Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 4 - 7 2018 | Page 211

“We?”
Your hand.
I look down and am startled when I see half a golden band wrapped around the side of my left
middle finger.
“I’m guessing we have to find the other half?”
Yes. It contains too much power, and if Erebus got his hands on it…Imagine a falling sky. Imagine
the ground beneath your feet crumbling into nothing. Imagine a world so full of darkness and chaos that
even love doesn’t exist. He’s angry, Raven. Angry at world.
Sun stops and his sudden fear flashes through me. My tongue feels like sandpaper.
“So, where is it?”
Where is what?
“The missing half.”
He’s quiet for a few moments. You don’t understand. It’s dangerous. Erebus will do anything to
get the headband, and if you’re there at the same time as him…he’ll kill you.
I swallow, hard, suddenly really annoyed. “Look. You just said that we have to find it, right? How
are we supposed to find it if you don’t tell me where it is? This entire mess isn’t part of my plan. My plan
includes a quiet, drama free life so that I can get good grades and go to a good college far away from this
stupid town and all the stupid people the stupid government thinks can replace mom. Is Erebus, you, or the
end of the world included in this plan? No. So the sooner this is over, the sooner I’m back to my life.
Otherwise Erebus will inevitably find us, and then we’re really in trouble, ” I seethe. I don’t want to be in
this mess. I never asked for it. But here I am anyway and the only thing I know is to do whatever’s needed
to get back to my boring life.
I guess Sun finally realises that I’m right; that there’s no other solution.
It’s in your basement.
I choke. “In my basement. This life-threatening, power-containing headband that someone who
wants to destroy the world is looking for, is. In. My. Basement?! Why?! ”
Your home parallels the location of the mountain in my universe. So, naturally, it appeared here.
It’s too much. I can’t believe this is happening. I lift up my left hand and pinch myself, hard. When
I confirm that I’m not dreaming, that this is real, I close my eyes, take a few deep breaths and accept it. I
accept this absurd, illogical, insane situation and I accept what I have to do to get out of it.
Suddenly filled with a calm, I manage to ask, “What do I do with it, once I get it?”
You put it on, Erebus and I become one again, and I regain control over the good and evil parts of
me.
I walk out my bedroom door, not caring that it’s dangerous because at this point in my life, the
thought of death isn’t scary. I’ve been through enough to understand that.
Raven, stop. You don’t understand. It isn’t what you think. The basement changed as soon as the
band appeared here. Erebus can get in! He’s connected to the band so as long as he knows the location he
can get in!
I ignore him as I face the door that leads downstairs.
I know that I’m moving too fast. I know that I should take a step back and listen to Sun. But that
isn’t how I function. When a problem arises, I solve it as quickly as possible, no matter what it takes, and go
back to my regular routine, because denying a problem and dragging it on for months in an attempt to safely
figure it out only makes the situation worse.
So, I open the door and tread silently down the stairs.
*****
As soon as I step foot onto the ground, it’s like I’m in another world. Sun was right. My basement
has changed.
Instead of a compact space full of clutter and boxes, I’m in a room that feels like it goes on
infinitely. Marble walls stretch on and on with no end, eventually fading away into blackness. I can’t see a
thing except for one circle of light that shines on a dusty marble pedestal and the blackness around it. The
air is silent and stale, not a single sound except for my short breaths. Goosebumps appear on my arms.
My footsteps echo through the room as I straighten and start to walk towards the spotlight. With
every step, my instincts scream louder for me to run. I should have, because when I’m a few metres away, I
see that the pedestal is empty. The headband isn’t there.