Chapter 24 - Torn Apart

Cold and dark.

That was what it felt like walking into the Tower's base. Even with the lightbulb shining in Niko's arms, it hardly made a dent in the seemingly impenetrable darkness. The only thing that we could see was the floor.

Red and white.

That was what shined back at us from underneath our feet. At first, I thought it was just a random tiled floor, but as I examined it more, I saw that there was an image being made.

A red "X".

I remembered what the journal had said: "Look at the pattern on the floor. Do as it says. The window will be gone, so you need to bring it back."

"What do you think we're supposed to do in here, Alan?" Niko asked, breaking the silence, "There isn't really anything in here…"

I stared at the ground. It was starting to make sense now. The only way for us to enter the Tower was for me to close whatever window was running on the laptop. The only problem was...how was I gonna get back to the laptop? I still had no clue how I was able to go back and forth from this world and mine and the only thing that let me was when the Entity spoke to me…

A sudden sharp stab of pain in my head was my answer.

"Gah…!" I cried out. It felt like the headache I had when I first woke up in that house, but so much worse. I fell to my knees, the pain too much for me to stand.

"Alan!" I heard Niko call out to me, but it was like she was at the end of a long tunnel. I could just barely hear her.

The pain intensified, almost as if my head was being crushed. Just then, light splintered across my vision, enveloping me, just like all my past visions. Was I going back to my world? Why was it so much more painful?

I could still hear Niko crying out to me, but her voice sounded like it was getting further and further away. I tried to turn and look at her, only falling flat onto my back. I could just barely see her. She was reaching out to me, but her hands kept phasing right through me. I tried to reach out to her, but at that moment, I could start to see the laptop in front of me as well as the motel room I had been in this whole time as if they were superimposed within my sight.

I could see Niko trying to hold on to me, but what grabbed my attention was what was on the laptop. A window, the one mentioned in the journal, but right in the middle of it was...Niko and...me? But I could still barely see her if I focused hard enough…

"Al..an! Wh...at's happ...ening?" Static took over Niko's voice as she called out to me again.

"Ni...ko…" I struggled to call back. The pain of being torn between two worlds was becoming unbearable, even as the laptop started becoming easier to see. I could see her perk up and reach out to me again with no success. She must have heard me. That means I was still there in that world somehow…

"A...re you ok...ay?"

I gasped for air, "Not...really…but I'm...hanging in there." I focused on the laptop in front of me. The red "X" on the floor was obvious now. I knew what I had to do. I focused back on Niko, "Niko, I need...you to...trust me...okay?"

She didn't look convinced. Her face was slowly becoming stained with tears as she continued to find some way to grab onto me. I pulled whatever strength I had and raised my hand to her, "Niko...do you...trust me?"

She looked straight at me, hesitant on what I was about to do, but she soon nodded. With that, I focused back on the laptop. I guided my hand onto it, moving the cursor up towards the "X" that sat in the top right of the window. My head started becoming worse and worse the closer I got, but I had to fight it. This was the only way. With one last push, I moved the cursor onto the "X" and clicked.

The window that I could see Niko and myself in closed. Niko vanished from my vision while the pain increased ten-fold. It felt like I was being ripped apart. I thought I was about to die, that all we had gone through was for nothing, but as light filled my vision one last time, I gasped for air as I found myself back in the hotel room with the laptop sitting on my lap.

Sweat poured down my forehead as I set aside the laptop, quickly shot to my feet, raced over to the door, and looked outside. It was pitch black outside and the rain had stopped falling. I couldn't believe it. I was back in my world.

I shut the door and stared at the laptop now sitting on the floor in amazement as I wrapped my head around what had just happened. The world was actually inside the laptop! I saw myself there! I even saw Niko there!

Niko.

"Oh, right!" I said to myself, making my way back over to the laptop. Niko was still there in the Tower. The journal said I had to bring back the window. My heart raced as I worried about her. Was she okay? What even happened to her when I closed the window?

I couldn't panic now. I had to get back to her.

I grabbed the laptop and sat up against the wall again. Moving the cursor over the black clover, I steeled myself for the painful transition back into the world. I opened the window and immediately started to feel myself become exhausted again. I didn't fight it this time, letting myself relax as I let the laptop take me back. My arms and legs began to feel heavy as my eyes slowly closed. I started to taste metal as light splintered across my vision again, something I hadn't noticed the first time I was transported to this world. The light soon became brighter and enveloped me. After what felt like hours, I could feel the familiar pulses of my headache. The light stayed present as I felt my eyes open. I could tell I was laying down on water, but the light made it hard to see where exactly I was.

I sat up, rubbing my head, as I looked around, "...Niko?"

I heard a gasp from behind me. I twisted around and saw Niko looking around at her surroundings. As she did, the light that filled whatever room we were in faded away. I breathed a sigh of relief. She was still okay and we were now inside the Tower.

Niko was still looking around, "Is this...the inside of the Tower? It's...a lot darker than I thought."

I slowly stood up, still shaky after being transported back to this world for a second time, and started to make my way over to her, "At least we're still both okay..."

Niko didn't respond as she whipped her head around, "...Wait. Where's the sun?"

I stopped. I only then noticed that Niko wasn't holding onto the lightbulb any more. In fact, it didn't seem like there was any light in here at all. I caught my breath as I started to look around, "Oh, no no no...This isn't good…"

"...Alan?"

I turned back to her, "Niko, I don't know where the sun is. I thought you had-" I stopped when I noticed Niko still looking around, confusion etched on her face.

"Alan? Where'd you go?"

My brow furrowed, "...Niko? I'm right here..." I waved my hand as she looked towards me, but she didn't seem to notice or hear me.

She started to panic, her eyes growing wide with fear, "Alan! ALAN! Where are you?!"

I felt a chill run down my spine as I rushed up to her, "Niko, I'm right here with-!" I reached out to grab her, but my hand...phased right through her, causing me to stumble through her and fall onto the floor.

I got up and stared at my hand in shock. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed sooner...It was see-through. My entire body was. I turned back to Niko who was still calling out for me in a panic. I raced back over to her. I tried to get her attention, but no matter what I did, she couldn't see me at all.

Why...why can't she see me? Why is this happening?! I thought to myself as I struggled to stay calm.

A burst of static from behind caused both of us to turn towards it. A computer had appeared. The same kind that we had used to speak to the Entity before.

Niko slowly approached it. I followed behind, still desperately trying to get Niko to see me.

"[Hello, Niko.]"

Both of us flinched as a voice spoke. The Entity.

"H...Hello…" Niko mumbled in response.

"[Congratulations. You are now inside the Tower.]"

She looked confused, "Are you talking...to me, now?"

"[Correct.]"

"But you were always talking to Alan before…" her eyes darkened, "Where is…"

"[Alan has already left. I had to resort to contacting you directly.]"

"No! I'm right here!" I yelled as loud as I could, but it still fell on deaf ears.

"Wait, so...Alan is gone, just like that?" Niko asked.

"No, I'm with you, Niko! I'm still here!" I yelled again to no reaction.

"[Correct.]"

"...for good?"

"[Correct. Alan has already finished his mission...]"

My panic instantly morphed into rage, "No! We're not done! You can't do this!"

The Entity didn't respond to me, only continuing to speak to Niko, "[...and so have you, Niko.]" Another burst of static to our right revealed a bed that had appeared out of thin air, "[Here, you can rest now. Everything that's happened here is like a bad dream. When you wake up, you will be home.]"

"Oh!" Niko's eyes lit up for a split second before she fell silent, "...but…"

"[What's wrong?]"

She sighed, "...I thought there'd be more to it, you know? I thought...we were supposed to go to the top of the Tower...I thought there was supposed to be somewhere we need to put the sun in." Her eyes began to glisten, "And now...I don't even HAVE the sun anymore...and Alan is just...gone."

I felt my eyes begin to burn, "No…! Niko, please! I'm still here with you!"

Niko didn't hear me, "...This feels wrong!" she cried as she started to tremble.

"[But you did well. You saved the world, Niko. Are you not happy?]"

My rage intensified, "No, we haven't! Don't you DARE lie to her!"

I felt a small stab of pain from my head as a response.

"I guess I am…" Niko mumbled, "But...it's just…"

The computer turned off, leaving us alone in the darkness. Niko looked over at the bed before starting to move towards it. Before she got under the covers, she stopped. I could see a single tear roll down her cheek as she whispered, "...I never even got the chance to say…" she stopped herself, gripping the covers tightly, "...No...I promised...I wouldn't say goodbye..."

I reached out to her again to no avail, "...Niko...Please..."

Her eyes closed as she fell asleep and into the trap that the Entity had set.

"[And as for you, Alan...]"

I gasped as the Entity spoke directly to me now.

"[...We're done here.]"

"No! We're not!" I yelled back in anger, "You can't do this!"

"[Of course I can. Niko is now home, where she should be.]"

"She isn't home! She's trapped here! If you'd just let us save the world, she can go home for real!"

"[This world isn't worth saving. Why should I take that risk? Just so you can feel better about yourself?]"

I was starting to lose my patience, "Why does that matter?!"

"[You were never meant to be here.]" I froze as the Entity spoke, venom dripping from its voice, "[I don't know how you came to be here in the first place, but all it has done is put Niko at risk.]"

"That's not…"

"[You never belonged here, Alan.]"

My rage vanished, replaced now only by defeat. They were the words I never wished to hear and yet...what could I possibly say back?

The Entity took my silence as his victory, "[Please don't return to this world anymore...For her sake.]"

The pulsing of my headache began to get worse as I felt myself being torn out of this world. I fell to knees as I reached out for Niko. No, I can't leave her...I promised...

Light washed over me as the pain became worse. "Niko!" I called out one last time before I found myself back in the motel room. The window from before had already closed, leaving only the black clover icon sitting in the middle of the desktop.

I frantically clicked it again, hoping something would change, that I could still go back and fix this. Instead, I didn't feel the familiar pull of being transported. All that was shown was Niko sleeping in the bed, trapped in the illusion of her home.

"No...no!" I gripped the laptop, "Niko! You have to wake up! NIKO!" I barely noticed the tears that had begun to fall as I screamed into the laptop, "Take me back! I can't leave her there! TAKE ME BACK!"

Niko stayed asleep as the window faded into darkness until it closed. I closed my eyes as my tears continued to cascade. Was there really nothing I could do…?

It couldn't end like this...I promised to get her home...

Niko...