Chapter 97 Chapter 97
_Leah’s POV_
At first, there was nothing.
No chair beneath me. No candlelight. No smell of wax or salt. No warmth from Kayden’s hands. Just soft and endless silence.
I tried to breathe.
But I did not have lungs.
The thought startled me so sharply that I opened my eyes.
And I froze.
The world was not a room anymore.
It was a wide space with no clear floor and no clear sky. Everything looked like it was made from mist and pale light. The air shimmered like heat over sand, yet it felt cold. Not cold like winter but cold like deep water.
I lifted my hands.
They were my hands… but also not.
They looked solid and I could see my fingers, but when I moved them, faint trails of silver light followed, like smoke clinging to my skin. My body felt light.. too light. Like I could float away if I stopped thinking about myself.
I swallowed out of habit.
Nothing happened.
A wave of panic rushed through me.
Athena’s voice came quickly. Leah. Breathe with your spirit. Not your lungs.
“I… I don’t understand,” I whispered. My voice echoed strangely as if the sound had to travel far before it reached my own ears. “Where am I? Why does it feel like I’m not real?”
You are real, Athena said. But you are not in flesh. This is the astral realm. Your soul is what is standing now.
My heart would have pounded if I still had a heart.
I looked down again. I expected to see my feet on the ground. But the ground was not normal. It was a thin sheet of misty light that shifted under me like shallow water.
I took a step. The surface rippled. A soft ring spread outward like a wave in a pond.
I gasped. “It’s like I’m walking on fog."
It is the veil, Athena replied. It holds you but it will not hold you forever if you lose focus.
That word hit me hard.
Forever.
I forced my mind to think of Kayden; his voice, his scent and the warmth of his body in bed.
“You will come back,” he had said.
My chest tightened with longing even though I had no physical body.
“I need to find Sarah,” I whispered.
Yes, Athena agreed. Do not let fear turn you in circles.
I lifted my head and looked around.
The light here was strange. It did not come from one place. It seemed to glow from everywhere, like the air itself was lit. But the glow was weak like moonlight trapped behind clouds.
Far ahead, I saw shapes....moving shapes. At first, I thought they were shadows. Then, I realized they were people.
They were souls. There were hundreds of them. They drifted slowly like a crowd moving without purpose. Some walked. Some stood still. Some sat with their heads bowed as if they were waiting for something that would never arrive.
They all looked… like me. Not different. Not more ghost-like than I was. They were simply souls without weight.
Some looked young. Some looked old. Some looked injured but their injuries did not bleed. The wounds were just marks of memory. Some stared into nothing with empty eyes. Some whispered to themselves. Some cried silently with tears that vanished before they fell.
A deep sadness hit me. It was heavy. It was thick. It was in the air like smoke.
I took another step toward them. As I got closer, I noticed their faces. They were not monsters. They were not scary. They were lost.
I stopped at the edge of the moving crowd. A man passed by me. He looked about my age. His eyes were wide and unfocused.
“Excuse me,” I said softly. “Do you know where Sarah is?”
He did not stop. He did not even look at me. He walked through the mist like he could not hear sound at all.
I turned and faced a woman nearby. She was older. Her hair was long and dark, and her face was tired.
“Please,” I said while stepping close. “I’m looking for someone. Her name is Sarah. Have you seen her?”
The woman looked at me. For a second, her eyes sharpened. Hope flared in my chest.
Then she whispered, “I can’t find my son.”
And she drifted away.
Athena’s voice was quiet. They are trapped in their own longing. Many here do not see beyond their grief.
I hugged myself even though my arms felt like light. “This is worse than I imagined,” I whispered. “How do I find one soul in all of this?”
You follow the bond you share with her, Athena said. But first, you must listen. Not with ears but with your spirit.
I closed my eyes for a moment. I tried to reach for Sarah the way I reached for Kayden.
But there was no warm thread. Just… emptiness.
My eyes snapped open. “I can’t feel her. Athena, I can’t feel Sarah at all.”
Athena’s tone grew firm. Because she is buried deeper. Maybe, she is hidden.
“By Susan?” I whispered.
Yes, Athena answered. Maybe Susan has chained her up in a remote place.
My jaw tightened.
“I won’t give up.”
I moved forward into the crowd of souls.
As I walked, they shifted around me. They did not bump into me. It was like we all knew how to pass through each other without touching. But their presence still pressed in on me. Their sadness brushed against my skin. Their whispers slid into my mind.
A child’s voice cried, “Where is my father?”
A man murmured, “I didn’t mean to…”
A woman whispered, “Please forgive me.”
Their grief felt endless.
I kept walking.
I tried again and again to ask.
“Have you seen Sarah?”
“Do you know a girl named Sarah?”
“Please help me. I’m looking for someone.”
Most did not respond. Some stared right through me. I spun in a slow circle. Everything looked the same. There was mist, pale light and endless souls. There were no landmarks, no walls and no sky.
I walked faster....then faster.
At one point, I broke into a run but even running felt strange. There was no heavy breath. I could feel no burn in my muscles but only the rush of my thoughts.
I stopped suddenly.
I had been moving for what felt like a long time, and yet… it felt like I was still in the same place.
My fear rose again.
“Athena,” I whispered, voice shaking. “What if I’m stuck here? What if I can’t find her? What if I can’t go back?”
Athena’s voice softened. Leah. Look at me. Feel me.
I frowned. “I can’t see you.”
You do not need sight, Athena said. You need focus. You are not alone. You carry me. And you carry Kayden through the bond.
I closed my eyes again. I tried to remember Kayden’s face. His grey eyes, full of love for me. His hands which were warm and strong.
A faint warmth pulsed inside me. It was distant but it was there.
My breath hitched.
“I feel it,” I whispered.
Good, Athena replied. That is your thread back. Hold it gently...not tightly. Now continue looking for Sarah.
I tried. I opened my spirit like an open palm. At first, there was nothing. But then, I heard a faint sound.
It was not a voice....but more like a pull; a tug so weak that I thought I imagined it.
My heart jumped.
“Did you feel that?” I asked quickly.
Yes, Athena said. Follow it.
I turned toward the direction the tug seemed to come from.
The crowd of souls thinned slightly here. The mist grew thicker and darker. The pale light faded like the realm itself was bruised.
I hesitated.
My fear tried to choke me again.
“What if this is a trap?” I whispered.
It may be, Athena admitted. But Sarah will not be in the easy places. Keep moving.
I stepped forward. The mist grew colder. The souls here looked different. Their eyes were sharper and more aware.
Some of them turned to watch me as I passed. A man with a scar across his face spoke without moving his lips. “Living one…”
I flinched. He knew. He could tell.
Athena’s voice warned, Do not stop. Some spirits hunger for warmth.
I kept walking. The tug grew a little stronger. Then it vanished.
I stopped.
My hands curled into fists.
“No,” I whispered. “No, please.”
I tried to open my spirit again, searching for it.
But nothing. It was gone.
I turned in a circle again. “Sarah!” I called. “Sarah, if you can hear me, please!”
My voice echoed and twisted but the mist swallowed it.
I felt suddenly small and lost. I was just another soul in a sea of souls.
My knees would have weakened if knees mattered here. I sank down onto the misty surface. The ground rippled under me like water and then settled.
Tears filled my eyes. They did not fall. They clung to my lashes like tiny drops of light.
“I can’t do this,” I whispered. “I don’t know where she is. I don’t know how to find her.”
Athena’s voice went softer. You can. You are afraid, but you are still here. That alone means you are strong.
I shook my head. “I’m tired of being strong.”
I pressed my hands to my face. For a moment, I let the hopelessness wash over me.
Then, like a knife, Kayden’s words cut through the darkness in my mind.
You will come back.
I will be right here.
I love you.
My hands lowered. I stared into the mist. “I promised him,” I whispered.
I drew in a deep breath and stood up. “I will keep searching even if it takes forever.”
That is my Leah, Athena murmured. Now… look.
I blinked and then I saw it. It was not Sarah but something else.
A figure standing a short distance away; a woman.
She looked like she was made of the same pale light as everyone here but something about her pulled at me. Something about her shape. Her hair.
The way she held her shoulders like she had carried burdens quietly all her life.
My stomach twisted. My breath caught. She looked familiar...too familiar.
I took a slow step toward her. Then another. My hands trembled. My mouth went dry. “No,” I whispered. “It can’t be…”
The woman turned slightly as if she sensed me. Her face came into view. I felt the world tilt. Her eyes were my eyes.
Not the exact same but close enough to stab me with memory. Her cheekbones...her lips...the gentle curve of her chin.
She looked like me.
But older.....in the way a mother is older than her child.
My voice broke. “Mom?”
The word fell out of me like a prayer. The woman blinked. Her brows drew together in confusion. She stared at me like she was trying to see through fog.
“I…” she began slowly. “Do I know you?”
My throat tightened so hard it hurt. I stepped closer. “Yes. You do. You have to.”
The woman’s eyes stayed uncertain. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I don’t… I don’t remember.”
My eyes burned. “No,” I whispered. “No, please.”
I forced myself to speak clearly, as if saying it would make it real. “You’re Daphne. You’re my mom.”
The woman flinched at the name. Her eyes widened slightly. She lifted a hand to her mouth. “How…...How do you know that name?”
I suddenly felt hopeful. “You do remember,” I said quickly. “You do.”
The woman’s hand trembled. “Daphne…” she repeated. “Yes. That… that is me.”
She stared at me again. She was searching my face like it was a puzzle. “But how do you know? Who are you?”
My tears finally slipped free, glowing as they fell, then vanishing into the mist.
“I’m Leah,” I whispered, my voice cracking. “I’m your daughter.”
The words hung in the air.
The woman froze.
For a long moment, she did not move.
Then her eyes changed.
Recognition flared slowly, like a candle being lit.
Her lips parted.
Her breath caught.
“Oh…” she whispered.
Her face crumpled.
“Leah,” she said, the name breaking as if it hurt her to say it. “Oh, Leah…”
I stepped forward without thinking. She moved too. And then she was in my arms.
Her embrace felt strange here. Not warm like flesh but comforting in a way that sank into my spirit....like the memory of being held.
She clutched me tightly.
“My baby,” she whispered. “My Leah…”
I sobbed. “It’s me. It’s really me.”
She pulled back just enough to look at my face. Her hands cupped my cheeks.
“You’ve grown so much,” she whispered in awe. “You’re so beautiful… I...I missed you so much.”
I shook my head. “I missed you too,” I cried. “I thought I would never meet you.”
“We were,” she whispered. “We were murdered....”
I clung to my mother again. I was shaking so badly. "I know...I know what Tariq did to you and dad..."
Then her body went stiff. She pulled away suddenly. Her eyes widened in horror. She looked around quickly as if she suddenly remembered where she was. Then she looked back at me.
“What are you doing here?” she demanded, her voice sharp with fear. “Leah, no....”
“I need help,” I began quickly. “I’m looking for Sarah and....”
But she cut me off.
Her hands gripped my shoulders hard.
“This place is not for the living,” she said, her voice trembling. “This means you are… you are already…”
Her eyes were filled with terror. “You are dead...."
The words struck me like a blade.
I froze.