Chapter 6: Making the Connection
There was one way he knew to ensure that he hadn’t been dreaming the whole thing. Desmond swung his legs to the edge of his bed and pulled up the sleeve of his shirt. The tattoo he had noticed the day before on himself and Mykel was still there. Only, it looked just a little different this time than what he remembered seeing it the first time. Again, he was left confused as to why that might have happened and without any memory of having changed it at all.
The design had branched off from his shoulder and formed vines that had started to wrap around his upper forearm. It extended the tattoo from his shoulder and about half-way to his elbow. Which meant that it had gotten bigger in the last day or so. That’s what he thought.
After everything that had happened overnight, he wasn’t sure what he had dreamed and what had actually been real. Ryan would be able to tell him what the marking had looked like the day before though. He had been the only other person who had noticed it and maybe hearing it from him would help Desmond to feel a little better.
Desmond threw his covers off and jumped out of bed without a second thought. He rushed out of his room and down the hall to the room that he knew belonged to Ryan. His pursuit was stopped though when he noticed the state of their apartment. It was in complete disarray from the party the night before. It really looked like time hadn’t moved at all which only confused Desmond further. He had felt he had spent an entire day at least in The Echo. Had it really only been a few hours?
“Oh, hey, Des…” Ryan’s tired voice brought Desmond from his thoughts.
He turned to find Ryan standing in his doorway and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Was the party last night?” Desmond asked.
Confusion now showed on Ryan’s face. “Duh. Did you drink so much you forgot what day it is?”
“No. Hey, does this look different to you?” Desmond asked and turned to show Ryan his arm.
“Dude, I don’t know. It looks like a tattoo. Listen, I’m gonna go sleep some more. I’ll clean up the mess later. You probably should get some sleep too,” Ryan replied.
Before Desmond could push the subject any further, Ryan had backed into his room and shut the door on him. His answer hadn’t helped in the slightest. In fact, it left Desmond feeling even more like he was going crazy.
The whole point of getting out of The Echo was to return back to his normal life, right? This was what he had wanted. Which meant there wasn’t really a reason or a need to stress over it. He did have a tattoo he couldn’t explain and one that looked eerily similar to the stranger he met from The Echo. But he wasn’t planning on going back there, so it didn’t matter.
Instead of taking Ryan’s advice, Desmond felt he needed to get some fresh air and clear his head. This business about The Echo was something he felt he needed to put behind him. If he was going to be stuck with the mark on his arm, fine, but he didn’t want to go on worrying about it anymore.
The first thing he noticed when he stepped outside the apartment complex was the warmth of the sunlight when it hit his skin. The grim memory of the sun stuck on the horizon in The Echo had him happy to see it high in the sky now. Not only that but it had his nerves calming a little bit, reminding him that the world he was in right now was real. Whatever happened the night before, this was real. At least he had that to help ground himself.
After taking a deep breath, Desmond started his walk towards downtown. He had no real destination, the walk was just meant to clear his head. Just as he got into the innermost part of the city, he stopped suddenly. He was left frozen in place as he watched an opaque shadow form about ten feet from where he stood.
The shadow was much larger than the ones he remembered seeing in The Echo and it reminded him of the one he thought he’d seen in the mist before Lydia pulled him away. Despite it barely being visible in the daylight, he could tell that it stood at least ten feet tall. Its long arms looked as though there might be long spikes at the end of each elbow. The head of this tall creature was different from the others in the way that it appeared to take an actual shape. He couldn’t quite make it out with how transparent its form was though.
As soon as it noticed him, the shadow rushed towards him. Desmond was hit with a brief ear-splitting screech before it was gone just as quickly as it had come. He was left standing there in a silent stun. It didn’t appear that anyone else around him had noticed anything, not the shadow nor its terrifying sound. That fact sent shivers down his spine. The Echo was most certainly real, there was no question on it now.
Feeling a cold down the arm that had been marked, Desmond came out of his daze to turn his attention to the tattoo on his arm. The dark vines that had started to climb down from his shoulder now reached his elbow. Seeing that tattoo seemingly grow down his arm on his own had him trying not to panic. Atlas had mentioned something about a curse before, but what did that really mean? He had to find out.
After his discovery, he had decided to rush to the apartment complex he remembered visiting in The Echo. It was deeper downtown than his own, but since he had already been in the city it hadn’t taken him long to get there. Now, he stood outside the apartment door Lydia had taken him to and pounded desperately on the door.
“Atlas! Atlas, are you in there?!” Desmond called out.
The door flew open after a series of relentless knocks. The same blond curls answered the door. He didn’t look as bright as he had in The Echo and this time he was lacking the friendly smile he had greeted him with. Instead, the two stood in silence staring at each other before Atlas moved aside and ushered a panicked Desmond into his crowded living room. He didn’t know if Atlas knew why he was there this time or not and at the moment, he didn’t care much either.
“That curse you mentioned the other night, is it causing this?” Desmond asked. He lifted his arm for Atlas to see. “What are these marks and what do they mean?”
“I’m sorry, Desmond. That is the mark of the curse and it will only continue to grow until you are bound to The Echo,” Atlas responded.
“That can’t be right! How do you even know that’s true?!” Desmond snapped, the panic had started to settle in now.
“Because I am a medium. I have been studying and speaking with the souls of this city for a few years now. When I found out about this curse, I decided to stay here and learn more about it,” Atlas explained. “If you don’t want to take my word for it, you could always ask Mykel. He knows better than anyone.”
“So, you’re telling me the only way I can find out if there’s a way to stop this thing is to find the guy who threatened me the last time I saw him?” he questioned.
Atlas frowned. “I’m saying, he’s this city’s Keeper and he’s the most familiar with its curse. I’ve been trying to talk to him about it myself, but he’s reluctant to answer many of my questions.”
“Great. So, how do I get back to The Echo?” Desmond said curtly.
“You made the connection to get back to The World of the Light, so all you have to do now is focus on an anchor in The Echo to bring you through. It’ll get easier once you use it more regularly,” he explained.
Desmond nodded to his words and seated himself on Atlas’ couch. “I’m doing this here, it’s the easiest place I can think of.”
Whether or not Atlas responded, he wasn’t paying attention anymore. Without waiting for his permission, Desmond closed his eyes and focused on the one thing that stood out to him while he was in The Echo. The cozy light of Atlas’ apartment and the way it had given a soft glow compared to all the gray around him.
He kept his mind’s eye set on that image until the world around him started to fade away and only when it went silent, did he open his eyes again.
Upon opening his eyes, Desmond found that the room was giving off an unusual soft glow. Although, to be sure if he had actually made it to The Echo, his gaze settled on Atlas. The curly-haired blonde was standing beside the couch with a frown. After a moment, he blinked and met his gaze. A small smile appeared then on Atlas’ features and he gave a small nod in confirmation to Desmond, that he had indeed reached The Echo.
“Alright, I’m back in The Echo. So, where can I find Mykel?” Desmond asked resolutely.