Page 136 of So Below As Above

I’m pushed again, until the lock drifts against my abdomen. Was Kieran giving me a way out when he handed me this key? Pushing the key into the lock, I find that it easily opens, releasing a series of chains tied to the chamber.

Bubbles slowly form around the chamber, rising toward a surface I can no longer see. It is black as the night.

Open your eyes.

Again, my body is thrust forward, slamming into the glass of the chamber. Inside, gurgling can be seen, bubbling like an overflowing pot on a stove.

Open your eyes.

I open them, plastering my sight onto the black substance before me. Multiple hands reach for me, holding me below the water. Miraculously, I am not drowning, I can breathe freely.

The demons are helping me.

Open your eyes, see what is within the darkness.

My body is thrown again, like a shock wave and⁠—

FIFTY-ONE

“What is it with love that steals and breaks?

That toils with the fragility of man and woman

Four letters that tears, and never rebuilds.”

— MARISA WREN

When I open my eyes, I’m inside a dark corridor, thick mist shrouding its curves.

“Hello?”

The corridor is similar to where I woke up, before I found the other version of Devil’s Bay. Before Kieran and Christian—before realizing my mind was as useless as a broken compass.

Confusion and trepidation surge in waves through my body. How did I get back here? Have I lost my memories again? That wouldn’t make sense, I can remember everything from when I arrived in Devil’s Bay.

Before me, nestled in a soft divot is a relic, an ornate necklace of wide chains forged into prongs that house a glimmering red gem. Scrambling forward, I clutch the chains and secure its cool links around my neck. Beside it, words float into the air like an invisible hand is writing with luminescent ink.

“So below as above…” It etches out.