The way in

"Not here," Zeke says. I can only agree.

We return up, and I sit down on a stone step that leads to the church's altar. Zeke lowers himself down nearby—he doesn't sit, but just folds the lower part of his body until our heads are on a similar level. It looks like he's half-submerged into the floor.

"Can you fly?" I wonder, looking at his movements. "Or are there a dozen tentacles under that shadow?"

"Hm?" Zeke blinks. The movement is slow and deliberate, and I realize that this is the first time he ever did so in my presence. "The power of flight is harder to harness than it might seem. But with your help, I'd be able to. You are curious about magic, aren't you, my Maya? If you free me, I can share with you its secrets."

"Well, it's magic." I shrug with forced nonchalance and look away from the monster. "Who didn't dream about having superpowers as a kid? Throwing fireballs and all that. Is the Lock-thingy similar to that? Do I have to read spells and draw pentagrams?"

"Not at all. Your abilities are intrinsic. All you have to do is to feel this part of you. The rest should come on its own."

Following movements of the tentacle that rises near me, I put a hand on my solar plexus. I feel nothing underneath besides the beating of my heart, which I inform Zeke of.

"Don't focus on your physical body. Flesh is rot, bones are dust, and mind is a pile of glass shards. Only souls stand a chance against the winds of time; only souls might touch the powers Beyond."

I raise my eyes on Zeke, trying to make sense of that message. Sadly, there are no answers on his serious face, and something tells me I won't get anything more clear from him.

"You love riddles, I get it—but did that one have to be so depressing, Zeke?" I grumble.

"Depressing? I thought the knowledge that your misery won't last forever is a comforting thing."

Only Zeke's tiny smirk is an indicator that these words might've been a joke, and even so, I'm unsure. I shake my head. "You are so damn optimistic, your glass must be overflowing all the time."

"Yes, especially when I think that eventually all my enemies will die, even without my input. But not, sadly, without giving birth to more of their spawn." Zeke sighs. "They just never end."

He still smiles, and against my wishes, so do I. Zeke's sense of humor is darker than his eyes, but I always liked morbid jokes. Besides, this is absolutely appropriate.

I shake my head again and close my eyes. I have to remind myself that Zeke is a monster. Nothing human about him. He could eat people for lunch and babies for breakfast. He might be manipulating me, getting on my good side, so I free him.

I have to get my superpowers before I'd be able to leave and decide what to do without Zeke's influence. I can't trust anyone here.

Meditating is quite boring. I breathe evenly and try to look deep into myself, but all I get is a scratching nose. Zeke is so quiet I can imagine I'm alone in this place, which only takes from my comfort instead of adding it. Humans are not made to be alone.

And I'm less rested than I thought, because after a while of trying to find my chakras, Locks, and superpowers, I doze off.

It's there, in the strange, woozy state between dreams and reality, that I feel it. Something that was inside of me all that time, something that I missed each time I fell asleep and each time I woke up. A thing I denied myself having, just like I denied seeing monsters.

This time, I reach for it. The action jerks me away, but the feeling is still here. I can sense that thing, that hole—for the lack of better words—inside of me. It's just like Zeke showed me, but instead of going through my body, it seems to go through something more thin. My soul?

This hole is see-through, though I don't see it with my eyes—more like, I feel it like I feel my hand even if it's behind my back. One side peers into my body, and the other side goes into a void so bottomless, a single glimpse makes my head spin.

I open my eyes with a start and ground myself by looking at the solid and real ruins around me. When my dizziness leaves, I focus on my new body-part again.

Just like my hand, I can control this hole—or should I call it a keyhole?—by simply willing it. Right now it's barely open, but I can make it wider. I try to close it fully, but a small crack stays open, no matter how I try.

But overall… "I think I got it, Zeke!" I say, smiling in excitement. This is so weird, but this minor success is the best victory I had in a while. It's good to get something easily, for once. And more so, it means that I have some actual power, even if for now it doesn't seem to do a thing. "What now?"

Zeke smiled right back at me. "Just let me through."

I know immediately what he means. It's like a knock on the door, one that comes from the void side of my keyhole. Through the crack I can see—sense? perceive?—something dark and slick.

I open the "door", and it rushes through me in a stream. Yet, nothing is going on around me. Or so I think until I feel something touch the back of my neck.

I jump up with a yelp, almost stumbling and falling. Then I whirl fast enough to whip myself with my hair and stare with wide eyes at the tentacle that just startled me.

I'd not be shocked if Zeke circled me with a tentacle while I wasn't looking, but that's the thing—he didn't. The offending tentacle grows right out of my shadow.

"This is perfect," Zeke's voice comes from over my shoulder. He did circle me while I wasn't looking, but I don't jump again. I do stiffen when he puts his hands on my shoulders. "You are perfect, my Maya… And you are going to free me."

*Oh, what have I gotten myself into?*