Grief

When the cloud settled, the mysterious yet menacing person just stood there motionless while Abbey was nowhere to be found. Sharon was in a daze, tears were flowing down from her eyes. Could we even cry in this place, or is it just a manifestation of my subconscious? It was difficult to take in, thinking that Abbey was gone. Michael was in awe, but Sharon managed to compose herself. She knew it was up to her to rescue her nephew and somehow escape this place.

She summoned all her courage and began to move slowly, holding Michael tightly and maintaining a protective barrier around them. Her pace quickened when she noticed that the menacing figure was still not moving. Something was wrong. This person may have defeated Abbey, but they must have seriously injured themselves. That's why they're not moving. Or perhaps they had been lobotomized by their actions during the attack? She pondered to herself.

Taking no chances, she hurried past the lobotomized man, still keeping Michael close, in the direction he had pointed. But her thoughts were still with Abbey. For some reason, she couldn't get the fool out of her mind. No matter how hard she tried to convince herself that she didn't care about him, her mind was in a mess. But she took solace in the fact that she was saving her nephew.

As they strode past the menacing and now lobotomized man, Sharon glanced at him carefully to make sure he posed no threat to either of them before moving on.

When they arrived at the point of entry, Michael stopped Sharon, indicating that they had reached their destination. However, he hesitated to continue. Sharon gently nudged him, trying to wake him up from his slumber, but he still didn't budge. Sharon was becoming desperate because she still believed that the mysterious and menacing, now lobotomized man, could still be awakened from his slumber. She knew she would be powerless to stop him without the help of Abbey. Now that Abbey was not there to help them, their plan was to leave the place immediately, now that the enemy had been lobotomized. Michael, on the other hand, seemed to be wasting time with his inaction.

"Michael, what's wrong? Why aren't we moving?" Sharon asked curiously.

Michael could not put his thoughts into words, but instead, he pointed in the direction where the mysterious and menacing, now lobotomized man, was motionless. Something seemed to be happening around him. A cloud was forming. At first, it was so small that it couldn't be seen with naked eyes, but as it continued to gather, it grew bigger and bigger, making it visible to Sharon. She became spooked and wondered what was happening. As the cloud got bigger, she became frightened, thinking that the mysterious and menacing, now lobotomized man, might be waking up.

Sharon's face showed her worry, and she desperately urged Michael, saying, "The bad man is waking up, and we'll be in big trouble if he finds us here."

Michael couldn't put his words together because he didn't understand what was happening. Sharon was becoming increasingly agitated and desperately wanted to escape with her nephew, but she noticed something was wrong with him. He didn't want to move any further.

In the meantime, the cloud grew larger and larger, some of it emerging from the nostrils of the mysterious, yet menacing and now lobotomized person. His body twitched, indicating he was regaining consciousness, which made Sharon even more frightened.

Soon, the cloud took the shape of a man and Abbey appeared again. Sharon couldn't contain her emotions and leapt for joy, dropping her barriers and sprinting towards him. Before Abbey could realize what was happening, Sharon tightly embraced him, nearly choking him.

He struggled to break free from her grip and exclaimed, "You're choking me!" Sharon quickly released him and apologized for her behavior. Abbey could only smile and say, "I missed you too." They both smiled awkwardly at each other.

Abbey broke the tension by saying, "Let's go find Michael and leave this place for good."

Michael smiled at Abbey and said, "I knew you were still alive when you disappeared. I could still sense you, but I didn't know where you were or how to find you." Hearing Michael's explanation, Sharon was surprised and asked Abbey, "Where exactly did you go when you disappeared?"

Abbey laughed and replied, "I wanted to teach that guy a lesson, so I decided to beat him at his own game. When he attacked me with all his strength, I used some of my internal energy and entered his mind, where I trapped him for a while."

We fought for a long time inside his mind before I was able to overcome him. That's when I discovered he was actually a she, pretending to be a man all this time and deliberately misleading us. I knew something was off about him/her, I just didn't put two and two together. That's why she had been having the upper hand for so long. It wasn't until I entered her mind that I discovered her true identity. And that's when I found out who she really was.

Sharon was taken aback by this revelation and immediately asked Abbey, "Who is she?" Abbey instinctively replied, "Chad's mother, Laura." Sharon was once again shocked to hear that the mysterious and menacing person was not Chad's father, but his mother. She had deliberately concealed her identity from them, misleading them to think she was a man. Abbey tried to explain to Sharon, "In the world of spiritual or mental powers, the ability to conceal your identity is a great advantage. It gives you an added advantage by misleading your opponent and preventing them from estimating your true abilities."

This showed how powerful Chad's mother truly was. If she had not encountered me today, you would not have been able to defeat her," Abbey concluded. Sharon sighed, "But as she was about to say something, her attention was drawn to the former mysterious and menacing but now lobotomized Chad's mother, Laura, who had regained control over herself.

Abbey sensed Sharon's fear and smiled before saying, "Don't worry, she poses no threat to anyone now. We have reached an agreement. From now on, she will cease and desist all her grievances with the boy and his family in exchange for me setting her free." Sharon was unable to comprehend what Abbey was saying, her facial expression showing confusion. Abbey could only laugh harder, seeing her dazed expression.

"He quickly added, 'When I was in her mind, I was able to trap her, but she pleaded with me to set her free and promised not to hold Michael or his father accountable for the death of their son again.' She said if she ever does, I can lobotomize her again, which I promised to do if she tries such a thing again." I made her see reason - she was running away from her problems and punishing the boy won't solve anything or bring her son back.

After listening to Abbey's version of the story, Sharon paused for a moment before asking Abbey her question: "What was her problem?" Abbey answered politely, explaining that she needed to grieve. Abbey further explained that while she had been blaming Michael for the death of her son, she hadn't had time to properly process her grief for his death. Sharon sighed before asking, "How did you come to know about it?" Abbey replied, "It was written all over her."

Laura, Chad's mother, finally regained control of herself and immediately knelt down before Abbey, thanking him with a grateful heart. Sharon was taken aback by her actions and her mouth hung open as she observed the proceedings with keen interest.

Once again, she thought to herself, "Who exactly is Abbey?" The thought kept running through her mind until Michael caught hold of her hand and said, "Aunty, it's time to go." Glancing back at Abbey, who immediately understood what was happening, he spoke to Laura in a gentle tone, "If you have time, locate me and we will have a chat." Laura was very happy to hear this and replied, "Yes, I will. Thank you very much for showing me kindness today, even when you could have done otherwise."

Before long, a bright light appeared before them, seeming to engulf and swallow them all.

Abbey and Sharon's bodies twitched for the first time. Some minutes later, they regained consciousness. Looking around, they saw that they were back by Michael's side in his room. They met the gaze of Collin Smith, Michael's father. "Did it work? Did you find Michael?" asked Collin.