One of the men in bck got curious - too curious for his own good. He stood up and walked towards the door. As he approached, faint and thin traces of white mist seeped through the gap on the doorframe and flowed towards him.

  “Hey! Hey!” Kevin called out to the man trying to get his attention, but his calls fell on deaf ears. The other man in bck tried to pull his cohort back, but he just spped the hand away and continued walking towards the door.

  “Shit.” Keryn ran over to pull back the man in bck, while Kevin followed and tackled him, pushing him onto the ground and holding him down with all her weight. Kevin also rushed over to pile on him, so that the man would not get a chance to go to the door.

  The stream of white mist continued flowing in. Like a tiny and barely noticeable but rapidly growing tree branch breaching the barrier of the doors, it inched forward bit by bit and eventually made contact with the skin of the standing man in bck, who was helping to suppress his colleague’s legs, preventing him from kicking around too much.

  First it was coughs. Then it was a few violent sneezes. As Keryn and Kevin looked back at him, his eyes became covered in white fog, and his facial expression just loosened, as if he was suddenly rexed or thrown into a state of hallucination.

  “Oh - I see.” This man’s breathing hastened, a smile appeared on his face as he fixed his foggy eyes on the doors: “I see where you are - please, just stay there, I’ll go find you.”

  “No. Nonono!” Kelvin came over and tried to keep the man’s colleague suppressed while he himself let go of his own grip: “Come back! What are you doing!?”

  This man in bck stood up, legs and arms somewhat powerless and the whole body slightly clumsy. With fast and irregur breaths, he walked towards the doors.

  “Someone stop him! STOP HIM!” Mick’s father screamed, while trying his best to keep his wife down.

  “Open up! Open up!” The voices outside became more excited, ecstatic, even. “Open up! Let us inside! OPEN UP!”

  Gloria lept over and tackled this man. For a very brief moment, her right arm swept through the stream of fog locked onto the man’s arm. The man let out a scream, before falling on the ground, twitching and moaning.

  Strange sensations shot from the contact point to her head. Her muscles were tensed up then rexed; her body went cold then hot; and almost at the same time, visions appeared right before her eyes and voices echoed around her ears.

  “Your parents. Your family, they are waiting for you.” “Your childhood and your old, cherished life, they're waiting for you as well.” “The doors are what stand between you and what you lost. Open UP!” Tens of voices spoke to Gloria, while the sight of her parents, her family trips, her old childhood home and the bright sunlight reflecting off the polished wooden deck of that luxury cruise ship.

  Gloria pushed what was left of her Qi through her meridians and cut off the stream of fog connected to her arm. The fog was only pushed back for a brief moment before it began growing again. As more of it seeped through the door, it became apparent that it was glowing with a faint white light as well.

  A jolt of sharp pain shot through her arm and to the back of her neck. It was sharp enough to tense up all her muscles on the way. But with the healing effects of her own Qi, the tension dissipated after less than a second.

  “Please! I need to see it!” The man in bck under Gloria moaned and cried: “I just want to see it again! I want to see them again!”

  “It’s not real! It’s not real!” Gloria barked at the man.

  But it mattered not, more and more streams of fog seeped through the gaps and extended at everyone inside the sanctum. Gloria immediately began pulling the man back towards the buddha statue with the help of Kelvin. Keryn, Kevin and Mick’s father followed her lead. Yet, there was only so much room, and as the pale white branches poked further like ghostly fingers.

  “Mick! Sifu? A little help here!” Gloria whispered to the only two that were kneeling at the foot of the buddha statue.

  Neither Mick nor Tae Kuo responded. They just remained in their praying poses. Even when the fog branches and fingers poked them in their backs. Even when their entire bodies became swallowed by the fog, while the rest of the group had squeezed themselves into the far corner of the sanctum. The fog continued to spread, and even when Gloria and Keryn stood before it and the rest of the group, there was no way to stop it. They tried cutting the pale white branches and bsting them back with their Qi, but to absolutely no avail.

  “Dammit.” As more streams of fog jabbed her in the shoulders and chest, Gloria could no longer felt her Qi and her physical strength was leaving her: “Shit - Marcus, help - ”

  The world had gone entirely pale white. Gloria lost sense of her limbs, her heartbeats and even her breaths. She was paralyzed with only white around her. Her ears were filled with low rumblings of - presumably the fog, like her ears were filled with water after an unfortunate swim. It was utterly terrifying, but at the same time, she could not even tell if she had the ability to feel afraid.

  “Namo Amitabha.” A low, throaty chant echoed in Gloria’s head. It was unclear if it was someone from outside the door. It sure did not sound like anyone who was already in the sanctum.

  “Namo Amitabha” there it came again, this time it was two voices together, also low but slightly higher pitched than the first, and more echoey. Then footsteps came, along with the sound of sharp objects dragging along the ground - or the wall.

  Wind howled, fmes exploded, cloth or canvas got torn and ripped. High pitched screams exploded from the distance.

  The white faded, and darkness overtook. Never would Gloria ever think that she would be gd of it happening.

  Shout outs to my patrons:

  mant06

  Jonathan

  Thank you very much for your support!