Third Mark

Chapter 146 Third Mark

Aleshia woke up on the ground and struggled to stand. Exhaustion weighed heavily on her, making her body feel full of lead. "Why is it so hard to get up? Why do I feel so drained?" she wondered. As she looked around, she recognized the familiar rock walls. After several attempts, she finally managed to rise, but the effort caused her to stagger forward before she steadied herself. To maintain her balance, she widened her stance.

Aleshia remembered her intentions just before losing consciousness: she had decided to return to the laboratory after discovering the third mark. Now that she had achieved her goal and had rested, her mind was no longer clouded by confusion, allowing her to think more deeply about her plan. "I might have missed something important and was too shocked by the commotion that thing made to think clearly. Now that I have my third mark, I should return. But before all that..."

She looked around, trying to locate her new mark. Once she spotted where it had appeared, she muttered, "Now that will be a pain to see." Glancing at her shoulder, she realized she could only see a small portion of the mark within her limited field of vision. To get a better look, Aleshia turned her head in every direction, trying to see the entire mark. After some time, she realized it was impossible to view it entirely and concluded that she needed a mirror to see the rest.

Like the other marks, this one resembled a script that she felt she could almost remember how to read, but the meanings of the symbols had slipped her mind. "Since this mark isn't on a limb, it suggests there are far more marks out there than I had previously imagined," Aleshia said with a dry laugh. Sulking at the thought of having to wander for a longer time, she looked down gloomily. "Maybe I don't need to participate in this game; I could try to find another way into Kailey's soul space, or I could always return to Lucia and say, 'I didn't find what I was looking for.'" Striking her fist in affirmation of one of her ideas, she continued walking through the open doors.

"It's strange I haven't come across whatever was kept in that tube yet. I doubt I would be able to outrun something capable of breaking through glass like that," Aleshia muttered to herself, realizing that she had never actually encountered the creature.