Chapter 2: From Door to Door


|Outside Motion Publishing|17:08 pm|

Amara left the building, angry and confused. Stella's strange reading made little sense to her at all, despite her theatrics. Darkness and another world - how vague. She had never paid any attention to psychics before, but now she was determined to avoid them. Since she would be working with Stella for the forseeable future, that would be incredibly difficult. Ominous warnings could be thrown at her on a daily basis. Cursing under her breath, Amara tried to focus on what she would do tonight. Amara had a hunch that any little incident that happened would be exaggerated beyond reason. Perhaps, if she used her imagination, she could have some fun with this after all.

Oh, right! I almost forgot.

There was something very important that she had promised to do. Quickly, she took out her phone and dialed her father. Hopefully, he wouldn't be too busy. Even if he was, he usually would find some time to spare to talk to his 'favourite daughter'. Of course, Amara would point out she was his only daughter, and his reply would be 'exactly'. Rudo Furaha was probably anxious to find out what Amara's day had been like, and if she forgot to get in touch, he would waste no time in giving her a guilt trip, albeit mockingly.

With just one ring, Rudo took the call.

"Ah...hahaha. So my little angel's finally found the time to call her worried father. You must be working hard, my girl!" Her father said, with a hearty laughter.

"Oh, it's not that bad. I bet I have it easier than your employees do, anyway." Amara said, giggling.

"Oi! What kind of boss do you take me for, miss?" Her father said, and from the tone of his voice, he was in a playful mood. "Anyway, tell me all about it. You've been looking forward to this job a lot, after all. It's all you've been talking about the last month. Worth the wait?"

"It's been really good, dad. My boss is pretty cool - like you. Her name's Karen, and she seems like a good leader. She's good at giving out orders, too..." Amara said. "I didn't get a chance to slack off at all."

"That's a good thing, you know. Work hard, and you never know what might happen. You might just get to open that art gallery someday." Her father said, a little stern. "What about your colleagues? No one tried to pour a milkshake over your head this time, did they?"

"That was a one-off, Dad, and in their defence it was dark and I was right next to the trash can. But I think they're okay. There's Colette, who's the fashion columnist and Juan, the travel columnist. They're both okay, from what I can tell." Amara said, launching into a full discussion about the airheaded fashion fanatic and the womanizing travel guru. "But then there's Lucy - I don't really like her. She's such a pain. She never smiles, she never talks to anyone except Karen, and she's always telling me want to do. I hate it. Just like at school, when the teachers always told me not to paint my own way."

"Don't get upset, Amara, it's not that bad. She's probably just thinking about the magazine as a whole. You have to just cope with it. Remember, me and Tomas didn't get on well at all when we first met. After a while, it turned out we had a lot in common, and we became friends. Now then, who else is working with you? No one dangerous, I hope?" Rudo said.

"Um...no. No one else really comes to mind. I'll tell you about it on Sunday, though." Amara said, now nervous. "I'm coming over for dinner, like we promised."

"Alright. Hehe... My little girl's all grown up. I'm so happy! Have a good evening, Amara." With that, he hung up.

She felt guilty. The reading Stella gave her really scared her, but she didn't want to get her father into a panic as well. When she was younger, her father was very protective, frequently scaring away any bullies that dared to mock her. If she was frightened, Rudo wouldn't leave her side until she wasn't afraid anymore. The last thing she wanted was her father going berserk, threatening legal action against Stella for her ominous reading. Besides, the reading would most likely come to nothing, or be merely metaphorical.

"Maybe I'll walk home. It might calm me down." Amara said. It was good weather, after all, so it was a fine day for a walk. She quickly walked away from the area, and through the famous streets of Legarte.

|Legarte - Outside Solar Ray Mall|17:32 pm|

Legarte was one of the city's most popular districts, home to many popular stores and a thriving harbour. As she was walking past the gigantic Solar Ray Mall, Amara overheard a man with red curly hair complaining to a tall blonde haired woman. He was wearing a rather fetching and fitted blue business suit, which Amara imagined had been rather expensive. She was wearing a more casual - in comparison - outfit that consisted of a green blazer and a black skirt, complete with black high heels. Next to them was a very expensive looking car, still with a perfect shine. It no doubt boasted many features, to make all other motorists green with envy. As Amara had no real interest in cars, not even artistically, she did not feel even a twinge of jealousy. A flashy car like that was just a status symbol, and nothing more. Or at least, that's what her father used to say. Never stopped him from buying them, however.

"For pity's sake! Of all the days for the car to break down..." the man growled, sulking. He was clutching a shiny leather briefcase with gold lining, and from the way he was shaking it, Amara expected it to burst open any second. "To think that I saved up for ages to afford that bloody thing! I can't believe this! Why can't I find a car that works? I should have listened to father..."

"It's a real shame, I know, but it's not the end of the world. We'll get it fixed, no problem. Listen, I know what will make you feel better." the woman said. She gave the man a quick peck on the cheek, which seemed to lessen his grimace. "Cheer up. I'll cook you your favourite meal tonight. My chicken casserole always gets you in a good mood!" She smiled as she said this, and Amara raised her eyebrow.

Geez...this couple looks pretty cheesy. Kinda reminds me of...never mind. That guy really needs to chill out, though. It's his own fault for splurging that kind of money.

Just then, she realised she shouldn't be staring at the couple, so she quickly pulled out her phone and pretended to be looking through her texts. Luckily, neither of the two had noticed her at all.

"Hmm. That does sound perfect. Especially after the day I've had. All those sudden meetings, Kowalski being late again, having to fire that manager for breaching confidentiality, chasing away those delinquents from the car park...ugh. Anything for a quiet life."

Sounds worse than my day, to be sure, but this guy doesn't half complain. I bet he's just another rich snob - not like dad. Hey, this guy looks familiar. A little like that man who owns the Albion company. Maybe this is his son?

Amara quickly walked by, resisting the urge to go into the mall. Now was not the time to go on a shopping spree, especially after just one day of work. She continued onward to Farawell, for a relaxing evening.

|Farawell - New Convention Centre|17:48 pm|

As she reached Farawell, something caught Amara's eye. Outside the newly constructed convention centre was a memorial plaque.

That's right! Ten years ago, that was when...

The memorial was for a fairly recent disaster, during a networking and electronics expo. It was held in a convention centre that stood where the modern one did, but the old one was a bit smaller. Many reputable companies were there that day, unveiling magnificent new advances in the field. One of those companies was the once popular Aeternus, a networking company that constantly tried innovative and unorthodox methods to further the world wide web. Amara was there with her father, who was a sponsor for Aeternus at the time.

Yet, during the Aeternus demonstration, there was a huge explosion, that killed many of the people in attendance. Amara and her father were lucky to survive, but she wound up in a coma for several weeks. After her recovery, she couldn't remember the incident at all. Could I really have died that day? Amara asked herself, as she walked over to the plaque. Over a hundred names were engraved. It was a solemn feeling, knowing that she narrowly escaped being on that list. It was a tremendous relief that no one she knew perished in the accident. In the aftermath of the disaster, Aeternus were blamed, and quickly shut down. Their name quickly vanished from history, and it was as if they had never existed. One incident quickly turned them from heroes of the internet era into unforgivable monsters.

Amara spent a long while staring into space. Her life ten years ago was an innocent one. She wouldn't be thinking about graduation, or finding work. All she wanted was to keep her father happy. Her mind wandered all over the place, as it often did whenever she felt nostalgic. So much had happened since the accident, and if things had turned out differently...she would never have managed to do so much. So for that, Amara was thankful. Yet, she felt compelled to say a short prayer for the names on the memorial. In her heart, she would not let them be forgotten. Once she was done, she turned around.

"Oh!"

To Amara's surprise, a blonde girl with wide green eyes was standing in front of her. When she caught Amara's gaze, she quickly looked off to the side. This girl looked like she was around high school age, and she had a rather dazzling blue necklace on. She seemed especially curious in Amara's ankh, however. The girl didn't speak, but it seemed like she was trying to find the right words. Who is this girl? I think I saw her on the bus this morning.

"Sorry, I'll leave you be. Nice necklace, by the way!"

Amara quickly left, but she could have sworn she felt the other girl staring at her. "What gives?" Amara said. "This is really weird...maybe she knows me from somewhere."

|Falcon View Apartments|17:56 pm|

Eventually, Amara reached the street where she lived. She was relieved to see it, as she was now very hungry. Hopefully, there was something good in the fridge she could eat. Before she got up to the building's door, she noticed a bunch of construction workers across the road, putting up the sign for a new bar - 'Another World'.

"Ha! That's brilliant!" Amara said, getting a few odd looks from the builders. Amara laughed. "So she was just advertising a new pub, eh? I'll have to buy her a drink sometime. Good effort, Stella." Giggling, Amara ran up to her apartment, in a better mood. Now she could just have dinner and get to bed, making today the start of an exciting new job. "Maybe they've come up with a cocktail called 'Darkness'..." she said to herself, giggling.

When Amara checked her fridge, however, she sighed in frustration. Once again, she had forgotten to get any dinner. Perhaps she needed to go shopping for more than just pencils and paper. Sighing, she left the apartment, and headed downstairs. Before she could leave, however, she stopped. A huge pain suddenly resonated deep within Amara's body, and quickly spread. It was like...something was trying to escape from Amara's body. Something that would stop at nothing to be free.

"Argh! Oww...stop! Stop it!"

The pain was almost unreal. It wasn't like heartburn, or indigestion, or anything she had had before - it was like a constant throb of pain. Something enormous was trying to break free from her body, and it was getting harder to stop it. Amara wondered if she was going to have a heart attack - or if she was having one right now.

"Damn…stop, please...just stop!" After a few seconds, Amara felt normal again. "Phew. That was sore...maybe I'll get some paracetamol too." She left the apartment block, and before she could hit the corner store, she noticed an odd person in front of her. They were dressed completely in black, with a hooded coat covering their face. From the look of their body, it was a man, and thus couldn't have been Stella playing a joke - they were a bit taller than she was.

"Um...can I help you, sir?" Amara asked. The man did not reply, but instead took a card out of his pocket, and flung it at Amara, then he started running away. "Hey, what the hell?" Amara picked the card off the ground, and in bold red letters, it read:

FOLLOW ME.

"Huh? Why?" Amara shouted. No one else was around, and the man was still running. Something inside her clicked. Without thinking, she ran after the man. It felt like an instinct...she had to find out what this was.

"What gives?" she screamed. "What do you want? Get back here!" The man didn't respond, and continued to run, until finally, he stopped outside an abandoned warehouse. It was used by a company long ago, but it had been unused for ten years - shortly after the accident, actually. Normally, Amara would have given up and just turned back, but something felt different today. She had to follow him. It was instinct, perhaps.

"What the fuck is this?" Amara shouted. She wasn't normally the type to swear, but she was confused as hell by now. Perhaps this was related to the psychic reading. "Did Stella put you up to this?" The man simply turned around, and unlocked the door. Then, he threw the key at Amara, and ran into the darkness. Clearly, he wasn't the social type. Yet he wanted Amara to follow him, for some reason.

"Eew, it stinks in here!" Amara said, as she stepped inside. Using her cell phone as a flashlight, she could make out the thick dust all over the place, and pieces of broken plastic and glass on the floor. Treading carefully, she made her way to the staircase - she could see footprints leading that way. To her astonishment, a thing long sword with a green tassel was lying on the first step. Most likely, the cloaked stranger had left it here.

"Am I supposed to take this?" Amara said. If she was caught with this, she could get charged for possessing a sword without a licence. And she sure as hell didn't get once of those from art college. In fact, she had no idea how you'd get permission for it. This wasn't a replica sword guys put on their walls to impress women...this was real. She picked it up, and slowly walked upstairs. She couldn't see a thing, but just she then a pale flickering blue light came from across the hall. Without another thought, she burst into the room to see...

A giant doorway in the middle of the room. It was a silver, mechanical looking doorway, with lots of red blinking lights at the side, and a number panel to the side. And the doorway had a giant blue light in the centre, as if it would lead directly into the surreal glow. "What's this? Where'd that guy go?" Amara asked. No response.

"Oh shit..." Amara was stuck in an abandoned warehouse, where all sorts of shady goings on could be happening. A weird man had brought her here, and Amara knew she shouldn't have followed, but she felt compelled too. "But why?" Amara asked herself. There was still time to leave, but she wanted to see what this doorway was. It was almost heavenly.

Amara, holding the sword in her right hand, stared at the light. Just out of curiosity, she put the sword through the light. Yet, the sword didn't get covered by the light. It really did look like the light was another realm altogether - she could see every inch of the blade. With the sword still in the light, Amara peered behind the door - and gasped when she couldn't see the sword at the other end. "What is this? Some kind of magic trick?!"

Just as she asked this, something shoved her into the light.

"Argh!"

Amara's scream echoed all around her, as she flew through what felt like an endless blue vortex…with nothing else in sight. "Another...World..." Amara realised. Stella had been right all along. Yet she couldn't stop. The light soon changed colours, from white, to red, to green. Yet, these colours were the only thing Amara could see.

In the blink of an eye, something else flew past her. Perhaps it was another person...but they went away too fast for Amara to notice. She closed her eyes, then suddenly she crashed onto something hard. This time, the pain was real but intense, and even though this pain was bad enough, the same surreal pain in her chest happened again.

"Is this the end?" Amara tried to say, but the words couldn't come out of her mouth.

Dad...Anyone...

She couldn't find the strength to open her eyes, let alone move. It wasn't long before she lost conciousness.