Viva - Volume One Of My Occult Vicinity Trilogy

A cool breeze blew through the cloudless blue sky, the tall evergreen trees in the forest ahead a beautiful landscape with my sizable, wooden cottage in the picturesque greenery. This was my new neighbourhood and I had recently shifted to my new home in a secluded area away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Though it was very lonely, it was peaceful. I had never been one who preferred loud over quiet. There was isolation all around my home except for the old lady living about 500 meters away, the one who had sold this house to me. And over the brief period of time I have been living here, I have never seen her outside her cottage. Little did I know when I shifted, of the incidents what would be following me soon. But if given the choice, though, I would never choose to have not experienced whatever had happened.

It was only the third day after I shifted that I could leave my home to go to my office. I had spent most of my time till then setting things up at my new house. I hadn't yet had the opportunity to explore my surroundings. I left only at about 7 in the morning even though I was aware that my office was quite far from this remote place and would take some time to reach. But one of the main reasons I did so was because I was a bit scared to cross the dense forest that separated my neighborhood from the rest of the city earlier than 7. It was not that I didn't like my neighborhood because of this, though, the scenic beauty of the forest from a distance had only increased my opinion of the place when I was buying it.

I moved through the signature green of my new neighbourhood and stopped to open the door of my car, which was brand new and red with only the exception of a few tiny dents. The sunlight reflected on it and I stared at myself through the reflection on the window, thinking about how long it would take me to reach work from here, with the traffic.

Suddenly, I saw an old, lined face with a severe expression right behind me. It made me jump a few steps back and tumble on the door.

That was when I recognized that crooked nose and green eyes. She was the lady who had sold the house to me. "Hello," I said unclearly, still surprised.

"Thee shall returneth before dusk," she said hoarsely, without replying to my greeting. I had to return before evening? Why was she speaking archaic English like she was in the 13th century during the Middle Ages? And she said that like a command. I hadn't liked her much. She had been kind over the phone when I was buying the property and encouraged me to do it as soon as I could, but it certainly didn't seem like she retained her politeness after that. I tried to politely ask her if there was a reason why she said so. She replied with just a word, "consequences".

Her unfriendly behaviour stopped me from enquiring more into it. I was unsure what to say to that. Consequences? I thought to myself what exactly she had wanted to mean by that. "Consequences thee doesth not want to know, consequences thee shalt not doth well not to face," she said, as if reading my mind. "I see," I hastened, not certain at all that I did. I moved forward to get into my car and sat down, and when I turned back into the greenery through my window, planning to say something further to her, she was gone, just like she had come.

Still thinking about what had just happened, I got into my car and drove to work. I didn't pay much attention to the forest I went through since most of my mind was still pondering the lady's words. I left work early that day, at around 4, just to be cautious. The lady probably wanted to prank me. It wasn't that I believed the lady's words and expected 'consequences'; It was just that I didn't want to take any chances. So I left earlier than I usually would and reached soon, before evening. After I reached, the first place I turned to had been the place where she warned me. I had actually been expecting the lady to be at the same place she had spoken to me in the morning to ask her something more, but I had to be disappointed. I thought I had behaved a bit rudely to her this morning, since even though she hadn't been particularly friendly to me, she was the only person who lived here for as far as I could see. Maintaining friendly ties with her, in case I ever needed her help here, would be of the utmost value. I had to meet her and get acquainted with her, if not to ask her more about the 'consequences', I could at least get to know her well.

I decided to go to her cottage early the next day. I walked through the fallen leaves which were making a rustle and the green grass flowing in the calm breeze, to her house. The pleasant weather, somehow seemed contradictory for the ominous task I was going for. I looked at her cottage. It was about the same size as mine, but looked like it had been built earlier. Her windows were barred and the house's immediate surroundings were very peaceful, like it had been untouched for years. I knocked on her door against the rough wood and waited for sometime. There was no response. I waited for about a minute before knocking again. This time I knocked louder, and then waited. No response again. I did this a few times repeating the same process, each time only increasing the volume of my knock. I was quite determined to meet her. I had to speak with her today. After sometime I was forced to give up due to her unresponsiveness, and my hands had turned red too.

Over the following weeks in my neighbourhood everything went surprisingly well. I tried exploring my surroundings a few days, just after returning from work. Everything was calm, I never heard any noise like the beeping horns and chattering people in the city. Only the pleasant rustling of the leaves and chirps of birds touched my ears here. My surroundings were green all around, the blue sky mixing with it making it a perfect picture to paint. The only habitation there seemed like mine and the old lady's. I tried going to her house again quite a few times. But she never opened her door, no matter how many times I knocked. I wondered if this wasn't even her permanent residence. I couldn't find out anything about her, though I had the unreasonable, instinctive feeling that she was there, somewhere, observing my every movement, though for what reason she would do that was unfathomable. The property was very tranquil, and even though it was near a forest, I never saw any animals. And never yet did I face a problem with water supply or electricity. It seemed like the ideal place to live, with flawless facilities and scenic panoramic views.

For many weeks, I came from work early with the warning in mind, until it just became a habit and I forgot the reason I started doing it. I grew almost accustomed to my surroundings and stopped thinking about it as much. I was adjusting to my new surroundings, my neighbourhood no longer seemed 'new' and I rarely ever had the time to think about the lady or her warning anymore- I had a lot more on my plate. But one day I left home a little later than usual due to heavy rain. I reached really late, and had to stay a bit later than I usually would. I left at around 6pm. There was heavy traffic on the roads but I hardly noticed it as I was enjoying my journey listening to cheerful music.

It was only when I finally reached near the forest, a little later, and noticed how eerie it looked in the dark that I remembered about the lady's warning. It set my heart racing and returned my brain to the same question I had spent so much time pondering earlier that I had so carelessly forgotten about now- what exactly had she meant by consequences?

I looked at the forest. I usually admired its beauty, but now when I looked at it in the dark, it only seemed eerie. Ancient trees with outstretched limbs stood watch over the gloom, blocking away any sunshine. Tall trees covered me on all sides, ominous balls of light twinkling from deep inside the forest. The lady's warning and a thousand ideas of what the 'consequences' could be flashed through my mind like racing cars. I reassured myself that by consequences, she probably meant something like darkness, less visibility or something like that. And it even could have been a prank. I moved through the forest. I would reach home as soon as possible and then be at peace again. I could do that easily, it was just some distance. I drove into the forest.

Everything suddenly seemed very quiet. Strange, I wondered. I didn't remember turning the cheerful music I had been listening to off. I decided I probably might have done it absent-mindedly in my worry. The silence was very eerie. I turned on the music to lighten the grave mood. I had only moved for about few minutes when the music suddenly stopped. I turned it on again. It played for a few seconds before turning off again and letting eerie silence consume and dark thoughts about consequences fill my mind. I turned it on again, and this time it almost immediately turned off. I fiddled with the music buttons for quite some time, the music turning off and on, when suddenly the music played for sometime and then its pitch turned into a very high one, cackling, and turned off. I decided that this was only because my car's music system was starting to damage. It was new, yes, but it still could have damaged fast. I made a mental note to complain about this to my car dealer and drove for some more distance in eerie silence. That was when suddenly my car stopped. It wouldn't move further. I checked and it showed that I had enough fuel. Then why did it stop? This wasn't why the lady warned me, was it? If it was, was there more going to happen to me? How would I escape now? I tried to stop my racing thoughts and think of the options I had. One, I could stay in the car. Two, I could walk the rest of the way. If I stayed, I could rest here for the night and think about the rest later. Or I could walk till my home. It was just after this forest. I considered that. Judging by the time I took till now and the trees nearby, I estimated I was almost three-fourths the way home. It would hardly take me 20 minutes to reach there from here if I walked fast enough. But I decided to not do that. I decided to stay where I was for now and think about the rest later. But then I thought about what I would do in the morning after passing my night here. My car would still be the same, the place would still be the same too. There was no use, what could change because of some more time? There would be light, I could see better, but should I risk parking my car here in the middle of the forest till it turns morning for that? That is when I had an excellent thought.

 I had kept a flashlight somewhere here in my car long back, I could definitely use that now! I could safely walk home in light without risking waiting here till tomorrow, and after I reached the first thing I would do the next morning would be to consider changing my house again. I searched for the flashlight and finally found it under my seat. I took the grey cylinder in my hand like it was a treasure I had just discovered. I tried flicking the switch many times, but it wasn't turning on! Was the battery actually over, or did this have something to do with the 'consequences'? I was thinking about my other options now that the torch idea had to be removed from my list, while absent-mindedly still flicking the switch, when it suddenly started shining bright light! I was so relieved. In a paroxysm of daring, I got out of my car and flashed my torch. I looked under me first. I noticed the soil below my legs was very dry and full of stones. I wondered how this could have happened as it had rained heavily only this morning. Somehow this, the eerie silence and the mysterious illuminated circles of light I could vaguely see in the forest scared me out of my paroxysm, and I turned back to get in my car. Sitting there was much safer than roaming this forest, I felt. The music going off, the dry sand, the 'consequences,' everything seemed to scare me now. I decided I was not going anywhere. I would stay in my car only. I was too scared to walk here at night. I turned back and tried to open my car door fast. When it didn't open, I shone my flashlight on it more and then under its light tried to open it. It still didn't move! I pulled and pushed it my whole body weight on it but it wouldn't budge. I was frightened. There was no place I could go now! I couldn't stay in this forest for much longer. I pushed harder. I surely hadn't locked it; how could it not open now? Was this all a part of the consequences?

 There was no place I could rest for the night now. I was also angry with myself now. Why did I think of moving? Why couldn't I have stayed at my old house only? I should have guessed when I saw this picturesque property not being bought by anyone even though it was at a meager price. I had made a terrible decision by shifting here in a secluded area where nobody could help me! Then I thought about the 'consequences'. The woman must have known about all this to have warned me. And yet she couldn't think of helping me a bit more? She was undoubtedly part of all of this. But why would she do it, I thought. If the woman was related to everything happening to me in the forest, she can't have wanted to keep me safe or help me. But if what she intended to do was to kill me, she could have quickly done so earlier since I, anyway, was in a secluded neighborhood with nobody around. She must have wanted to make me do something then. But what? There is nothing I could do now that would be helpful to anyone in any way. But what she wanted me to do had to be within the forest only because otherwise she wouldn't have made my car stop moving in the middle of it. So she would have wanted me to do something in this forest but not at this specific location I am at now. There must be something more that comes on if I oblige that wish. I may have made a mistake by deciding to stay here, but I decided I surely won't oblige her wishes. If the forest were trying to make me move on to some other place in it that surely isn't my own home and would have no benefit for me at all, why should I oblige it? I would surely not do that. I will stay at the same place that I was at. A new energy of disobedience fuelled me, and I decided to do nothing the forest was trying to make me. I surely wouldn't be a successful pawn in her game by doing what she wants me to. If she needed my help and asked correctly, I might have done it; but forcing me to do it was not the right way and I won't please her by doing what she wanted me to. So I stood near my car. I decided I wouldn't move an inch from here. I was determined to this resolution. I sat down on the dry sand resting myself against the metal of the car's door. Then I suddenly felt my car was going down and turned. It was sinking in the soil!

The flashlight that I was holding in my hand suddenly started vibrating in my hand violently and fell. It moved inside the sand. All I could see was the grey of a small part of it and now that also disappeared to be covered by the ugly yellow sand. It swallowed that too! My car was almost halfway under the sand. Now I was starting to get pulled down too. I tried my best to run away. I kicked against it as hard as I could and lost one of my shoes to the sand. But I got out - at least I was safe now! I quickly ran towards the silhouette of a tall tree on my left. The sand here was normal! But I was in the forest. There was no way I could get to my house through these trees in the darkness. I rested my hand on the rough bark of the tree, panting by having run so fast to escape the sand. I had never been especially good at athletics, but I was sure that my speed running till this tree could get me the world record for the fastest speed ever run at by a human. Suddenly my hand turned against the tree's rough bark, like there had been a circular disk there that I had turned. I tried to make out what it was with my hands since it was too dark to see anything, especially since my torch was lost now. I felt some rough circle cut on the tree.

 I tried to figure it out more when it suddenly turned again. I heard a loud ear-splitting crack. I wondered whether I had broken the tree's branch or something when I felt the ground below me begin to vibrate! It was rumbling and was this an earthquake? I hardly had time to think about it when I suddenly fell from a great distance. The ground below me must have split! I fell with a loud thud, my left knee paining very much and my body aching terribly. I tried to move my left knee and cried out in agony as it sent needles of sharp pain throughout my body. I froze and tried to just breathe, something that was starting to seem paramount to living now. After my breaths became normal after sometime, I tried to alleviate the pain in my knee by rubbing the spot where it hurt with my hand. It sent white-hot sharper pain up my spine and I immediately left it. But I felt something watery. It must be blood! I indeed must have fallen from a great distance. I tried to figure out where I was. I smelt wet sand, but I felt roughness below me, which meant it was probably stone. If I could make things' silhouettes out in the forest's darkness, all I could see was pitch black here. I was exhausted from everything that had happened today. I fell asleep despite the dangers I could have been in the middle of then.

A loud, high-pitched cry of surprise woke me up. It must be a wild animal coming to eat me! I suddenly stood up and tried to run. My knee started paining and I immediately fell down. The hurt must have been a major one, it pained unbearably. I guessed it must have been daytime by now, even though I could see only very faint light. The place I was at was probably blocked from sunlight by some means. I faintly saw an outline coming closer to me. It must have been my predator! It probably had nothing to eat for several days if it stayed here. I would be its prey soon! I tried to move, but I could do nothing with my knee paining this much. I closed my eyes, ready for the beast's sharp teeth to sink into my face. I thought of my life till now. Everything had been fine. I had led to my own destruction by shifting to a secluded area for no reason.

I waited, ready for the end of everything. But nothing bit me. I didn't feel any pain at all. I slowly opened my eyes to see why it hadn't attacked yet. Then I saw the animal. It wasn't like any animal I had ever seen or even heard of. It looked somewhat like a human, was it one? I couldn't make much out in the darkness. It probably couldn't see me well either because the thing moved somewhere and opened something right next to it. Light came in and I could finally see. How abnormal the creature looked now that I could see it in daylight! It had two strong legs, a tall body and a round head, just like a human. But what made it different was that it had only one hand. Where both its hands should have been, it had nothing; but instead, it had a single hand with ten wiggling long fingers projecting out from the middle of its body. Its skin was yellowish with tints of green. Its large red eyes were inspecting me over its orange eyelids. I had never seen anything looking this different from humans or animals.

I never had heard of such a creature, neither in reality nor in tales. I didn't know whether it was even an animal found on this planet! The creature pulled the ends of its red blood-like lips apart showing its sharp dagger-like teeth. It could have been a smile if it didn't seem so frightening. It had a musty scent to itself that made breathing next to it a struggle. I decided its motive would not have been to kill me because if that was it, it could have done so already. Was it an alien? Were there more of it? What were aliens doing in the forest near my neighbourhood? Were they trying to destroy Earth? A thousand thoughts raced across my mind. I decided to try to be friendly to it because the other option was being rude to it and getting killed by its sharp teeth and knife-like nails instantly.

I tried to mutter a greeting in English. It wasn't a species I had ever heard of. What if it could understand that and leave me alone, understanding that I posed no risk to it or its kind? I meant to say hi but it came out more like a cry of pain under the fear I was. The creature looked at me narrowing its huge eyes. Then it started gibbering something in what was probably another language. It sounded song-like, but without a pleasant melody. I was frightened but the only thing I could do was to try to be friendly with it and hope that it didn't kill me. I couldn't run with my knee, and neither could I call for help. I tried smiling and nodding but there were tears of fear falling from my eyes. It looked at me curiously and said something that seemed a bit more human. It was trying to talk to me! I tried to reply with a request of please don't kill me but even I couldn't make out what I said to it when it came out of my mouth in a frightened tone. It smiled again, but I could notice only its sharp teeth. It then said something else. It might have been words with meanings, but it might as well have been gibberish. It didn't sound like the meows and barks animals made, but it didn't sound completely a human language with complex words and grammar either. I understood nothing of what it said.

It seemed harmless enough till now, I decided to tell it something. "I could not understand anything you told me.", I dared to say. Its face suddenly distorted from the sharp-teethed smile to something much more foreboding. It made a fist of its ten fingered hand. Sharper nails projected out from each of its bony knuckles of the balled fist. Oh no, I had made a terrible mistake. It must have got angry! I should have stayed quiet. If there was anything I could do to take whatever I said back, I most certainly would. The yellowish bony fist moved at me, the nails getting threateningly closer, probably planning to kill me, and I closed my eyes. I would not be able to move, anyway, with my knee. I had anyway been expecting to get killed the moment I heard that sound, I should be grateful that I lived a few seconds longer to even get the opportunity to see this creature nobody ever would have, before dying.

I was just about to close my eyes out of fear when it disappeared. Just like it had never been there. One moment its fist was hardly an inch from my face, and the next the whole creature disappeared. It was like a miracle. I felt exuberant!

Two times had I been saved from the verge of death in the last few hours. Suddenly the light seemed so beautiful. The air seemed extremely pleasant. I could breathe! When you have lived despite being a millisecond away from being killed by a dangerous-looking unknown creature, everything seems 10 times more pleasant than it would have been. But how did it suddenly disappear? The alien hadn't tried to kill me at first. It had tried to speak. But it did try to kill me after I replied. Was it something I said? Anyway, now that there was light, I took the opportunity to explore my surroundings. I was in a plain space. It seemed somewhat like a cave. There were walls around me that rounded at the ceiling. There was a tiny window on the ceiling that was the one the creature had opened for me to see. It was hardly half a thumb's length. The walls were black in colour, camouflaging with darkness. I wondered where I entered here from, I can't have fallen in from the top if it was closed. And the trapdoor-like thing was hardly big enough for me to even see through it. How did I fall in, then? I was trying to figure these things out when I noticed my knee. It looked terrible!

Seeing it made me feel five times more pain than I felt without seeing it. The skin had been completely peeled, a flat sheet of stringed flesh remaining only at sides to expose the blood-covered bone inside. There was dried blood mixed with sand around it. It was so terrible I did not even want to look at it anymore. I had forgotten about this pain in all the worry with the strange creature. Now that it wasn't here anymore, my knee was paining unbearably again. I tried to control it but there was nothing I could do. Touching it only made it pain worse. I didn't know what to do. Am I to be stuck here forever? What would I eat then? Was there even any water here? How long it all seemed since my car first stopped! I estimated it must have been atleast one day. Instead of moving into the forest when I knew that it was late, I could have stayed for the night at a lodge somewhere in the city! That was a great idea, the only problem was that it came to me now when I couldn't change anything. What was all this trying to make me do?

A loud, high-pitched, ear-piercing scream ran through my cave, distracting me from my train of thought. I tried to move or get ready for whatever danger I had to face next but there was nothing I could do with my damaged knee. Any movement would make it much worse. Was this another danger? Luck might have saved me the other two times, but if this was another danger, I was sure luck could do nothing this time. I looked around trying to locate the source of the sound. I noticed, to my great happiness, that there no creature like the one that tried to kill me few seconds ago had appeared there. Instead, there was a piece of cloth. I wasn't sure if I had seen it there earlier. Had that caused all this sound? The creatures must have left it there for some reason. Oh! Then it struck me. They might have poisoned it. The creature must have seen my knee hurt. Then it might have decided, one minute before killing me, that it didn't want to waste its time and effort using its sharp nails and teeth to kill me. Instead, it would just leave a poisoned cloth here. I would have to use it some time or the other because my wound would get deteriorating losing more blood unless I covered it. Then I would use it, and the creature could easily have me killed without having to waste the time and effort to use its nails and teeth on me. I had to admit, I hated how much a very cleverly crafted plan it was that I could not ever avoid using it. But I resolved to not do that if I could help it. I gathered the courage to look at my knee again. It was terrible. Much more blood was coming out and a lot of it had pooled on the ground. It felt like a knife was still slicing through my skin and piercing my whole body. The fall must have had been immense if I got such terrible injuries from it. Am I inside the Earth? Underground?

Another sharp, throbbing pain seared through me, distracting me from my thoughts. If my wound deteriorated at this rate, I would have no option but to use the cloth even though knowing it's poisoned. I tried not to think about the pain. I tried to distract myself but nothing could work. The pain was too much. Suffering with this pain, I would be able to live for few days at maximum. And then also, I wouldn't have any food or water here. Food and water reminded me. I was already very hungry and thirsty too but the pain from my knee had distracted me from it. Now that I noticed that, I started feeling that very much too. My mouth was extremely dry. I hadn't eaten or drank anything since atleast the last twelve hours. My lips were cracked and my stomach was rumbling. My world started to seem spinning around and was going to fall. My knee was unbearable now and I was almost sitting in a pool of blood. If this was how I was going to survive for the next few days I would live, dying was surely easier. I tried to take the poisoned cloth and end everything. But that was hard too. My eyes could only see things now as two figures and in twisted ways. I closed my eyes and reached for the cloth, groping for it with my hand. The simple movement sent much more pain from my knee that I had to stop. My world was faltering and I was about to faint. The pain, the thirst, the hunger, the darkness, the despair- everything was turning unbearable. I reached forward in a quick movement and caught the cloth sending sharp, searing pain to myself that letting loud cries of anguish from my mouth. Ignoring all that unbearable pain I closed my eyes and tied the poisoned cloth to my knee.

 If this would kill me, atleast it would be better than suffering. The pain was increasing in intensity by the simple movement, killing me when suddenly I felt peace. The place from where I tied the cloth was sending a cool feeling to my body. It was like experiencing a cool breeze in the middle of a very hot day. It was spreading from my knee to other parts of my body. It felt good. It quenched my thirst and hunger, alleviated the pain, and got me rid of many problems I never noticed I was facing. If this was what poison killing me felt like, it felt extremely good. I slowly opened my eyes, free from any sort of pain, and looked. Was I dead? Was this my ghost?

"Tooketh thee longeth enow", I heard a voice. I immediately recognized that familiar idiosyncratic way of speaking!

I looked around. There was the lined face and crooked nose that had much been the center of my thoughts recently! The old lady who had sold that ill-omened property to me was, indeed, here. So she was related to all this. Was she dead, too? Or am I alive? Anger boiled in me. Why did she torture me so much? If she had wanted to kill me, why didn't she just do it? What had I done to her for her to do what she did to me? But I controlled my anger. I knew better than to shout at an enemy who had caused so much damage to me; Because she could do that, again. Questions flooded my mind. Then I noticed something. Her eyes were blue now. But when she had warned me, it had been green. Was she an alien? Another creature like the ones I had encountered? I decided to break the ice by asking her something.

"Why are you here now?", I asked the devil.

"Thee needeth to doth something f'r me", she answered quietly.

"Oh, yes? What makes you think I would do anything for you after all you did to me?

I was done being kind with her. If she would anyway kill me, it would be better if I died saying what I had to say to her. She remained quiet, staring at me. She wanted my help, I had guessed that much already. What I wanted to know was why she got me here, who she was, where this place was, why she had warned me among many others, the most prominent one being whether I was dead or not. She was probably the only person who could answer these for me.

"I'll see," I corrected myself. "But you shall first answer all my questions," I said. I used the same word she used while warning me- 'shall'.

She stared at me, raising her thick eyebrow over her peculiar blue eye, and then added, "Whenceforth should I?"

"First and foremost," I added, "stop using English from the thirteenth century while talking to me. I find that hard to understand because I am not accustomed to it."

"This is not a question of thy accustoms!" she barked. "I shalt not changeth mine own language for a mere human being." She immediately clasped her hand across her mouth as if she had let something she wasn't planning to say out.

"A mere human being?" I said, not letting the slip go unnoticed.

"Only ask questions concerning thyself!" she snapped.

"How does helping you concern me?"

"It concernth thee because if thee doth not do it I shall killth thou!"

"Fine. Who told you I wanted to live, anyway?"

"So thou art fine to be killed right niw?" She asked. There was not much I could make out from her expressionless face, but it seemed like she hadn't been expecting this.

"Yes." I answered. She stared. I stared back.

"Why don't you just do it?" I provoked her further. I knew she couldn't.

She raised her scrawny fist and balled it. A vivid, gleaming ball of purple light formed over her hand. She closed her eyes and started uttering something under her breath. The blob started getting bigger and bigger, foreboding.

I shouldn't have provoked her. Was she really going to kill me? I had been given every chance but I had risked it. She opened her eyes and looked at me. I tried to keep a brave face.

"I very much shall killeth thee anon." she declared.

I stared.

"See this sphera of purple? It's called an occisor because it hast the power to kill," she threatened further.

"Please do so!" I said. I was taking a huge risk, but I had to.

She moved the ominous glowing purple 'sphera' towards me. I flinched. She really was going to kill me! But I did not take what I said back. The occisor was close to me now and it was spreading a lot of heat and a putrid smell that made breathing near it hard. She was really going to kill me, was she?

 She inspected me and then sighed. She snapped her fingers and the ominous purple ball of light disappeared.

"What art thy questions?" she said in a low tone, narrowing her eyes.

Yes! I had won! I had been right. She couldn't kill me because she did indeed need my help, and I was going to take every advantage of it. She had tried to scare me by taking out that ominous occisor, hoping that I would apologize and take what I said back but I hadn't flinched. I couldn't help feeling that I had won a battle!

"Hmm... First, could you speak in today's English?" I said, deliberately taking every chance to provoke her after all the torture she had put me through.

"As I said, I shall not changeth mine own language. T'rrible as not being able to und'rstand a dialect of thy owneth toungue is, I shall giveth thy something."

She balled her fist and uttered something again. A glowing, red ball of light formed above her hand.

"Keepeth this with thee. Anon whatever I may speak in, thee shalt only hear it in what thee und'rstand"

She slid the yellow ball towards me. But unlike last time when she had done it for the occisor (the ominous purple ball of light that could kill) this time I accepted it. I tried to hold it. It didn't feel like holding something like a ball, it was just like air. The only thing I felt was the slight warmth it emitted on my hand. It wasn't hot burning heat like the occisor, just warmth. It had a pleasant red glow to it.

"Hear what I say in your English?" she asked.

"Oh. Yes! What is this sphera called?"

She glared, probably not having expected me to remember that she said such things were called 'sphera'.

"It is an intelligere. Capable of translating the speaker's voice into what the holder can understand. Now stop wasting my time and ask what you wanted to!"

"Am I alive?" I asked calmly. Though inside me, my heart was racing and I was desperate to hear the answer, I decided to not give her the pleasure of knowing that.

"Yes," she answered curtly.

"So the cloth wasn't poisoned?" I asked, exuberant that I was alive!

"I know not what you are talking about,"

"Did you leave that cloth here to help me?"

"Indeed, I did."

"What was in it? Some medicine?"

She looked at me, annoyed. "A special chemical," she finally answered.

"And its name?"

"It does not exist in your world."

"My world, your world? You aren't a human, are you?"

"Certainly not." She said like it was a matter of pride for her.

"So are you an alien?"

"I am as much alien to you as you are to me,"

"Are you… dead?"

"Yes,"

"You are? So.. you are a ghost?"

"Do not refer to me with derogatory ideologies you humans use! I am a sepoko." she barked.

I decided not to push her on what a sepoko was supposed to be because she looked angry enough for now. I settled on "Were you a human before you died?" instead.

"How could I have been a human earlier if I am a sepoko now, fool?"

"So you were an animal?"

"Never dare call me that! I was a viva," she exclaimed, her pride seeming seriously insulted.

"And what is a viva supposed to be?"

"A viva is what I am," she stubbornly answered, glaring.

I decided not to push on it. "Do vivas live on earth?"

"Vivae!"

"What?"

"Do not refer to our kind by using similar plurals as you would for your kind. A viva is put in plural as vivae."

"Do vivae live on Earth?"

"No,"

"On a different planet?"

"No,"

"Then?"

"On a moon, you fool!"

"Earth's moon?"

"Obviously not. We live on Eur- I see no reason to tell you where we live."

"Eur what?" I pushed.

"I shall not give you more time than this to ask me your no more brain than stone questions!"

"Wait! I have more important questions concerning myself too,"

"That is your mistake, why didn't you ask those yet?

"Why did you have to take me till here and put me through all my trouble to ask for my help? Why couldn't you have just asked me when I was in your neighbourhood?"

"I am a sepoko. Taking a physical form is something I cannot do by any way in your world,"

"Then is this place in your world? I thought it's a place underground the forest next to my neighbourhood!"

She sighed. "Now you are asking proper questions," she declared, getting ready to explain something complicated. "This location is simply a portal created by ancient vivae between our world and yours. It is in your world, but it has been enchanted by vivae to have the properties of ours, exempting the coldness. Vivae hid this gateway in a secret place where nobody from your world could ever find it. We used to live in your world once. But then you started destroying your own planet. Wars, cutting forests, pollution, killing your own kind, you name it. There was nothing we could do to correct you. We started our search for new planets in ways you would be too ignorant to have thought of. If we took you, you wouldst destroy our world too. We removed ourselves from your memories with our obliviscer so you wouldn't start looking for us and never find us. Till the 14th century we occasionally came through this way and tried to help your world but then you started deteriorating to an irreversible stage. So we left all attempts to do so, leaving you to face the destiny you created for yourself and this portal became abandoned ever since."

I was shocked by this sudden load of information. I tried to digest it. So vivae lived on a moon now. They used to live with humans. This place was a portal between their moon and Earth. It was not used any longer. Should I really believe that other beings existed with humans earlier? That ghosts, aliens and powers exist? That humans are hidden from all of this and haven't even guessed yet? Should I believe how unbelievably like a story my life had become? Should I believe magic existed? That science was an illusion?

"How would I know whether what you tell me is true or not?"

"Fie! Humans see only what they want to. Too blinded by illusions of what you call "science" and "reality" to see things for what they are. If everything that has happened till now isn't enough proof, then believe it not. Nobody is forcing you to."

I was tired by her egotist attitude to humans. Being an alien didn't make her any superior! "If I don't believe something, that's no reason for you to stereotype the whole of humanity that way!"

"How many times have you humans seen proofs of magic and dismissed it with some unfitting 'logical' explanation or 'coincidence'? Even if I am stereotyping you as a human, you fit the stereotype,"

"So what is a viva, anyway?" I asked, not in a mood to argue any further.

"As I have already told you, a viva is what I am!" She answered stubbornly.

"Okay, what are you, then?"

"A viva, you moron!" she snarled.

How stubborn she was! I decided to try a different angle. "How are vivas different from humans?"

"Vivae!" she barked. "And your question should have been how are vivae similar to humans! We have powers, we can control magic, and most of all we are not too blinded to be able to see and would never harm our own planet!"

I decided to leave the topic of vivas, sorry, vivae, because it seemed to infuriate her immensely. So instead, I asked her, "Why did you try to kill me?"

"Despite being a human, I guessed you would have had atleast that much intelligence to know I wouldn't try to kill you if I needed you to do something for me,"

"Of course I guessed you needed my help and wouldn't kill me, but then why did you release a creature on me, break down my car and drown my torch among others?"

"Tried to kill you, indeed! The Flavum came," she started, where I assumed Flavum to be the species of animal it had been, and listened to her continuing, "I did not release it. Those are generally peaceful animals despite what you may think judging by its looks, it had even tried to talk to you before you replied using the word 'understood' which is similar to a sort of war call in their language. I, being a seperto, had to deplete most of mine own energy teleporting it to arcanum silva stopping it from killing you! And you say I tried to kill you. Ungrateful beings, humans are!"

"Oh!" I said, genuinely surprised. "I'm sorry. And.. thank you?" I added. "But how did it reach here? Also, I assume Flavum to be the name of the species it was, but what do you mean by arcanum silva?"

"Us vivae don't kill, unlike you humans. We created a separate territory for animals including flavum where they could live peacefully. We never interfere in their ways, unless they, being intelligent creatures unlike the animals you humans are used to, ask for our help. We call this territory we dedicated to them arcanum silva. We built Arcanum Silva on top of the entry to this portal from our world. Since their territory is just above it, creatures that live in Arcanum Silva might occasionally land here, but always leave fast. They never enter your world. The maximum time they stay here is for an hour before returning back. They always find their way back."

"I see," I said, at a loss for words to reply to this for. I had to appreciate their idea. The ideal thing to do was to give animals their separate territory instead of forcing them to live with humans. It would solve problems for both humans and animals, then. Why hadn't humans thought of that yet? Were we really that terrible? I decided to ask her something more important. "But how did I fall this portal? You surely didn't leave the entry to this secret portal on that much a reachable place as on the bark of a tree just on the side of a road in a forest on our world, did you?"

"Of course not. The portal's entryway is somewhere much more unreachable by humans. Since I wanted to bring you here in order to be able to talk to you, I used my vivaen powers through and shifted it temporarily onto that very tree you had kept your hand on."

I decided to leave the topic of vivas, sorry, vivae, because it seemed to infuriate her immensely. So instead, I asked her, "Why did you try to kill me?"

"Despite being a human, I guessed you would have had atleast that much intelligence to know I wouldn't try to kill you if I needed you to do something for me,"

"Of course I guessed you needed my help and wouldn't kill me, but then why did you release a creature on me, break down my car and drown my torch among others?"

"Tried to kill you, indeed! The Flavum came," she started, where I assumed Flavum to be the species of animal it had been, and listened to her continuing, "I did not release it. Those are generally peaceful animals despite what you may think judging by its looks, it had even tried to talk to you before you replied using the word 'understood' which is similar to a sort of war call in their language. I, being a seperto, had to deplete most of mine own energy teleporting it to arcanum silva stopping it from killing you! And you say I tried to kill you. Ungrateful beings, humans are!"

"Oh!" I said, genuinely surprised. "I'm sorry. And.. thank you?" I added. "But how did it reach here? Also, I assume Flavum to be the name of the species it was, but what do you mean by arcanum silva?"

"Us vivae don't kill, unlike you humans. We created a separate territory for animals including flavum where they could live peacefully. We never interfere in their ways, unless they, being intelligent creatures unlike the animals you humans are used to, ask for our help. We call this territory we dedicated to them arcanum silva. We built Arcanum Silva on top of the entry to this portal from our world. Since their territory is just above it, creatures that live in Arcanum Silva might occasionally land here, but always leave fast. They never enter your world. The maximum time they stay here is for an hour before returning back. They always find their way back."

"I see," I said, at a loss for words to reply to this for. I had to appreciate their idea. The ideal thing to do was to give animals their separate territory instead of forcing them to live with humans. It would solve problems for both humans and animals, then. Why hadn't humans thought of that yet? Were we really that terrible? I decided to ask her something more important. "But how did I fall this portal? You surely didn't leave the entry to this secret portal on that much a reachable place as on the bark of a tree just on the side of a road in a forest on our world, did you?"

"Of course not. The portal's entryway is somewhere much more unreachable by humans. Since I wanted to bring you here in order to be able to talk to you, I used my vivaen powers through and shifted it temporarily onto that very tree you had kept your hand on."

"Why did you stop my car and drown my torch, then?"

She sighed. "I needed you in here to be able to talk to you. If your car didn't stop, you would move on to your house and I might never be able to get you here again. If you had your torch, you could easily walk the remaining way too. I made the sand swallow them so you would have no other option." She very reluctantly added, "I apologize for those, though."

"Alright, but why did you have to turn off the music then? Was there any need for you to scare me?"

"I assure you I had no part in doing that. Might be your car's problem!"

"But what do you need my help for, your kind already being so powerful?"

"If you are done with your questions, I could move on to that much more important topic."

"No, I still have questions." I said. She looked at me, immensely annoyed. But I continued, "Why didn't you appear as soon as I entered here? Why did you leave an ominous cloth here instead? Why couldn't you have just appeared and helped me when I was dying of pain, hunger and thirst?"

"A clever question! And one with a complicated answer," she declared. She sighed again, as if getting ready for something. And then taking a deep breath started. "I am a seperto. I exist, but I need gnavitas, which is like energy, to take a physical form. Most of my gnavitas was depleted by making your car stop, the sand swallow your items and by adding an entryway to this portal on that very tree you had kept your hand on. Teleporting the falvum to aracanum silva was the last thing i could do. Procuring a physical form needs more gnavitas. The chemical i added on the cloth is a rare but special one which, besides healing, has another property. It can aid in sharing of gnavitas. Every living thing has unlimited gnavitas at all times. I, being a seperto, have a very limited portion of it, and after it gets depleted, I can't acquire a physical form or do normal vivaen things again. My gnavitas was almost over already. I used the last of my own gnavitas in making the cloth with the special chemical appear next to you. From which time you tied it, I started using your gnavitas. So with using a part of your unlimited gnavitas, I could take a physical form and appear, thus being able to talk to you now. The chemical is called mirus, and only less than 1 milligram exist in the whole of our world. But it has exceptional powers from even from a very small portion of it."

"So why didn't you do anything to me all those times I crossed the forest during day?"

"I thought even human ideologies regarding ghosts got this much correct. That we can't do anything during daytime,"

"Oh!" so she did admit that she was similar to a ghost. "Even humans have that.. energy?"

"Only you are too blind to have thought of it that way!"

"What is that, exactly?"

"It is energy itself. Energy would be the 'scientific' term you humans use for what we refer to as gnavitas,"

"So you are using my energy now?"

"Yes,"

"Did you even think of asking me before using all my energy?"

"Why should I, when you have unlimited gnavitas?

"Wait!" I suddenly said, realizing something. "You are lying! All this is a cover for something you want to hide!"

She raised her eyebrow over her blue eye as if asking what had made me think so.

"You said you could appear in a physical form only in your world."

"Indeed, I did say that. So?"

"So how could you have appeared beside me that day to warn me to reach before dusk?"

She froze.