The Halves of Us

3. Adie

3AdieEven as Adie walked down the hallway, awake and free of her nightmares, she could still feel the crawling sensation just below her skin. She rubbed the silk sleeves covering the scratches she gave herself last night. There was nothing underneath her skin, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Images from the dream haunted her. They haunted her like a hunter stalks prey. To fight was futile. Her mind would eventually tear her apart. It always did. Even when she closed her eyes, the nightmare stayed inked into the back of her eyelids. The hairs on the back of her neck raised as she remembered her mother’s guttural cries as a lady in waiting told her to push. It was our birth . . . but not the same. Not the same because it ended with everyone being dead.

Her father’s joyous smile surfaced, proudly boasting the first baby born and naming her Aura. But his joy vanished when a bright crimson light appeared in the corner of the room, shooting sparks that circled around one another as the ground trembled and the walls cracked. A burst of light pulsated through the room, blinding Adie as she hid in the corner. When she opened her eyes, there was only death.

Then came the black lines swimming through her veins, creating a painful heat, burning her skin.

She scratched at her wrists, attempting to ease the discomfort from the memory of the slithering snake-like lines underneath her skin. They were never there. It’s all in your head. She focused on her Uncle Gossamer’s full head of gray hair up ahead as he led them toward the Room of Papers. She inhaled deeply, letting her shoulders rise and fall as she exhaled. There’s only so much Fae dust can do to cover up the redness under my eyes. Thankfully, Thora, their lady in waiting, didn’t ask questions when she asked for more dust. The nightmares had grown stronger in the past few months. For a moment, Adie wished their one-on-one tutoring could continue through their final year.

A nervousness crept up her back, making her shiver. Today she found out her Fate. It wasn’t like she already didn’t know. But today, it was more real, set in stone, and she couldn’t deny it any longer. And afterward, her first one on one lesson with her mother and the Rokis. But I’ve already touched the Rokis. She cursed her younger self for being so reckless. The tree. Adie had tried for so long to forget the tree she saw that night when she disappeared. The way the limbs seemed as though they were extensions of Aura, coming toward her as black clouds swirled through them. It had looked just like the tree from the viewing. The Wicked Willow. She shivered again.

She’d kept the secret for so long. They both had. It dug into her soul, creating a hollow pit where she stuffed all her fears of not being the true future Ruler of Thindoral. She wondered how Aura dealt with the secret. Aura! Adie glanced around feeling guilty of drowning in her own thoughts and sadness. I’ve never seen Aura that scared. She’s the brave one.

Adie slowed and moved to the wall so other students could pass her. Aura’s fiery red hair toward the back of the crowd caught her eye, and she hurried toward her. Her furrowed brow, clenched jaw, and the shaking of her head made her appear as though she was arguing with herself.

“Aura, are you—” Adie paused when she saw Aura’s hand linked to another’s.

A tall, dark-skinned boy with curly black hair smiled at her. Aura quickly released his hand as though she just realized she was holding it.

But what about Samuel? Aura had eyes for Samuel since they were young, but Samuel had never shown any interest moving beyond friends. She remembered the way his gray eyes had looked at her earlier. Why doesn’t he look at Aura that way? She dismissed the thought and focused on Aura.

“I wanted to check on you after the viewing. Did you really hear the Sight speak?” Adie asked as they continued toward the Room of Papers.

Aura didn’t say anything but shot her a hurtful look.

“I believe you . . . I just . . .” She searched for the right words and fumbled with her hands. She watched the boy stare at Aura. He looked as though he wanted to speak, but like Adie, struggled to find the words.

They remained silent and slowed as the crowd up ahead came to a stop. Voke, Mr. Ribblet’s son, came up beside them. He rubbed his bald, oval-shaped head. His skin shifted to a darker shade of green, revealing his nerves, and he croaked. Adie was about to say something to calm him, when she heard her uncle’s voice.

“We’re headed down to the former dungeon area. It hasn’t been used as a prison in hundreds of years. It’s more of an archive area now, deep inside the mountain connected to the Dome.”

Adie turned to speak to Aura, but she was no longer by her side. How does she always disappear like that? We were supposed to do this together. They reached a large door she’d never been through but had always made her curious. Or more, it had always made Aura curious.

Don’t tell Aura not to touch something, because then all she wants to do is touch it.

The f*******n Door.

It remained locked at all times. Long, thick bars of brass bolted the silver door, crisscrossing at different angles, making the door impenetrable. Adie shuddered as she heard her mother’s voice in her head. Behind this door lies the Fates of our people, guarded by a creature most foul.

Years ago, when she and Aura would sneak through the Dome and find all the secret tunnels, no matter how hard they searched, they couldn’t find another way past this door. The only ones allowed to enter were those in their final year of Teachings. They’d always discussed going through this door together.

Gossamer shuffled with his keys, but Adie’s eyes caught a quick slide of his hand as he pulled a key from his pocket she’d never seen before. The pale key had a soft glow. Adie gazed around, wondering if anyone else had noticed.

As Gossamer turned the key, he took a step back, and they watched the brass bars shift around the door, clicking as they each moved to the side. The door shuddered as it eased open. Following Gossamer’s lead, the students shuffled in, forcing Adie forward without Aura. The dark tunnel had white vines trembling along the walls and creeping beside them as they walked through.

As they reached a spacious open room, Gossamer fumbled through his array of keys until he reached a wooden one with an elongated and bent torso. He inserted the key in the only door in the room and turned it with ease. The door creaked, and all the students watched with wide eyes.

A humpback creature unlike any Adie had seen on Thindoral, stood in the doorway, towering over Gossamer. Peachy rugged skin covered him except for the tousled hair on his large round head. A sharp beak protruded from his face, and a thin opening stretched across it, creating what Adie assumed was a smile. Sharp, silver teeth lined his grin in multiple rows, and a foul rotten smell filled the air around him as he panted breathlessly.

Gossamer faced the students. “This is Mister Dilip. He will escort you, one at a time, into the Room of Papers.”

Mister Dilip looked about the main room of the dungeon with his beady pink eyes. He clasped his hands in front of him, revealing three wrinkly fingers on each hand, and sighed with anticipation. Adie stepped forward to get a better look and listened to his gruff voice.

“You will each enter individually. It’ll seem but an instant to those who remain waiting out here, but remember, time doesn’t bind this room. There are rows. There are stacks. There are thousands of papers.” His eyes grew wider with excitement as he gazed at the students surrounding him. In a deep, raspy voice, he continued, “You’re searching for one sheet of paper. The one that’s not blank. That one will reveal your Fate. Your destiny. Welcome to the Room of Papers.”

The students peered behind him, but all they saw was darkness. “Who’s first?” he asked as one eye spun around in its socket, making his pink iris vanish. All the students stepped back in a hushed gasp, except one.

Aura.

Her distraction was obvious. Her eyes remained glued to the floor and her hands were in fists. Her gaze broke when Voke croaked loudly. An Ogre next to him grunted and hunched his shoulders, trying to disappear into the crowd.

Mister Dilip’s three fingers motioned her forward. Adie watched as Aura held her head high as she walked toward the dark room. She paused only momentarily and glanced over her shoulder. Adie forced a smile and prayed Aura would come back with a pleasing Fate. Gossamer motioned for Aura to continue, and she entered the room, disappearing into darkness as he shut the door behind her.

What seemed like only thirty seconds later, a pale-faced Aura walked out of the room. Within her trembling hands, she held a large, rectangular white sheet of paper. She walked toward Adie quickly and stood next to her sister.

“How long was I gone?”

“About thirty seconds or so,” Adie whispered.

“Seemed like an hour.” Aura said, showing Adie her paper.

“I don’t see anything.”

“And you won’t,” Mister Dilip interjected. His eye rotated again. “You alone will see the image on your own paper. You alone will see your Fate. You can’t see the Fate of others. You may only share your Fate with those it involves.” He looked around at the crowd, all the students hesitant to be next.

Adie stepped forward, nominating herself.

“Come. Come, Future Ruler.”

Adie took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She walked forward and into the dark room, stealing a quick glance behind her to get reassurance from Aura, but the door had disappeared. Mister Dilip, Gossamer, Aura . . . everyone was gone.

“Mister Dilip?” Adie shouted into the emptiness. She took a few steps backward, stopping when a solid surface met her back. She turned to see a tall stack of papers messily gathered, towering over her.

A heavy woofing sound startled her. Bright lights from an unknown source appeared from overhead, revealing black walls and endless rows stacked with towers of papers.

Adie sighed. She took a few strides forward and looked back from where she came. The rows grew, appearing more numerous on each side. She squinted, trying to see out into the room, searching for an end to the rows, but found none. Adie brought her arms in close to her chest and shuddered as a coldness crept up her spine.

She spun around, trying to remember from which direction she came. “This is impossible.”

Just when she decided which way to go, the light in front of her went dark, causing her to freeze. Her stomach fluttered, and the pathway disappeared into darkness. Adie stuck her hand out, running it across something smooth, solid. A wall.

A black wall stood in front of her. A dead end. She brought her arm back to her side and turned to her right. The light went out again. She spun around.

Two choices left. She stepped forward slowly, and the light stayed on. With a smile, she continued, peering down rows and rows of papers, all appearing the brightest of white. She stopped walking when the light in front of her went out again, forcing her to turn down a row on her left. The row led down to another dead end, but this time it wasn’t a wall stopping her path. It was a stack of papers. She looked up, not able to see the top of the stack.

A single white sheet floated down from above her head, and it came to rest at her feet. She picked it up and flipped it over. White on both sides. Around her, the lights dimmed except for a single source above her. The stack of papers that had stopped her in her path were now the only ones left in the room. The stack swayed back and forth, and Adie stepped away, watching it slowly start to fall. No . . . no! She held her breath as she thought the papers steadied but they gradually leaned toward her direction. Run!

She started running, but every time she looked back, the stack seemed to be just above her. Her limbs froze, and she covered her head with her hands as the papers rained down on her. She waited until she heard the last paper fall, and when she opened her eyes, a sea of white parchment paper surrounded her. Adie sat on the ground, moving through them as fast as she could. Whiteness. Whiteness blanketed the area around her. Blank page after blank page. She fell back, lying down on the papers. Her neck ached from searching through all of them. Just as she wondered how long she’d been searching, the light above her grew dim.

The remaining light encompassing her grew smaller and smaller as though a wave of black was heading toward her.

“No! No! No!” She shuffled through the papers as quickly as she could.

The area covered by the light continued to dwindle.

“Come on! Come on!” Searching, she still couldn’t find anything.

As she stood, the light ended a few feet in front of her. Looking around, her eyes begged for a sign of any color on a white sheet of paper.

Adie stopped when a corner of blue caught her eye. She fell to her knees and slowly pulled out the paper, gazing upon her Fate. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the image. It can’t be.

Mister Dilip suddenly appeared next to her. “I see you’ve found your Fate.” His smile returned, showing his sharp teeth.

Adie stepped forward and found herself back in front of the final-year students.

Aura came up to her. “You okay?”

Adie clasped the paper to her chest. Even though they couldn’t see it, she felt the need to cover the image in fear of what she saw.