Chapter 35 (Shadow Bolt)

                                    

                                          
Keone
	He drifted into his sleep but knew something was off. Well, considering he was human—weak—everything was off recently.
	He looked around the beach he stood upon. This place reminded him of when he used to sleeptravel. This was the kind of setting he preferred, as it reminded him of home. He sighed and looked out toward the calm waves. They rushed forward, though did not make much noise. The liquid soaked the sand only to pull into itself.
	He walked a couple steps closer on his bare feet across the soft, tan floor, wondering if he would be able to get a glimpse at any of the undersea's inhabitants. The coral, the fish, the grass, the seashells. The water was clear enough that he just might. 
But then Keone remembered he shouldn't be here, not as a human. Someone brought him here, that was the only way he would be experiencing this euphoric plane of existence. 
He looked off into the distance, feeling as the foreboding weight settled in his stomach. The sun, which was once brilliant and hot, high in the sky, began to descend. Turning the pure blue interrupted only by slashes of white into deeper orange and red, with hints of purple and faded blue at the edges. 
He sighed and felt more of the salt water hit his skin. The waves grew in strength, lapping more and more at the land. Rising in height and obscuring some of the darkening, vibrant sunset. The air around him darkened, and he looked up to see those same clouds swell with rain, transforming into an oppressive grey. 
Then, at his back, he felt a familiar presence. 
Keone turned around to see the black silhouette. It bled into his dream landscape, ruining it with the stench of death, one which felt all too real now that he was all too human.
"I didn't know you could dreamtravel."
In the head of the shadow, two bright red eyes poked out. "Where do you think they got the ability?"
Keone stepped backward. "Let me see you."
Angel surprisingly did as requested. He stepped out, but the red eyes remained. He looked different, unhinged. His body vibrated with power, and it stunk up the space between them. "Why did you betray me?"
Keone shook his head. "You want to kill her."
"What does it matter?" His eyes widened and his brows raised with amusement, and it disturbed Keone to his core to see the grim reaper like this. "You did it first."
"You don't sound like yourself. In that diner, that wasn't you."
"What exactly do you know about me, child?" He demanded, and the space around them darkened further to an unnatural degree. "You know nothing. You know what I tell you, what I decide, and when I decide it."
Keone realized Angel was completely right. He should have never fooled himself into thinking he could ever possibly know Death. "It doesn't have to be this way."
"No, it didn't. But it's too late now. She grows stronger with each passing moment. I will not die because of some worthless human girl."