It was almost as if the coin was for me, and well...maybe it was?
"Where are you going?" I heard Mary Priscilla ask from behind.
"Stop acting like my nanny."
"Then stop acting like a kid that needs a nanny."
I kinda knew she'd say that, but...whatever. I continued floating towards the opposite side of the road, my gaze still glued to the shiny object that was just begging for me to possess it.
"Where are you going?" the brat asked again as she caught up.
"Just a moment..." I bent down, and as soon as my fingers came into contact with the coin's smooth, rounded surface, a strange sense of darkness seemed to swarm around me—-
My gaze jerked up, but all I saw were the same lantern-strewn skies I had glimpsed earlier.
Huh.
It did seem like I had imagined things, but at the same time I couldn't shake off the feeling that I hadn't imagined anything at all.
I showed Mary Priscilla my lucky little find. "It was practically begging me to pick it up—-"
"Don't you think it looks a little too new?"
I rolled my eyes. "Of course you would still find something to question about. It's just a coin—-" The left pocket of my dress suddenly started vibrating, and since it was my private ringtone for Hadrian playing out, I quickly got my phone out and answered the call. "Guess what?"
"Listen, my love," Hadrian began at the same time.
"There's this new Chinatown in Portland," I told him cheerfully.
"I've just gotten a report about a new portal to another realm opening up—-"
"And as if that's not exciting enough, I also spotted a silver coin—-"
"These portals are only visible to those whose lives have been touched by magic, and it's best to play it safe and avoid them," Hadrian went on to caution.
"So of course I picked it up, like duh."
"If you make the mistake of touching any object that belongs to that realm—-"
"Finders keepers, losers weepers—-"
"You could end up trapped in another realm with no way back," Hadrian finished grimly at the same time.
There was a second of silence, and it was then and only then did his words finally dawn on me.
New realm...touch any object...trapped?
"Saoirse?" The tightness of Hadrian's tone made me gulp.
"Um...yeah?"
"Please tell me what I'm thinking is wrong, my love."
I gulped again. "Well, um..."
"Saoirse." Hadrian's voice was pained.
"It was a really shiny coin," I said weakly. "But I guess I could always drop it back—-"
"Don't—-" Hadrian seemed to say something else, but his voice had already started to fade, and I could barely hear a thing.
"Hadrian? Hello?"
With my phone still pressed against my ear, I turned to Mary Priscilla, intending to tell her we needed to leave, like a.s.a.f.p., but—-
Shit.
Mary Priscilla was also starting to fade right before my very eyes.
Shiiiiiiit.
And then she was gone, the world lost its color, and I was all on my own.
Chapter Six
It was like suddenly finding myself in Twilight Zone. Rod Serling's version, and not Jordan Peele's. Everything around me had become silent and empty. The crowds were gone, and with it so had all the colors. Everything here was black and white, and it was so unbelievably surreal, to look down at my hands and not see the actual color of my flesh.
I felt more than a little panicky for a few seconds, and I had to give myself a quick pep talk to calm myself down.
LOTUS.
I had to remember I was LOTUS, and therefore I had little to be scared about.
So start thinking about getting your ass out of trouble, Saoirse!
I took another look around, but this time it wasn't merely my eyes doing the work. This time, I tried getting a feel of my surroundings the way Hadrian taught me, and all I could sense was...something familiar...and yet different.
The bustling marketplace and temple gates from earlier were all gone. In its place were buildings left and right, and the more I walked, the more I realized what this place reminded me of.
I had been able to visit Hong Kong a few times in my late twenties because of work, and this place definitely gave Hong Kong vibes.
Or to be specific... Paranormal Hong Kong, thanks to the unusual-looking shadows that had started lurking in the corner of my eye.
They were grayish in color and shapeless. But mobile. Like smog on the move. And where I went, so did they, and it was only after a few minutes of being stalked did comprehension finally dawn.
While lost, mindless souls in my world eventually turned into orbs of light, in this world they apparently turned into that: shadows.
Hadrian's last words suddenly played back in my mind, and I went absolutely still. He had mentioned something about a portal to another realm, and since the In-Between was a portal that connected the world above ground to Hell...
Could the pop-up Chinatown from earlier have the same function as the In-Between?