Shadows…hewas surrounded by shadows. Tears running down his face, unable to move, Seri stared at the shadow of what remained of their car. As that was what it was—a shadow, the details gone. The world was full of darkness and nothing else. Shadows and darkness. Preston was here… He was here… The Shadow Realm… Seri had been dragged into the Shadow Realm.
Preston was furious. He only locked him here when he was enraged. What had he done?!
He let out a silent scream as a large shadow flew through him, its form creating a patch of pure darkness in his vision before bringing back the eerie monochromatic world he was in. That large shape stopped near the wrecked car. It was the SUV…
Wait…SUV… What SUV? It wasn’t Preston… Severo! It was Severo! Preston wasn’t here. He couldn’t be…
Shadowy figures jumped out of the vehicle, taking off towards the car. But then his view was blocked by the agent’s face. Severo was the one brightness in the dark. His olive skin seemed to glow, the bandage on his nose luminescent in its whiteness. The man was talking, but his voice was so muffled, Seri couldn’t make sense of it. The Dweller’s brow was pinched, his dark hazel eyes full of concern.
Seri blinked, tears still running down his face. Why would he be concerned? Why would he care? No one cared. No one ever cared.
Severo gently grasped his face. More words came out, and the concern he’d seen appeared to grow.
But it couldn’t be real…and it didn’t matter if it was or not…because he didn’t need anyone to care as long as he had…
“Skya,” Seri gasped. The sound snapped everything into focus, like he’d flipped a switch.
“—are safe. I promise, Seri,” Severo said.
“Skya!” he cried as her wails rang in his ears.
“Shh.” He brushed a tear away. “Skya is fine. She was just startled. You are both fine.”
“Dark...” he rasped, breathlessly. “Can’t move.”
“You can move. You may have a new scrape or too, but you can move. And it’s not dark. Look, there are many shades of indigo here, all beautiful and different. There may be some darkness but I promise, it’s not pure void. It’s only the deepest shade of indigo. Yes, it’s still a shadow, but there is more than pure darkness here. No detail is lost, unlike in the shadows of the real world. Colors, look, Seri, really look.” Severo turned his head towards the side of the road.
His eyes widened as the world he once thought was all black and gray, detail-less, slowly began to transform. Hundreds of different tones and shades of blue appeared and colored the world. Everything was still…a shadow, but they weren’t solid like in the real world. Every single detail was there in blue. It was still monochrome, but no longer the pure colorlessness that was Preston’s cold world. And…he realized that it was…warm here. Not uncomfortably so, but cozy…
His shoulders sagged, his heart slowing as the fear faded some.
Severo released his face and he turned to look at the man.
“See, it's not that scary here. Different, but not scary,” Severo said with a kind smile.
Seri didn’t respond, and instead, he reached for Skya. She was sitting there crying in her car seat right next to Severo. Pressing the button for her straps, he plucked her up and held her tight, slowly beginning to rock her as he sang softly to soothe her.
Severo didn’t react at all to being ignored. Instead, the man stood, and gently prodded Seri into doing the same, helping him to his feet with a hand on his arm.
As Skya began to calm, Seri did also. His shaking slowed, his baby’s scent and warmth bringing back a slight feeling of safety. He took a deep breath in through his mouth, letting the air filter out through his gills. It felt…slightly off. Not dry, but the sensation was different.
“Sorry about how rough our landing was,” the Dweller said when Skya had calmed down and was no longer crying. “There wasn’t time to do much. And I couldn’t take the car’s shadow with us due to the speed it was going. Skya was startled when her car seat bumped the pavement, but otherwise she’s unharmed. I checked her, before trying to snap you out of…your…” The man trailed off…
Seri eyed Severo with a raised brow. “My breakdown?”
The Dweller grimaced. “Yeah, that.” The man snagged Skya’s baby seat off the ground.
Seri looked around. This Shadow Realm was nothing like he’d come to expect one to be… It was more like a painting here, than a nightmare. Like an artist had brushed over every detail of the real world, not leaving a single thing out.“Why is it so different?”
“From Preston’s?”
“Yes…”
“Because his realm is not mine. Each Shadow Realm is based on the person who it belongs to. It’s a creation of our soul. If Preston’s is vastly different from mine, it’s because his soul is vastly different.”
“His soul must be black as night then. For his realm is cold, and in all grays and black. Yet…there are no details there, like there are here. Most things are just solid shadow.”
“For a man such as him, it sounds fitting.”
