Shattered Remnants of a Dream

Chapter 7: Grey Shadows

Soon, the Seneschal took his leave, and Cliff took Eden to a private room she could use to rest.

"You must be exhausted, so feel free to rest in here. You'll be safe, I promise," Cliff said carefully. "I can come back and get you in a few hours if you feel like you'll be hungry."

"Thank you, Cliff," Eden said finally, with a sigh. "Thank you for sticking your neck out for me. Thank you for bringing me here...even though I still don't really understand what's going on. I know you're trying to do the right thing."

Surprised at the positive response, Cliff broke into a goofy grin. "Hey, it's the least I could do."

"So..." Eden went on. "This is really another world, huh?"

"Yeah. The machine I used to create that portal back on Earth is called a tunneler. We can use them to hop dimensions, as long as there's some sort of beacon on the other side. Does that make sense?"

Eden shook her head. "Not really."

"Yeah." Cliff smirked. "I guess not. Honestly, I don't understand it all myself. I mean, how come we all speak the same language? The best way I can explain it is how Captain Azuka explained it to me once. Basically, everyone lives on the same planet. Each dimension is just a different level, like in a big apartment building. Different shades of the same reality. That's why some stuff is similar, and some stuff is different."

"Okay..." Eden thought for a moment. "But why is it all kept a secret from Earth?"

"Church's orders." Cliff shrugged. "I don't really know. All I can say is that it's really hard to use psynergy there. Feels like there's some huge invisible magnet in the sky sucking it away from me or something, even when I was charging the tunneler. Earth is different from everywhere else...like it's been quarantined or something."

Suddenly, Eden heard some static, and Cliff put a finger to his ear. She squinted, and managed to spy a small blue clip attached to his lobe.

"Yes?" Cliff answered. "What? They found something in the excavation? Wait, what did they find? A...clock?"

*

The misty streets of Pittsburgh gleamed in the night, illuminated by dull, orange street lamps and the occasional sliver of moonlight. Every now and then a car would pass down the road, coasting softly, as if prowling for some victim yet unseen.

Far beyond the city limits, most humans were either asleep or in the process of preparing themselves for slumber. But deep within the concrete and steel of the city center, energy continued to throb. Encased in shadows, bodies shifted and walked along the silent roads.

They'd been watching him for some time now - a sharp, ashen silhouette of a man, moving through the dark streets with swift, calculated steps. He could have been a businessman coming home from a night on the town, or maybe even one with a dark agenda in the backstreets of downtown Pittsburgh. To the two thugs, however, he only looked like one thing: money.

Their eyes were particularly drawn to his expensive-looking suit and his shiny silver briefcase. That was enough proof that he was a gentleman of cash and capital.

The grey man turned a corner into an alley, and they were on him instantly.

On the other end of the alleyway, a vagrant in rags tottered along. His gin bottle clinked to the ground as his right hand forgot to keep holding it.

"Gotta tell 'em..." he muttered, eyes shifting back and forth as he caroused down the dank alley. "They gotta know...the devil's out tonight!"

The mangy one stared ahead with blurry, spinning eyes. Slowly, something came into view - a true hellscape. Human limbs and organs were strewn across the alleyway, speckled with blood and brains. In the center of it all stood a tall, blond man in a grey suit, looking perfectly calm and composed.

"Oh, it's you, mister..." The bum grabbed at his heart in anticipation. "You gotta listen to me! They're here! Satan's hordes!"

The man in the grey suit and the long, braided ponytail spotted the drunk and nodded. The light of the moon gleamed across his thin silver spectacles. "Good evening."

"Help!" The old man lunged himself outward, clutching onto the Zexaron employee's arm as spittle dripped out of his mouth and onto the suit. "I saw 'em with my own eyes! The demons! The demons!"

"Demons?" Grayson Lee's ponytail swished as he shoved the man back with ease. "Tell me more."

"Ya gotta believe me!" The vagrant collapsed to the ground, but refused to let it interrupt his tirade. "I saw it in their eyes...they want my soul! They wanna swallow up the light!"

"So much enthusiasm..." Grayson stepped forward and placed one of his black dress shoes on the man's stomach. "From such a weak little worm. I gave you a sliver of my influence, and you seemingly brought me nothing. What happened? What did you see?"

"Wha...ah...uhh..." the man stammered, feeling Grayson's foot bury itself deeper into his pot belly. "I..."

"Tell me," Grayson demanded. "What went on in these streets tonight?"

"D...demons..." The old man's brain spun wildly on overdrive. Pain, agony, and panic all whirled through his head like bumper cars filled with rocket fuel. "Demons...from...Satan..."

"Satan, huh?" The man in the grey suit moved his hand up to his glasses and pulled them off slowly, revealing a set of entrancing emerald eyes. "How banal."

"Wha..." Suddenly, the man tried to scramble away. "Those eyes...they're glowing...demon eyes!!"

"Now that's an uninspired comparison." The man replaced his eyeglasses, just as the bum let out a hoarse gurgle of agony. "You should realize by now...I'm far more horrible than any demon could ever be."