Mystery of Unabis

A tempest threatened the island the moment Liliana landed at the airport. Her first impression was a chaotic and unbridled scenery of people running back and forth. Every electronic device announced the same communication:

"A storm is coming to Sheol Island. Declared 1st category hurricane by our experts. It will reach the shore around six in the afternoon and endure until morning. "

She requested a taxi and indicated the direction of her new residency: a small house which mediated between the beach and the rainforest, built with autochthonous wood and forged underlying of concrete, painted with a bluish green colour that could either mimic whichever ecosystems emerging from the dichotomy of the place.

– It is some deserted place, lady, and far away from the centre of the island.

– That is fine, I was looking for a quiet and peaceful place.

The driver briefly looked at her through the interior mirror, he was curious about the young lady he was taking to the most ancient and desolated part of the island, a mysterious young lady, with long, lavish and rubicund hair. When she gazed at him he could appreciate the look of dark eyes like lake water sheltered in a decisive and transcendent look.

By the time she arrived the tempest had already started. She left the baggage on the floor and checked the fridge -empty-, then looked in the pantry and it was also empty. -They notified a duration of at least ten hours. - she remembered. She was leading to the neighbouring house when someone knocked on the door.

– Lady Nephalem? I am the officer’s son. I came with supplies. It is my understanding that you just arrived.

Liliana opened the door and spotted something on the floor. It was a wet and grey envelope. She took it and dried it with her sleeve.

– Call me Liliana, I beg you, there is no need for formalities. By the way, you dropped this here.

– Nice to meet you, Liliana, I am Adan. That envelope is not mine, I think someone left it for you.

– How is that? I don’t know anyone here yet. – Liliana exclaimed, observing the envelope with confusion.

She opened it and took out a paper folded in four parts, unfolded and straightened it on the kitchen counter. Both started reading carefully its content:

" Never the moon was able to shine as the night it will, because that night every object capable of boosting its light will be conspired to enhance it, and the chosen night, it will pity the canid who will be concealed of its light in the depths of eternity. "

Adan and Liliana looked at each other with opened eyes, surprised by the kabbalistic meaning of that piece of paper. 

– I need coffee. – Liliana said, waiting for Adan to give her some capsule from the bag of supplies.

– Here you have it …Liliana, what the hell does this mean?

– It means that I came here looking for peace and calm, but instead I find an upcoming storm a few minutes after my arrival and an enigmatic message on a soaked envelope that could have perfectly ended up in the sea if you don’t come knocking on my door. – She said while making two coffees using a coffee machine covered in dust.

Adan remained in the same position, with his eyes aiming at the piece of paper, stunned.

– So, why did you come to the island in the first place? – He inquired, without tearing his eyes away from the paper.

– I never knew anything about my family, that is why I have come to this place, because among the few belongings of my parents there was a postcard from this island, in it they were carrying out a baby and on its back you could read: “Lilith, our magical gift”.

– Lilith?

– That is my real name, at least that is what I deduce from the postcard, the nuns of the orphanage changed it to Liliana and I got used to it.

A rumble was heard and then an ulterior shine illuminated the entrance of the house, discovering a corpulent shadow through the side windows of the door.

– For the love of Lucifer! Have you seen that thing, Liliana? – Adan exclaimed, suddenly incorporating.

– Relax, it might have been just an illusion produced by the storm and the shadows movement. It’s hard to believe you are native of this island. – She said, offering him a cup of coffee while taking a sip from hers.

They spent the rest of the afternoon speculating about the paper’s message, with long periods of reflection and energetic moments of exchanging ideas. It was twelve at night and both were exhausted. Adan laid on the bed with the paper in his hand. Liliana was sitting on the ground next to a wall. She stood up, served herself a cup of coffee and started walking around the living room.

– If we assume the moon as the satellite and not symbolically, then the moment it alludes to is some day from the days of the full moon. By natural derivation of the first supposition, the only thing required for the moon to be “bright” is darkness, but the moon disposes of it every night, therefore it must be referring to a singular night …I get it! It is about the longest night of the year, the Winter Solstice, if there is the casualty of having a full moon …I believe we can assert it.

– My father told me during the Winter Solstice this year the sea will be wild and the waves will force the beach to close to the surfists. 

– “Every object capable of boosting its light will be conspired to enhance it”. Sure! The light of the moon is reflected on the water, acting the sea as an amplifier. If there are lots of waves it can mean it as the sea trying to reflect its brightness in all its points. It could also be the sea that it refers to when talking about depths …Yet I can’t seem to find a meaning to what or who that “canid” is.

Three hours later and another cup of coffee, Liliana decided to leave the investigation there and sleep for a few hours. The storm subsided and Adan led home. Someone knocked on the door.

– Adan?

A tuff and deep voice was heard from the other side of the door.

– I am not Adan. I live in the neighbouring house.

Liliana opened the door and discovered a tall and corpulent figure wearing a coat and a hat covering most of his face, what she could see partially was covered with facial hair.

– I am Liliana, it’s nice meeting you. If you don’t mind, the last hours have been exhausting and I was about to sleep. – She said as she was closing the door.

The man on the threshold stopped the door from closing with an abnormal size foot.

– Liliana …interesting. Wonderful name, although it is not the original. I was passing by just to welcome you to the island. I let you rest now.

After sleeping until ten in the morning, Liliana went to the kitchen to make some coffee when the phone started to ring.

– Who is it?

– Liliana, It’s Adan. How are you? I have been thinking about the message and I consider the best to tell my father and let him arrange an exploration group on the beach the night of the solstice.

– No. Don’t tell him or the person who left the message will know it, and we will never know what it means. By the way, an old man came to my house earlier, I think is him who you were afraid of yesterday.

– Oh, sure. That is the old man of the island, Unabis. Everyone knows who he is, even the people who have been here the longest, and the parents of their parents. Lots of legends are told about him, some say he was the first to arrive at this island when nobody was here.

– What stupid stories you guys have on this island. – Liliana said, carelessly.

The night of the 21st of December had arrived. Adan and Liliana met at the back of her house, where some shrubs separated them from the sand esplanade of the beach. They stayed there several minutes when a figure approached, it was Unabis, he went to the shore and entered the sea, until no part of him was visible on the surface …and he concealed in the depths of eternity.

Adan and Liliana approached where the man disappeared. There was no sight of him. The mainstream carried to Liliana’s feet an object. It was apparently made out of a mineral similar to obsidian.