The Tales of the Shadows

8. Chaos, Silence and Red

The sounds of life disturbed Conrad. The buzzing of flies, calls of animals, traffic sounds, karaoke songs, arguments, lullabies, footsteps, breathing, thinking sharply pulled Conrad out of his night's rest. Conrad's eyes flew open to darkness, his mind unable to leave the movements of life.

The noises of life.

Conrad slowly sat up, got off the bed and walked out. Silent footsteps, no breathing, empty mind, but the noises were still deafening. He listened to the sounds of his house, focusing on the vibrations of his friends. Audrey, whose mind lived but was silent, Elek curious but quiet, Evelyn a glowing warmth, and Trina and Galen who were still. Conrad smiled, sighing both in relief at the tranquil aura of his people and in exasperation of living sounds.

The moment he stepped outside his house, it was as if the world shook with violent vibrations. Was he hypersensitive or overly cautious? Conrad wanted them to stop but the house didn't seem to reduce it enough. Being outside, it felt as if he could hear the anxiety of human life. Their thoughts, feelings, concerns, life, actions, just by their walk or breathing or laughter or crying or silence or silence or silence...

Conrad took a deep breath. He needed to get off the ground somehow, although the air carried the most vibrations... perhaps music could help him, as it did for Audrey.

Conrad walked back into the house, heading towards the piano before stopping midway. The softest note would wake Audrey up, he couldn't wake his friend. He needed something else. That electronic device with those ear inserting machines, perhaps? No, that would be too loud for him.

Ever since he left the headquarters, Conrad's mind became delicate. His tolerance of living things was worsening. He could now hear the movement of insects on the floor, lizards, the magma in the Earth's crust... his sensitivity was increasing. Sounds living things couldn't hear - the planets' revolution, the Sun burning its gases, the galaxies moving, space expanding.

"Chaos."

And that's when it came. The call from the abyss. What was that voice? The abyss connected everything to the Earth, everything out of and in existence. But Conrad knew that voice. Could it be...

Was that his brother again?

Without thinking Conrad ran towards the source of the sound, his feet making no noise. All other sounds turned off and he could focus on that one sound.

"Conrad."

There it was. It came again. His brother was calling out to him. He'd already wasted three years since he came to this awful, useless, boring thing to help humans. He loved being with his friends but everything else was a waste of time. He just wanted to meet his brother once and...

"Hey kid, what are you doing here?"

A soft voice came from his left and Conrad immediately stopped, frowning in annoyance. He couldn't tell where his name was called out from anymore and the sounds of life returned.

"This is a very dangerous place and it's off-limits to the public. Do you even know where you are?"

Off-limits. Conrad scoffed, ignoring the man. He began walking slowly, trying to find his focal point again.

"Oi kid I'm talking to you, can you hear me?" The man's tone was simultaneously gruff and caring, but also very, very tired. Conrad sighed, turning towards the man.

"I can-" Conrad stopped talking immediately. A human could hear him? See him? A human was talking to him? That had only happened once, three years ago, and the circumstances were very different. The aura from that human was different. This was... ordinary.