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Uhah was there, peacefully asleep, albeit with an occasional twitch or furrowed brow indicating a fitful dream.
I blinked in disbelief. “How can he be here? Isn’t he in the real world?”
Tix, his gaze fixed on Uhah, responded softly. “In the twilight moments of life, we often see ourselves the clearest. This is his psyche, the essence of who he truly is, laid bare.”
It was a poetic and profound thought, and it held my attention until I spotted the incongruous object next to Uhah’s bed — a safe.
It wasn’t just any safe; it was old, with marks of time and wear, hinting at countless secrets it might have protected over the years.
And yet, the entrance to the safe was peculiar.
It was a door, resembling one you’d find in a high-security facility, not on a private safe.
Tix seemed to realize it too. “I bet that’s where Ikmal’s plans are. Deep within Uhah’s most protected memories.”
I approached cautiously, my fingers grazing the door. “It’s strange though. A door like this on a safe?”
Without answering, Tix, perhaps driven by curiosity or sheer determination, reached out to open the door.
“No!”
The warning tore from my throat, a gut feeling warning me of danger.
It was too late.
A brilliant white light spilled from the door, enveloping Tix, and the room echoed with a sound — a mix between a hiss and a sharp intake of breath.
As the glow faded, I realized with horror what had transpired.
He’d set off a trap.
23
TIX
The searing heat hit me first, immediately followed by the acrid smell of burning materials.
Grace and I were no longer in the fifth stage of Uhah’s psyche; we’d plunged even deeper into his tormented mind, right into the heart of his nightmare.
Around us, the roaring flames engulfed a large facility.
My eyes stung from the smoke, but I could make out a series of doors.
In front of one of these doors were childlike aliens, their faces twisted in terror, their tiny fists pounding at the unyielding barrier.
“Tix,” Grace whispered, her voice trembling, “what is this place?”
I swallowed hard, trying to piece together the fragments of information I had about Uhah’s past. “I don’t know,” I replied truthfully.
Suddenly, the air trembled with Uhah’s voice. “Forgive me.”
Only Grace and I seemed to hear it, as the children continued their desperate attempts to escape the fiery inferno.
Grace’s eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the door. “It’s the door,” she murmured. “It’s the door.”
I looked at her, confused. “What are you talking about?”
Tears shimmered in her eyes as she watched the helpless children. “Uhah took a bribe. A bribe to fit cheaper, faulty doors in this facility to save money.”
