Realm of Renee

Chapter 20

10th June 2019

NOAH

Sir Claudius wanted to bully me again, but I had somehow convinced him that I had been working for the past twenty-four hours and that I needed a break.

He shut his mouth after that. He didn't try probing into my mind either.

I knew that the peace was temporary and that he would be watching me closely. Which meant that I had to take extra precautions the next time I went to see Renee.

It was almost dawn when I opened the door to my room. I could hear the chinking of glass bottles and tipsy giggles and I mentally groaned, I didn't have the strength to deal with Shay after this. Sure enough, she was sitting against the foot of my bed, a mountain of bottles lying next to her.

"Why are you here?" I hissed. My parents had no problem with Shay turning up in my room at odd times. We were practically siblings.

Shay lifted her head, her white mop of hair obscuring the look in her eyes, so all that I saw was a grin.

"Noah!" Shay laughed drunkenly. "You won't believe it."

"Believe what?" I asked her, tossing my hoodie into my cupboard.

"R-Renee was here! She came searching for you!" Shay slurred, trying to pour more alcohol onto her mouth.

"What?!" I spun around, stunned. "She came here? To the Spirit Realm?"

"Yeah, she's so stupid right-"

"Why was she here?" I asked Shay urgently, wondering if Renee was in danger. Maybe I should go to see her...

"Something about her brother naming his business MBTN. And she mentioned Sir Johannes too." Shay said flakily, emptying the bottle over her mouth.

I pulled the bottle away, and with a single thought, I made all the bottles vanish. It took her a moment to notice what I've done, and when she did, Shay howled like an animal.

"You freaking piece of..." Shay got up and tried to punch my nose. I grabbed her hand and gave her a pathetic look, as she tried to punch me again.

Finally, after multiple failed attempts, Shay groaned and sat on my bed.

"Do you even remember what today is?" Shay barked, and I noticed that she was slowly getting sober.

My eyes flicked to the calendar. It was the 10th of June, and realisation slowly hit me.

Exactly one year ago, Isaac had been severed from the Spirit Realm.

"It's been a year, you dimwit! I've been up for hours, hoping you'd return, and you turn up now? I can't believe you forgot about him so soon!" Shay spit out at me.

I'd been so focused on collecting Spirits, that this had completely slipped out of my mind.

"Shay, I'm -" I started awkwardly, but she cut me off.

"On top of this, Renee arrives in broad daylight, worrying about stupid things that are of no real concern... Does she have any idea of how painful it is to lose someone you love?" Shay shouted, her face red with anger.

"Shay-"

"And you! Don't even get me started," Shay threw me a glare.

"Look, I'm all free now, we can still..." I spoke up hurriedly, but Shay just shook her head.

"It's no use, Noah. It's just that he's never coming back, and..." Shay sighed.

I gave her a hug, and she placed her wet face on my chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Shay never cried, so I could see how devastated she was.