

 

Amber thought about why she came to New York in the first place. She wanted to know more about her father and as much as she wanted to leave she could not.

 

            “And about all of those visions and dreams you’ve been having are of things which might happen and some are of what has already happened. They are your inner eyes opening up to the Real world.” Joel said.

 

Everything stopped for a moment when he said that and her emotions; thoughts, time itself just seemed to stop for a brief moment.

 

            "You're not alone Amber. Everyone that was chosen has been through this, including myself and even Jack," She stood at the door and did not think or try to move. "Even your father." Amber’s mind perked up with the mention of her father.

 

All she knew about him was the few memories as a child and the stories her mom told about how wonderful he was. For some reason, she believed it was her usual curious nature, Amber decided to stay. She had no one else that could tell her about her father except these two people she just met who claimed to know him. Amber could not let herself leave, not yet.

 

            "Just open your mind and consider the possibility." Joel said.

 

            Amber turned and looked at him as he stood in the middle of the living room. The sight of blood was horrible to imagine much less see it for real and he did not seem fazed by it; almost like he has seen it before, or even worse things. The room now had clean floors, but the walls still stained with blood bothered her.

 

            "I need a minute to think." She said and he nodded.

 

            Amber sat back down on the couch and tried to process everything and for the most part everything seemed to make sense and that maybe since things were so unbelievable they might be true. Whatever Amber thought it did not help her body and mind make peace from the war of emotions that raged inside her and she could not stay in control much longer as the adrenaline and shock started to wear off.

 

            "Why is all this happening now?" She asked.

 

Joel shifted his weight again as he stood there and Amber could tell he felt unsure about what to say or if he should say anything at all.

 

            "To protect you you’re dad created a magical veil to hide you from the world and to keep you safe. A spell that powerful requires much and I know very little about it, but when your dad died you lost part of that magical curtain. And when your mother died; it would seem another part of the curtain came down. Each veil or curtain had a specific purpose. So right now your mind is starting over from the beginning as if you are just waking up from a dream." He said.

 

As she thought about it nothing strange started to happen until her mom died.

 

            "So, my dad left when I was seven to protect me from the Shadows?" Amber asked and Joel nodded.

 

            "He didn't want you to be a part of this world."

 

            Amber could feel her eyes begin to water as the realization came down like a ton of bricks, My dad wanted to protect me, to protect her and her mom and Amber thought it was then that she started to forgive her dad.

 

            "So my dad was a Keeper? A Keeper of what exactly?" Amber asked.

 

            "He was a Keeper of Knowledge as are you. You hold all the power and keys of the Heavens. Knowledge is the most powerful thing to have in this world." Joel said to her.

 

            "So why me? Why my dad? Why do the Shadows want us?" Amber started to get emotional as she tried to fight back the tears.

 

            "Because you hold the knowledge that the corrupted; the Shadows want. If they get that knowledge they can return to the higher world and free themselves of the darkness that consumed and constantly tortures them for all eternity. At least that's what we think." Joel sat down on the couch next to her again.

 

            "So why are they after me if they got my dad?" Amber was able to mutter as she felt her world crash down around her and lose control of her body as her hands started to shake first before the rest of the body followed.

 

            "We should talk more after you’ve had a chance to rest." He said.

 

            Amber started to cry and lost control of her composure as her tears flowed  down her face, like a dam releasing all the water it held at once; Amber’s tears soaked her face and hands as she put them up to try and wipe them away. She tried not to cry; to be strong, but everything just came out at once; all of the visions, and dreams, and black outs, and secrets, the mugger in the alley, Jack and Joel, the Shadows, everything just came out and couldn’t be held back any longer.

 

            “I don’t want this.” Amber cried. “I don’t want this. I want a normal life. I want things to be how they were before.” She mumbled over and over again between gasps of breath and exhales of crying.

 

            Joel put his arm around Amber and she turned into him and laid her face on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him. She wanted someone to hold her; someone to make her feel better and make all this go away and it felt a little better to be held while she cried.

 

            Amber cried for a long time and when she finished was completely drained physically, but she wanted to know more even though she could barely keep her eyes open. Amber felt herself start to float and rise up from the couch and move across the apartment down a hallway. Amber felt light as a feather as she flew around; her eyes barely open.

 

            She could see Joel above her, carry her and he opened further an already slightly open door with his foot and brought Amber inside a room and laid her down on a bed then covered her with a blanket at which point she could not fight anymore because of the comfort of the bed and drifted off to sleep.

 

            As he shut the door behind him Amber finally relaxed and let her guard down and begun to feel kind of safe there in that bed or maybe safe with Joel and Jack who would watch over her. She could only hope that all of this was just a horrible nightmare and that she would wake up at home like nothing happened. The thing that bugged her while she drifted off to sleep was that she knew deep inside that it was all real and her life would no longer be the same; that it seemed now a path to walk on has appeared to guide her life. It made Amber a little happy to think of it that way as she felt that maybe, just maybe, this might be the direction in life she looked for all this time, a purpose.

 

Author's Note

YAY!