“I shouldn’t have cursed at him.” I thought to myself as I walked through the woods with no particular destination.

It's not that I wanted to leave Brodie and Tee behind. It’s that I had to. Everyone I get close to or try to help always has terrible things happen to them. I thought back to my poor sister, whom I had worked so hard to give a better life to. She had been left to her own devices all those years ago with my excuse for parents. I had no idea what had happened to her after I was sent to the Caddyverse, but I’m sure it was nothing good. Then there were all the people who followed me here. They believed me when I told them they could have a better life if they listened to me, just like I had told my sister. They were all dead now because I had chosen to take in some kid based on a hunch I had and the fact that he could swing a golf club. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to them, so I had to leave.

Frustrated, I kicked at the ground as all these thoughts swam through my head. I didn’t know where I was going, but I knew I would be alone. Hopefully, I couldn’t hurt anyone else with my foolish optimism and desire to improve things. The setting sun in the distance pulled my mind back to the present. I hadn’t realized I had been walking so long, but almost an entire day had passed since I left Brodie.

I found a small clearing beneath some trees and decided it was as good a place as any to camp out for the night. There would be no fire tonight because I didn’t trust that Aqua was done with her Hag patrols, and I was in no mood for a fight this evening. I spread some leaves and soft foliage on the dirt, creating a makeshift bed, and laid down, attempting to sleep.

My eyes were closed, and I was drifting in and out of sleep when I heard the voice calling my name.

“Duncan.” It came from deep within the woods

The female voice was faint, almost as if someone was whispering, yet I could hear it clear as day despite no one being anywhere near me. It was familiar, too; I recognized it instantly, but I didn’t dare say her name aloud, much less think about it. There was no way she could be here. I was sent here when I died, and if she was here, that meant. I stopped that train of thought. It was too much to bear.

“Duncan, this way.”

I put one hand on the handle of my knife as I slowly stood up. I couldn’t be sure that this wasn’t Aqua Marine pulling some trick on me. She was a Golfer, and they had all sorts of magic tricks up their sleeves. I blinked and looked around as I stood, allowing my eyes to adjust to the darkness.

“Duncan”

The voice was louder now, a little above a whisper, and it was easy to tell the direction it was coming from in the still night of the woods. I started to walk slowly in the direction of the voice, one hand still on my knife. Eyes darting left and right, scanning for any threats as I walked, I still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t some type of sorcery. After all, there was no way this could be my sister.

Duncan, you’re getting closer.”

I had been walking half-blind through the woods for a better part of an hour, and the voice was much louder now. It sounded like the speaker was beside me, talking in my ear. The forest around me was thick with trees and vines. I figured I had walked back towards the jungle while trying to find the source of the voice. Navigating the woods at night was not an easy task, and I wasn’t one hundred percent sure where I was.

In front of me stood the mouth of a cave. The entrance was small and moss-covered, and on any regular hike, I would have walked right past it without ever knowing it was there. However, the voice coming from within the cave had led me right to it. I could feel a slight breeze coming from the mouth of the cave, and I stood hesitantly outside of it. The last thing I wanted to do was wander into some unknown cave in an unfamiliar part of the woods in the middle of the night.

“In here, Duncan.”

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly; of course, she wanted me to go in there. I brushed away the moss and overgrown vegetation that covered the entrance to the cave. The mouth was too short for me to enter without crouching, so I bent forward and set off into the entrance.

The tunnel on the other side of the entrance was approximately seventy-five yards long and sloped slightly downward. I wasn’t far into the cave when the moonlight was utterly lost, and I was in total darkness. I kept myself hunched over and used my hands to feel the sides as I walked further underground.

My back was burning with pain when I finally came to the opening, and I found myself standing in a massive chamber. Burning torches were mounted to the walls, keeping the entire place illuminated. I was struck with a feeling of familiarity, being underground where the blue tint of the sun couldn’t penetrate without a trace of bioluminescence around. It wasn’t just the lighting and the environment; I realized as I stood in that massive chamber that this place felt like Earth.

Giant pillars lined the walls in various states of disrepair. Whatever this place was, it was old. A massive stone altar stood in the middle of the room, weather and cracked from time.

“It’s over there; please get it, Duncan.” The voice was on the verge of shouting now

I walked slowly over towards the altar, looking around as I went. I wasn’t looking for threats now so much I was looking on in amazement. I had been here for so many years, spent so much time in these woods, and I never knew a place like this existed. I noticed the rubble on the ground around me as I approached the altar. I hadn’t noticed before, but everything in this room was made of stone, not a piece of coral in sight.

What I saw lying on the altar caused a lump to form in my throat; it was a necklace. The necklace on the altar was identical to the one I had bought for Daisy, the one I was still wearing. Similar in every way except the flower was seafoam green, and the gem in the center was blood red. I reached down in bewilderment and picked up the jewelry.

My body was flung to the floor as I wrapped my hand around the pendant. It felt like I had been punched, but there was no one else in the room with me. I gasped for air, gripping the necklace, and stood back up. Once again, I was thrown to the ground. My head made contact with the corner of a stone, and the world began to spin. I could feel the blood soaking into my hair as I lost consciousness.

Everything around me was blackness. I could see nothing but darkness no matter which direction I turned or looked. I had no idea where I was; the last I remembered, I was in a cave and had hit my head on a rock after being knocked down. I looked down at my left hand, and the necklace remained there. I quickly slipped it over my head, the pendant resting on my chest. I looked up as I heard a scream and saw a glowing banshee flying towards me at impossible speed. The apparition reached its hands out and clawed at me as it passed directly through my body, spinning me around. A second, then a third, and a fourth banshee appeared, and before I knew it, I was surrounded.

The ghosts flew in and out of my body, the glow of the creatures the only source of light. As they passed through me, I could feel them scratch and claw at me, causing thousands of tiny cuts all over my body. Every cut felt like a paper cut, and as they multiplied, the pain grew overbearing. I fell to the ground in the fetal position, wailing and crying as the ghostly beings continued their assault.

As quickly as it began, the assault was over, and I was left lying alone, sobbing in pain. As I lay curled on the nothingness, the darkness slowly faded around me, replaced with the familiar forest. After a few seconds, the darkness was gone, and I was on the ground in the middle of a clearing. The clearing looked identical to where I had found the entrance to the cave, but there was no cave here, only trees.

“Find Brodie.”

The voice called out to me one last time as it faded away with the darkness. Looking at myself, I noticed that my body still bore the marks of the banshee attack, but instead of fresh cuts, I was covered in long, healed scars, and around my neck were two necklaces. I no longer felt pain; it was as if the attack had happened years ago, and the scars simply reminded me of an old conflict. I took a few minutes to compose myself and set off to do what my sister asked: find Brodie.