Holy War: Two Worlds and an In- Between

Chapter 40: A Man Left Behind

My feet beat against the ground faster than ever before. The orange and purple grass that reached my fingertips was still a marvel for my eyes, but that time I knew where I was going. Just as I'd hoped, there was no dome for me to explore or water for me to walk on. There was just a tree. A tree with a floating prism begging me to get it.

"The spirit orb," I thought to myself as I stood before it.

I reached out to touch it but couldn't quite find the courage. I hovered the palm of my hand over it and felt the warm light illuminating from it. I couldn't draw my eyes from it. Had I not needed to save my friends, I'd have looked at it forever.

Luckily, I was able to control myself and take the spirit orb into my hand. I began to wonder why they called the prism an orb. I held it at its base and had a seat on the ground.

I thought about what I was doing. I knew that I could have been jeopardizing my life, but if there was any chance I could fix what was wrong I'd do it. I wasn't going to just give up because it was hard. I was destined to fight in the war. I knew that meant saving Allioni and Jack even if that meant I'd die trying.

***

I took in a deep breath and focused on what I wanted to see. The first being Allioni. I wanted to see why he didn't stop Jack from turning into Arlow.

The world shifted around me to resemble the field. The farmhouse sat quietly as I realized that something was off. I rose to my feet and walked to the farmhouse.

Inside, Allioni was looking out of a window fiddling with the glasses in his hands. He seemed distracted, but didn't he always? I remembered Allioni saying that he didn't need to eat that often because he wasn't human. I realized that that rule may also have applied to sleep.

Jack was nowhere to be seen. I suppose if Allioni had been paying attention, he would have seen the old man creeping up behind him. The same old man who said that his wife was sick was walking over to Allioni with the same bracelet that Jack wore. He quickly wrapped it around Allioni's arm, and he immediately went to sleep.

The man pulled took Allioni over his shoulder, but at that moment Jack showed up. He saw the state that Allioni was in and was instantly confused. The old man pulled out a dagger and was about to stab Jack, but he thought too quickly.

Jack drew electricity into his arm and held onto the man's throat. The old man's body became electrified under his touch. He shook as the electricity surged through his body, but Jack didn't let go. He held onto him until the man was dead.

I didn't see Jack as a killer, but the way he could have let go but didn't say otherwise. The look of content when the dead body hit the floor strongly disagreed.

"Allioni! He called tapping Ally's face. He attempted to pull off the bracelet but couldn't.

He could hear guards coming to get him and had to think fast. He left Allioni and ran off into the woods. The guards came and took Allioni with them.

The next vision that I saw was of grandma. I smiled as I saw her in the beauty of her youth as she hummed a familiar tune. She was sunken to her knees in the light pink waters of the in-between as she seemed to be holding something below the surface.

I walked over to her as she continued to hum with her hands still holding something down under water. She didn't seem to notice me as she didn't even spare me a glance. Instead, she smiled down at the water as though she had completed a task. She tilted her head as she removed her hands from the water.

"Well, hello," she greeted in a soothing voice. A body began to rise from them as she continued to have a glowing smile on her face.

I bent over to see what she was looking at. As the water began to ripple and the body emerged from the body of water, my mouth gaped. My mouth hung open as I saw the body of a naked boy floating on the water.

Their face was small and round with a pointed chin but was also completely hairless. The same went for the rest of their body. There wasn't a single blemish, scar, or strand of hair on the body. In fact, it looked more like a lifeless corpse that was shaven from head to toe.

There was a moment of silence in the space. Grandma just continued to look over the body with a pleased grin on her beautiful face. I began to wonder if she had just gone mad and stole a dead body from a cemetery.

However, all suspicions were halted when the body took a ginormous gasp of air into its lungs. All of a sudden, their heart seemed to beat and their pale body began to gain some color. It wasn't long before he opened his eyes and was staring directly at me.

***

The next thing that I wanted to see was something I hadn't seen in a very long time. I wanted to see my family. I wanted to see my brother and my grandma. I wanted to apologize to Scarlett after I had to deal with a bunch of teenage girls, but I fought the urge.

Instead, I focused my mind on my goals and went back to the cell. When I got there, Jack, or should I say Arlow, was sitting on his bed. I didn't try to talk to him or even look on him. I just looked down at my hands and smiled at the spirit orb.

I was ecstatic that I was able to travel with it. The next step was to get out of the cell. I had no idea how to actually teleport through present day. When I went to the in between, I was only there in mind and spirit. Teleportation was different because I'd actually have to move.

"I was able to bring the spirit orb. Maybe I can teleport," I whispered to myself.

"You do know that the spirit orb itself can only remove between worlds because it is in and of itself a spirit right?" Arlow asked from his bed, "Of course you didn't."

I looked at him and thought of his murder. He killed an old man when he could have just wounded him. He took a life and left Allioni to rot.

"You saw what I did," Arlow commented approaching the bars again.

I marched over to him and looked dead into his eyes, "You lied to me. You didn't take him over when he took off the ring. He took over when he let darkness back into his head," I accused.

He chuckled, "He was always dark darling. I just helped him rediscover."

I shook my head, "There's a thing about darkness. Things that stay in the dark always come to the light. See, that's Jack. He may be lost at the moment, but I know he's in there. He's in there waiting for me."

He pressed his forehead against the bars and whispered, "Do you know who Calypso is?"

I looked him dead in the eyes and didn't falter a bit as I answered, "She's his true love."

He laughed and took a seat on his bed. I guess he realized that I wasn't playing his game. He looked at me through the bars almost as though he were impressed by me.

I could hear footsteps trailing down the steps to the dungeon. I placed the orb under the thin blanket on my bed and awaited whoever would arrive hoping that they weren't s