Witness: See Series (Volume 1)(52)

“It’s like a coming of age.”

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. I knew Draven and Aden’s birthday wasn’t until May; then they’d be twenty. “There’s a certain age?”

She shook her head no. “It’s not the same for everyone…usually, there’s a trigger that sets it off, something that makes them mad enough to invoke this power, and then…everything about them changes.”

“What was your brother’s trigger?” I asked, not needing to question Draven’s…it was the moment I forgot him, a moment I regret with every breath.

“Mum…her leaving.”

I nodded, realizing that would be enough to make anyone fight with anger. “What – what happens once that time comes? What’s next?”

She looked down at her hands and slowly began to twirl her rings. “The temptation…the final test.”

“What are you talking about? Explain. What test? What temptation?”

She took in a deep breath before she spoke. “At first, the nightmares come – the ones that are invoked by stress or anger – and all you want is an escape, to not feel, because feeling is too painful…then…then the nightmares shift into a more tempting world, one that you create, one that has no emotion or feeing – just numbness…that’s the temptation because when it’s over, all you can think about is how you’re going to get back there – when you’re going to feel nothing again. Then, once you’ve grown dependent on that realm, that absence from reality - you’re tested.”

“What is the test?” I asked, completely absorbing every single word she said.

“The test decides your position – whether you’ll remain forever in that realm or be charged with the duty of an Escort. When your test begins, you’ll stand in the center of two points; in front of you, you’ll see every nightmare you’ve ever faced, every fear, every evil deed; you’ll see every wrong you’ve ever committed in your existence. Behind you, you’ll feel the pull of the numb nothing that that realm offers…the ones that step back into the nothing to hide from their deeds remain in that realm. Those that face their deeds, feel grief for what they’ve done, they’re sent to reality, meant only to bring energy to those living in the realm.”

“So the Escorts are like servants to the darkness?”

She furrowed her eyebrows as she searched for a clear way to explain this to me. “In a way…they’re servants with a choice. Some might say that the Escorts are the masters, not the servants, because they have the ability to have life in both places, the ability to starve that realm into nonexistence.”

“How do the Escorts see themselves?”

“Most Escorts only think of one thing: how they’re going to get back to that realm, and how they can remain there, gain enough power to have control over all the energy that that world holds.”

“Most – but not all?” I questioned as I swallowed hard, hoping against all hope that there was a loophole, some kind of way that I could save Draven from this.

“Yeah…the others….they found courage in their test…they found enlightenment in witnessing their past - they see it as a choice to live again and redeem the evil they’ve done…but it comes with a high price…their emotions rule them, and any one negative emotion will send their past addiction of that realm to them – tempt them – haunt them – terrify them…basically, the only place they find peace is when they submit to their nature and escort dark energy to that world.”

We sat in silence for countless minutes as I tried to understand this existence of darkness, Escorts, another realm. It all seemed so unreal to me, but I felt myself searching for a solution, something that could save everyone.

“The Escorts could starve out that realm…a realm of darkness”

She nodded to confirm.

“So if someone wanted to help all of the damned, make sure they’re not sucked into that realm – helping the Escorts to remain here, helping them find calm and peace from another source – it would be a wise thing to do.”

She didn’t answer me, but I nodded anyway, seeing how that made perfect sense to me – almost as if I’d had that idea before, that I truly believed that that was a solution. I let out a deep breath. “You know, to be so young – you sure do seem to know a lot about all of this.”

“I just pay attention…listen.”

“You hear the shadows, too?” I asked.

“I hear it all,” she whispered as her eyes moved to the night air around us.

At that moment, a small white light appeared in front of the windshield. I focused my eyes and saw that it was a butterfly. I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking it was entirely too late in the year - or day, for that matter - for a butterfly to be out. Others appeared, all white, seeming to hold the glow of the first one I saw.

The one that had caught my attention landed on the windshield in front of me.

“Do you see this?” I mumbled as I leaned forward.

“They’re you…a guide to what you want.”

“My guide?!” I said as I looked to my side and found her waiting stare.

“Everyone has someone or something that’s meant to lead them in the moment they need guidance; right now, they’re yours.”