Emily lay in bed, a peaceful expression on her beautiful face.
Dressed in a white dress, her arms were crossed on her chest with a red lily intertwined placed in between them.
Everything seemed normal if one didn’t take into account her rather pale complexion or weak breathing.
"Emily..." Douglas called out softly as he entered the room and walked to the bed.
Alex stood at the door side, gazing quietly with no intention of coming in.
Douglas glanced at Alex and after figuring out his intent, went ahead to caress Emily’s cheek but there was no response.
What’s more, her temperature was unnaturally cold.
Almost like he was touching a corpse.
However, he could still hear her heartbeat, and her vitals seemed fine, albeit weakened.
"Something is wrong," Douglas muttered as he studied Emily’s condition.
However, he couldn’t glean much from what he saw.
Alex pursed his lips before going ahead to activate his spirituality while infusing Nyx’s authority.
He planned to see what shouldn’t be seen.
A moment later, he furrowed his brows. "She’s here... but she’s also not here."
"What are you talking about?"
"See what?" Douglas seemed vexed as he retorted.
Alex pursed his lips. "Her pneuma is gone... not gone but... it still shares a relationship with her soma and avatar but it’s not where it’s supposed to be."
A strange occurrence that reminded Alex of what would become of a Mystic if they went above their means and allowed their pneuma to be absorbed by Aether.
Thankfully Emily’s case was different but then how it managed to happen was a question to ponder for Alex.
"... pneuma?... Wait, you mean her spirit?" Douglas abruptly shot up. "Is that possible?"
Alex raised a brow. "Shouldn’t you be able to see it?"
"That..." Douglas turned hesitant for a moment before he replied. "Cryptids aren’t able to differentiate the soma, pneuma, or avatar. That’s only a concept available to the Mystics."
"...I see," Alex revealed an understanding gaze. "We have to go."
"We can’t stay here to figure out anything. We need to know how her pneuma managed to exit her body and if it’s a general thing. Also, what’s the origin so we can get her soma back and leave this place."
"Yeah... you are right." Douglas nodded before adding. "Sorry... I’m not in a good frame of mind right now."
"No need to apologize. It’s good enough that you can keep sane as is."
Douglas’s eyes flickered with emotions but he didn’t reply as he slowly walked out the door.
Alex watched his hunched back which seemed weighed down by the trials he had to go through before letting out a deep sigh.
He didn’t need a soothsayer to know that Douglas was on the verge of a breakdown.
Sighing again, Alex furrowed his brows as he seemed to have forgotten something.
Just as he attempted to remember...
Douglas was sent flying back into the house.
Alex didn’t say anything as he leisurely stepped outside before snapping his fingers.
Black and white intertwined, a night sky emerged from his shadow and covered everywhere about them.
Suddenly, Alex felt a strange resistance.
"This..." he frowned at the sensation that was slimy and icky.
Then a blood-curdling cry jolted him from his thoughts as he watched the elongated creature turn visible within his field, Eternal Night.
With a sinister smile, Alex muttered. "My turn."
A horrible cry echoed in the area before the creature dissipated into nothingness, its essence nourishing the field.
Alex was pleasantly surprised. ’I didn’t expect it to work but it seems it did. Forcing information from Earth into the brains of people here would cause an overload of their brain.’
He looked forward to using it on more people.
"Did you get it?" Douglas inquired while adjusting his shoulder and stepping forward.
Alex shrugged. "It’s not much of a problem once you can see it."
"But what is that thing anyway?" Douglas was forced to ask.
"Normal ghosts shouldn’t be able to make contact with humans until they become ghouls yet this one... there’s something wrong here."
Alex pondered momentarily before asking. "Are you saying those children aren’t ghosts?"
"I can’t be sure but based on my knowledge of ghosts, what that thing just did goes against everything."
Taking a moment to stretch, Douglas suggested. "Do we split up and search for clues?"
"We would be able to cover more grounds but going into situations without backup isn’t smart. I suggest we stick together. I don’t believe it would be a problem if we go through each building, one at a time?"
Douglas pursed his lips before reluctantly nodding. "You are right. We’ll stay together for now."
He wanted to add that since he can’t create a field, he believes himself to be too vulnerable to move around on his own but his ego stopped from saying anything.
Satisfied with Douglas’s response, Alex prepared to lead the way as he retracted his Ability after which both men began a stroll around Townsend.
They checked each house, ensuring they swept through the four corners of Townsend but with each check, the situation in Townsend grew increasingly bizarre as just like Emily, all the other villagers were in deep sleep while wearing white dresses with a lily placed between their hands.
However, there were some discrepancies.
The flower vitality for each person was different for some reason.
Some had withered completely while others looked to be inching closer to death. Compared to the others, Emily’s flower looked the most healthy.
"This whole situation has something to do with the flowers. Most likely the state of the flower determines the person’s actual state of being. Once the flower withers, they die as well!" Douglas deduced as they walked down a lonely path.
Alex nodded in agreement. "That would mean we have to figure out the source of all this while Emily’s lily is still healthy but the question remains, how did this happen and how do we resolve it?"
’Also, what was that icky sensation I felt when I utilized Eternal Night earlier?’ he added inwardly.
He had a feeling whatever it was would be connected to the strangeness of Townsend.
Douglas pointed ahead. "The laughter is more concentrated over there."
"Does anyone stay there, though?... Seems like a rather lonely place to choose to stay."
"You wouldn’t know since you aren’t Alex."
"Mrs Granger. A widow that the villagers take as the spiritual elder of the village. Her husband while he was alive was our chief."
"What happened to him?"
"No one knows. However, after his death, Mrs. Granger retired to this area and has lived here since then. I don’t know much about what’s happened afterward since..." Douglas trailed off but Alex could understand what he wanted to say so he didn’t probe further.
After strolling for a bit longer, Douglas remarked. "We are here."
Glancing ahead, close to the small lake stood a wooden shack.
Currently, seated on a rocking chair outside was a middle-aged lady that busied herself knitting.
Then as though noticing their gaze, she slowly raised her head and upon seeing the duo, revealed a crooked smile.