A new reality

Adger's consciousness drifted in the never ending darkness for an unknown period of time. He was stripped of his ability to think or even have control over his body.

It was an unusual experience, but for Adger it was like a short dream, one that could be easily forgotten.

As unknown units of time passed, slowly Adger was pulled out from the strange state. His consciousness thrashed back into his body.

At the juncture, Adger violently got up, opening his eyes in horror as the images of the darkness from the cupboard invaded his mind.

His body trembled as his mind went numb.

'Where am I?' He frantically looked around and then towards the sky.

Around him was a vast greenery that looked absolutely stunning under the brilliant sunlight shining from above, a stark contrast from the nightmare he had witnessed.

The land before him was almost never ending. There were dune like mounds of land almost similar to that of a desert, however instead of sand, there was soil that was covered with thick, green, lively grass.

Flabbergasted and speechless, Adger got up to take a look behind him.

There in the distance, he found a 15 feet tall stone wall erected around a wide area that seemed to house an entire city.

"Where the hell am I?" Blurting out in a low pitched voice, Adger stood rooted in his place as if frozen by ice.

He subconsciously looked down at the diary cover in his hand, the symbols on it had now distorted again, showing the map of the entire area he was in.

Some symbols swirled around the city, signalling that the 'book of secrets' was kept there.

For a minute, Adger stood there like a stone statue, neither speaking nor thinking anything.

Only after sometime did he come back to his senses, as he took a seat on the soft grassy ground.

"What happened? I remember correctly being in that church looking building and then I opened that cupboard..." He suddenly shuddered. "Just thinking about that darkness gives me chills, but what happened afterwards? I don't remember a thing."

Adger scratched his scalp in confusion and worry.

"This diary cover still shows the location of the 'book of secrets'. How is it different now? Was it not in the cupboard? Unless..." Suddenly, Adger's narrowed eyes lit up.

A clue about his current predicament suddenly came to his mind.

"Could it be that the cupboard was a portal of sorts? Although pretty far fetched, it is highly possible. This also gives an answer to one of my previous questions. Stephen had hid the book in a different place, the cupboard was the portal that led to the said place. That explains why the map displayed the location of the cupboard and is now displaying the location of that city right there..." Adger looked towards the walls of the city in the distance as he came to a conclusion.

'But how do I return? I need to find more information regarding this place. Why is there a whole city there and where is this place exactly? Is it even still on earth? Is this where Stephen originally lived?'

Adger understood one thing, if he sat down in one place and did nothing like a coward, he would reach no where. He had to take some risks, only then could he hope to get some answers.

The mystery of the 'book of secrets' had woven itself like spider silk, each day a new thread was formed, making the real truth hide itself more and more.

Adger felt a little frustrated because of his lack of knowledge but he also felt a little excited. His worries about going back home did not recede however they did nothing to hinder his curiosity and drive for greatness.

Adger without wasting anytime, walked towards the 15 feet tall walls in the distance.

It was a long journey, there was more than 3 kilometres of distance between him and the walls. Only the warm sunlight and the beautiful grassland did something to make his journey a little less boring.

It took him approximately 40 minutes to reach the walls.

As he stood before them, he checked the diary cover to find any ways inside. The walls did not appear to have any noticeable gates that led to the city.

However to Adger's dismay, the diary cover did not show the exact way inside. It just displayed the general location he should be headed to.

"Sigh~ I have to walk freaking more." Adger mumbled to himself as an intense sigh left his mouth.

He then randomly started to walk in an anti-clockwise direction around the wall.

After about 20 more minutes, he suddenly heard shouts come from a distance infront of him.

Instantly Adger felt his spirit vitalise, colour returned to his dull eyes as he cautiously walked forward with a slight smile on his youthful face.

Soon, he saw a huge steel gate that cut the wall in two. Infront of the gate were two men dressed in uniforms that seemed to belong to the police.

The uniforms were black with golden linings and patterns. On the shoulders of the two police men were 2 blue stripes each, conveying their ranks. They had an air of coldness surrounding them.

The uniform itself looked quite beautiful and elegant, but what caught Adger's attention was not the uniforms, but the strange weapons they held in their hands.

Each of the policemen held a black rifle in their hand, the rifle looked quite ordinary if not for the blue glow radiating from a gem attached to the middle of the gun just above the trigger.

'What the hell is that?' Adger throught while keeping a poker face.

As the two policemen saw Adger approaching, instantly they put up their guards and looked at him vigilantly.

"What is the reason of your arrival?" One of the policemen asked sternly.

Hearing this, Adger was taken aback. 'Reason for arrival? It is to steal a book, that is what it is.'

Ofcourse he couldn't say it out loud, so he quickly came up with a lie.

"I am here to visit a friend." Instantly Adger knew that he had messed up. 'What if they ask me where I am from? Or which friend I came to visit?'

The two policemen looked at each other and then at Adger, who stood there unmoving.

"Let him in, he is just a civilian, he is not an Infuser and poses no threat." Suddenly, a deep voice laced with amusement came from inside the city gate.

The three of them quickly turned to look at the source of the voice.

It was a man with a muscular physique, golden hair, tanned skin, he had black sunglasses over his eyes. He was 6'2 feet tall with an overwhelming pressure of oppression oozing out from him.

Suddenly both the guards saluted the man with a respectful salute.

"Good afternoon Sir!"