The Devil Withinn - Chapter 267

But Solomon had no idea about what happened on the rose garden and so, he could only tell Inna the events up until before Ingrid left her room. He couldn’t ask about what happened as well because both of them were incapable of recalling much less explaining. And so, he decided to omit it until he could get details from either of the two involved.

Inna listened attentively while placing her hand on her chest, feeling the beating of her heart reverberate from her palms. She didn’t know why she made the gesture but she probably just wanted to confirm that it was her.

That, right now, the one moving, thinking, feeling, living…

That’s her and no one else.…

When Solomon finished, he sighed as he looked at her with a gaze filled with questions.

“You do believe me, right? With the whole Ingrid incident, at first, I inferred that it must be a ‘two souls’ theory, but after meeting with Ingrid and getting to know her bit by bit… I’m not so sure anymore if the duality within you was stemming from the soul or from the mind instead…”

Inna contemplated what she should say. Would it be better to tell him that she was reincarnated and such? Or would it be better to just answer his questions without spilling too much?

If she were to talk about her reincarnation and such, for sure they wouldn’t believe her. After all, even Raghnall didn’t believe her. He probably just accepted it as the ramblings of a drunk person.

With a sigh, Inna made a decision.

She’ll just answer whatever question she could answer. The other details like Hel Halja and such would only bring confusion and lessen the credibility in her words. After all, not everyone would believe such an absurd experience unless of course, they experience it themselves.

She’d only be labeled as a madwoman if she were to talk about her experiences of dying and being in Hel Halja.

So with a deep gaze, Inna looked at Solomon as she tried her best to give the right answers to his questions.

“Ingrid… well, I believe you and I hope you can believe me too with what I’m about to say…”

Solomon smiled as he nodded slowly, showing that he’s willing to believe her and that he’s thankful for her trying to unwind the questions that are greatly contributing to the chaos in his mind.

After coughing slightly and trying to collect her thoughts on what to say, Inna began to answer his unspoken questions.

“Well, you could say that there are two souls in my body. I guess you can call the first soul as the ‘Original’ soul and the second to be… the ‘Other’ one, yeah.”

Solomon interjected when he tried to piece two and two together.

“So, you must be the ‘Original’ and Ingrid is the ‘Other’ one?”

Much to Solomon’s surprise, Inna shook her head slowly. Then with a small smile, she tried her best to explain.

“No… uhm, I’m that ‘Other’ soul and Ingrid is the ‘Original’ one. I… I’m not sure how to explain this but… I thought Ingrid was already dead so I never even thought of the possibility of switching control… The likely reason why she didn’t come out sooner was because she was fatally wounded and she needed time to heal. I… After she was wounded, I awakened inside her body and I was able to use it as though it was mine. I guess she’s slowly recovering now given that she’s able to fight for control over this body.”

Solomon furrowed his brows as he looked at Inna. He was deep in thought, trying to process what Inna had just said.

Then suddenly, he had a realization.

And if his realization was true, Inna was in grave danger.

“You say she was fatally wounded? But if it were just simply physical injuries, there would be no reason for her soul to get affected. Anyone can heal from fatal injures with enough spells and or medicine. Unless… she was on the verge of death and her soul was starting its transition to the next life… That would make her soul be incomplete. Which would make sense as to why you were able to come into reality…”

Inna creased her forehead as she tried to follow what Solomon was saying.

“What do you mean her soul is incomplete? How does that justify my soul being present?”

Solomon thought long and hard before answering.

“A body normally would only contain one soul. Any more than necessary would usually lead to immediate death. But there are records that show that rarely, a person would be able to live but he would attain abnormalities or deformities and wouldn’t live more than twenty years. And so, it should be impossible for your body to have both of you completely without attaining deformities or abnormalities. And you said that you ‘awakened’ and I assume that was the first time you took control, right?”

Solomon saw her nod and so he continued with his theory.

“But there were no inborn abnormalities nor deformities in Ingrid at all. So your soul being inside her… there must be a trigger towards it. And so, what I can infer is that Ingrid’s soul right now, the Original soul, is incomplete. And although most of what I’m saying is simply an educated guess, I bet that your soul was able to take control by taking advantage of its incompleteness. But I do admit that I have no idea behind the mechanism of your soul suddenly appearing in the body of Ingrid. Yet one thing I do know is that, if the soul is incomplete, it will always find ways to be complete again no matter what. Do you understand what I mean?”

Solomon gazed at Ingrid with a serious expression. Feeling the atmosphere of the room suddenly turning tense, Inna couldn’t help but gulp nervously as she asked him.

“No… What do you mean?”

Solomon continued to look at Inna with an unwavering gaze as he replied with a grave voice.

“Inna, with Ingrid’s soul desperate to be whole again, it will consume anything in order to sustain it. And that means that it will try to consume yours.”