The Shadows' Encyclopedia

Chapter 14, in which I Meet Gabe

"According to our sources, the Agency in World 003 doesn't know what Gabriel is and has employed him for militaristic purposes. This is not going to turn out well for anybody."

--The Shadows' Encyclopedia

Early next morning, I wake up, brush my teeth, and head outside. Me, along with two fully armed security personnel with bullet proof vests under their gray shirts, crowd into a machine. The machine turns on. Soft lights flash, moments pass.

"Y/N?" says one of the security personnel. "We're here. By the way, he already knows we're sending you--the shadow knows, I mean. We told him you're a researcher at our facility, and we wanted to study benevolent shadows, so then we'll be able to better deal with violent ones. He'll find a place for you to stay and stuff. Don't worry, we'll be there and make sure nothing bad happens."

I say, "Thank you."

A silence, and then the second security personnel says, "Come on. I don't think Y/N needs your protection. Have you ever killed a shadow in under five hours? And a shadow like Sleeping Beauty, no less..."

I'm not sure if she's entirely joking or not, so I say, "What? No. I definitely need protection. I'm a delicate... as delicate as glass, you know."

They laugh, and I laugh as well. The first bodyguard (Maeve) opens the door and steps out. I step out after her as the second bodyguard (Nova) follows me.

I feel a roaring wind against my skin, and I almost fall over. What is the deal with this wind? that I feel like I might topple over and get tossed through the air at any moment. I steady my body, Maeve say, "Y/N, come on. Let's go inside. It's so windy out here in the open."

I follow her. As we walk, I take note of my surroundings. As fantastical as it might sound, we're on the roof of a flying building. Above us is a fogged grey sky. Through the iron railings beneath are feet is a magnificent city, choked with huge skyscrapers, perfectly coordinated roads, spashes of green foliage placed in just the right spots to be stunning but not distracting, so beautiful that it almost blinds you.

Around us are numerous helicopters, balloon shaped airplanes. At least, I think they're airplanes. They have wings and everything, but they're also a lot tinier. A few of them only barely have space for like two people and are even smaller than the machine.

What is this place?

Maeve and Nova guide me to a door. I break into a jog to keep up with Maeve's long strides. The door leads into a winding marble staircase.

Eventually, we reach a very weird room. The ceiling is tall and on it is a painting of something...? I'm not sure what it's supposed to be. There's a lot of naked people. The style and colors remind me of Michelangelo paintings my history teacher showed our class in high school.

In front of us a well-polished path. The path is made out of some hard, shiny material. I'm not an expert, but it looks like real diamond to me. On each sides of the path are symmetrically positioned trees. Apple trees, to be specific.

At the end of the room is another staircase, this time leading up, and the top of that staircase is a door guarded by two men dressed in three-piece suits, pistols on their belts.

We climb the staircase, and as we near the door, the two guards step forward and bow. "Hello," says one of the men, smiling. "Sorry to interrupt your evening. I don't think you've visited our establishment before. Do you have an ID or anything on you that can verify your identity?"

I say, "Yes, I'm Y/N. I'm a researcher from World 001. I'm looking for Gabriel. Do you know him?" As I speak, I take out my work ID from my pocket, which has on it my name and photo.

One of the guards cranes his head and peers at my ID, and then, smiling, he says, "Thank you, Y/N. We have been informed of your visit. Right this way, please." As he says this, he and his companion steps aside to let me and my entourage pass. I thank him and walk through the door.

Inside, about ten blinding white light on the ceiling illuminates the room. There are a bunch of tables, and... wait, this is a casino. Slot machines, card tables, those little round discs--casino tokens.

The employees are all dressed in three piece suits, just like the two guards guarding the door. The guests are dressed a lot of flamboyantly with bellowing skirts, loose jackets, radiant colors like yellow and blue and red and green. I wonder if people in this world are just normally dressed this way, or is this a costume party/cosplay thing?

The guards guide us through the brilliance until we arrive at the end of the building. There, we discover another door. The guards opens the door and gestures for us to go in, but they stay outside.

One of the guards explain, "This is Mr. Gabriel's VIP suite. Mr. Gabriel prefers warm temperatures, so we've set the heater in his suite to run at full power at all times. We don't encourage staff or visitors to stay in there for more than thirty consecutive minutes, as prolonged exposure to temperatures like that may lead to health problems for people other than Mr. Gabriel."

We agree and step into Gabriel's suite.

As the guard promised, it's hot in here. It's like a sauna, except the air here is very dry. Inside the room, there's one table, several chairs encircling it, and a slot machine in a corner. The room is extremely crowded. A few dozen people are standing around and chatting loudly, or sitting at the table, playing cards, or playing the slot machine.

One of the people sitting at the table stands up. He wears a lavish, oversized fur coat and a glittery dress shirt underneath. Unlike any of the other people here, there's no sweat on his face or hands. This must be Gabriel. (I think there are some weird shapes in his eyes... or maybe it's just a trick of the light.)

He waves in our direction and shouts something that I can't fully hear amidst the buzz.

"I can't hear you," I say. We push through the throttling crowd and try to reach him.

Finally, when we're near enough, I hear him yell, "HELLO!!! I'M GABIREL BUT YOU CAN CALL ME GABE!!! PLEASURE TO MEET YOU, LOVE!!!"

We keep shuffling for a bit until we're right beside him, and then I say, "Hi, Gabe. I'm Y/N. I'm a researcher from World 001."

Gabriel says, "Y/N? Wow, I didn't even realize it's you. Sorry, love, my little den here must be murdering your ears. Would you like me to show you and your friends to your room? And we can have somewhere quieter and more private to talk."

"That'll be great," I say.

"This is actually a hotel," Gabriel says. "We're on the casino floor right now. I'll take you to the elevator."

He takes us to the elevator. We go a few floors down, where all the hotel rooms are.

"Y/N, you can sleep in this room," he says, giving me the key. "There's a balcony in there. I hope you're not afraid of heights."

He turns to Maeve and Nova, gives them two keys, and points to two rooms right beside mine, saying, "You two can stay here. My room is on the ground floor, which is just one floor down from this one. So if anyone ever gives y'all any trouble, that's where I'll be. Let's see... what else... oh, Y/N, don't you need to ask me a few questions about shadows and stuff?"

I thank him and say, "Yeah, that'll be great."

He says, "Awesome. There's a conference room right down the hall. Follow me. Please make it quick, though. It's very chilly in here. You don't want me to catch a cold, right, love?" He laughs.

We follow him down the hall.

I brush my hand through my hair, repeating in my mind what Liam said and what my mission is. The best solution we have is to kill off as many shadows we can find before they turn on us.

Eventually, I'll have to kill this guy. My hand trembles. I reach for the comforting, metallic touch of the revolver on my belt.