Behind Closed Doors

Soul sat in his small cell, his knees pulled to his chest as he scratched at a scrap of paper with a stick of charcoal. It was cold, his breath visible in the frigid air, and tiny flakes of snow drifted through the barred window, landing on his drawing, smearing the charcoal in spots.

The girl on the other side of the barred window had her own piece of paper, spread out on the ground. She was drawing a simple, cheerful scene. Her small hand traced the outline of a house, adding a large flower in front of it, its petals open and welcoming. In the top right corner, she drew a smiling sun, its rays extending across the page.

She would glance up occasionally, meeting Soul's eyes through the bars, then returned to her work.

"What are you drawing, Ruby?" Soul asked, his voice soft as he glanced through the barred window.

"A house. With me and Liana in it," she replied, her focus on her drawing.

"Oh…"

Soul's heart sank a little because he wasn't in Ruby's drawing. He tried to hide his disappointment, but it was hard to mask the sudden drop in his mood. He looked back at his paper, the spark of enthusiasm he had felt moments ago fading. The picture he was drawing now seemed unimportant.

Ruby looked down from the barred window, noticing that Soul had gone quiet. "Maybe I can draw you in, too. I don't know."

"Oh, really?"

Ruby hesitated, her hand hovering over the paper. "I don't know… Will you do weird stuff and hurt people again? Like you did with Liana."

"I won't. It was a mistake, I'm sorry."

"Hmm – then maybe I'll draw you in too."

Ten minutes passed quietly as the morning sun slowly climbed higher in the sky. Soul and Ruby worked on their drawings, each one becoming more complete with every passing moment.

Ruby's laughter broke the stillness from time to time. She chuckled at her own drawings, like the silly face on the sun or the cat chasing its tail. Her joy was contagious, filling the cold air with warmth. Soul, though typically reserved, found himself smiling at her playful sketches.

"I'm done," Ruby said, picking up her paper to show Soul. "How is it?"

"Let me see..." Soul replied, leaning closer to the barred window to get a better look.

In the drawing, there was a small house with a chimney, and smoke came from it in playful spirals. The sun had a goofy, exaggerated smile. Below, a cat was chasing its tail, its round body was so badly drawn that Soul thought it was a ball at first.

But what stood out to him most were the three figures drawn next to the house. There was Liana, with her short hair. Ruby was beside her, a bright smile on her face. And next to Ruby, there was him – Soul. They all stood together, side by side, smiling as if they belonged there.

"Wait…" Soul said with a flat voice, examining the drawing. "Why am I shorter than you?"

"Because you are?" Ruby replied, a smirk forming at the corner of her lips.

"No, I'm pretty sure I'm taller than you."

"You are delusional. I'm taller than you. I can jump higher than you. I can run fa –"

"Ruby!" Liana shouted from a distance as she ran toward the barred window. "Ruby! We need to go, right now!"

"Liana?" Ruby said, her brow furrowing at the urgency in her friend's voice.

Liana reached the window, panting heavily. "Ruby!" she repeated, her voice a strained whisper. "We gotta go. The High-Priestess is here. She's here!"

"Oh, come on! Why is she even here?"

"I don't know. We can't let them see us here, in the forbidden area. Let's go."

"Okay – okay." Ruby threw the picture she drew through the barred window. "You keep it, Soul. Okay?"

"Y-yeah. Sure, okay. Stay safe."

"You too."

He felt the picture in his coat pocket with his hand. It was so creased that it became unrecognizable at one point, the edges frayed from years of handling. But Soul kept it, just as Ruby had asked him to. He'd look at it sometimes, picturing the house with the three figures beside it – holding onto that glimpse of a world where things made sense.

The prisoners had been teleported to Snow Fallen, just as they had planned. All that was left was to exit the temple and flee. Yet, there seemed to be a slight problem.

"So, how do we get back?" Hyun-Ki asked. "Can you teleport us to Redhaven, Soul? We can't just stroll out of here and act like nothing happened."

"I can't." he answered. "I'm out of juice."

As he spoke, the blood masks the group had worn floated upward, merging into an orb that dissolved into Soul's eyes.

"What's the plan, then?" Nia gestured toward the door. "Should we exit where we came from? I doubt the guards saw us getting here."

"Too risky," Hyun-Ki countered. "We've made quite the ruckus here. They might be on alert."

"Aagh –" Nia ruffled her hair in frustration. "Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Let's avoid bloodshed. Maybe the guards upstairs don't know people were getting tortured? That guy at the stall said the backdoor was guarded by newbies. I doubt rookie guards knew these... these horrible things were happening behind closed doors."

"Agreed." Hyun-Ki nodded. "Let's not hurt innocent people."

"When you killed Marcy," said Ōkora, her voice serious, "Did you use your blood magic, too?"

He stared at her, giving no response.

"I know you intentionally killed that idiot," she continued. "No need to be on your toes. Calm down."

Soul's eyes didn't change, but he finally spoke. "I did."

"Well, now that –"

He drew his dagger, taking a defensive stance. "Are you trying to charm me again?"

Ōkora threw up her hands jokingly. "Whaaat? No."

"Hmm." He turned around, checking the shadows. "Someone is calling my name."

"Who?" asked Ji-Hye. "Don't panic, shithead. She is not charming you."

Soul didn't budge. "I hear someone," he insisted, scanning the shadows. "I'm not being paranoid. Someone is calling my name."

Without warning, all the candles in the room went out, plunging the temple into darkness.

Ji-Hye stood still, her hand instinctively reaching for her weapon. Nia took a step closer to Lilith, whispering, "Did you do that?" But Lilith shook her head.

Ōkora moved cautiously toward the wall, feeling her way through the pitch-black room. Hyun-Ki crouched low, ready to spring into action at the slightest sign of danger. Each of them was on guard, uncertain of what would come next.

"All of a sudden I started to believe you, man," Hyun-Ki whispered. "Who's this person calling your name?"

"Woman," Soul replied. "I don't know who she is… no. I think I know."

Just as suddenly as they had gone out, the candles relit – but now they burned with an orange flame. The ghostly light cast strange shadows across the temple walls, elongating and distorting everything it touched. The group instinctively huddled together, bracing for an attack. Each of them drew their weapons, ready for whatever -or whoever- might emerge from the shadows.

From the corner of the room, a dark mist began to coalesce, slowly taking shape. The group tightened their circle, weapons ready. The mist solidified into a robed figure, its hood pulled low over its face. From beneath the hood, two glowing orbs of orange light cut through the shadows.

The figure towered over them, with a long, flowing beard that reached his chest. His presence was a force to be reckoned with, cold and oppressive, as if he carried the weight of the underworld itself.

"Who – who are you?" Ji-Hye asked, her voice trembling. "What do you want?"

"Soul..." the figure said in a deep, resonant tone that echoed throughout the room. "You dare to disrespect me, in my own temple?"

'Ur…'