Page 57 of Synodic

The life I thought I knew melted and dissolved around me like an oil painting abandoned in the rain, bleeding into something unrecognizable, into something frightening. It was only now that I could see what a static and dull painting it really was. No depth, color, or use of light. Just a flat half-life rendered in monochromatic grey.

I’d like to say I knew I was meant for more. But if it hadn’t been for Natalie messing up her one job, who knew how long I would have lived my life in greyscale, blindly accepting the never-ending shades of black and white. I had only started to feel alive a couple of months ago, and now that I had a taste of life, it truly showed me what an empty existence I had been living. An existence forced and tricked upon me by my mother and roommate.

I could barely fathom how fortunate it was that I’d started flushing Natalie’s corrupted drinks down the sink. That was also around the time I started dreaming again. Dreaming of a darkness, a dead forest, and of Rowen.

Rowen!

I couldn’t stay here another minute. I didn’t want to, not any part of me. I had to get out of here. Get back to him, to his dark and emerald presence that always calmed yet challenged me. Excited me.

Back to Takoda and his kind eyes, and Ven who looked at me like I was his hero. And Nepta, who somehow knew me better than I knew myself. I even missed Dyani.

My father stood abruptly, scraping his chair against the linoleum flooring, making my mother flinch. “I need some air,” he said stoically, leaving the room without a backward glance. My mother hesitated a moment, then followed after him, leaving me as alone as I’d always been.

There was nothing left for me here—I’d been betrayed by my parents, my best friend, even by myself for living and accepting such an empty life. I clawed at my mind. I wanted out, but if I weren’t careful, I would break and lose myself right here on the hospital bed.

To be whole, I had to be in one place or the other. I couldn’t keep straddling both worlds, and now I didn’t have a reason to.

With my mind made up, I would consciously gather every cell, every molecule, every inherent part of me, and take it all back to Luneth—no second-guessing, no doubts, no moments of hesitation.

I wanted this.

I closed my eyes to the sterile hospital room, but all was entropy in my fracturing mind—I’d never find my way anywhere. Everything was collapsing all around me, and my foundation cracked at my feet, falling into an endless abyss. I sprinted across my breaking psyche; a single misstep and I’d be lost to the void between worlds.

The faintest glint of a thread appeared on the horizon, but I’d never make it. The ground was falling too fast. I banked to the right and stumbled as my runway shattered beneath me. I barely managed to right myself before another piece of my consciousness dropped away.

My mother was right about one thing. This ending terrified me.

Suddenly, an arm stretched out across the ether; fingers dipped in faded black moonlight. Rowen’s unmistakable hand reached for me, just out of grasp, and I hurled myself forward, barely catching his strong grip.

With his hand firmly clasped around mine, he helped pull me to the life I had chosen. He may have been pulling, but I was running with everything I had as the ground crumbled at my heels.

I was sprinting so fast it felt like wings were sprouting from my ankles, carrying me more swiftly than I could ever imagine. It was the greatest race I’d ever run. One where there was no person or time to beat, just me, my own pounding heart, determined mind, and resolute body, healing itself.

I finally saw the way home; that silver thread now a tunnel of light, and for the first time in my life, I was running towards something.

I took one final step, thrusting my whole body into the waves of undulating particles, leaving everything behind me. I shed my past along with what remained of the inky-black drug in my veins like a second skin. The hospital robe disintegrated off my body, leaving me as naked and free as a falling star.

And I flew, flew through the spiraling helix of worlds, galaxies, and silver light.

* * *

I woke up with a jolt, my body notching into place like a collapsible baton finally snapping into alignment.

My vision shattered in blinding shards of space and time, and I saw a massive black tree looming before me. The blighted branches twisted and bent at sharp angles like veins stretching across the night sky, spreading their poison.

The base of the tree looked to have been cleaved in half, creating a tunnel through the giant trunk. You could walk right through it if you wanted to.

Bolted into both sides of the tree’s opening were two shackles, swaying lazily in the wind. Their ominous dance was a warning for the hands destined to be captured in their clutches, and my wrists itched uncomfortably at the thought.

Lightning struck, illuminating two figures standing beside me. By sheer size alone, I recognized one of them as Graem. I shielded my naked body from the giant’s stare only to realize my skin was shining so bright it was as if I had swallowed the moon.

The other being’s presence was dark, frigid, and without end, shrouded in a black cloak of shifting mist.

The lightning dissipated, returning all to shadows, then it struck again violently, clattering my teeth. The hooded figure was facing me now, and we locked gazes. His eyes were like black holes, maelstroms of red and orange matter from which nothing could escape, not even light. The creases around his eyes were deep and prominent because his smile was so frighteningly genuine. His teeth were long and sharp, making his venomous sneer even more sinister.

It was the most horrifying thing I’d ever seen.

“I’ve been looking for you, my little light,” he said, his endless stare unblinking. “It won’t be long now until you’re mine.”

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