He was at the heart of the abyss. Everything around him had been consumed by darkness, and without any tangible thoughts, he just drifted along with the unseen currents of the void. He passed through a realm where shadows cast darker shadows which in turn cast even darker shadows. And every shadow seemed like an afterimage of something that once shone brightly. He was in a realm of echoes and whispers, where voices that were foreign sounded like his own thoughts. A realm where forever seemed to pass in a single blink of an eye. A realm where he thought to feel everything at once, but at the same time, nothing at all. 

He had many reasons to be afraid of the dark, but not a single time had he sensed any malignance inside the void. In fact, during his entire stay in this lightless realm, he felt that he was accompanied by an unseen, ever-present embrace of familiarity; a warm blanket that wrapped around him like a pair of loving arms and cradled him into submission with a silent lullaby.

He had no influence on his actions and no control over his body. He was but a guest in the house of a stranger, a pawn waiting to be moved, a mere side character in someone else’s dream. All he could do was to surrender himself to the course of his destiny. He just had to remain calm and remind himself of the words of his master. “Jump in the river,” he murmured and immediately felt his mind being pacified. 

It wasn’t the first time he visited the realm of shadows, and through experience, he had learned that it was futile to put up any resistance. It was best to simply close his eyes and let himself be swept away by the roaring current. He was certain that the stream would always lead him to the destination he was supposed to be. There was no need to carve a new path when one had already been paved for him. 

And so, he closed his eyes. At least he was still able to do that of his own accord. He focused on his breathing to still the disarray in his heart. Somehow, with his eyes shut, the world seemed brighter than ever before. It started with a tiny spark of light, but soon after, everything was engulfed in a dazzling radiance. He was blinded by the overwhelming brightness and saw even less than when he was surrounded by the dark.

Suddenly, in this pristine white, he heard a sound in the distance; loud and sharp, like a volatile outburst of extreme violence. It somehow reminded him of himself, screaming in agony. The sound travelled towards him at a rapid pace, but something was not quite right about it. To him, it sounded like a reversed echo of some sort; it grew louder and louder until the sharpness of it punctured his ears. The soundwaves crashed into his brains and drowned out even his own thoughts. When the scream finally subsided, all that remained was the sound of dry leaves skittering across his mind.

An eternity must have passed when he finally found the courage to open his eyes. The emptiness was no more; neither black nor white. Instead, he was in a place that he didn’t necessarily recognize, but nevertheless, felt like home. He was in a forest and found himself surrounded by tall birch trees, with bark as white as the teeth of a shark, and eyes that seemed to follow him like watchful sentinels on a mighty fortress.

The movement in his body was still absent, but he could sense himself being driven forward by an unknown force. “Jump in the river.” He repeated his master’s words under his breath, and like a passenger, he let himself get carried through the forest. The sound of rustling leaves intensified as he floated past the ghastly trees. The sound was getting so loud and chaotic that it felt as if the leaves were scraping against the inner walls of his skull. But, the noise suddenly stopped when he left the forest behind him and found himself staring at a wide open space. 

The crescent moon shot down a thin beam of light, illuminating what felt like a stage in front of him. He had acquired a front-row seat to an ethereal performance. He saw a frozen, oval-shaped lake light up in a brilliant silvery shimmer. A large ice hole at the center of it made the lake look like an enormous eye that was staring at the heavens above. He followed its frozen gaze to the sky. Snowflakes started dwindling down from the dark celestial ceiling, gracefully dancing towards the icy carpet in a majestic ballet. He stared at the divine spectacle in awe, thinking that it must have been choreographed by God herself. 

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But, as beautiful as the scenery was, he felt inexplicably ill at ease, as if he was in the wrong place, at the wrong time; somewhat like a prey that’s being stalked by a predator. His guts were wrenched into a tight knot. Anxiety started to creep in and he felt the skin on his neck tingling, stabbing his nerves with microscopic blades.

He turned his eyes back to the frozen lake. Two silhouettes were now standing hand in hand in front of the black hole in the icy floor. Involuntarily, he drifted towards the two figures. He felt tense, as if witnessing an event of great secrecy. But, somehow, it all felt so familiar. And, as he closed in on the figures, their appearances became more clear. 

He saw a boy with long flowing hair, as white as the snowflakes that fell from the sky. His face was flawless and smooth, like a perfectly chiseled statue made by a master sculptor. Next to the boy, he saw a girl. She looked exactly like the boy. 

The twins were staring into the black hole at the center of the lake. The boy carried an intense sadness in his eyes. The girl, however, looked into the abyss with a smile on her face.

The visitor felt lightheaded. Somehow, he understood the importance of what he was witnessing, even though the meaning of it was still a mystery. His heart sank when the boy suddenly took notice of his presence. It felt as if he were looking at himself in a mirror, but didn’t recognize the reflection cast back at him. The boy opened his mouth to say something, but all the visitor heard was the chaotic rustling of leaves.

Both siblings had now raised their heads and stared him straight in the eyes. Something was different. The children had exchanged their expressions. Now the boy was smiling while the girl looked to be in despair. Her face morphed from anguish to resentment, and ultimately stayed fixed in a spiteful hatred. She was saying something to the boy. Again, it sounded like dry leaves were scraping a stone floor. 

All of the sudden, the girl let herself fall into the ice hole. The visitor felt a rush of panic and desperation, as if he himself were sinking into the bottomless darkness underneath the frozen lake. He wanted to scream, but failed to convince his body to cooperate. All he could do was to helplessly stare at the macabre scene that unfolded before him. The frost encroached his soul as he was made an unwilling participant of the morbid stage play. 

The boy stared into the ice hole with hollow eyes that followed his sister’s disappearance into the black void. His smile was still present on a face that showed no warmth, like the afterglow on a horizon where the sun had already set. All of his emotions were fading away. Like centuries of ebb and flow that washed away all features of a rugged landscape, the boy’s face eroded to a desolate apathy. He turned to the visitor with a blank stare and held out his hand. 

The visitor had no choice in the matter and slowly drifted towards the boy who was beginning to disintegrate into a featureless apparition, a spectre. Overwhelmed by fear, the visitor even set aside the words from his master; words that no longer brought peace to his mind. He tried all he could to resist the motion, but the unseen current continued to push him onward. 

As he drew closer to the featureless apparition, the frozen lake and the snow-covered birch trees slowly vanished. Everything turned to black once more. Only the luminous figure of the spectre remained. He couldn’t escape the piercing gaze of the icy blue eyes that carried no spark. A draining sensation of dread and despair dragged him to the depths of the abyss. But, somehow, it all felt so familiar. He even thought to feel happy for a moment.

The spectre hovered above him and said something that shouldn’t have been audible, but the visitor heard the haunting voice as loud and clear as the voice of his own thoughts: “Cato.”