The Shadow That Smiled At Me

Chapter three

September turned into October a few days ago. The air cooled, but was still warm. The leaves on the trees turned yellow, orange and red. The crowns of the trees looked as if they were engulfed in flames. The green of summer was just a distant memory. The days went by one after the other and I got quite used to the voice calling my name - well, how could you at least say it. "Arya... Arya... Arya..." I didn't fight. It was in vain, it would have drawn me in any way.

But that doesn't mean I stopped looking for a way out. But for now, the dawn was the only one left.

The sun rises from behind the distant horizon high in the sky, captures my soul with the first rays of the day and carries it back to the real world together with the dawn.

Even tonight, I returned to the world built from dreams, from imaginary scenes glued into a complete image of the world of my imagination. Everything I ever wanted.

"Arya... Arya... Arya..."

Dreams are a strange thing. They show you everything you want. Everything you are not willing to admit. Most of the time we do not remember them at all. And suddenly the line between dreaming and waking begins to blur and we no longer know what is real and what is not. What if dreams are real and reality is really just a dream - a dream so real it makes us believe our eyes are open.

"Arya... Arya... Arya..." the voice sounded from the emptiness of the darkness and called me back to itself. "Arya..."

I found myself in the corridor of cold stone I already knew so well. Dancing tongues of fire broke the thick darkness. Behind me was a narrow arched door. One of the few that I haven't explored so far - at least I think, I've already gotten quite lost in it. Behind them was a dark spiral staircase leading down. 

I stepped forward. There were no candlesticks or any other source of light. I clung to the walls, close enough to reach from one side to the other, and walked blindly lower and lower wherever they led. My steps were uncertain, feeling like I was going to fall. I didn't know where it ended. I didn't see where I came from at first. Darkness engulfed me. I felt uncomfortable, not knowing what I would find there. I ran my fingers over the cold stone, feeling its texture.

I bumped my head against another door. Felt for the handle, opened them and slipped out into the fresh air.

I entered the gravel path. In front of me lay a garden shrouded in darkness. I looked at the sky. Thousands of twinkling stars covered the black sea. The moon was halfway through its cycle. Shone brightly. A silver glow rose through the dark. A gentle breeze blew my hair. The pebbles rustled under my feet and the long skirt stretched on the ground. I walked between the flower beds bordered by a precisely trimmed hedge. The leaves in the treetops fluttered gently. A heavenly silence swept over the land. I came across a tall fountain, from which water flowed in cascades on three floors, quietly splashing. I sat down on its edge in a turkish sitting position. The skirt of my dress was falling into the water, soaking it into itself. I disturbed the surface reflecting the image of the heavens with my palm.

A figure in a perfectly fitting black suit appeared at my side. Samael. He joined me.

"Have you stopped running, dear Arya?" he asked me.

I turned to him. The glint of gold in his eyes shone in the darkness reigning all around, burned into my soul. Oh, those eyes. I couldn't get them out of my head. Even if I couldn't look at them, they still burned in my memories. I can't think about him like that, I warmed myself. I shook that thought from my mind.

"I'm tired of this aimless wandering, dear Samael," I said.

Samael smiled mischievously.

"What?" I asked him.