A wave of calm washed over me. All the weight I’d been shielding was lifted, buffered by the protective barrier. I rushed to the back fence, slipping my hand through the gap to hit the latch.
The wood planked gate swung open, granting me entry into the back yard. I stepped through, scanning my surroundings. There wasn’t much to be seen other than overgrown grass. There was a circular ring not far from the back door where the green stalks struggled to grow any more frequent than a few patches here and there. Judging by the ground, I guessed there’d been a swimming pool at one time. Though on a day like today, I wouldn’t have minded one still being present.
Approaching the back door, I inserted my key into the lock and gave a twist. The door came open with ease and I stepped inside.
It was cool. Much cooler than outside anyway. We didn’t have any kind of air conditioning yet, and I wasn’t sure if we would ever be getting it. The place was old, though it had been updated. But I foresaw many issues with trying to add central heat and air to it. Likely, if we did anything, it’d be a window unit or two. But I suspected we’d mostly rely on fans.
Rounding the corner from the back room into the kitchen, I made my way through and raced up the stairs. All I really wanted to do was lay down. If I could get comfortable, I could slip into the astral realm easy enough. Perhaps then I’d be able to find some answers as to what the hell was going on at that school. Never before had I experienced so much in one day. It was exhausting. But such strong power had to leave traces. And traces were what I specialized in.
Reaching my room, I disabled my traps and squeezed through the only safe entry point. It was a bit annoying, having to do it every time I wanted to enter, but it was the only way to ensure my sisters stayed out. Plus, it kind of made me feel like Indiana Jones.
Closing the door behind me, I reset the traps and fell onto my bed. It creaked under the sudden weight but held strong. It wasn’t the most comfortable bed in the world, but it was far superior to the waterbed I’d had before we moved. I could never get comfortable on that thing, unable to find a happy medium. It was always over full, in which case I felt like I was laying on a domed piece of plastic. Or it was under filled, which left me laying on the wooden subframe. However, my parent’s waterbed, before their divorce, was extremely comfortable, and the reason I wanted a waterbed in the first place.
Stretching out on the cloth covered foam, I felt the stress of the day melt away. I was safe. Nothing could get me here. And anything that tried would be met with heavy resistance.
Closing my eyes, I felt my true self drift out of my body. I was still connected. I could see the tether. That was the most important thing about astral projection. You had to ensure the tether remained intact. If it was cut, you could all to easily find yourself trapped in the astral realm, unable to return to your body. Fortunately, not many beings were powerful enough to sever a tether, let alone see somebody else’s.
The world around me was white, shrouded and cloaked in dense clouds of fog. But for the most part, everything was the same as in the physical realm, save for unimportant features like furniture, walls, cars—actually, it was safer to say most materials were not present in the astral realm. At least none of the mundane ones. Imbued, enchanted, or otherwise magical items could be seen with relative ease. They existed within both realms. Not to say you couldn’t see mundane items. You just had to look deep into the fog to find them. And interacting with them was much harder. It was kind of like in the movies when you see a ghost trying to learn how to move things.
Firmly planted in my astral form, I glanced around the fog filled void. There wasn’t much around me, save for the things I already knew about. One of them caught me off guard the first time I projected here. This entire house was present in the astral realm, which both excited and terrified me. I’d never seen a complete structure show up before. Usually it was a single room which had been warded by someone. But even then, you could only see the exterior walls. Wards kept uninvited guests from entering. This house was different. It was like every single wall had been built with a mystical purpose in mind. Though, it didn’t restrict, nor did it house anything unexpected. Instead, it acted as a beacon, regulating the largest collection of ley lines I’d ever seen. But the unique factors of my new haven weren’t of importance at the moment. I had a mission. I needed answers.
Spreading my wings, I shot into the sky. That was one of the things I liked about the astral realm. Unless walls, or ceilings for that matter, were warded, I didn’t have to use doors.
I continued up until the clouds began to thin. Up here, there wasn’t much in the way of physical intersections. That left the walls much thinner than closer to the ground. But it also meant I could slip into another realm if I wasn’t careful. In total, there were seven of them, all overlaid atop one another. To date, I’d managed to visit three, the physical, astral, and dream. But I had no idea what the other four held. I’d only heard about them through the few others I’d met, or the occasional book which managed to hold some truth. And I thought I’d managed to see into another once, but it was gone before I could make any sense of it.
Looking over the city, little more than blips of light through a blanket, I could see a few points of interest. But none of them held the familiar sensations I was looking for. I couldn’t say I was surprised. I didn’t expect it to be so easy. What kind of person would advertise their location after such a hostile attack? Not to mention the rule breaker. No, if I was going to find answers, I’d have to look a little harder.
Half gliding, half flying, I soared to the school. I could feel its wards as I approached. Though they weren’t anything near as powerful as I could produce. All schools had minor wards put in place when they were erected. It was some kind of law that most mundanes had no knowledge of. It was these wards that kept the bad stuff out. But with all the school shootings, I couldn’t help but feel they were becoming less effective in recent years. It was like they were losing their power.
I circled overhead a few times, trying to find any trace. I could see some people below, but none appeared anything more than mundane. And even if they weren’t, they would have had to be looking in the astral realm to see me. That was something not many people could do, or so my research had proclaimed. I’d learned quite a bit about the world in the search for why I was the way I am. But all I really discovered was I was unique.
I could feel the lingering energy from the soccer field. A part of me still wanted to check it out, but I had a feeling I’d find more trouble there than I was ready for. And the energy of that didn’t feel like a match to the attack. If anything, it felt like a response to it. I couldn’t say I blamed him. I got the hell out of there myself, but I also didn’t break any of the core rules to do so.
I caught a glimpse out the corner of my eye. Someone else was here, in the astral. I saw them near the doors I’d exited maybe an hour before, but now that I was looking, they were nowhere to be seen. I only hoped they hadn’t seen me. I wasn’t in the mood for answering questions, or combat, whichever the case may be. But if they were over there, they were probably investigating the remnants of my magic when I shielded myself.
“Hey, you!”
The voice was near deafening, coming from behind me. My fears had become reality. They had seen me. And they’d taken my momentary distraction to move into attack position. Should I turn? Were they going to attack the moment I did? If they saw my true form, there was a chance they could identify me in the physical realm. No! I couldn’t risk it. Not until I had more answers. Checking my tether, I swiftly grabbed hold of it, shielded myself, and opened my eyes.
A woozy sensation washed over me. Returning from a distance was a hard thing to do. It’d taken me months to be able to do it without losing consciousness. But even now, it left me weakened.
My breath heavy, struggling to catch, sweat pouring from my skin, I was laying upon my bed, staring at the ceiling. I’d escaped. That was all that mattered. And since I’d reeled my tether, they had no means of following me, not that they could get through my barrier even if they had. But I really didn’t want that kind of attention just yet. I needed to keep a low profile until I had a feel for the other players.