The doors opened before me. It was dark inside.
I left the vibrant crowd and sea of lights behind, then walked through the doors.
As if a veil had been lifted from my eyes, I could see everything clearly.
A certain peace of mind settled on my shoulders, and I could breathe again—fully, vivaciously, for the first time in what seemed like forever. The theater itself was abandoned. It didn’t match the pompous reception outside.
Inches of dust lingered on the dark green velvet chairs. The movie hall was shaped like an amphitheater, and I was at the very top. Images were flashing on the big screen at the bottom. Fragments of my life edited into some kind of movie.
“Oh, wow,” I murmured, going down the stairs.
I was light on my feet, as if gliding. The closer I got to the screen, the better I could see. Those were memories of mine. My first spell casting—accidental, of course, when I’d wandered into Grandma Corrine’s room during a family dinner and found her witchy workspace. My first bike ride, with Dad anxiously running by my side, struggling to keep up, while I sped up to get rid of him because I didn’t like his helicopter parenting.
My numerous escapades into the redwood forest with Hunter, back when we were kids. We used to hide up in the trees and scare anyone who passed by—until we came face-to-face with a rather grumpy Derek.
I couldn’t help but laugh, staring at the screen. Hunter looked so handsome on it, like the sweetest memory. My heart fluttered whenever he showed up. Then why am I so okay with Laura or Melanie or Gina or whatever their names are?
My memories never betrayed me, no matter what I’d seen in this strange dream state. I could see myself pining over Hunter. Grunting and pouting whenever he missed a Sunday dinner with me and my folks because he was wooing some succubus or vampire chick or anyone but… me.
I could see everything, right there on that screen. My love for him, unfolding, one memory at a time. Yet the clarity in my mind left no room for such feelings.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “I don’t get it! What is this?” I called out, hoping someone might hear me. “Why are you doing this to me? Say something!”
The silence that ensued was deafening. The screen went black. Goosebumps tickled my skin.
When it lit back up again, there was an image of me, standing by the shore—a midnight in The Shade. A tidal wave was headed toward me. I didn’t remember this. This didn’t happen.
But that wasn’t the strangest part. The dark silhouette of a male figure stood at the bottom of the screen. I didn’t need to see his face to know that he was looking at me. I could feel the eyes drilling through my very soul. My heart skipped a beat.
For a moment, I would’ve expected to see Hunter. But I knew it wasn’t him. I’d left Hunter back at the restaurant.
No, this was someone else. Or something else.
“Who… Who are you?” I asked.
“I was wondering how long it would take you to find me. I’ve been waiting for a long time, Kailani,” the man replied.
“I don’t know who you are. I can’t see you that well. Would you mind stepping into the light?” I asked, hoping he’d take a couple of steps forward—just enough to reach one of the spotlights at the edge of the stage.
He didn’t move. “You know who I am. And you know that you cannot see me. This is as clear as I will ever be, unless you tell me what you want.”
His voice resonated in the pit of my stomach.
Oh, I know exactly who you are.
I could’ve sworn he smiled. “That’s right, Kailani. You know me.”
“You’re… You’re the Word,” I whispered.
“And it took you a while to get here. Longer than most of my conduits, I’ll admit.”
“Whoa…”
I was breathless. This was a Word-mode, only the complete opposite of everything I’d experienced so far. All of a sudden, I became incredibly self-aware. I remembered my grandparents. The diamond dome. Raphael. Hunter. Strava. The Perfects. My crew, with Ben and Rose. Lumi. The Draenir. The Draenir I’d… killed.
“We have a lot to talk about, Kailani,” the Word said.
“Oh, we most certainly do!” I muttered, feeling all the rage in the world gathering in my throat. I could scream at this point.
But the Word, a mere black silhouette, raised one hand, and all my emotions were gone. “I apologize. I forget how intense you can be,” he replied.
I was blank like a sheet of paper. Every feeling I’d just remembered and experienced again was gone, as if erased from the drawing board altogether. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand how the Word could have such control over me.
“Finally, I have you all to myself,” the Word added.
I was ready to talk. It was time to bring this to an end.
Nathaniel
We didn’t have any trouble moving through the colosseum. Just like Araquiel had assumed, no one kept track of the Perfects. No one even asked us if we were supposed to be on this level, and not elsewhere. The Faulties didn’t even have the courage to look at us—the poor souls.
Araquiel stayed close as we advanced through the hallway, placing the smaller charges at the top of the structural pillars. Amal had devised their wireless detonation system, making it a fantastic way to tear this whole place down, since we didn’t have any cables to struggle with.
We heard about the commotion on the southwest side from Perfects passing by but kept moving. We knew what Herakles was up to, anyway.
According to our colosseum blueprints, we had a few more charges to drop on this level before heading out to the north entrance, where Araquiel would detonate them all. Deena pointed at a storage room, one of five, built side by side in the ground floor’s eastern quadrant.
“We should put one in there,” she said. “It’s the closest to the internal pillars.”
