SOMNIPHOBIA – FEAR OF GOING TO SLEEP
Ridley knocked on Erebus's door. "What?" Erebus called.
"I'm coming in," Ridley announced. He stepped inside and looked around. The floor was covered in loose pages, open books, and notes. "What the fuck have you been doing?" he asked.
Erebus looked up at him from the floor, where he was sitting in nothing more than track pants. He waved his hand. "Would you mind closing that, please?"
"Seriously, what is all this?" Ridley asked, standing at the edge of what seemed to be Erebus's universe.
"It's uh, just a bit of research I'm doing." He continued to scan the laptop screen in front of him.
Ridley knelt down and picked up a piece of paper. "About what? Fairy tales? What is this?" He flipped the page around for Erebus to see. Erebus reached across and snatched the paper away.
"The Hallows" it read in medieval script. Below it, a picture of a beautiful dark-haired woman with horns, and beneath that, a short poem about a fabled kingdom.
"Haven't you heard the stories?" Erebus asked, finally looking up.
Ridley shook his head. "As you seem to have forgotten, I thought I was human for eighteen years. I'm afraid I'm not familiar with supernatural lore."
"It's just stories that the people here and topside know about. Apparently, once upon a time, there was a way to travel to the country where the gods lived. The country was known as the Hallows. But, according to myth, thousands of years ago the doors to the country were sealed and no one has ever been back."
"Okay . . ." Ridley sat down and crossed his legs, mirroring his friend. "Did you miss the part about it being just a story? I mean, why are there literally three hundred pages on your floor right now about this?"
Erebus grunted in retort. Ridley looked around at the countless leather-bound books piled on top of each other; the bookshelves that lined the room were now mostly empty. "What's so important that you've spent the last three days doing this?" Ridley asked.
"I think I may have found somebody who might know what happened to me. Who might know why I can't remember anything."
Ridley nodded, doubtful. "And who's that?"
Erebus sighed and held up a finger as he scanned the chaos. He pulled a book from the middle of one of the piles. Ridley cocked his head to read the gold foil on the cover: Explorer
Dr. Leveti's 1537 Journey Across the Heavens.
Erebus turned to a particular page. "This guy was permitted to visit the kingdom. Here, he quotes a chapter of a text he found within an older explorer's guide, telling him about this guy called the Old Necromancer . . ." Ridley nodded, and Erebus continued, reading directly from the text. "'The man was tall and pale, with gray skin and hair like snow. He was covered in strange, rust-colored markings. During my brief time in the Hallows it had slipped my mind to ask what they had meant. But I assumed they had something to do with the man's powers. He appeared to be the same as others of the necromantic kind. But the man also seemed to specialize in the keeping of information regarding the dead. It seemed the Old Necromancer was connected with the lives of the living (and, therefore, the dead) in a way that many may never come to understand. Truly a remarkable character, and I do wish to see him again on my next visit.'"
Erebus looked up.
"And . . . what does that mean, exactly?" Ridley asked.
Erebus shut the book. "I went topside the other day—"
"Didn't Taeto put you on lockdown?"
"He did. But I figured this was more important. So, I went to the academy in Misten . . ."
Ridley rolled his eyes.
". . . and I was going to try and get in, but as soon as I walked through the gates, someone saw me—"
"Oh great! First, you try to break into the Reaper academy, then you let a Reaper see you. Awesome. How'd you try to get yourself out of that one?"
"Well, thankfully, it was only Nyx."
Ridley shook his head. "It was the Lahey girl? Seriously, of all people?"
"Yeaaah, but there was also this little kid."
"Oh Jesus."
"Anyway," Erebus went on, "the little girl said something about this Old Necromancer and how he apparently knows all of the dead people. Maybe that means me too."
Ridley waited for more, but Erebus had finished. "That's it?" he said. Erebus nodded. "So, some kid mentions him, and now you think he's real?"
"I've been doing a lot of research, Rid—"
"And I could do a lot of research on Valhalla but that doesn't make it real!"
Erebus glared at him. "Why are you being so shitty to me?"
"Because you're wasting your time and getting your hopes up for nothing!"
Erebus set the book down, then straightened the pile.
Ridley sighed. "Look, Eb. I'm sorry, but I really don't think this is the best use of your energy. I know it's hard, but I don't think chasing fairy tales is the right way to go about this."
Erebus ignored him, searching for something in the pockets of his track pants. He retrieved a folded piece of paper and threw it.
"What is this?" Ridley asked, catching it.
"Just open it," Erebus said quietly.
Ridley unfolded the thick piece of parchment. His eyes narrowed in confusion: Erebus Salem, when the time is right you will know all the answers you desire. The Hallows looks forward to meeting the two of you. Regards, the Old Necromancer.
Ridley glanced up. "Where'd you find this?"
"When I came back down from the academy, through the golden door, this was sticking in the frame of the other one." Ridley stared at him. "That's what the red door is, Ridley. It's the opening to the other country—the Hallows or the Hallows, whatever they call it."
Ridley folded the paper again. "How do you know someone isn't just messing with you? And what does it mean by 'the two of you'?"
"I don't know about the 'two' part, but who would write that? No one even knows about this. I only just found out myself."
Ridley made a grim face. "Well, someone knows about the girl."
"What girl?"
"Nyx Lahey. Damien said he's seen someone shadowing her."
"And? That family probably has hundreds of enemies."
Ridley shook his head. "Damien says it's a raven, like us. Who do you know who has access to that kind of magic apart from legion members?"
Erebus thought quietly. "They're watching her?" he said.
Ridley nodded. "He thinks they're threatening her too . . . I don't know, Eb. What if it's all a setup? What if this other raven is trying to get your necklace too? And using this"—Ridley held up the paper—"as a trap?"
"Who would want to do that? What have I done to anyone?"
"Erebus, you don't know who you were before. You could have been anyone. For all you know, you could have enemies too."
"Do you think I could have been a bad person?"
Ridley didn't answer. He couldn't bear the thought of
Erebus Salem being anyone less than who he was right now. But no matter who Erebus turned out to be, to Damien, Mason, Max, and Ridley, he would always be their dreamer. Their brother.
"I think you should be careful," Ridley said. "And until we find out what this other raven wants, I think we should look out for Nyx." Erebus nodded; Ridley continued. "I know we don't know, but if she's been dragged into something because of your pendant . . . we need to make sure nothing happens to her." Ridley paused. "What happened with her the other day? Did you at least get your locket back?"
"She saw me pass through the gate. All of it. The whole thing. She freaked out. I . . . I didn't even think to ask about the locket. She just started asking a heap of questions."
Ridley made a pained face. "And what did you do?"
"I told her the truth. But I don't know if she believes me or not."
"Good, maybe we should try to keep it that way. Try your best to not run into her anymore. Hopefully, once we get your locket back, whoever is following her will just leave her alone, and we can forget about this."
Erebus remembered Nyx's words: This isn't over. He doubted that she would just forget about anything.
"Yeah, okay." Erebus shut the laptop.
Ridley rose from his spot on the floor. "You should get some sleep. I'll check the house tonight. If I see the raven, I'll try to find out who it is." Ridley paused. "Do you think it's Taeto? Do you think he knows what happened?"
Erebus shook his head. "No, I don't think so. He's here all day and night, dealing with the Legions. He's not interested in my mess-ups anymore. But . . . I do think it's got to be one of the Legions' members. No one else has that kind of magic."
"And if it's not?"
"Then maybe I really do have enemies."
***
Erebus had clambered into Damien's clean room and promptly fallen asleep as Ridley began placing books back onto shelves and collecting loose pieces of paper from the floor of Erebus's room. When he could finally walk across the floorboards, Ridley knelt in the center of the room and picked up the laptop. He opened it and started closing tabs one by one until only the last remained.
On the open tab was a sketch of a man, shirtless, slender. His skin was gray and he had long, white hair hanging to his ribs. He had dark lips, pointed ears, and orange eyes that matched the Lahey girl's. His stomach was covered in tiny, intricate tattoos. His arms, from the elbow down, were wrapped in black leather and chains. In his hand he held a Necromancer staff.
At the bottom of the sketch, a caption: The Old Necromancer, a.k.a. Mortem.