Part 2: Contact from the Shadows

The voice of her best friend, the one Selma considered her brother in all but blood continued to condemn her as she curled in on herself on the dirty ground of the A-9 slum. No matter how she tried to drown out the words being spoken to her, they managed to get through and stab her in the heart without restraint. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, shame, horror, self-disgust, and so many more emotions flowing through her without restraint.

"How could you let us die? We trusted you Selma!"

"I-I know, I failed you and I'm sorry!" Selma cried, beginning to rock slightly as she spoke, hoping that the voice would leave her be.

"You're sorry? We died and you're sorry?"

"Yes! Yes I'm sorry! I didn't help you and I'm sorry!" Selma screamed, growing more hysterical by the moment. She wanted nothing more than for the voice condemning her to go and leave her be. She knew she had failed them, that she hadn't been good enough to help them when they needed her most.

"If you're truly sorry... then you'll do the right thing and kill yourself."

Selma's eyes snapped open as she heard those words, the flow of tears ebbing as her mind seemed to freeze for a moment before restarting again. Selma's mind went into overdrive, the words repeating over and over again in her mind. As they did, the sorrow, the self-loathing, the shame, and all of the other emotions she had been feeling were consumed by a new, all-powerful emotion.

White hot rage.

"You're not Jamie." She said in a voice barely louder than a whisper but filled with wrathful anger.

"Selma, don't you believe it's me?"

"No! You can't be Jamie, he would never say such a thing to anyone!" Selma snarled, her voice growing louder and stronger as she spoke, the rage flowing like liquid fire through her veins as she spoke.

The voice didn't speak in response.

Selma blinked, she shakily rose to her feet as she wiped the tears from her face. Once she was standing straight up, shoring up her mental defenses as she glared around her and yelled "Alright, who's the wise-ass who's trying to **** with me!? ANSWER ME!"

There was no response for almost a minute, until...

"VERY WELL."

Selma froze, the voice reverberating in her mind with a strange, unnatural power. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before, and each syllable it spoke sent a shock of primordial fear through her body, tearing her mental defenses as if they were but so much candy floss.

"Wh-who are you?" Selma asked, trying futilely to bring her defenses back up.

"YOU WISH TO KNOW WHO I AM? THEN YOU MUST SIMPLY ENTER THE MY HOME. I BELIEVE YOU KNOW IT AS THE 'REALM OF SHADOWS'."

"The Realm of Shadows? Bu-but if you're in there, how are you contacting me?! The things in there can't interact with the outside world!" Selma rebuked. The voice filled her mind with a sound like great stones grinding against one another at the words.

"OH WE CAN, INSECT. IT IS MORE DIFFICULT THAN IT USED TO BE I ADMIT, AND MOST ARE TOO APATHETIC TO BOTHER, BUT IT CAN BE DONE. AND IT IS FAR EASIER WITH YOU."

The sound of great stones grinding together filled the blonde's head again.

"OR DID YOU THINK YOU COULD ENTER OUR HOME AND LEAVE COMPLETELY UNAFFECTED?"

Selma frowned at that, and asked "Why are you contacting me? Or did you just want to **** with me?"

"THAT WAS SIMPLY A TEST, TO SEE IF YOU COULD HANDLE THE EFFECT OF MEETING ME."

Selma's frown turned into a scowl, her increasing anger allowing her to slightly rebuild her mental defenses as she asked "You did that... for a test?! You telepathically used the voice of my best friend, someone whom I loved like a brother to torment me and tell me to kill myself for a test!?"

"YES. IT WAS A TEST, AND BECAUSE DOING IT GREATLY AMUSED ME. IT HAS BEEN SO VERY LONG SINCE I LAST INTERACTED WITH AN INSECT, I FORGOT WHAT FUN IT COULD BE."

"And what if I don't want to meet you, you sadistic *******?" Selma asked, and she could feel the threat in its voice as it responded.

"I WILL SIMPLY WAIT UNTIL YOU ENTER MY HOME AGAIN, AND WE WILL MEET THEN. BUT IF YOU FORCE ME TO WAIT UNTIL THAT TIME, THEN OUR MEETING WILL BE FAR LESS PLEASANT THAN IF IT HAPPENS NOW."

Selma swallowed, and realized she had no choice. She had to go in and meet the thing, whatever it was, because all it would take was one slip-up in a life-and-death struggle, one time entering the Realm of Shadows in an act to save her life from death outside it, for her and the owner of the voice to meet. And she doubted she would survive if that were to happen.

So, knowing that there was only one thing to do, Selma took a deep breath and said "Alright."

"GOOD. THEN COME IN. YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW THE WAY."

Steeling her nerves as best she could, Selma walked over to a shadowed corner, and with another deep breath, entered the Realm of Shadows.