Page 56 of Eternal Obsession

“You must let us go, boy. We have a ship anchored just behind your castle. Set us free or others will come to look for us.”

“Really?” Alex’s eyes grew large. “I think that’s probably the best news I’ve heard for weeks.”

Alex was gone.

Soon, he told himself, Jadeon would be beside him once more, and when that hour came soon, they would laugh at this absurdity. They would cradle it as only brothers could, finding strange joy in the madness they had endured.

But it was not Jadeon who came to him in that hour of stillness. Instead, what folded itself around him was a silence so profound it felt alive—a loneliness that crept in like mist, cold and without mercy, the kind of sorrow that even nightmares dare not speak of, the kind that lingers in the soul.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

JADEON

The years advanced with an inevitable flow, proceeding with either speed or at a monotonous pace. Spending most of his nights reading in the large library, Alex made up for lost time. Although he had rarely ventured into the room on his own volition when a mortal, he found himself devouring the numerous collections of books, and his knowledge of the world grew with each passing day. He took to studying music again, and as time was in abundance, he eventually mastered both piano and violin, entertaining himself upon the lonely evenings.

The world spun out of control, ever forward, ravenous for change, reshaping itself despite everything, until it became something unrecognizable. There was no clinging to the past.

Time moved like a fever dream, exquisite and cruel. It bloomed with wonder and horror alike, beauty veined with violent delights.

The occasional uninvited visitor ensured he never needed to leave the castle and helped disrupt his boredom with the passing of such predictable seasons. Such visitors would come and go, and in doing so would often bring with them fascinating articles. Alex soon learned that to kill these victims before they used their machines of the new age was foolish. He would lie in wait for his captives, studying them while they demonstrated their contemporary appliances.

With the modern era came modern gadgets—electric shavers, music boxes, and even small talking contraptions which they called phones. He was able to master the workings of such devices, left behind unwillingly by those who provided his food source. He would drink their blood. Then taking their noise boxes, making them his own, he would listen and dance to the new way of creating music, distracted by the loud, deep base that played, only to sink into a depression when the thing would stop altogether, as if broken.

He soon discovered that some had a power source which could be removed and then swapped for new ones, replacing the round metal devices with the name Duracell or long-life written on their sides. To his utter joy, the music resonated magically once again from within the object’s small structure. Gradually, he discovered more about the outside world from the radioed voices that came from within the music boxes when he turned the knobs this way or that. Despite his reluctance to venture out, he was able to get a taste of global events. In this world outside his, the population changed. The voices came and went, and yet he thought one generation easily reflected the next. The horrifying wars also occurred one after another as thousands upon thousands of people gave their lives for countries and places they had not even seen. Such dilemmas he found difficult to fathom, how mortals threw their lives away with such ease when their life span was already so short.

He was also struck by the changes in the way people spoke to one another. He had enjoyed the politeness in the way society conversed in his day, but this new way of speaking seemed aggressive and disrespectful.

He listened intently as individuals talked unashamedly about their intimate and even promiscuous sexual ventures, which in his day would never have been mentioned between siblings let alone to the world at large. Alex knew this modern way of life was not for him even if he had attempted to venture out. He was disturbed at how his mind would play tricks upon him.

He never left the castle walls.

Not even to taste the strangeness that tempted his every waking hour. He remained anchored by a stubborn prayer that Jadeon might return. And if he did, he would find him here, waiting.

Occasionally he would even experience hallucinations, thinking he could see Jadeon sitting with him or appearing in a doorway or the like. But these were but wishful visions.

Oh, this heavy sorrow, this faith bruised by those who shattered his heart. This cruel world held no place for him, and yet he stayed, alone, with only his music and boundless books for company.

When two hundred years had passed, Alex gave up.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

JADEON

Present Day

My old life had bled away.

I stood on the castle steps and scanned the interior, hoping to detect Alex inside and that he was okay. On entering it was a pleasant surprise to see that nothing had changed in all these years, though a musty aroma now hung in the air.

I craved being human. I wanted to walk in daylight, dine on an eight-course meal, and sip a fine wine out of a crystal glass.

These were stupid things. I yearned for Alex.

Hands in my pockets, I strolled into the entrance hall and lingered under the familiar crystal chandelier. Piano music played in the far corner of the great hall. The music paused for a moment, only to begin again.

Alex had for a moment sensed me.

Closing my eyes, I dreaded seeing him, fearing having to face the boy I had left behind and scared of what I might find. Moonlight lit up the regal entranceway throwing dark shadows over the walls and stairway, the red worn carpet crushed underneath my feet. Painting after painting of ancestors glared down.