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Once was more than enough, twice you’re just being mean, three times... now it’s a pattern, now it’s tradition, and one way or another in the near future, fate’s fickle nature is going to have me rerouting back here for more times to come, I just know it.

You heard it here first.

Walking through long, narrow corridors filled with rubble and dead bones of rodents was not a fun experience the first time, much less so every other time – it was like reliving a nightmare, a single night of terror that still somewhat haunts me to this day, and even more so for her...

Amanda guided us floor by floor, looking more and more like a poor unfortunate victim in a found-footage film, panning her camera slowly from room to room.

Large claw marks were deeply etched onto some of the walls, and broken bits of debris and bent rebar painted a grisly story that I would rather not bring to light again. Scorch marks, collapsed ceilings, shattered floors – what more could you want out of a set piece that’s supposed to be rundown and creepy?

Somewhere on one of the higher floors, we passed by a room that had completely collapsed in on itself, a room too eerily distinct to not immediately remember... take a deep long breath, and you can still almost smell the paint.

.....

I know I could.

“Hey,” Amanda suddenly spoke, her low voice like the boom of thunder in the quiet. “Do you think something like this might happen again?”

As vague as her question was, I knew immediately what she meant. Something bad, something catastrophic. So far, she’s been inadvertently caught in two. She gets three times... well, we know what we say about getting thirds...

“All I have are guesses, Amanda,” I replied. “That’s not something I can say for certain.”

“Then give me your best guess.”

“My best guess...” I muttered, taking a moment to ponder. In this quiet, plunged in this stillness, I could almost somewhat hear his voice again, hear him speak, hear him promise, Grieven’s words leaving my lips, and gave my not-so-uncertain guess. “A matter of time. Could be tomorrow, could be next week. For all we know, it’s already happened... and we just don’t know it yet.”

For my honesty, I got thrown a rather dark, gloomy look. “And there’s nothing we can do to prevent it?”

“How do you prevent something you don’t know?” I questioned back. “Best we can do is sit tight and just be ready for when it does happen.”

She pulled a face, looking a little queasy. “And you’re just supposed to go about your life with the fear of impending doom in the back of your mind?”

“Best not think about it,” I glanced at her. “You shouldn’t have to think about it.”

“Too late,” She glumly answered. “Now I’m even more paranoid than before. Great.”

“Ask and you shall receive,” I said. “But if, and when it does happen, whatever might happen... my one hope is that it won’t have anything to do with you, that you’ll be safe. I don’t want you dealing with any more of this bullshit.”

“So sweet,” She said with a chuckle. “But I’m afraid you’re too much of a black hole, you attract bullshit like you attract hot chicks. I’m bound to get caught in the crossfire eventually.”

“True, on the first point, at least,” I said. “And yet somehow you don’t sound that put-off knowing I’m a walking, talking embodiment of Murphy’s Law.”

The side of her lip perked slightly at that. “I suppose... I don’t know – maybe I like the thrill, maybe I’m just attracted to men of action... but whatever it is, I do know I only feel safest when I’m with you.”

“That sounds a little backwards.”

“Love’s a little backwards,” She said. “If it made sense, if it’s rational, I’d be halfway across the world keeping as far away from you and anything to do with you as possible.”

“Yeah,” I agreed, feeling my lips narrow down at the prospect. “That does sound like the most logical thing for anyone to do.”

“But I don’t want to be logical, you see,” Amanda leaned over, locking her arm around mine and gently resting her head atop my shoulder. “I want to be with you.”

My eyes veered across the storey, finding more claw marks, more mounds of rubble, and we shuffled through another corridor, a familiar corridor – the very same one I first found her in all those days ago, wandering mindlessly, her voice echoing empty, just a mere shell of her true self... and I felt something churn in my stomach.

“Despite the danger?” I asked.

“Especially because of the danger,” She said, stressing the words with a heavy stare. “If something happens to you, and I don’t know about it, I’d be a pretty terrible girlfriend, won’t I?

“Y’know, that goes both ways too, right?” I told her. “If something happens to you and I couldn’t stop it... how do you think I’d feel?”

“Well, so far so good, right?” She smiled, holding on a little tighter. “I’m still breathing, I’m still here, nothing’s happened...”

“Don’t jinx it.”

“You are the jinx, sweetie,” She pointed out like a reminder while burrowing her finger into one of my cheeks before her eyelids fell, a soft gaze staring endearingly. “But also the luckiest charm I have.”

Explains why I feel like so much of a rabbit foot right then, with her squeezing hard against me and all that.

“That’s like three flattering statements you made in a minute,” I pointed out to her. “Do you always get this affectionate when you’re apprehensive?”

Amanda scoffed, her tone of amusement racing down the empty corridor in echoes. “So you are aware that I’m a little skittish right now, and so instead of coddling your girlfriend... you decide to overanalyze her behavior like you’re her psychologist?” then she gawked at me, eyes glazed over with utter amazement. “How the heck are you so lovable when you’re seriously this infuriating?”

“Four times now.”

“Oh, I hate you, you’re making me hate you. Is this your plan? Drive me away from my own safety? Sever our ties, tarnished our love so that I may yet see another day?”

“Okay, now who’s the one that’s overanalyzing things?”

“It does sound like the most logical thing you’d do if you’re really that worried for my safety.”

“And who says I want to be logical?” I gave her a glance. “And since when has anything I’ve done made sense? Everything in my life so far has been nonsensical, insane – batshit.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” She grumbled from the corner of a pout. “You got an Elf out of it, a Succubus, a Matriarch...”

“And you,” I interjected. “Perhaps the most nonsensical, batshit insane person out of the whole lot,” smiling at her. “And I don’t say that like it’s a bad thing by the way.”

And I meant it. Truly, I did. In this newfound world of magic and mysticality, demons and elves, and everything else in between, here strides this random gal, as normal as can be in this realm of utter abnormality, how could she not possibly catch your eye?

That was just as abnormal in and of itself in the best possible way I could put it.

For a moment, she was speechless, dropping her gaze, a faint snort hiding behind the silky curls of her hair. “You compliment a woman by calling her batshit insane?”

“Like I said,” I repeated myself. “Since when have I ever made sense?”

“Point made,” She conceded. “I suppose I should really consider myself flattered, huh?”

“You really should,” came my wise, totally serious suggestion. “I’d rather not lose you, you’re too famous. You leave, how am I supposed to brag about dating an internet celeb anymore?”

“And now you’re back to being infuriating again, awesome,” she blew with a sigh, clinging even tighter onto her lucky rabbit’s foot. “When we’re done here, I expect you to grovel for my forgiveness, alright?”

“Another apology, seriously?” I said, flabbergasted at first, before I had a random thought. “Or perhaps just another excuse to spend time with me?”

Amanda didn’t say anything again, instead releasing me free from her binds and striding ahead, camera in hand... leaving the question as a lingering mystery unsolved.

It wasn’t long before we found ourselves clambering the last flight of stairs up to the peak. It was here that the sense of familiarity was at its most potent. I spent literal days here, waking moments with the bland dreary gray of the walls and floors, the only view as far as the eye could see.

A peculiar room had caught Amanda’s attention, whereas my sights were being drawn far elsewhere, and before I knew it, I found myself standing at the center of the large, vast room.

I could still almost hear the haunting shrieks of madness, still smell the cinders singeing the debris... and somewhere close, in a small patch of sunlight, I could still vaguely see the dark outline where blood had been spilled.

My blood.

Here, amidst burnt and brittle piles of rubble, where the rays of daylight could only filter in through fractured dusty panes, and the ceiling was still scorched with black soot in places was where many things began and ended.

As I had expected, the summoning circle was still etched clearly into the foundations, almost as if it was now a permanent fixture of this building’s history... a piece of history that’ll forever go untold.

I’m not sure what kinda paint this was, but it sure was resilient... it was like it was just drawn just a couple of hours ago... still in such pristine condition.

Suddenly, I found myself shifting, sitting, my knees taking the weight of my body as I traced the outer edges of the circle, my fingers gliding over every intricate design.

I could still remember the feeling of being here, it’s not something you can ever forget even if you tried. The aching of every muscle, the mounting pressure threatening to sink me under, my hands were just like this, my fingers were tense like this, exactly like this... then there was the glowing the lights, the surge of memories, the pain, the screaming, the fading.

Then, Sera emerged from it all.

And the rest was simply history.

Summoning a fictional mythical being from a world of literal fiction was something I silently vowed I’d never do again, that I’ll forever bar myself from it.

But it’s not like I forgot about it. A process like that... you don’t forget. If I really had to, I could do it again.

My hands just like this, my fingers tense like this, the magic, the feeling, I remember... it was just like this.

Easy peasy.

If I really had to, I could.

Add another piece of history to this building already brimming with far too many.

“Lenora...” I muttered, her name, her face, flashing by me in the darkness behind my eyelids, and there it was, that grip, that foundation, the beginning of a new process.

Gone in a second, slipping seamless from my grip... and I was left alone, knowing nothing more, thus, feeling nothing more.

Just like that. If I wanted to. The question was, do I want to? Scratch that... do I even need to?

Seriously, I have got a single clue.

“Lenora?” suddenly echoed the name, one more like a familiar boom of thunder in the quiet. “Well, well...”

Frozen on bent knees, my eyes snapped towards the entranceway, and in that distance, I spotted the distinct blondish outline of a paparazzi pointing forward the even more distinct glimmer of a camera lens.

“Ah – wait! You Hold that pose!” She demanded before I had the chance to move the slightest inc. “Ah, that expression, that muddled look in your eyes, yes – now that’s determination, that’s resolve! It perfectly fits Chester to the tee!”

Amanda scooted closer, a waggish smirk growing more prominent as she continued to so eagerly close the gap between us.

“You bring that kind of vibe to your role, and the director would be gushing all over you in a second.” She said, nodding with admiration. “But the kind of emotional depths you had to swim through in order to bring that out... it might end up being a bit tricky to pull off, won’t it?”

For once, it was my turn to be caught speechless... rising to my feet, watching her slightly pensive stare as it followed my every move.

.....

She noticed where my hands were, how my fingers were outstretched, and after hearing what I just said, her smile only grew wider as the pieces of the puzzle began to fall in place.

“So, Lenora...” She began, slowly lowering the camera to her side. “Looks like I caught you wandering again, after all.”

Oops.