Chapter 4: Portal to The Nightfall Nexus

Isaac and I drove a couple of miles away from the city, I had maintained my curiosity and hadn’t asked him any questions, but as I saw that he continued to drive further and further into the woods and away from civilization, I could not contain it any longer and I had to ask. “Where are we going?” He gave me a comforting grin and said, "I know this must all seem odd to you, but I assure you, there is nothing to be scared of, you are going to be alright." I remained curious, but something about Isaac's attitude put me at ease. Maybe it was the sincerity in his eyes or the air of authority that surrounded him. But whatever it was, I found myself nodding hesitantly.

We continued to drive a little further into the woods, but then we got to a point and Isaac said we would have to continue our journey on foot. He led me through the woods, weaving through the narrow paths with a practiced ease and after some minutes of walking, we arrived at a strange structure in the middle of nowhere. It looked like a doorway sculpted out of stones but I didn’t see anything on the other side of the doorway. I looked at Isaac with a confused expression but he just gave me a mischievous smirk. He touched a point in the doorway and said something strange and all of a sudden a shimmering light portal flickered into existence before us.

I was so shocked by the appearance of the portal that I had to take a couple of steps back away from it. I could not believe what I was seeing and my eyes went wide as I stared at the strange magical doorway. I turned and looked to Isaac for some form of explanation, but he just gave me his usual gentle reassuring smile again and asked me to walk into it. I nodded at him, took a deep breath to gather my confidence and kept a stern face trying to look prepared for whatever I would find on the other side then I stepped forward, crossing the threshold.

The world on the other side was not at all what I was expecting. I found myself in the woods like where I had just stepped out of but there were clear differences between the two places. For one the trees there were much larger and their leaves sparkled in the sunlight, there were unusual creatures and I felt an unusual sense of calmness and familiarity in this world.

I was still looking around trying to get used to the new world and to organize my feelings when Isaac also stepped through and stood beside me. I looked back at the doorway and the magical portal had disappeared and there was nothing on the other side as before. Isaac explained that when I was ready to go back it would be activated again.

He also explained that the world we were in was called the Nightfall Nexus and it was a mystical world where supernatural beings and creatures existed. He said that the world was kept away from the human world to keep them safe and to maintain the balance and warned that I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone else about the place.

After I had gotten over the fact that we had literally just taken a portal into an actual mystical world, we continued our journey into the woods. Isaac explained that we were headed to where Reine lived and that he was not authorized to give me any further information than that. I was getting tired of the secrecy but I couldn’t take out my frustration on him because he was just doing as he had been told, and my only compensation was that I would soon see my best friend again.

It seemed like the woods was endless and we continued to walk for a couple of minutes, then again we got to a point and there was a car waiting for us.

I got into the car alone and was waiting for Isaac to do the same, but he told me that was where he would leave me. He said he had other pressing matters to attend to and that I was in good hands and nothing would happen to me. The driver didn’t say a word to me and just continued to drive straight ahead. After a couple of miles, I started seeing a semblance of civilization again. I was seeing a lot of people but they all looked different from people back home that I was used to. Everyone was taller and had a majestic air to them, even the buildings were exceptional and everything just looked absolutely beautiful. We drove into a small city and the driver finally spoke to me. He said he had been given orders to drive me straight to the moonstone pack and that was where we were headed. Apparently we had gotten to the Nexus capital and it was where the strongest beings in this world, the leaders operated from. We traveled a bit further and I felt a sudden sense of nostalgia like I had been there before. I figured that was impossible because the entire experience was new to me, but I couldn't help but feel a pull and some form of attachment to this world.

While I took in the views and calmed my emotions, I suddenly remembered that the Nightfall Nexus was also Reine’s home, I couldn’t believe that she had kept such a big thing from me, we had lived together for the past 3 years and I began to wonder if my best friend was actually human at all. I was still contemplating this question in my mind when the driver announced that we had gotten to the moonstone pack and we would be getting to where Reine lived in a couple of minutes.

I started to feel a burning sense of anticipation and weirdly the spot under my collar bone started to throb again. I was eager to see Reine, but I mostly wanted to meet Lucien again. I was a bit worried and several questions went through my mind. Would he be friendly and welcoming, or would he completely disregard me and I also wondered if the strange moment we had meant anything to him at all. I stopped worrying and made up my mind that I would be unaffected no matter what happened between Lucien and I because I would never let any man have that power over me, especially not a rude and uncultured man like him and then I decided that I would focus on exploring this new world.

I was still enjoying the views of the city and I was pleasantly surprised with the way the people dressed and how they lived when I saw a building from afar. It was the most majestic building I had ever seen in my life and I was surprised that was where the driver was headed, it was a castle fit for kings and queens, and the only thought that came to me head was if this actually where Reine lived!