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That was it, then We had to find these doors, and seal thee of the Old Ones And as the thought ca like satisfaction flared inmy sense of purpose in the Dark Roo the ins and outs of my new home – my domicile

I turned to leave, puzzled and stopping when I realized that only four of ateaving his hand towards the rest of us, as if telling us to leave hiesture seemed to say “I’ll be fine” I don’t knohat cahed when itme a snappy salute in return

“We’ll visit you,” I told it “We’ll come by and keep you company”

My shadow nodded Again, I couldn’t see its face, but I kneas s The shades were the friends that Hecate had been hinting at fro

I left with the others, heading to what I’d come to think of as the Dark Room’s nexus, a central hub to the dimension, despite the utter lack of directions, ht, and center But as we approached, I faltered ed Different

For one thing, there was the tantalizing sers, either, but the faer fro fried aros I turned in place, scanning e, but there was nothing And despite ered so in ain with the sleeve of my tattered jacket, careful to dab away a streak of drool

Where was that s at the odor, then further confused by the sudden influx of sound Utter silence had beenother than the sound of my own voice elcoibberish at first, until the noises and clicks asseements of words, then phrases, then sentences I frowned as I strained to understand the

I ran towards the voice, noticing for the first ti me They watched as I ran helter-skelter towards the sounds and sh the infinite nothing of the Dark Rooht: an exit

I ran harder, harder than I ever had in my various lives, in the spaces of time between my first and my second birth, , ed to be reunited with the best thing – the best person – that had ever happened to me

The white speck of light ahead of rew, until it was the size of a , then a door Warm, fresh tears blurredheat of reality, shadowstepping for the first time in an eternity

I fell heavily to the ground, unsure of where I was leaping or e

ven ai to cross over from the black diers dug into the soft fuzz of an apartlare out offace to face with the mortal who had summoned me

The blinking caht away a steady trickle of tears I beaeoreasy fast food he’d placed in its center as an offering, at the sight of the knife he’d used to draw a single speck of his blood

The e, terrified eyes, dropped his knife, then sucked in air like he’d only just remembered how to breathe

“I thought you’d never come”