Beach Vacey [On Hold]

The Threshold of Death I69I

I listened to him, making the curve around to turn into another neighborhood with a low grumble. I finished down the street, stepping further to accelerate and finish the street as Dark wanted, but doing so... my mind became absent to my scattering thoughts and the low music in the car. There was more to be said about Dark's behavior. Even though he was confident and determined—heavily engaged—there was something he was silent about. It lingered and stagnated the air in the car. I knew what he did to Vio the night of the wedding... and knew a fraction of what he might have done to Shadow... and... there was also... "his disappearance."

"Dark—" The moment my words spurred to ask, Dark's hand rose in fright, catching a large tree branch that nearly nailed down into the windshield. I gasped—flinching in cold shock—and Dark cursed, swiping his grappled hand to the side window to toss and leave the branch in the dust of my speed.

Sweeping pass, I caught a second glimpse at the thorny piece of wood, flying away in the distance, and traced back to Dark with horror peaking on my face. "D-Dark, what the fuck...? That would have... would have..."

"I need you to please TRY and not fucking overreact... Shit is going to happen, and what I need MOST from you is to just DRIVE... I CAN'T DO TWO THINGS AT ONCE! I understand if you don't completely trust me anymore, but... I REALLY want to fix this..." Dark snapped in exasperation, frustration fussing at his face.

"I-I..." I froze—struck by his voice. My eyes strained on the road, flustered in mixed thought. I-I... He's... worried. Worried about... I looked over to get a short glimpse—the shadows of houses skimming over on the sidelines, and Dark forward in his seat, fixated on the borders of the roads... I... I want to trust you, Dark. "Dark, please? Look... I..." I had to ask him... If there is no other time... "Could you... explain... what's going on... and why? Because I-I... I'm not getting much of an answer from anyone...! It mostly sounds like speculation, and I just WANT to understand... Especially... where you have been... Is that place related to this?"

His eyes suddenly shot up, narrowing to look me deep in the eye. "Which place?"

"Well, I..." My lips firmed nervously—petrified by the scowl on his face. "I... The place you disappeared to... through the... portal?" The dimensional portal that Shadow... A low scoff of his breath exerted out as his hands crumpled to begin tapping against the window... He never... liked talking about... "I-It's just that..." I continued, fidgeting. "I have been worried about you, and now you're here... and..."

"The Original World." he muttered with a sigh, releasing his bottled-up stress trapped against him. "I guess. Or, the Other World... There is no name for it... It just exists... sort of... Just created." Distaste in his tone.

I blinked—my eyes bugged—perplexed and stuck in thought... He's... talking about it... "...You go by both names?"

A groan with the ache of his abdomen came when he moved in his seat. "I call it whatever, but, I guess it's scientifically referred to as the..." He rolled his eyes, tossing them out the window before preparing his hands for finger quotes. "...Original World..." he muttered mockingly. "Shadow loves his scientific terms and definitions... I think it's a bunch of bullshit! But... yeah."

My lips firmed—not sure what to comment. If the other dimension is the "original world," what would that make of... this one? "S-So... what—" My words plummeted, spilling with my breath. The road roughed, and we went over a little dip, shaking up my tense a bit. "What does that make of... this... 'world'." Saying that out loud felt unfamiliar to my tongue. It did not wrap sense, yet at the same time... maybe it did.