A Broken Truth

7: The Other Side

As I made my way toward the bridge, Isaac talked to me.

"You little liar..." Isaac's deep voice echoed in my head.

"What do you mean?" I asked feeling annoyed.

"You acted all brave around her, but you're not brave at all. You're really scared to go back. Why's that?" He asked mischievously.

I looked down, "You were part of the group of Entities that were going to kill me if I hadn't gotten away. I don't want to run into them again."

"Oh, you'll run into them for sure. I'm actually surprised that he hasn't bothered you..." Isaac sounded angry when he mentioned this 'He'.

"Who are you talking about?" I asked.

"He told us you were an interesting one and that we aren't allowed to harm you in any way, so instead I jumped ahead when they weren't paying attention and tried to take over you. Obviously, that didn't work. Oh, you didn't see him because he was watching from a distance. Apparently he sensed you, so we looked for you. We easily found you. He said your scent was...familiar." It seemed like he completely ignored my question and went on with his explanation.

"You didn't answer my question." I said as I rolled my eyes.

"You'll know who he is once you see him. I hate him as much as you do." Isaac quietly growled.

I made it to the bridge and hid behind a building. The police guarded the bridge. I went up to the roof of the building and zoomed, or flew my way past the police without them noticing. I stopped midair and dropped onto the middle of the bridge, landing on my feet. I walked the rest of the way.

"Hey, Isaac, how does being a leader work?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Well, there are a few branches before the main leader that is in charge of every inch of The Other Side. Each branch has its own leader. The first branch is called the Low Tier. It contains Entities that are the most unstable, meaning that they don't have a set emotion that they feed on. The energy that they need tends to change sporadically because they don't have a title. The leader of that branch is the Entity of Addiction. Are you caught up so far?" He asked.

I looked down, confused and asked, "What do you mean by a title?"

"A title always begins with 'the Entity of...' and then the effect of the emotion we feed on comes after. For example, I am the Entity of Corruption because I feed on people's superiority and hunger for power, thus corrupting the individual." He explained.

"Oh, I get it. Go on." I said as I continued to move forward.

"The next branch contains both the Middle Tier and the High Tier. The Middle Tier, led by the Entity of Egoism, consists of Entities who have titles and are extremely proud of them to an obnoxious extent. They're also not very powerful, but they fully believe that they are. The High Tier is led by the Entity of Gossip. She likes drinking tea a lot, so if you smell tea then that means she's near." Isaac sighed.

"Tea, how disgusting. Anyway, the High Tier consists of Entities that greatly appeal to audiences and they are very good at convincing others to get what they want. I'm in the High Tier. Finally, there's the Superior Tier. This is its own branch and it only has one Entity, who is the leader of the Other Side. He is the Entity of Influence. He's...my brother." His voice was low, hushed, but became angry when he mentioned his brother.

"Your brother?" I asked. Isaac went silent.

I reached to the end of the bridge. The Other Side still had snow and it was freezing. I cautiously entered The Other Side. Everything was still black and white. It was still dead silent. I was shaking from the cold and I looked around.

Empty...where could Jewel be? Isaac, you know this place better than I do. Talk to me.

Isaac sighed, "It depends on what Entity took her. If she was taken by the leader then it'll be almost impossible to get her back. Who knows if she's even still alive?"

"I have to find her, no matter what. Dead or alive." I said, determined to look everywhere I could.

"Let's start with the Low Tier. The best bet is to talk to the Entity of Addiction." He said.

I sighed and complained, "Can I give each leader a different name? It's a mouth full to say their titles."

"Fine, just hurry up and get this over with. I don't like being here." He growled.

"Why not? Isn't this your home?" I asked with a puzzled look.

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, I'll tell you where to go to get to each branch. It's easy to make a wrong turn and run into trouble, so listen to me carefully." He demanded.

"Alright, I'm listening." I said and followed Isaac's directions carefully.

Isaac led me to the front of a building. It had glowing lights that I assume would have been colorful if everything wasn't black and white. I also couldn't tell if it was day or night. There was no way to tell time there. I felt disoriented, despite knowing where to go.

I read the glowing letters on the building, "Local Turmoil."

What kind of name is that? Is this a bar or something?

"You'll see once you go inside." Isaac said.

I took a deep breath as I walked in. Immediately, the smell of smoke and alcohol filled the air. Everyone in the building partied like crazy. Another thing caught my eye: there was gambling.

If they're gambling, what are they putting on the line? Do Entities have money like humans?

"Not money, but power. The more power you have, the more privileges you get. I think they're gambling to see who is the most powerful. I'm not sure what the reward is though. Maybe bragging rights? That may be all these Entities can get being in the Low Tier." Isaac laughed.

Why are you laughing? Are they pathetic to you?

"Of course they're pathetic! They're the weakest after all. Plus, I'm from the High Tier, remember?" I could tell that he probably had a smile on his face. He knew very well that he was more privileged than the Entities in the Low Tier.

I walked further into the building, looking for Jewel. However, there was no sign of her. Instead, I found a door leading to outside. I walked through the door to get fresh air.

Smelling smoke and alcohol gets old pretty fast.

"Blame the Entity of Addiction. Also, I forgot to mention that the group of Entities you saw when you first came here were all leaders of each branch." Isaac explained.

"Wow, thanks for telling me now." I responded sarcastically.

Isaac responded in a sassy manner, as if he was trying to mock me, "Well sorry! I wasn't exactly thinking about it at the time! Oh, speaking of which..."

"Speaking of who?" I asked feeling scared and confused.

At that moment, I felt a presence behind me. Once I felt it, I got an adrenaline rush and my heartbeat increased.

I turned around to find a guy standing close to me. He wore a red T-shirt, torn up jeans, and black sneakers. His eyes were orange and his hair was light brown. He looked like he was over 6 feet tall. He also wore a wristband that had the words, "Low Tier Leader" on it.

Once I saw the words on his wristband, my body started shaking in terror.

He smiled mischievously,

"Found you."