The only way was upwards. For all intent and purposes, the path I'd walked to get here no longer existed. It'd been swallowed up by the entity that had stalked behind me unnoticed. And here I thought it was just me doing the stalking today.

My instincts commanded one thing.

Don't go back. Don't look back.

Otherwise something more calamitous than death would occur.

But the only way upwards was a vertical shaft. The walls of which were layered with bumps, slippery with grime.

I was equipped with cats claws and whilst they were great at climbing up trees and curtains, sheer stone surfaces were not its forte.

If I was going to climb, I'd need to pray to whatever great cosmic forces there were out there that these humble claws of mine could dig into stone.

Diving into the water, I thrashed my way to the dead end Killian had scaled minutes ago. Planting my claws onto the bumps, they cut through the grime and found purchase.

With a solid pull I launch myself upwards, reaching out my paws for a new place to claw onto. But often my body slid off the wall before it could get a proper grip and back into the murky depths of the water I fell.

The only dim light coming through into the tunnel was coming from above. I dared not look behind me. But my paranoia screamed at me that any second now I'd have something breathing down my neck.

These claws were no good. There was no way up. There had to be another way. I fought past the fear to look behind me.

A short distance of three meters away, there stood a creature hidden in nebulous darkness, as though it were made from angry coal dust. It could vaguely be described as humanoid in shape. Its knuckles reached down like mauls to its knees.

If I stared long enough I felt like I'd be able to make out definition through the darkness. I'd see claws and fangs, a thick matt of fur and scales, I'd see a real living breathing relic of-

Run. No time to think. Just run.

But I was cornered.

No, wait. It hadn't stepped into the water yet. It just stood there imposingly by the lip of the channel. It's size wasn't nearly as intimidating as the chaos of confusion it conjured in my head.

Only humans were recorded to be able to use magic and monsters were simply the stuff of legend. This was a person. A living breathing in the flesh person. It had to be, right? But this magic was beyond what I imagined a human capable of. To completely obscure their appearance, to erase their scent, and to mute all sound. A person capable of such a thing could only be equated to a monster.

I needed to calm down. My lungs heaved for air demanded by an overactive mind and tensed muscles. It had to be a person. I'd never give a human the dignity of scaring me like this. I just needed to puff my chest out and get a gri-

Oh shit it's moving! It made a slow deliberate step, leaning closer and tilting its head. Every instinct and whisper in the back of my mind now screamed in chorus.

Don't think, just run! I just need to run.

Ah just shut up! I'm trying to think over here!

It leaned forward, reaching one long arm overhead to the wall to stabilise itself as it began slowly lowering its head closer. There were no recognisable marks to its face. No burning red eyes or maw lined with snow white daggers. It was just an oppressive darkness that swallowed up everything.

I can't let it take me back.

I sank as low as I could go into the water until my paws touched the layer of dirt and mud that'd built up on the bottom. I dug my claws in and pulled, throwing my body like a missile through the water. My lungs burned, greatly dissatisfied with my brain's decision and ready for mutiny.

Until the shadow overhead had disappeared far behind me, I wouldn't lift my head up again. Dim light soon turned into total darkness. I found myself crashing into walls more times than I cared to remember. Time dragged on. I never felt like I was going fast enough.

It was only when I was absolutely sure I would drown otherwise, I dragged myself up out of the water. Spluttering for air, I weakly looked both ways. Nothing but total darkness. I was surrounded by it.

With not even dim light, I'd never be able to tell where I was going, where I'd been, or whether I was going to run headfirst into that thing again. But I was certain I'd swam a great distance away. If it was genuinely chasing me though, it wouldn't be far away.

Grappled under confusion and paranoia, the stress of the situation would ordinarily have made me keel over. This was a hopeless situation.

But was it even real?

Quietly I clung to the hope that if I closed my eyes firmly shut and waited a few seconds, somewhere, something about my situation would improve. This hope that the natural due course of the world during a bad situation is improve on its own was without a doubt stupid.

When such crises were left unresolved, rock bottom became the new status quo. That would mean staying here, half submerged whilst the rest of me gasped for air. All the while on the lookout for a 'darkness' I expected to be somehow discernable in the total absence of light.

Naturally, if my fate was such then I should just find a comfortable spot to lie down, close my eyes, and wait until time washed away the city above and collapsed this tunnel network. Assuming of course, the darkness didn't claim me.

This is just paranoia.

The moment I realised I was under the cathedral I started to feel queasy. It's got its fair share of rumours. That place is more bad luck than any bad cat could be.

My mind was playing tricks on me.

A 'magical' darkness? Yeah right. Oooo spooky scary darkness that wants to eat me ooo. Man that was pathetic.

I should get out of here.

There was no telling when it would be back. 'It'? What 'it' was I talking about? No wait, I hadn't just swam through murky water and half drowned myself for no reason. It began to hurt to think.

I was following Killian.

I saw him climb up the wall. The wall which I tried to climb up when I noticed that thing behind me. The thing. Of course! Don't lose focus.

Don't think. It was paranoia. A lapse in judgement. There's no good in remembering it. We lost track of Killian. That's how we ended up here.

No... Good... In... No no no no. That's not right. This isn't right at all. Something's wrong. Something's very wrong.

I saw Killian climb the vertical tunnel. How could I lose track of someone walking around in the pitch black with a fairy candle? It'd be like losing track of the sun on a clear day! I wouldn't exert myself like this over a little bit of paranoia. Work is my arch-enemy.

Through the haze I battled. I wanted to grip my head and shake myself free of this feeling.

What was this?

It was the curse. It had to be the curse. I didn't know why or what this thing was trying to do. I could feel whispers of voices in my mind, asserting their thoughts onto me.

There's no way the curse could do this.

Each thought presented itself as my own. Forced me to recognise it as my own. Desperately, I tried to keep a clear picture of events in my head. It was agonising to battle each contradiction.

I would lose. Eventually my focus would slip. This was an uphill battle. In my many years of life this couldn't have been the first time I fought a memory war against my curse. But more than likely, I'd lost every single time. That was a truly terrifying thought. And this realisation would evaporate within the hour and I'd go back to being the same docile Adam the cruse wanted me to be.

It was revolting. Disgusting. Who dared do this to me? I'd crush their heads in an iron vice.

If the curse didn't want me to remember, then I'd do everything in my power to work against it. This thing had had my throat in its grip for years. Even if it were to end in failure, or the consequences last forever, I'd fight it for the few hours I had the will left to.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Thank you nasty evil shadow demon. You've jogged my memory somewhat. I remember I wasn't always this lazy.

Linth was having a terrible day. It had gone disastrously. Awfully. Cruelly. Every second had been torture.

Her fortress of solitude, her one place she could rely on for isolation, had become the haunt of new people. Not all bad of course. Hannah was terse and blunt with a well meaning heart wrapped in thrones. There were days when Linth put down her book and wondered where Hannah was and what she was up to. She brought her cat of course and that was an instant positive.

Lining the walls were her treasures. In the Kingdom of Tallis, most books barring fiction were treasures. They prized their books. Knowledge in any field of industry was a weapon with which the Kingdom could use to undercut its rivals. There were even some restrictions on the trade of historical fiction.

Her den, filled with historical biographies, encyclopedias of trivia, and possible heretical superstitions would be enough to make most people a bit nervous. It was unthinkable that a normal person would be allowed this wealth of knowledge to their exclusive personal access. Without a doubt, somebody was looking out for her.

Sadly, their protective shadow made her feel more tense than safe.

The Friday morning had passed by uneventfully. She drunk tea whilst reading, occasionally looking out the window at the scattered showers and smiling to herself that she had all she could ever want inside. Her breakfast at home with her family had included the usual brief of politics her family was so invested in. The festival had certainly brought its own pressure through her father's work.

Thankfully she wouldn't need to leave her den until late this evening. Rarely did she need to make errands for snacks. No, she had secret compartments hidden around the room. In the table, under the chairs, in her sleeping bag, even behind some of the books. She only ever had to leave for snacks once a week.

Although she didn't spend as much time living in this room as the presence of the sleeping bag might have suggested, her family complained that she was acting too withdrawn. They were so stiff, playing the game of politics. She could recite off the top of her head the families of the local nobility, their connections to what ministers, and their affiliation and interests in what political and mercantile faction within and out of the kingdom. It was this intense training that encouraged this fear of people in her.

Just what sort of people existed out there that she needed to know every facet of their affiliation and reach of their power? She'd been encouraged to believe every interaction gone wrong was one in which her family could lose everything.

So she disliked being around nobility. She disliked being around anyone ever since she'd been taught even casual conversations contributed to the great game of politics.

Every day should pass pleasantly so long as the outside world remained out there. When she was alone, she was the only player in this game.

Knock knock. Who was that at the door? It was Killian Redcrow.

Not the heir, not the spare, but never the less, a noble. Not to mention his opinions on class emancipation was diametrically opposed to the position of her family. A family raised to ministry position on merit and only some nepotism. Her father, the head master of academy, had skilfully woven his way through the upper class society to land him his position despite being of common birth. Sadly it wasn't the ministerial post he'd hoped for but he was adamant he'd rise or at least leave produce an heir that could rise further for him.

He was also self-taught in magic. An incredible near impossible feat. But he was simply that great.

If her father caught glance of this meeting, he'd probably subtly remind her to be on her best behaviour.

But why was Killian coming alone? Where was Hannah? They'd only met once before and Linth didn't feel much of a connection with him. Sure he was nice but she was entirely uncomfortable with idea of spending any time alone with him. He was just too talkative, exuding a social pressure that was almost crushing, even when being considerate.

He sat down for a cup of tea, apparently just looking for somewhere to hang out. She worried that her den was starting to attract too much attention.

At some point the conversation, lead mostly by Killian, changed topic to the Triolo. Specifically, he was asking about the cathedral. Nobody was allowed to visit there for cultural reasons. The academy punished harshly anyone who was caught sneaking into that place. It happened rarely, or so she'd been told. Obviously built as a fortress, there weren't many obvious ways to get in once it was closed off from the inside.

“I can't believe that place is stills standing. I bet it's some kind of ancient magic. You know, they say the witches of old could mould trees into stone fortresses.” More uneducated nonsense. At a first glance anyone would be able to tell it was just incredibly well built.

Every second of the conversation, Linth was grinding the gears of her head thinking of the things she shouldn't say and couldn't do. Desperately she wanted the conversation to be over as quick as possible.

“Nobody knows what it's like on the inside. The cathedral that is. Some people say it's a maze. Some people say the bodies of the people locked up in there still shamble through the great halls.” Those were all scare stories by the locals. One of the reasons why it was important never to disturb the cathedral. That way the city didn't turn on the academy in it's already tentative position.

Should she agree? Should she disagree? Should she correct him? What if he didn't appreciate it? She kept her replies short. She hoped it didn't seem curt or rude but in her mind the more she spoke the more risk of saying something stupid.

She wanted to correct him. She wanted to go 'actually'. Anybody should be able to appreciate being told the truth. But she could picture her father calling her doing something like that rude.

“So it's called a 'cathedral' right? But most of the other religious buildings around here are called 'churches'. What's the difference? Is it hierarchical? It has to be right. I mean look at the cathedral and look at churches. You can tell which one views itself to be most important by it's size. The cathedral practically screams 'look and me!'.”

He took another sip of his tea as he carried the conversation practically all on his own. If there was one thing she could be happy with, it was that he expected very little participation from her. Even his questions were more him just voicing his thoughts.

Still though, did he have to be so loud? Did she need to be his talking practice? This couldn't have been a very satisfying or engaging conversation to him. He was probably going to start running on steam and eventually there'd be an awkward silence that would feel punishing.

Beneath the table she pinched the back of her hand. She shouldn't find just one person so intimidating. She'd contributed nothing to the conversation so far. Even if it was just a small gesture, she had to do something. She'd be kicking herself if she sat there doing nothing but nod all day.

However all she had to her advantage were her books. That and a detailed knowledge of the kingdom's internal politics taught to her by her father. But she refused to go near that latter one. She much preferred to talk about books.

There was nothing for it. Committing to making a small gesture felt like a leap across a canyon. She reassured herself that all it was was two new friends sharing what they knew about the cathedral. That was all. In fact, friend making would make Hannah happy and even though Killian being here was her fault, Linth was sure Hannah had brought him here for this reason.

“I have a book on the cathedral.” She voiced abruptly. At least it felt abrupt to her. In fact, it felt so out of place she was ready to hit Killian over the head with a book in the hopes he'd forget.

Killian, who she assumed was not much of a reader lifted his head up a little too enthusiastically. “Oh really? Like on the cathedral itself?”

She nodded. His surprise surprised her. Wasn't it obvious she'd have a few books like that?

“Woah, does that mean you have books on the inside of the cathedral?”

Again she nodded and went to get the book best for the job. If he wanted to know, it'd be safe to go with the most detailed book she had, even if it was a mental grind to chew through.

Killian whistled with awe and he flipped through the pages. “It even has maps... Now isn't that useful.” He smiled quietly for himself. “I'm pretty sure it's breaking the rules to have all these books here.” He noted as he looked around the room.

It made Linth jump. This den was her family's one Achilles heel. It was an abuse of the headmaster's position that he let his daughter keep all this academia unsecure in her den. Abuses of public office in the kingdom were treated like treason.

“Ah but don't worry about that.” Killian casually waved away tried to wave away her fears as though he could see them. “I wouldn't rat you out. Your family is pretty much the one good exception to the rule.”

What rule? Linth was far too nervous to ask. There was just something in the way he said that last comment that made her feel uneasy. But Killian's promise brought with it some relief.

“Do you mind if I borrow this book though?” He smiled.

And all relief was cut short. He stared right through her, never breaking eye contact for a moment as he asked permission to take her book as though he were asking her what the weather was like.

“If you say yes, I'll leave you alone. But if you say no, you're gonna be stuck with me for quite a while.” He laughed jokingly. And yet for some reason she didn't feel like it was a joke. It felt like a scarily accurate threat.

“Fine.”

“Oh goodie. You're the best, helping a friend. I can see why Hannah likes you.” After that, Killian didn't stick around for much longer.

As soon as he left, Linth spent the next two hours reflecting on her performance during the conversation. Killian hadn't just shown up for no reason. It felt all too obvious his motive was borrowing a book.

It was frustrating. This feeling of disappointment in herself that she hadn't seen her exploitation coming was biting deep.

She tried to calm her nerves, reassuring herself that nobody would come here with ulterior motives again. This was a place free of the game of politics. Just drink some tea and lose yourself in books, Linth, and the world of politics will stay on the other side of that door.

But as time past, her anxiety didn't abate. Redcrow was quite an influential family in the militaristic faction. They controlled the eastern marches and were subsidised heavily for their involvement in the defence against the free cities, and the nomads. What if-

Crash!

Two hours after Killian had left, the sound of chaos erupted outside her door. It sounded like something was throwing itself around the corridors in a fury until thud! Her door shook.

She froze on the spot. Was it a burglar? Some sort of mafia fight happening in the quiet part of Triolo? The latter one was obviously an irrational fear.

But silence followed for an eerily long time.

Scratch, scratch, scratch. Something scratched against the wooden surface of the door. Like nails against wood. It couldn't have been a rat. No way could a rat have made such a loud crash earlier. What was it trying to do?

And the door handle began to slowly turn until clink. The door opened slightly ajar.

Linth felt an immediate urge to get up and firmly shut it. Another part of her wondered with morbid curiosity just what she'd see if she waited for the door to open.

At the very least, it was taking her mind off the conversation with Killian.

The door inched open slowly. And through the small gap, she saw a black shadow.

Covered in grime, a terrifying furry face with two angry golden eyes peered through the gap.

“Adam?” She didn't know what to expect. A dirty black cat had just clawed open her door and was staring at her with incredible intensity. It could have been a stray. Adam never strayed too far Hannah. Did that mean Hannah was visiting? Linth couldn't imgaine Hannah leaving her cat in this state.

This black cat looked like the kind that inspired their reputation as bad luck.

“Adam, is that you?” She didn't know why she asked again. It wasn't like it could ta-

“Yes. Also, I'm very sorry in advance.”