“I will…pierce the heart of my abyss”
Circular diffusion waves emitted from the TV screen. The entire surrounding became pixelated and gradually blurry until everything suddenly turned pitch black. Once it was coated in a bask of shadows, the world began spinning around uncontrollably.
The duration had a brief stint as the rotating motion steadily came to an end while Jansen and Allyson remained motionless during that transfiguration.
“What the hell just happened?” Allyson said as her body remained still yet her eyes rolled everywhere.
“Are we still on campus?” Jansen cautiously took the first step with his left foot.
The skies shrouded in darkness with a light gray sphere at the center. He squinted his eyes to gaze at the moon.
“Yeah…” she reduced her vision and left a gap in her mouth. “Um, Jansen? Look over there.”
Approximately 100 meters from where they were standing, there was a building that resembled the Art-Sociology building. Additional constructions from above layered the original foundation of the Art facility.
At the top, the exterior shone gold. Beneath it displayed a lemon yellow color. Below that was orange. Lastly, the first floor glowed red. Banners represented the campus mascot hanging on the sides of the entrance doors. Rainbow lights flashed intermittently across the yellow carpet leading to the main entrance.
Allyson and Jansen discreetly approached closer and closer until a metallic gate came crashing from above with prickly thorns encompassing it. Above the rose door handles, a flat-screen panel appeared. At the top of the screen, it was slowly flashing crimson light.
“So do we just use our eyes and,” she proceeded to close her right eye and revealed a large left eye to the screen.
Nothing happened.
“I don’t think so?” He kept a straight face. “A flashing bright light on your eye doesn’t seem healthy.”
“Tch,” she scoffed but revealed her dimpled smile.
Touching the screen with her left hand, a green line emerged from the screen and moved vertically.
Five seconds later.
The gate began to move inwards and forged a carpeted path to the gallery. As they continued walking, they saw a figure on the flight of stairs holding their hands on the side of their waist. The burning lights behind the figure illustrated a shadowlike apparatus. As the two investigators reached the bottom of the stairs, they were able to discern the mysterious person.
“Julia?” Allyson squinted her eyes.
“Oh, it’s my roommate,” she scrolled over her eyes before exposing her palms upward. “I thought I told you to keep your nose out of my business.”
“Are you seriously saying that to me?” Her brows arched and snarled back. “I was worried that you were kidnapped!”
“I told you already, I’m fine!” She roared back clenching her fists and pulling them back behind her.
“Not what I saw at the apartment last Sunday. Something was wrong. Something happened to you, didn’t it?”
“There you are invading my privacy,” the figure in a golden dress pressed her left palm on her forehead, closed her eyes, and shook her head. “It’s not your business and just leave it at that! You don’t see me stick my nose into your business. So why should I say any more to you?”
“Hey,” Jansen stomped the first stair with his right foot and pinned his stare at Julia. “We searched every single damn part of campus to find you. Allyson did everything to make sure you were okay. Put some fucking respect on her name.”
She just beamed the strongest grin on her face to where her white teeth shone. Her giggle escalated to a chuckle before bursting out uncontrollably loud “HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!”
Both Jansen and Allyson furrowed their eyes and took a few steps back.
“Wow!” Her mouth left a wide gap while her eyes were as large as the moon. “Who are you to say to put respect on someone’s name?! They never earned mines in the first place.”
“The fuck you talking about?”
“Enough chatter,” Julia swung her left arm across her body. Her face quickly relaxed and maintained a straight face. “Why don’t you two guests enter my gallery? This visit is free of charge for today.”
She turned her back and took a few steps into the facility before stopping. “Oh and one more thing. You don’t want to miss the unveiling of my new artwork coming soon.”
Julia entered the premises. Allyson immediately bolted through the flight of stairs. Jansen stammered before following his friend.
Artificial Gallery - Floor 1
Sculptures, paintings, and canvases spreaded across the area. Lights were distributed evenly to shine on every single art piece.
It was, however, unoccupied.
"Where is she?" Allyson sharply scanned the entire premises, turning her head in all possible angles.
"Hey, don't run off like that," Jansen heavily breathed before repeating the same gestures his friend did. "Why is there no one here?"
"No damn clue," she aggressively rugged her head. "Come on, let's find her."
Before making a single step, all the lights went out.
"Jansen?"
"Allyson?"
"Where are you? I'm reaching my hands."
"Got em!"
Then a single ray of light centered at the middle of the floor.
"Now, don't be in such a rush," she smirked while her hands were on her hips. "Please take your time around the gallery. There is plenty of art to appreciate."
The light went out again before the entire stage of lights returned. Julia was no longer present.
“Is she serious?” He raised his left eyebrow while still holding Allyson’s hands.
“I kinda wanna see everything around here,” she pierced her lips inward. “It’s my first time being a visitor in a gallery.”
Jansen closed his eyes, widened his lips, and scoffed. “I guess there’s always time to appreciate art during this time of crisis.”
Starting their tour, they saw two sculptures closest to them. The one on the left was holding a scale in its right hand while wielding a sword in the other. Eyes were covered by a white cloth. The other held a torch in its left hand while carrying a book in the other hand. Upon inspecting the engraving below, there were only two words:
“Julia Sivhia”
“Did she create these?” Allyson’s eyes broadened and nonchalantly rocked her head. “I’m impressed.”
“Don’t these look familiar to you?” Jansen pressed his lips with his right fist while his left arm supported his right elbow.
“Maybe a reference?” She then spotted three pillars behind the two sculptures and stepped closer to them. Her friend soon followed.
The canvas in the middle portrayed the campus mascot of a terrapin standing on two legs and proudly revealing the ‘M’ at the center. To the left depicted a basketball court where fans were raising their arms in celebration of a last-second game-winning shot. On the opposite side illustrated the McKeldin library in the distance and the McKeldin Mall rendered closer in view. Students converged. Students walked. Students sat at the fountain. They all appeared to enjoy their campus life.
“These all look pretty good,” Allyson tilted her head to the right and furrowed her eyes. “But I’m not sure why she’s the way she is now?”
“Wait a minute,” Jansen squinted his eyes and focused on the canvas on the right. “Hey, Allyson? You might want to look at the canvases again.”
She concentrated on the middle drawing. Initially, she believed that it was not anything out of the ordinary.
Until she saw the terrapin's face.
Beneath the eyes had another additional slither pair of eyes. Only the bottom of the usual pair of eyes. The palms of the legs had layers of themselves angling in different directions.
"Uhh, what?"
She checked the left drawing and the fans’ arms were uncharacteristically long. Fingers on every hand were more than 5. Many faces were a tad elongated. The painting on the right was the same. Her face directed at Jansen who then reciprocated.
“Are these…”
“I think so,” he slowly tilted his head forward a few times.
“What about her other stuff and the sculptures?”
Allyson surveyed the side closest to the entrance whereas Jansen covered the remaining side. All of it had strange oddities that reminisced the three paintings earlier. Jansen quickly rendezvous with Allyson to where they first discovered the sculptures.
“They all have these weird features. Every single one of them.” He reported, pointing his right finger at every art piece he scanned.
“Same here,” she closed her eyes for a brief moment before walking behind the sculpture on the left. She gestured to Jansen to walk to where she was standing. “Look at this.”
Created with Nightlife.Studios
Artist: Julia Sivhia
“Hold on,” Jansen squinted his eyes and furrowed his eyes. “I think I’ve heard of Nightlife.Studios before.”
“What is it exactly?”
“Well,” he scratched the back of his head with his right hand while crunching the right side of his face. “It’s not a physical studio you would think of for artists. It’s more of a website where you can type in a description and then it generates an artwork from the description you wrote in.”
“Wait so you can just type in a few words and poof? Art piece done?”
Jansen pierced the right side of his lips, stared at his friend, and statically tilted his head down a few times.
“That’s… really lame. Feels soulless to me.”
“You said it, not me.”
“I get so many portfolio assignments non-stop. The amount of work to even make one drawing takes so much time. Cree piles on so much work on me that I can’t finish all of them by the deadlines given to me. I cried to myself at night because it was all too much.”
The voice echoed throughout the area. No signs of Julia anywhere.
A hologram of Julia pulling her hair with both of her hands. Her eyes were tightly shut and she exhaled slowly and painfully with her teeth grinded against each other. When she returned to her desk, she attempted to layer some shadows. One second in, she flicked her tablet pen and covered her face with her hands.
“Julia…she’s been dealing with all of that,” Allyson tilted her head down and moist eyes. Quietly muttered, “all by herself.”
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“Friends that I once had, artist mutuals and inner circle, haven’t talked to me in the past year. I was trying to survive with this job where maybe I could enjoy what I like doing and get paid for it. But I never realized… how much it cost.”
Soon the paintings in the area all transformed into the same visual. It was like duplicating a desktop to multiple monitors.
One image flickered to Julia running but a group of unidentifiable individuals had their backs turned against her and walked away. In the next image she tried to extend her left arm as far as she could. The third image was a pile of unfinished creations all smudged and torn. The last image was Julia holding a wad of cash but her somber eyes and still expression left a stinging pain in Allyson’s heart.
“Then came my roommate.”
Her head quickly shot upward and dilated pupils scanned the hologram.
“Her moving to the apartment was such terrible timing. While working on my last two assignments for Cree, she moved in. I could tell she was like my so-called friends. Pretending to be nice and then turning her back to me because I did this one bad thing. A fake person like her. So I just made sure we are just roommates and nothing more.”
"Allyson?" Jansen turned to his friend but it was all muffled to her.
Her body was stiff. Heart beating by the smallest of seconds.
“I wished she would just shut up and stop talking to me. She doesn't know how to respect anyone's boundaries and wishes to be liked. She's so obvious to figure out. She is the reason why I lost my job and was forced to pay back for everything I made there. I almost lost it because of her. It's all her fault. I want her to just leave here. You ruined everything.”
Jansen refused to say a word. He can only see Allyson balling her hands into fists.
She clenched her teeth while shutting her mouth. Her burning eyes all focused at the hologram.
"Let's leave."
"B-but"
"NOW!"
As they approached the entrance, the impenetrable metallic doors were conjured up.
The woman in the golden dress appeared behind her with a smirk. "Aw, want to leave because I said what I said?"
"Shut… the fuck up," she held her tension in her fists and pinned a deadly stare. "Let us leave."
"If you do, then I will still be missing," she snapped her fingers and displayed a holographic visual of a hallway. "Doesn't this look familiar?"
"What is this? What’s going on?"
The elegantly fashioned lady quickly released her middle finger and thumb once again. The lights lost power for a second and she was absent.
On the opposite side, the wall was moving sideways. It unveiled a flight of stairs to the next floor.
"Jansen, come on!" Allyson without hesitation bolted towards the stairs.
"Wait, Allyson!" Jansen chased after her. "You don't know where that leads to!"
Ignoring her friend's words, she sprinted up the stairs and continued on until a corridor laid in front of them.
Artificial Gallery - Floor 2
Allyson stopped and scanned the hallway. Black and white tiles on the floor. Paintings hung on both sidewalls. Jansen had just arrived behind her.
"This looks like…"
"Uh, Allyson?" He pointed back from the stairs and dark entities with blonde coverings on their head came running.
They hurriedly dashed through the long corridor and found a brown door. They shoved it open and found themselves in an area with no exits and a wide stand that was barricaded by a rectangular glass.
Julia with a gilded attire was in front of the stand.
But there was someone else on her knees.
"Julia!"
"You heard it? Didn't you?" The woman clawed her fingers against the floor.
"Hey, I'll say shit about you later. Come on! Let's get out of here! I was trying to find you all week!"
As Allyson approached Julia, she was stopped and restrained by the shadow entities chasing them. Her left arm was locked by one shadow’s left arm while another shadow mimicked its partner on Allyson’s right arm. Jansen was also detained in the same way. A quick glimpse of the entity to her right, the being had wavy blonde hair yet no facial features were present.
“I should come clean,” the lady standing took several steps closer to Julia. “It must have been all the hard work I’ve put in these past two years in making the best work for Cree.”
Julia lifted herself with her shins and stood right up before balling up her hands.
“...”
The other figure’s shallow smirk circled slowly around Julia.
“At first, it was fine. I was so happy knowing that I was representing my art to the family who funded our prosperous campus. I was getting paid good money for my passion. Oh, I was enjoying the moment. But you know, everything wasn’t as it seems. Seeing… is believing.”
Allyson left a small gap with her lips while squinting her eyes toward her roommate.
Another snap of the fingers created a hologram above everyone.
“There has been a change of plans, Julia. The deadline for these portfolios is now two weeks earlier.”
“What? I can’t finish everything in that short of time!”
“I understand your frustration. This is an unfortunate circumstance but you will have to finish your work with this constraint. We cannot afford more losses if you cannot deliver to our expectations. We will also make sure to not let these circumstances reoccur again.”
“I… Yes, Cree.”
“The deadlines were becoming shorter. They were using my competitors' work more instead of mine. I was getting paid less as a result.”
“Don’t even think about it…” Julia partially widened her eyes and rapidly shook her head. “I know what I had to do.”
“Oh, did I?” The woman halted right at Julia’s left side and pinned her flaming eyes at her. “As a matter of fact, I did know what I had to do to make sure I made more money and beat my competitors and actually reached my deadlines. Here’s what I did…”
She snapped her fingers again.
In Julia’s room at her desk, she stared at her laptop screen. The search engine was empty. Surrounding her computer were unfinished sketches and crumbled papers. She was ventilating at an alarming rate. Her eyes were closed while her fingers trembled.
“If I do this, just this once, I can relax for now. Only once ok. Only once.”
The website navigated to the Nightlife.studios. The search bar was asking the user to put in a description, paste an image URL.
“Here goes nothing.”
“What started out was just doing this fun little art creation tool on this website. But then, it was creating nice art at face value just by putting in a description or a picture! Ooh, when I got that fat paycheck and my art was getting used more, I felt great. I finally can be comfortable with my life. But then…”
Another finger snap.
“What the hell is this, Julia?!”
“...”
“Why are you using this to make your own art? You’re stealing other work and making a profit?”
“Don’t you see how bad this is? We are getting people claiming they are stealing OUR work and now we can’t post our work on our social media anymore!”
“Julia, you really disappointed us. It’s one thing to use it, but to make a profit out of it and as your primary art tool is just tarnishing what all of us artists stand for.”
“My mutuals started coming after me. Calling me a plagiarist, putting me on blast with Cree in front of us. I couldn’t understand it. I didn’t know at the time that doing this harmless thing could affect them like that. Then…Cree called me that same term after using that website again and again.”
“Stop!” Julia shouted and pushed the woman. “I wasn’t happy with the little money I was making with my work.”
“My work?” The lady puffed her dress and rolled her hands down on her attire. “I think I mean other people’s work.”
“Why are you talking like you know me?!”
“Simple. I am Julia Sivhia. The artist who steals for a quick buck and blows it all away on some things I depend on. I am also the person who thinks Allyson is weird and annoying. Why can’t she be normal like anyone else?”
Allyson closed her eyes and leaned her head downward. Her lips were sealed shut.
“Allyson… I” before Julia could muster up any more words, the other Julia snapped her fingers. Julia was surrounded by four mirrored paintings in all four-way directions.
The portraits were drawing closer to Julia. She quickly ran to the corner and barely escaped with an inch of her body. But the mirrors flew faster towards Julia who then was pinned to a wall of the glass stand.
“No, no!” She stammered while her knees were bent inward. “Please stop this”
“Now, now,” the woman snapped her fingers again and the mirrors became motionless. “If I want to show everyone who I really am, I’ll need to make an original self-portrait. Something that people can remember someone through death. Starting with… me.”
The mirrors floated toward Julia who then yelled out a blood-curdling scream “AAAAGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!”
Allyson regained her vision and swung a left leg sweep and both entities fell over in a domino effect. She sprinted to the golden-dressed woman with her right fist. Once in close proximity, she attempted to deliver a punch but upon impact the other Julia was substituted by a painting case causing it to shatter into million pieces.
Allyson’s vision blurred and covered with her left arm. Slowly regaining sight, without her notice, she was met with a roundhouse to the face and flew back a few feet.
“Allyson!” Jansen charged forward but he went nowhere. “Fuck!”
“Now, watch as I make my greatest self-portrait to the world. They will remember what I am.” The eloquent lady clapped her hands.
The mirrors started to glow and flashes were rampant.
Julia slid down the wall and covered her face with her arms. Her whimper was soft. Her entire body shook vigorously.
Allyson while lying on her side slowly extended her right arm out to her roommate before it slammed to the ground. She pressed her left hand against the ground to get her two feet firm against the floor. Her breath became heavier as her eyes started to sleep.
Then something rang in her pocket.
Pulling out her phone, the ember icon reoccurred. Her brows furrowed and her eyes woke up.
The flames radiated a violet color.
Then it dissipated.
A line flashed on and off for a few seconds. The background was an empty space with little diamond stars. A light, transparent gray mist enshrouded the screen
After a brief stint, it typed: The feeling is there, isn’t it? That feeling-
“Never goes away.”
… But then why do you still want to save her? Why do you risk your life for someone who gives you nothing?
Allyson stayed silent for a brief moment. Her mind became foggier by the second. A storm brewed gradually inside her.
“It’s because… Julia isn’t that different from me. That’s why I want to save her.”
And if she still treats you the same?
“It’ll suck but it is what it is, I suppose.”
I will…save her? I want to prove that. I must speak and open with my heart to the Soul Portal.
The purple fire appeared once more. Allyson gazed at the flame admiring its warmth. A grin slowly crept upon her lips.
“I will… pierce the heart of my abyss.”
The phone vibrated at an unusually high volume. Everyone’s attention shifted to her. Her device began to levitate and spiral uncontrollably. During the gyration, her device was rotating in various directions. The initial shape was a sphere before it elongated into a cylinder-like object.
Suddenly, the revolution gradually slowed down and the device floated still.
But it was not her phone anymore.
A handle of 10.5 inches covered in ray skin and wrapped with smooth leather. The handle guard was a black and violet circular object wrapped between the handle and the metal blade approximately 10.5 inches long. She softly gripped the short blade and was mesmerized by its manifestation.
One long released breath while her grin remained unchanged.
Grabbing both of her hands on the handle, Allyson extended her arms out with the tip of the blade facing towards…her chest.
“Soul…” she quietly whispered as her eyes closed and lips no longer rolled up. “Portal…”
The blade had pierced her chest. The sharp blade penetrated her real heart. Allyson’s pupils shrunk. Her mouth was all exposed. No sounds were heard from her.
Crimson liquid poured out from her mouth. Drops of it rained down on her chest. Staggered to the left, staggered to the right, she gripped the handle tightly with both hands before trying to pull the dagger out.
But it was stuck. It was not budging.
Her eyes began to lose vision. She fell to her knees as her strength to pull the blade faltered. Allyson’s facial expression soon gradually lost its tension.
Her eyes went completely dark.
Her head sank down in an instant.
“ALLYSON!!” Jansen’s face blushed red and uncontrollably swung his entire body but he never stepped a single foot forward.
Julia’s lower lip quivered and water rained down her face.
“Look what I’ve done,” the woman in the dress clapped slowly as she faced the cowered Julia. “She did all she could and I let her die. And now… It’s my turn.”
The mirrors levitated Julia’s temple. She shrugged her shoulders, clawed her hands behind her head, and buried herself deeper into her legs.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry Allyson.” Julia rapidly whimpered as her cherry face puffed from the tears. “I treated you so horribly and never made you feel welcomed. I’m really, really sorry. Please save me… please, please, please…”
Allyson’s right hand suddenly twitched.
She swapped her right grip so that it was an overgrip. Allyson clenched her teeth and stomped her right leg first. With the weight against it, she barely stood on both legs while covering the handle with both hands.
One last pull. Her hands trembled as the force was unable to waver the weapon.
Her vision was bloodshot. Each slow heartbeat darkened what was in front of her, the shortblade puncturing her heart.
Then the handle became loose. Her eyes widened and persisted clench her teeth.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
No longer holding the handle with her left hand, Allyson arched her back and swiftly unsheathed the blade from her chest.
Once the entire sword was released, dark clouds began forming above the area. Thunder roars echoed throughout the area a myriad of times. The ground began to rumble. Bolts of electric waves dispersed amongst the clouds.
Then a line of violet lightning struck down where Allyson once stood. On impact, it emitted a shockwave that stunned everyone except for Julia and Jansen.
Allyson raised the sword right above her. Blade's length grew to approximately 29.5 inches. On her left wrist, a purple bracelet with an orb-shaped gem inlaid within the bracelet’s borders. It surrounded itself by a circular mark of her home country’s flag. Within the gem, 3 lighting strands converged at the center, creating a slight swirl symbol.
The ends of her hair illuminated dark purple.
When her eyes opened, a luminescent, faint violet light shone.