The Island

 

Prologue

Silence.

What he has been longing for, for ages.

He draws a salty breeze down from the deep blue sheets below his feet.

His little boat.

He turns his head slowly from left to right, gazing at how free he can be with the sea in his wooden boat, how he has become blended in dark blue and light brown - he feels free when he is far away from the hectic life of the city, the life he lives on Pinchrow, the cold, leaden peninsula connected to one of the "smaller" countries the name of which nobody would recognize. To describe how polluted the town of Pinchrow is, Mikael always emphasizes that he literally sees a shield of smoke that "protects" the city from fresh air, unlimited skies and the sea.

Freedom.

His boat comes to a halt. In deep silence, he dips the tip of his fishing rod into the sea. As the worm trapped on the edge is sunk by two strong hands that have locked their fists around the other side of the rod, Mikael realizes the irony behind the scene, that the worm sinking in to "freedom" has to die in order not to suffer.

Nobody's free, sighs Mikael, not even smaller animals.

He remembers his life at Pinchrow - people who are actually "commanded" to command others to get something done. Yet, it is the chain of life which cannot be broken in a world when even such small and unimportant worms cannot really be free.

In deep silence, Mikael holds his breath, trying to hear fish come closer. He knows they will, sooner or later. To focus on the activity, he closes his eyes, paying attention to everything he might hear.

He inhales the salty air. And exhales.

Breathe in.

Suddenly, it smells like iron. It smells rotten and bitter. Wondering why the pleasant salty breeze has changed into something metallic, Mikael opens his eyes.

The sea has turned into blood.

The entire sea. In gore.

Fish begin to die - carcasses float on the surface.

Mikael screams.

It remains unheard. He is sure that nobody in the city has realized the change, but he has. He has to go back and tell everyone. He starts the engine.

The engine sprays the blood into the skies that have gone darker. In minutes, it gets windier and wetter with the heavy rain that has come out of nowhere. A lightning bolt strikes somewhere near Pinchrow - Mikael can guess that because the sound it makes feels close.

A wave strikes his boat and separates Mikael from it. As it falls apart farther from him, Mikael knows he has to swim. He begins swimming like hell.

Knock knock.

His wife is not surprised to see Mikael soaked wet. "I told you it was gonna rain."

"Something weird happened before that," Mikael bursts out. "The sea turned into a sea of blood and fish began to die."

His wife stares at the set of pills left in front of the microwave on the white counter. "That explains it," she says, her head tilted to the side of pills. "You've forgotten to take them. Again."

Mikael gently strikes his palm against his head. "That definitely does." He fills the first glass he can get his hands on and starts taking the pills off from the set one by one.

In the living room, he finds his wife staring through the window in a gloomy way. "Sorry," Mikael grunts, "Sorry for not taking them."

"Mikael - have you ever thought what could happen if the hallucinations made you do some dangerous stuff? Like making you jump right into the water? Or even kill someone?"

"Told you it was a mistake and-"

"Yea, and you're sorry... But you know, I just cannot lose you. Let alone myself as your wife, what would Jonas do without you?"

Upon hearing the name, Mikael embraces his wife. "Jonas... is he alright?"

"I don't know, it seems like he is OK in my womb." She gives a smile, longed-for for Mikael. He kisses her hair and fixes his eyes onto the reflection of her, right onto the womb on the window. They watch the rain for a while.

Monday.

Mike has to get up and get to the school. He is working as a janitor in one of the well-known colleges in Pinchrow. He takes the subway to get to his workplace and dresses up for work in the dressing room on the other side of the third floor.

"Good day, Mike!"

Jacques Morgan, a friend of Mikael, teaches French there. He is notorious among students for his hard exams and among workers for his occult practices. Some teachers rumor that Morgan carries a bag of runes in his bag. Nobody has seen anything, though.

"Hi," Mikael greets him back as he enters a classroom - normally he does not have classes on the third floor on Mondays, but he knows that Morgan is compensating as a teacher to attend is needed for Mr. Hanson's exam because he seems to be absent.

It is five in the evening when Mike begins to sweep the floor in the last classroom he has to tidy up. While sweeping, something is entangled around the hairs of the brush. It is a pentagramic necklace, probably belonging to a student. He leaves the classroom to find the assistant principal, only to face a locked door. He decides to put it into his pocket, not with the intention of stealing, but with that to deliver it to the assistant principal so that she can find the owner.

As soon as he puts it into his pocket, he hears someone scream from afar on the third floor, in the middle of which Mikael is standing.

He is sure that it came from the girls' restroom. And he is sure that it is not a hallucination.

Chapter: 1

Mikael rushes towards the ladies' room, hoping not to find a girl in a rather inappropriate position. That could definitely be embarrassing for anybody. He wonders how that could then be explained if the girl turns in a paper of complaint.

Mikael keeps thinking until he hears another scream which blocks his thoughts and directs them into the path that could lead to saving the girl.

He bursts into the ladies' room.

"Anyone here?"

The place looks cold and empty. Lights had been turned off. To turn on the lights, Mikael walks to the switch near the wall on which three large mirrors are mounted.

His hands find the switch. Right before he turns the lights on, he hears someone slapping knock onto the mirror glass. Lights are then turned on in a flash - someone is slapping the mirror glass in a scared way - from the other side of the mirror.

Mikael gives off a faint scream and steps back as he sees a student spanking the mirror glass from the other side - how did she get there?

"Save me," the girl yells - it is certain that she can see Mikael. "Please get me out of here!"

"How did you get there?"

"I don't know," she cries. "I just found myself on the other side!"

"Let me break the mirror." Mikael takes off his shirt and wraps it around his fist.

"No... NO! Don't break the mirror - I think it works as a portal..." she replies in tears.

"A portal? How?"

"I remember touching onto one of the mirrors when I was thrown onto the ground - like someone just pulled me through the window and all!"

"Pulled you? Seen who that was?"

"No!" She cries even deeper, breathlessly. "I will never get out from here. I'm really afraid!"

"Stay where you are - I guess I know someone who can be of help." Mikael takes out his old cell phone and dials a set of numbers that can put him through to Jacques Morgan - the only person he knows who is involved in the occult.

"Mike? I thought you'd forgotten my cell number." Morgan giggles.

"Not the time - we've a situation here and thought you might be of help!"

"You alright? Is it about Luna or Jonas?"

"No - a student here seems to be trapped into the mirror and I thought you were into the occult, and-"

"Trapped into a mirror? Man, that happens in movies... You sure it's not a hallucination?"

"I've taken my pills, Jacques. And believe that I'd not be sane enough to call anyone if this was a hallucination."

"I see..." Jacques sighs for a short while. "S**t happens... Yeah, I might be of help - where are you now?"

"School, third floor, ladies' room - please be quick."

"Lucky," he says, "I am not far from there."

Jacques dashes into the room in ten minutes.

"Tell him," Mikael tells the girl and she begins telling how the mirror worked as a portal between two realms.

"Sounds weird," Jacques hums as he listens to the story. "We need to get you out from there somehow... Are you sure about the portal thing?"

"I am - as I told you, it felt like someone pulled me into the mirror and through it, sir!"

"Don't panic, we'll find a way." He lifts his bag as Mikael watches him search for something. A long while later, he takes out a spell book and reads the "Teleportation" section. Mikael cannot hold back a snigger, upon which Jacques looks daggers at Mikael. "So, you don't believe that even when you have the proof?"

"I just don't think that you can find a mirror manual there - I mean, wouldn't that be too easy?"

"Wait and see. I'll open up a portal soon enough." Jacques sounds too convincing that even himself can believe that he can do that. He closes his eyes and murmurs some gibberish words, only to open his eyes to see that it has not turned out to be successful. He looks back at the girl to see a desperate face.

"It doesn't work, I'm still here!"

"Shh, don't get mad - we'll find a way soon."

"PLEASE!" She keeps on crying as Jacques keeps on reading. He casts another spell, yet another, without success.

"What's wrong?" Mikael asks upon the misfortune.

"Everything! This book is just not right... This portal is blocking my spells..." The girl punches the glass again.

"I will never get out of here!"

"I think I have a plan," Jacques says, "Look around and tell me about the place and how long you can survive there. I'll bring in a medium to save you from there."

"I... I can't survive here, I hear wolves growling! They will eat me alive if I ever walk out of this cave!"

"That cave? Man... Just peak out through the entrance and tell me what it looks like."

"Okay..." The girl walks away from the mirror and out of sight. Minutes later, she comes back to describe it with simple words.

Colorless. Barren. Except for a tree far away.

Hearing that, Jacques is startled. "Do whatever it takes to remain awake and alive." A simple sentence that shows the gravity of the situation. "I have an educated guess that you're in what we call Purgatory. Just... try to stay alive - I will bring a medium here who might know the way to get you out of there." Jacques turns to Mike. "I've an idea... I've an address. Find the medium and tell her that Mr. Morgan has sent you there. Then bring her here. I'll help the girl there with my spells - I'll teach her how to cast them as they can be a lifesaver."

Jacques jots down an address onto a piece of paper off from the book and wishes Mikael luck.

Mikael rushes to his old red car. He starts the engine quickly and sets out for the outskirts of town. "98 Barker Lane, Mistress Mandy." The name reminds him of something pornographic. Mistress Mandy... Mikael repeats the name in his mind for a few times, only to realize that it may be an unsuccessful attempt for the owner of the name to sound poetic. Imagining a psychic woman in the nude, he laughs at the thought that his wife would kill him for meeting a pornstar-psychic. He calls his wife.

"Luna... Sweetie pie, I guess I'll be late for dinner. We've a situation at school and I've to deal with it."

"A situation? What, exactly?"

"Well, you'd not believe me if I told you, but a girl got trapped into the mirror through a portal that opened up and now she might be in Purgatory."

"And?" She does not sound like a believer, but Mikael fails to understand the subtle "You're lying" tone of her voice.

"And, that French teacher I was talking about decided to help, but his spells were blocked by the portal. Now, I've to find a psychic named Mistress Mandy."

"Did not sound like a psychic one to me. Hey, you could directly tell me that you were cheating on me - I definitely could understand."

"No, Luna, this is real. I really have to find this woman and get the girl out from there. She might die there!"

Too late.

Luna has already hung up. "Luna?" Mikael asks again to the emptiness. He hits the steering wheel in anger then. "D****t."

The journey ends after an hour. It is ten past six, to be exact. Strange enough, on the outskirts of town, it gets dark earlier. Maybe because the rumors that the evil that live there make the place "darker" at night is true. Mikael does not know why. All he knows is that he has to find Mistress Mandy.

92 Barker Lane. Here it is.

Normally, there are cars and car horns to be heard in the city - being so silent and empty, this place is too different from the city to be a part of it. He follows the numbers painted or carved on the wall. He follows the lane deeper into the forest and once he realizes it, the idea gives him the creeps.

A house stands in the dark, at the end of the path. That could be it, 92 Barker Lane. Birds have stopped tweeting as he walks in the dark. He can hear himself breathe.

He walks towards the wooden cottage. The number 92 written in red paint on the door flashes into his eyes. Mikael does not differentiate between blood and the red paint used on the door. Yet, so unwilling to learn, he knocks the door. "Mistress Mandy?"

No answer.

Mikael repeats the name out loud. "Mistress Mandy?"

He touches the doorknob and as it creaks open, Mikael thinks has seen black shadowy substances come out from the house in a flash. Tense, he enters.

A heavy incense that has been burning enough to fill the room can be smelled. "Mistress Mandy?" Mikael repeats, this time with a mumble. "Anyone here?"

Being unanswered, Mikael turns back. Right before he leaves, a deep alto voice echoes in the room. "Excuse the dark. I was meditating. Please come in," which makes Mikael change his mind and go back in.

Chapter: 2

Mistress Mandy is an old woman with her hair turned into the blondish shades of white. Two big green eyes have been located close to her small nose on her wrinkled face. She does not smile too often, but her face looks as if she had.

She is wearing a purple satin cloak on her casual dress. Her breath is rather small and diaphramic, maybe because she has been into meditation for a long time in her life.

She definitely is the definition enfleshed for "occult". Her presence is enough to make Mikael shiver.

Just as Mikael pronounces a syllable of what he has been suggested to say to Mistress Mandy, she snaps out a sentence that amazes him.

"I know why you're here. They've told me you would come."

"So, you know about the portal, too, I assume?"

She inhales deeply and on the exhale, she replies affirmatively. "I've got bad news for you, but I am not allowed to inform you of it. I really shouldn't be. Let me give a hint, though... Are you expecting a phone call from my friend Jacques?"

"No, not really," mumbles Mikael. "Should I?"

She nods creepily with a sinister smile. "You will get a call from him, you'd better hear the bad news from him instead. Let's go."

How on Earth do they know each other? Mikael tries to find an answer, but nothing seems to work out, except that he is sure that Mandy has "overheard" his mental speech. That was a rhetoric question, he thinks. And it really is.

As soon as they reach the entrance of Pinchrow Campus of the Christopher Creed University, Mikael's phone rings bitterly. Jacques is calling.

"Mike, something has gone extremely wrong..."

"What? Mandy told me that something would go wrong, but she never told me what."

"Well, that girl..." He does not sound happy at all. Something must have gone terribly wrong. "That girl died, Mike..."

Died.

"What?" he exclaimed. "How?"

"She slept and a wolf attacked her."

Mikael glances at Mandy - he is surprised to see her emotionless face upon that news, although she has learned it a while ago. She looks so cold... Maybe she is just used to getting bad news like that out of nowhere.

"What do we do now?" Mikael asks.

"I don't know, just ask Mandy." Jacques replies.

Mikael turns his head towards her face, the eyes located on which is fixed straight through the front mirror to the skies.

"There's an open portal which has to be closed out there. We should cast a spell or two to close it down. Or more girls will die in there."

"I see," Mikael replies, "Let's go."

Seven thirty-five.

Christopher Creed University, Pinchrow Campus.

Faculty of Literature, third floor, ladies' room.

Now, there are three people who, this or that way, are involved in the occult - Mikael, Jacques and Mandy.

All of them willing to get the portal closed so that nobody else can die.

Mistress Mandy is not carrying a spell book with her - she has all of them in her mind. She sticks out her left index and middle fingers and while pointing at the mirror, speaks in an incomprehensible language that sounds magical.

She tells them to close their eyes and focus on the vision of portal closing. They both close their eyes and feel the energy.

A tornado of energy.

Starting and rising from somewhere below their feet and working its way swirling up their spine.

Their neck.

Their mind.

Closing... Closing... They keep imagining.

...

IN VAIN.

"In vain," Mandy yells. "Something is blocking the energy against the portal."

"And what should we do?" Mikael asks. "What next? I mean, can't it just be closed?"

"No." Jacques quits being silent. "There is something that blocks the energy flow which needs to be destroyed."

"...and?"

"And... Someone needs to go through the portal to, literally, shut it down."

"Who?"

"I don't know if you'll accept it," Mandy hums, "But I see that things will turn favorable if we choose to send Mikael."

"Mikael? Why me?" Mikael bends his arms and moves his shoulders slightly up and down.

"Because... It is you who should be sent there! It is the will of demons," Mandy replies.

"Demons?" Mikael is in faint shock.

"She is a witch, Mikael," Jacques snaps. "So am I."

Chapter: 3

Mikael goes home late that night. Unlocking the door, he finds that the lights are already off. Luna has slept already.

He takes off his brown leather jacket. He leaves his keys silently into the jar that functions a key holder. He enters the kitchen to have dinner.

He sees the saucepan full of macaroni on the cooker. He takes out a plate and makes faint noises when eating which wakes Luna up. She enters the kitchen to find a hungry Mikael chewing on macaroni.

"Hi," he munches. "How're you?"

She just stares at him and turns to walk away. Mikael shouts to get her attention from behind. "Hey, I didn't cheat on you, OK?"

"Mistress Mandy... Do you think I'd believe in that psi crap?" She looks at him in disbelief and disappointment. "You've let me down."

"Mistress Mandy is at least fifty," sniggers Mikael. "There's no way I can bang her!"

"Whatever. I still don't believe you."

"You know?" Mikael gazes at her with hope and gloom. "That girl died. Wolves ate her alive in her sleep."

"That thing only happens in movies. Not reality."

"I'm not here to argue, too hungry to do that." Mikael keeps on chewing on the same piece of macaroni. "Go back to your sleep, never mind me. I'm just insane, right? Just hallucinating and all? I'm just... My mind's just broken down for good!" He is surprised to hear how words have just flowed out from his mouth and turned into something destructive. "Sorry," he is going to say, when Luna speaks out the last words:

"That was not what I meant, sorry!"

She approaches Mikael and touches him on the shoulder. Mikael does not react. In seconds, he stands back up and goes to their room, leaving a crying Luna behind.

He lies down on the side closer to the window onto the bed. The curtain is drawn against the window. He turns off the lights and draws the curtain away from the window to look through when trying to sleep and thinking.

Soon, Luna comes in. She lies onto the other side of the way in a distant way, both physically and mentally. She pulls her legs up to her womb - something she only does when she feels insecure and vulnerable. Yet, Mikael is not going to respond. He has to act tough at that point. He faces his back against her body and looks through the window.

To think about the "journey" to Purgatory he will start in two days.

He has to buy sleeping pills for that, and some canned food.

Good that I have locked the door there, he thinks. Nobody will see the portal other than us.

Nobody else will go insane.

Uneasy, he feels his eyelids get heavier and close.

Fish.

They die.

In bloody water.

Rain. Storm. Home.

Fish.

They die.

In bloody water.

Rain. Storm. Home.

Again.

And again.

Fish.

They die.

In bloody water.

Rain. Storm.

Death?

As his looped dream turns into a nightmare, Mikael wakes up, seeing that it has begun raining. For the first time in his life, he feels more desperate than ever. Why on Earth did they choose me for the journey?

He remembers them explaining: "I feel that only you can get it done." They are psychic, not him. He cannot feel it, but they do.

Yet, he has a better explanation in his mind, like the subtitles of what they meant - you are a janitor, Mike. Nobody cares about you. Mandy and Jacques are important people. They are psychic, to begin with. You are not!

"F**k," he sighs. "I'm not doing that." He is determined enough to call it off. He begins to sleep - everything will clear up in days.

At four in the morning, his eyes are opened by themselves. Those eyes search Luna, in need of saying goodbye, but Mikael is too determined to turn his face towards her. Luna is oblivious to this maze Mikael is in - sleeping and dreaming about the good old days when Mikael was keeping his promise and being loyal to her.

Without looking at her, Mikael gets up. He walks through the bathroom window and closes the door behind him. The noise of water splashing and his toothbrush running against his teeth weakens Luna's sleep. She turns in bed. Yes, she wants to get closer to Mikael, no matter how distant he feels to her.

She is lying motionless when Mikael gently pushes open the wooden bathroom door. He glances at her body and quickly turns away. He leaves the house in minutes, without having breakfast. As soon as Luna hears the car start, she opens her eyes and begins to cry.

Barker Lane.

Mikael is there at five in the morning. He will take a walk and try to forget about Luna. He does not know why he wants to be there to walk, after all, he could walk around his house. Maybe it is just that he could be away from Luna physically, too, as he has not told Luna about Barker Lane before. He does not think Luna has ever been here, anyway. She wouldn't know. In addition to that, he can just visit Mistress Mandy and ask why they chose him to go there.

Although the idea has just flashed into his mind out of nowhere, he believes that it is a good one and falls in with his mind.

Knock knock.

"Mistress Mandy, it's me, Mike."

The doorknob turns and the door is opened. Mistress Mandy looks fully awake. "Good morning, son. Please come in."

He settles into the red couch on the other side of the only room in the house and watches Mandy close the door and sit into the armchair facing the red couch. "How are you?" she asks.

"Well, I wonder why you chose me instead of Jacques or yourself to go through the portal. You guys are psychic and I'm not. Is it because I'm a janitor or something?"

Mandy's face turns sour as Mikael speaks, but it is just because the outburst of Mikael and not because of the content of the outburst.

"I see what your problem is. You are afraid of the unknown, aren't you?"

"Not that..." A slight pause. "Look... I have a family and if they lose me for good, I don't think they will survive."

"I don't think so," Mandy snaps. "If you did not want to make them sad, you would respond to their call for love."

"What do you mean?"

"Luna, boy. She is sad, because of you."

"Well, she thinks you're a porn star and that I cheated on her yesterday."

Mandy cannot hold back a laughter - a wide, loud one. "A porn star? Because of my name?" Mikael nods which makes her laugh even harder. Both of them laugh for a while and Mandy gets back to work when the laughter stops. "Actually, you've just told the answer. We're witches and we can cast spells. If one of us dies there, then the portal can never be closed as the spells are never complete, even if you help complete them as you are not a witch. So, we need a soldier and you make a great soldier. That is why."

She sounds convincing. As Mikael nods, the woman grabs his palm and puts a charm in the middle of it, closing his fist around the charm. "Keep it," she hisses. Mikael decides to keep it in his pocket and when his hand is drawn into it, he notices the necklace as it makes a faint cling that can easily be recognized in the midst of silence. Mandy looks curious. Mikael takes it out.

"Found this in a classroom," he says.

"Wear it too," Mandy replies. "You will definitely need something pentagramic on you for power and protection."

Mikael nods and wears the necklace. Suddenly, he feels powerful. He closes his eyes to feel the power. He now knows it is what he has to, to save others. He breathes deeply.

Mandy, who has been watching him since he wore the necklace, feels the need to question how he feels. In response, she hears: "Better. Much better." Mandy smiles. He has eliminated all the hesitation. He is definitely going to make it.

Mikael thinks about Luna all day and how he has been making her sad. He feels the need to apologize which grows like a forgotten urge in the hidden corners of his mind and takes over him as he ends his shift and starts his car to go home.

"Honey, I'm home."

That evening, as soon as the key turns in the keyhole and the door opens before him, Mikael shoves his head into the space between the door and the door pane to look through. "Anyone there?"

He checks each and every room there - there are not many rooms, though, just a dining room combined with a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom and two bedrooms one of which is used as a storage room for an orange sofa which is not so popular among the guests and the hosts of the house, and a computer at which Mikael has expected Luna to be, as she loves spending time at the computer - but he finds nobody. Not even a note or a clue to hint where she can be.

Wondering where she could be, Mikael opens up the fridge after leaving the shopping bag he has been carrying onto the counter and takes out a carton of milk. Closing the fridge, he sees a note written on a piece of pink Post-It stuck on the lid near the handle:

Sorry Mike, I just couldn't take it.

Mikael reads the sentence again and again before he realizes that she could be gone forever.

I just couldn't take it... Couldn't... Take it...

Mikael stands frozen in front of the fridge. She is gone, she has taken Jonas with her. No, it cannot be this easy - he has to give her a call.

Quickly, he takes out his phone and finds Luna's name in the list of phone numbers.

Ringing.

She has not pressed "No". But she has not pressed "Yes" either. Will she answer the phone or leave Mikael unanswered? Mikael waits silently.

There it is. She answers.

"Mike? I knew you'd call..." Pause. "I'm sorry, but there was just too much for me to take." Pause. Sigh. "I don't think I'll come back."

"Me too," he hardly speaks, "but I don't know what my fault is! If it's because of me, know that I was not lying. I can prove that."

"I don't need no proof, Mike," she cries in a subtle way, "As I told you, I just can't take it anymore!"

"Take what anymore?"

Luna does not answer, but both of them know that Mikael knows the answer. Mikael tries to remain oblivious to the one-word answer as it spins as a tornado in his mind. He wonders if Luna feels the same, but he is on the verge of not caring.

That word spins in his head, hits the hidden corners in his mind.

Nobody pronounces it, but it still sounds harsh.

Mike knows that he will sleep alone that night and will not be able to kiss her goodbye before his journey to the unknown during which he may die. He will not be able to say goodbye to Jonas when going to Purgatory, where death starts, and it is just because of that one-word answer.

Which is...

Insanity.

Six in the morning.

He is used to get up at six, but he cannot get used to wake up alone, next to the colder side of the bed. He sits up in bed for a while, his mind has overcome the traumatic side of the break-up and he can think in his own way. He gets up and takes his pills before everything else. That day is not a day to hallucinate.

When he's done, he puts his pills in his bag in which some bottles of water and cans of food click against the pills as he throws the boxes in. After zipping the bag, he goes on to prepare breakfast for himself. At seven o'clock, he is ready to set out.

It is going to be some adventure.

Hope nothing will kill me there. Not even wolves.

The old car goes through the gate of the campus. Mikael drives further to arrive at the Faculty of Literature. He leaves his car behind as he walks up the stairs that lead to the main entrance of the faculty, uncertain whether he will be able to come back to his car alive again, or not. The idea, for the first time, scares him.

When he is at the ladies' room with the key to unlock the door, he sees that Mandy and Jacques have arrived there before him. Mikael greets them and they reply in unison, wishing him a good day. Mikael unlocks the door and locks it back from behind, after posting an "Out of Order" sign onto the door.

The mirror glass looks liquid, which is a sign that the portal is still open. Mikael approaches the mirror glass.

"Good luck," Jacques and Mandy whisper in this sacred moment. Mikael closes his eyes. He touches the mirror glass...

Luna. Jonas. Life. Death.

Everything he knows about his mind starts to go through his head as one-word statements. Luna. Jonas. Life. Death. His soul then, all of a sudden, is filled with hope. I. Can. Destroy.

But, he suddenly thinks, what am I going to destroy? Wolves?

A flushing sound is heard in his ears - he is sure that nobody else can hear it. He screams as something pulls him closer and closer into the mirror glass.

Suddenly, the screaming stops in the bathroom. Mikael is gone.

The mirror starts to turn into a glass between the two realms and becomes even more transparent.

Chapter: 4

Mikael thinks he sees Luna with his eyes closed, begging the image to go away. Suddenly, the image of Luna in his mind starts to burn. Screams are heard from afar, from somewhere even deeper. Mikael can smell a fire burning miles away. Blackout.

Mikael his eyes and turns them around to understand what this place looks like. He knows that he is in a cave and following the beams of light, his eyes find the entrance quickly. Sitting up, he sees that the sand he is on is white, the sky outside is gray and inside the cave, it is dark.

The first thing he realizes is that the screams and the smell of fire are still present. The next thing is that his bag has gone missing.

In the middle of the cave, he sees a tiny wide crystal obelisk which looks as shiny as a mirror glass. He crawls nearer to it and sees that it is transparent, except for the fact that he can see the ladies' room through it. He sees Jacques and Mandy still standing there.

"Can you hear us?" Mandy gets closer to the portal glass.

"I can both hear and see you, no problem," replies Mikael, with a faint smile.

"What do you see?" they ask. Mikael tells everything he can see, even the obelisk through which he can communicate.

"Is this obelisk the thing I should be destroying?"

"Has the pentagram necklace levitated off from your chest and started to point at it?" Mandy sounds like a total expert.

Mikael looks down. The pentagram is still hanging down. He shakes his head.

"OK, when the pentagram does that near something, know that you need to destroy it."

"How do you know?" Jacques and Mikael ask simultaneously.

Mandy shows a spell book. "It is how it reads. Now, go and find what is blocking our energy there."

"Yes, ma'am!" Mikael replies reluctantly, "But first, I need to find my bag." He walks away from the obelisk and out from the little cave.

As his footsteps follow him from behind on the white sand under the gray skies, Mikael realizes how empty the place is. There are remains of previous victims, some bones impale the sand from below. That is when Mikael understands, really understands, the gravity of the situation. Yet, he feels lucky as he has not heard a growl or two since his arrival.

He looks around. Definitely safe.

He can spot another cave. And in front of it, a tree. A black tree.

Without knowing why, Mikael feels that he has to get closer to the one and the only tree, a completely black one, there. Paying attention to any growling he may hear, he walks.

The tree looks old and it does not have leaves. It looks as though it had been burned, but at the same time it looks alive - just black. He touches one of the lower branches of the tree and gently shakes it. Hopeless about finding his bag and amazed at the black tree, he suddenly sees that the piece of land is not "infinite". He goes to the edge, the shore.

There, what he sees deeply surprises him. Such that he gets too confused and too scared to look for a bag.

A sea of blood.

Just like what he saw when fishing.

Dead fish included.

"S**t," he exclaims and it echoes somehow. Taking steps back from the sea, he breathes deeply. It still smells like fire.

He decides to go back to the obelisk and talk about the ironic event. He turns and looks behind, his footsteps have disappeared. And he cannot see the cave with the obelisk. He has a feeling that he will never be able to find the cave and go back. He feels alone. For a short while, he does. When suddenly...

Grrr... Grrr...

Mikael stands motionless, facing those that are approaching.

Blood-thirsty wolves.

Blood-thirsty black wolves with the sharpest teeth Mikael has ever seen.

Mikael is quick enough to remember the other cave near the tree. He rushes towards the tree as the wolves start running in his direction. There are just two of them, but it is enough to remind Mikael of death.

Mikael reaches the tree soon enough. Then takes a sharp turn and plunges into the cave, drawing the not-so-large knife he has been carrying. The wolves do not see the knife, so one of them jumps through the entrance, getting its stomach impaled with the knife and dying right away. When the carcass is still on his body, Mikael sees that there is no blood dripping out from the wound. Instead, a black shadow emerges from the wound and flies out through the cave entrance which makes the other wolf get scared of its unavoidable future and go away, squealing.

Mikael is relieved and when he is resting on his back on the ground, his eyes catch a familiar object.

His bag.

"Question: Where do these wolves come from?" He opens up a can with his can opener and starts to eat chickpeas. "Question number two: What am I to destroy and where to find it?" He swallows the bit he has chewed on. Constructing theories and wrecking them down in his mind, he realizes that his mind just cannot get it. He decides to go back to the other cave with the obelisk. He draws his knife before leaving.

"I thought something had gone wrong, Mike!" Jacques smiled upon Mike's appearance on the mirror. "Welcome back."

"Actually, it has!" Mike replied. "Two wolves attacked me. Other than that, I found a black tree without leaves and another cave in which I found my bag!"

"Good news," Mandy told. "It is almost eight o'clock here. Jacques has to go, but I will be here."

"OK, thanks."

"Mike, have you found the thing that has been blocking us?" Jacques asks eagerly, only to see him shake his head.

"No. Not yet."

"Not yet? Come on, Mike - it must be somewhere out there. I mean, haven't you told us that the place was barren? It has to be out there, look closely!"

"It is not," Mikael replies with a sigh. "But I will find it sooner or later."

"There is no sooner or later in this - if you cannot complete it today, then you will feel sleepy and if you sleep, the wolves will eat you alive!" Jacques freaked out.

"I know, I know!" Mikael hated Jacques when he urged Mikael to get stuff done. Mikael hated being urged to do something. He could not hold the anger back and the anger washed his face all over for a second. "If it is out there, I will find it, OK?"

"No need to get mad, Mike! Just find the thing and we'll open up a portal to get you back here." Mandy speaks, trying to calm Mike down. "Just search it."

Mike stands up and leaves the cave. He is going to search each bit on this white island and find it.

He goes back near the tree. Something deep in his mind tells him that the tree has the answers. For the first time in his life, he chooses to pray to the tree. He kneels before it, closes his eyes and crosses his fingers.

"I don't think you'll work as a wish granter - you're a dead tree, after all - but I would appreciate it if you helped me with finding what I have to find." He remains like that for a while, oblivious to his surroundings. "I don't think you hear me, though. I don't think it will work." He opens his eyes. Nothing seems to have changed there. He stands up and just as he turns back, he feels something invisible pulling on the necklace - the necklace is pointing the tree. "So, it has been you since the beginning," Mikael grunts, taking out his knife, "I've to destroy you, no matter how."

He starts running the sharp side of the blade on the body of the tree. Because it has been damaged severely before, the tree delivers successful cuts quickly. Mikael goes on to punch and kick the tree and pull the branches off its body for a quicker destruction.

As he does that, he does not see the group of wolves both the noise and the other wolf that ran away with fear has summoned.

Too late.

Two of them are set on him while others watch the incident, growling viciously. Mikael's back hits the ground before Mikael even realizes. Waving the knife through the strong, hungry animal figures, Mikael feels like passing out. His eyelids feel even heavier. He believes that he is simply dying.

Mikael screams at the top of his voice.

Wolves do not go away. Death cannot be escaped.

In pain, fear and wonder, his eyes close.

Before losing consciousness, he hears a deep voice. Somebody growling and hissing at the same time.

Kareth othia.

Kareth othia. The wolves start to draw back, but it is too late for Mikael. Having lost all the strength within, he passes out without seeing who that is.

Kareth othia.

Blackout.

Chapter: 5

Something is breathing in the dim room illuminated by a red crystal.

Something that is lying on the ground oblivious to the place and the crystal, let alone the wolves that have circled around it. It is a corpse that is still alive, despite the wounds some sharp teeth have opened on his body, his arms and legs, leaving the rags that were once his clothes. The lower sleeves of his white shirt has already gone red.

The wolves are still hungry, but that command from someone who Mikael thinks is their master has made them stop. Yet, Mike will still feel afraid when he wakes up.

Which happens now.

Mike opens his eyes to realize that he is not lying on the white sand anymore. This dim place smells wet and the screams he has heard in Purgatory have ended, along with the smell of fire. Mike wonders if he is still in Purgatory, or he has involuntarily teleported to somewhere else.

On the rocky, light brown flooring, Mikael sits up to see first the wolves, then the strange crystal in the corner of the room. It looks huge and it seems like a fire is burning within it. Wondering if that thing is malicious or not, he runs his hand against his chest, where a necklace should be hanging down from his neck.

He stares back at the wolves around him. He feels stuck at the wall, because he feels that these wolves will attack him whenever he tries to get away. Suddenly, he remembers the bag he was wearing back on the island. He glances at his surroundings in an uneasy rush, but it seems to be gone. Mikael can smell trouble. He definitely does not want to die.

"What is this place? Anyone here?" cries Mikael. "Mandy! Jacques! Can anyone hear me?" No answer. "Anyone?" Mikael shouts in a combination of a childish cry and a demonic growl. No, not angry. He is scared as hell.

Meanwhile...

Something moves in the darker side of the room. Nothing can be seen clear enough to understand. "Help me, please!" growls Mikael, terrified to death.

"I will, yet before that, you have to show me that you are worth helping."

The same voice that commanded the wolves. This is why it sounds familiar. Mikael could never guess that the speaker could talk with a slightly British accent. He definitely sounds like a villain, probably he is one, thinks Mikael. Still, he is too desperate to judge people - he needs immediate help.

"How?"

"I don't know... Try to survive." He commands the wolves again.

Marugan!

Immediately, they stary growling and closing up on Mikael. Mikael screams. "Where's my knife?"

Yet, the man is already gone. Nobody answers Mikael. Mikael shouts even deeper.

The wolves keep closing up on him. He stands up. He kicks one away, but he knows that this is not the solution. This way, he can only delay death.

There must be a way out. There must be.

Wait!

Mikael feels strong enough to grab one of them and impale it onto the sharp edges of the red crystal. He rushes towards the crystal and gets hold of a rather smaller wolf. He lifts it up. He smashes it. The edge goes through a crystal as Mikael screams with adrenaline - fear of death, pain, excitement and hope.

The black mist that emerges from the wound rises into the air and spins there, before the red crystal emits it and becomes even brighter. This is it. No matter how long it takes, he will go on kicking animals and impale them one by one.

In the end, Mikael drops down onto the ground, exhausted. He is simply worn out, not only physically, but mentally too, after seeing all the blood and gore. He rolls over to stand in the crawling position and throws out as he hears footsteps.

"Well done. You showed me how determined you are. It is time for another test."

"Another? Again with the wolves?"

"No. This time, it is with yourself." The man keeps out of sight, without taking a step further and into the light, he pronounces two names.

Luna and Jonas.

It gives Mikael the creeps - what do they have to do with these tests?

"I have the power to drain their souls," the man goes on. "And you know what that means, right?"

Mikael does not want to believe.

"I will do whatever you tell me to, just leave me alone." Mikael cuts short and hard as a rock, the attitude which makes the other man laugh noisily.

"I did not know you loved them. You should not love any human being that much. Well, I will give you the freedom to choose between two lives. Luna or Jonas - you have to choose one."

"Why are you doing this?"

"I am testing you. You are the only one who is brave enough to fight back against my demon wolves, my minions. I will test you, and if you pass the test, I will bestow my power onto you."

"But I don't want to choose!"

"You have to, until I return. Or, I will have to take your life instead."

Luna or Jonas.

Mikael cannot choose. He just cannot. If only he had his knife and attacked that guy...

He wonders who he is. He says that the demon wolves are his minions, so he could be a demon himself, too.

And then, there is this strange crystal. It is red and shiny, and just huge. He thinks he should destroy the crystal, but he does not have his necklace to "point" out whether it is malicious or not. That crystal could be the only thing separating the good and evil and the destruction of it could lead to something catastrophic.

If only he had his knife and the necklace...

No, he suddenly feels the coming of a better plan.

In minutes, the mysterious man appears. He does not step into the light, but remains on the edge of the dark, as he asks the doomed question to Mikael who has been staring at a blank wall - Have you made your choice?

Mikael can trace back to the owner, following the voice. He now knows where he is possibly standing. He makes a quick turn and approaches the mysterious villain as he slowly utters, "I have." He pauses. "Actually, I have decided on whose life should be taken. I am going to choose..." He is even closer. He explodes right after that. "YOU!" He plunges into the direction of the mysterious man who is quick enough to take a few steps back to avoid Mikael - flying a few steps back as Mikael notices the sharp, fast and large wings that shine like razorblades.

"Ha! You fool!" The mysterious man flies into the light to attack a Mikael on the floor from behind. He takes out his scythe and swings it into Mikael's direction.

The last thing Mikael remembers is pain.

Blackout.

Chapter: 6

Mikael wakes up screaming in pain delivered by the deep fresh cut on his back. He knew that something was too mysterious about the man. He gets up with a crooked posture and looks around. He is back on the white sand on the island, with the smell of fire and the distant choir of continuous growls and screams.

He looks around to spot the two caves, but they do not seem to be there. Moreover, the lack of footsteps make it even more difficult to find the caves. With his crooked posture, he drags himself closer to the sea. He has a plan to follow the sea and be able to see the black tree. He will then go back to the cave and to the obelisk - he knows that his friends are worried.

Suddenly, he remembers the question that made him end up with that wound on his back. He wonders if Luna and Jonas are still alive, although hopeless. He promises that he will apologize for everything when he goes back home, if he can, to himself, again in a desperate way.

Leaving bloody trails and footprints both of which will disappear in time, he follows the shore that connects the island to the bleeding water. For a moment, he glances at the dead fish. He remembers Luna say:

"You did not take your pills, did you?"

The pills!

He realizes that he has not been taking the pills. He understands that he has lost count of time back on the other side of the mirror.

His steps get even quicker, despite the pain that has taken over his spine and legs.

Trying to notice every bit he can, he looks carefully with hopes to see the tip of the black tree. It takes a while before he fully understands that he is actually looking at it, but then he finds another bit of strength within himself that makes him run, something he would not expect from him after all the wounds on his body.

He reaches the tree, but he cannot see the caves. They have simply vanished, with the obelisk, to his surprise. "I need the obelisk!" He sounds furious and desperate. He kicks some sand off from the ground, gone mad. "I desperately need to know if Luna is alive!"

Meanwhile, he remembers getting his bag back after praying to the tree. He kneels before the tree once again.

"I'm here to pray again... I'm really in a bad condition, and could do with some help here. I lost all my contact with where I come from. I just don't know if my wife is OK, and I'm almost dead. I..." He wipes his tears with the back of his bloody hand. "I just don't want to believe that the bag incident was a coincidence!" He trembles and his body is then folded into two and his head, got smashed on the surface of the sand as he loses consciousness.

He does not see the demon man rise from deeper underground through the sand, creating a major sandstorm behind him. He is on the verge of losing consciousness, a total blackout that has overtaken his senses before his body. He seems to be numb, not even his pain makes him cry out with fear, pain and hopelessness. And then, the blackout makes him close his eyes, mind shut down, so is his body.

It is not hunger or pain that makes him faint. It is his agony and desperation.

The skeleton wolf head of the demon gives a wide grin, a grin wide enough to show his sharp white wolf teeth.

Chapter: 7

The first thing Mikael feels the presence as he regains his consciousness is pain. The second thing, he is back in the crystal room. Third thing, he has lost contact with the other world, where he came from. And then, there is this unanswered question of Luna and Jonas - he realizes how hopeful he has been to expect the impossible. Fighting against a demon - and acknowledging what a demon can do with his spiritual powers in the physical plane - and being unable to beat him up and scare him, even slightly, makes him cry even louder.

"Get up."

Mikael is still lying on the ground. He simply does not want to get up. He knows getting up will get him nowhere.

"I told you to get up," repeats the demon.

"Leave me alone," chants Mikael, desperately.

"Ah, are you shouting madly at your master and ignoring the fact that I gave you a second chance?" His accent combined with the slow and deep growls he makes is enough to get on Mikael's nerves.

"A second chance? To live, or to die? I'd rather die than live here, away from everything I've left behind!"

Before he puts an end to his sentence, the demon exclaims: "Shut up! I told you that I could bestow my super powers upon you if you passed the tests I had for you."

"The powers? What for? To destroy humanity?"

"You got it all wrong, boy. I do not test people to kill them. I test them to see if they are worth being sent back to their world. This is Purgatory, remember? The thin line between the dead and the living."

"And you killed my son and my wife, without even testing them!"

"Only few are worth testing," the demon speaks, "and you are too good to be sent back. I could use a demon like you..."

Only few are worth testing. Luna and Jonas were not two of them.

That confirms it.

They are dead...

Dead...

"I give up!" cries Mikael. "Just let me go!"

"I can't... You know I can't... So, stand up and face me."

Mikael has no other thing to do, but obey. He surrenders all his determination to the demon and makes an effort to stand up. He then turns away from the wall he has been facing to the demon.

The demon has now stepped into the light. Mikael can clearly see him. His black body is of bones, his ribs look sharp, so do his teeth. Although his body looks like a human body without flesh, his big head resembles the structure of the head of a canine, a wolf, to be exact. Between his short, sharp ears is a little, short strand of bright red hair, the same color with the crystal and the old piece of rag he is wearing around his hips which looks like something between shorts and a skirt. As he talks, his wings as sharp as razorblades twitch slightly.

"You demon," cries Mikael.

"Shamal, my name. Pleased to meet you, too. Now, let's get back to the tests." His wolf face grins even wider. "The next test is..." He pauses, maybe to think, or maybe to make Mikael think. "Taming some of your fears."

Mikael could never guess what he is going to fight against until he hears some creatures growling out of nowhere. He wonders what they could be - the shadowy figures approaching.

Wolves!

"This time, you are not going to kill them. You're going to stroke their heads and show them your love, when they know that you have killed many of them before!"

Three demon wolves approach Mikael growling. Mikael cannot refrain from the urge to kill them. Without his knife, he does what he has done before.

With three demon wolves impaled onto the sharper edges of the crystal, he knows he could not pass Shamal's test. He stares at Shamal and sees him shake his head desperately, a gesture to look dramatic.

"Too bad," Shamal says, "If you can pass the next test, you will have passed only two of my four tests. You will have a fifty per cent chance to go back on which I will have to decide... Poor you!"

Mikael looks at the demon with hatred. "I've had enough of you and your tests." He pauses, and then, "Let me go," he cries.

"Not before you pass my last test!" The demon gives off an evil laughter.

Chapter: 8

"Now it is time to see how loyal you can be to your memories," speaks the demon when his evil laughter has faded.

"Memories?" Mikael tries to guess what will happen to his memories, but he could never guess what

the demon has for him. The demon will cast a hex on Mikael, torture his mind and try to see if he can survive, without going mad.

With the wave of his hand, the demon sets the bad energy, the curse, on Mikael. The effects, however, does not start for a while after Mikael is exposed to the curse, a while long enough to make Mikael think that he should ask what it does. As he remains wordless, the effects of it begin. A stream of voices.

A stream of voices is played in his mind, of everyone he has ever met. Including Jacques, Mandy, Shamal and...

Luna!

Luna died because of me!

The demon casts another hex on Mikael and then, the voices actually become one voice - Luna's.

"You've forgotten to take them. Again." "There was just too much for me to take..." "You could directly tell me that you were cheating on me..."

Luna, I'm sorry!

Mikael remembers her passing the point of no return. He remembers that she is not alive anymore. Luna and her son.

Our son.

"Stop, already!" Mikael cries. "I've had enough of them!"

"This is just the beginning, Mike," hisses Shamal, in a sharp whisper. The curse gets even worse when Shamal adds something else to it - Luna's voice accusing Mikael of killing Jonas and herself, and crying, exploding with a sharp "I HATE YOU!" Mikael just cannot take it. He hits his head hard onto the wall, trying to make the voice stop. Or, trying to die. He could do with anything that would stop the voices or kill him instead. He hits his head again and again, but it does not get any better.

"AAARGHH!" Mikael growls, going for the red crystal, hoping that it is harder than the wall and that it will eventually kill him. He smashes his head onto the red crystal again and again.

Suddenly, something changes.

The light within the crystal and the voice of Luna in his head flicker at the same time.

And Shamal has just gone off with a painful "NO!"

Mikael knows that he is doing the right thing. He smashes his head harder against the crystal, ignoring his pain for the sake of destroying the crystal, eventually cracking it. The light flickers for one last time and a portal opens up in the air as Shamal drops down onto the ground. Mikael does not see where it leads, but he knows that he has to get away from this place before Shamal sees where he is going.

He jumps in.

Chapter: 9

Mikael.

Insane. He keeps hallucinating. The most intense hallucination he has ever had nowadays is the one he had when fishing that Sunday, which did not turn out to be something that came out of nowhere.

That hallucination foretold something about his journey.

The one that has begun when he saw the girl on the other side of the mirror. If he had not decided to save her, then whether he would have lost Luna and Jonas for good and got stuck this way in Purgatory, or not, is another matter that cannot be ignored.

Luna died because of him.

Because of this journey. And without even kissing her goodbye. Without even apologizing after all he has put her through.

He got stuck here, too. Because of something that keeps the portal that is from the world to Purgatory open. Because of the fact that the portal has to be closed.

Yet, he does not think about any of those when he steps into the portal. It is survival that keeps his mind busy then.

The new portal leads him back to the sandy, colorless island. Right next to the tree. Oblivious to the fact that the portal does not close, he looks around, hoping to find the caves. Mikael does not know where the caves have gone, or why, but something shines into his eyes on the white sand which makes Mikael laugh hysterically.

The obelisk.

It is right there. It has been there all the time without him seeing it.

The caves are gone, but not the obelisk. He runs towards the obelisk, ignoring the pain on his entire body.

"Mikael?"

Mandy is staring through the glass between the two worlds. "I thought you were dead!"

"Almost," grinned Mikael, "I found a shiny red crystal somewhere and destroyed it. Try and open up a portal. It could have been the obstacle with your spells."

"Mike... Behind you!" Jacques yells and Mikael turns behind to see that Shamal is flying towards him. Mikael screams in a rush.

"Open up the damn portal!"

Shamal comes even closer and right after Mandy finishes her sentence...

"We can't risk him come here through it!"

...he destroys the obelisk with a hex.

Chapter: 10

Mikael screams angrily when he sees Shamal destroy the obelisk. He is simply drawn mad and will do everything to destroy Shamal like he destroyed the obelisk.

Shamal, upon knocking Mikael down with a curse, landing next to him and stepping with one foot on his back, speaks to Mikael:

"You know, you could not pass any of the tests. Don't think I will send you back to the world just like that." He laughs. "Ha! You fool! You know I can destroy you, right? With my curses, I can! Even after you've destroyed the crystal that breathes life into me, I can! I've become strong enough to do that and it is just because you are afraid of me!" He kicks Mikael further from him with his spiky boots. "You fear me, Mikael! Say that loud! I am your master!"

Mikael tries hard to speak. He makes incomprehensible sounds, but not words, yet, Shamal understands that he is actually saying something and kneels to hear him better.

"F... F..."

"Come on, all you need to understand is that you lost! You don't have to say anything!"

"F**k..."

"Ha!" Shamal laughs. "You're dead, Mikael! You've lost! You're not going back to your world!"

"F**k... You!" explodes Mikael, slowly getting up. He stands with his crooked posture, facing Shamal. "I am going back there!"

"You need to get rid of this!" Shamal shows the necklace on his neck. The pentagramic necklace which was once Mikael's. "I combined it with the crystal's power, thinking that you would destroy the crystal."

That explains why he is still alive.

Mikael stares hypnotized at the necklace. "But you have to catch me if you want to get the necklace from me!" He takes off and flies away.

Mikael is not strong enough to follow. He collapses onto the ground.

Meanwhile...

"Mikael, you there?"

Mikael can hear Jacques' voice. It is coming from the ruins of the obelisk. A little piece from the obelisk is still standing there through which they can contact.

"I... I am here, Jacques."

"Mandy's begun to meditate - she will give you wings."

"Wings?" Mikael feels that he is hopeful again.

"Yeah... I saw how that creature flew away. You need wings to get that necklace. It has to be destroyed before we can open up a portal from Purgatory to the world for you."

"Do it quick," Mikael says, "Before I feel weaker."

And in seconds, he levitates. He spins in the air - flying seems to be easy. He looks at his sharp wings - it looks like the wings of Shamal.

He shouts: "I am coming for you!"

Shamal looks behind to see Mikael flying.

"How?" he wonders. "How could you?.."

"Thought you'd never ask," grins Mikael with his rammed face. "I befriend witches."

"I thought I could've destroyed the obelisk," squeals Shamal.

"HA! YOU FOOL!" Mikael imitates. "I'm coming to get that necklace!"

"NO!" Shamal growls and accelerates. Mikael does the same and follows. Below, he can see the border berween the white sand and the red sea in a glance.

Flying, Shamal doesn't look behind. He knows he's being followed. He immediately takes a sharp turn to lose the tail.

"S**t!" Mikael is not an expert and Shamal knows that he cannot make such sharp turns. Luckily, he can still see Shamal. He turns left and follows.

Shamal sticks out his left index finger and sends a blue electrifying bolt behind at Mikael. Mikael screams as he dodges the bolt. He accelerates and flies above Shamal.

"Give me the necklace, Shamal," he makes himself heard. Shamal looks up and screams.

"COME AND GET IT!"

Mikael decides to fly below Shamal with his back facing the sea below and reach out for the necklace. This is going to be hard.

He dives, accelerates and turns back. Being hardly able to control his flight in that position, he plunges between the sea and Shamal. He gets hold of the necklace and pulls it off Shamal's neck, before he turns back, facing the sea, accelerates and rises.

It all happens in seconds and Shamal is too slow to see it coming. "NO!" he yells, following Mikael.

Mikael looks back and sees another blue bolt coming. He banks right to dodge it. He then turns to fly back to the island. Shamal is right behind him.

How do I destroy this necklace?

Mikael racks his brains to find the answer. Suddenly, he sees the tree from afar. Quickly, he prays. "Holy mighty tree, help me with the quest."

Suddenly, another blue bolt hits the tree, destroying it. Mikael has an idea.

If he can shield the necklace against the bolt, it will be destroyed.

He waits for the right moment when the next bolt emerges from Shamal's finger. The bolt approaches and Mikael throws the necklace to its direction.

If Mikael has made a mistake and if it is not the right moment, Mikael will stay there forever. Unless Shamal kills him.

But what if...

Mikael feels that his ears have blocked each and every sound, his eyes have focused solely on the necklace. His perception of time has slowed down as the necklace spins in the air.

Eventually...

The necklace and the tip of the bolt meet in the air. With an explosion that blows Mikael few meters away, everything turns white. Just white. He cannot see anything. He is not sure if that could kill Shamal.

Time stops for a short while. Everything remains white for a while...

When the brightness ends, Mikael sees the motionless body of Shamal falling down, hitting the ground and raising some sand off the ground. He murmurs. "You've lost, Shamal."

He flies to the ruins of the obelisk to tell his friends the good news.

Epilogue

Mikael comes out through the mirror in pain. To the amazement of Jacques and Mandy, he is still alive, despite all the blood he's shed and all he has been through. His first words are...

Luna... Is she alive?

"Leave that aside for now," Mandy speaks. They are not going to tell him the bad news, the news that came over Mikael's phone, answered by Jacques. "He needs a doctor. Call one, Jacques."

"Sure," Jacques says and leaves the bathroom to call an ambulance outside, without disturbing Mikael.

Mandy looks at Mikael. "You know you saved many lives today, don't you?" Mikael does not answer with a full formulated sentence. Instead, he hums affirmatively, too tired to talk. "I could have guessed... You're tired, right?" She smiles. "I'm sorry for everything you've been through, son."

Mikael does not reply.

Instead, his eyelids get heavier and close.

Silence.

What he has been longing for, for ages.

Author's Note

You can download it as an e-book if you have difficulty in differentiating paragraphs.
Here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/338224105/The_Island.pdf

oh and ignore grammatical mistakes - too lazy to proofread.