Gateway of shadows

Let's go. Chapter 6 marks the turning point-Elena crosses over into the spirit realm, where the rules are different, time warps, and even truth lies. Secrets will be revealed, and Elena's strength will be tested like never before.

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Chapter 6: Crossing the Deadline

Elena stood at the edge of the bayou, the moon pale and watching. The water was still-unnaturally so. Not a ripple, not a sound. Just mist curling across the surface like breath from a sleeping god.

This was the place.

Where the veil was thinnest. Where souls didn't just appear-they called.

Eligh stood behind her, torn.

"You shouldn't do this," he said, his voice low, almost pleading.

"I don't have a choice," Elena replied. "Stefan said the answers are on the other side. If I don't find them, Valek finds me."

He stared at her like she might dissolve at any second.

"If something goes wrong, I won't be able to follow."

"I know," she said, stepping barefoot into the water. "But I think I'm supposed to do this alone."

Eligh reached for her hand-just once. His fingers brushed hers, cold and eternal.

"Elena... come back to me."

She turned and smiled faintly. "I always do."

And then she walked into the water.

With each step, the world unraveled.

The moon darkened. Her heartbeat slowed. The trees bent toward her like they were mourning.

By the time the water reached her chest, her reflection disappeared.

And when it touched her lips-
She vanished.

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She woke in a world of silver and shadow.

The spirit realm.

Everything was quiet here, but not peaceful. The silence was alive. Watching. Listening.

Ghosts drifted like fog. Faces blurred. Time didn't move forward-it looped, pulsed, echoed.

Elena felt light. Like her body was only an idea.

"Welcome, little bridge," a voice said from behind her.

She turned.

It was the girl in white again-the first soul Valek devoured.

Her eyes were clearer now. Human. Sad.

"Why are you helping me?" Elena asked.

"Because he used me," the girl said. "And because I remember what it felt like... before."

"Before what?"

"Before I forgot who I was. Before he hollowed me out."

Elena's stomach twisted. "What does he want from me?"

The girl stepped forward, placing her hand over Elena's chest.

"You're not just a door. You're a mirror. You reflect what others hide. That's why he needs you. He wants to pour his truth into you. Make you his."

"No," Elena whispered.

But the girl looked up, her voice trembling.

"He's already begun."

Suddenly the sky tore open, black veins streaking across the air like cracks in porcelain.

A storm erupted in the distance-screams swirling in the clouds. Elena turned, her hands glowing, ghostlight rising off her skin.

Then-
She saw him.

Valek.

Not in shadow. Not in whispers.
In form.

Tall. Skin grey-blue like old marble. Hollow eyes. A mouth full of glass teeth.

He stepped forward.

"You came to me," he said, smiling.

"No," Elena said, voice steady. "I came for answers."

Valek reached out and the spirit world trembled. The ghosts cowered.

"Then let me give you one."

He touched her forehead.

Suddenly, everything broke.

Visions flooded her mind-
The creation of the veil. The first soul consumed. The Nine witches forming the barrier between life and death. The moment she was born-a cosmic intersection between light and dark.

And then she saw something she couldn't explain.
A future.

A choice.
Two paths.
One where she became a weapon.
One where she became a goddess.

And at the center of it all-Eligh. Holding something sharp. Something glowing.

She gasped and fell to her knees.

Valek stepped back, his smile wider now.

"You've already chosen, Elena."

Then-light exploded.
And she was pulled back.

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She woke in Eligh's arms, coughing up water, shivering.

He held her close, murmuring her name like a prayer.

"Elena. Elena."

She blinked up at him, wide-eyed, haunted.

"I saw it," she whispered. "All of it. The past. The veil. Him. Me."

He looked into her eyes, something afraid in his.

"What did he show you?"

She swallowed hard.

"Not what I am."
"What I'm going to become."

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End of Chapter 6.

Want to see what happens in Chapter 7? Things are about to shift-Elena isn't just a medium anymore. She's something else entirely.