Alex nodded.
"What do you think?" He took Margaret's hand.
"We got this. After almost getting frozen to death, this will be a piece of cake." Margaret smirked.
"Okay, let's go." Alex paced toward the door.
"Wait!" Zachary called.
"Me, Amry, and Ophelia will go first. Then Alex and Margaret. Kyle, you and Bethany protect them from the rear. I think this will appear to be the least conspicuous. The two lovers are normally distracted and lagging, whilst Amry and Ophelia are often engaged in conversation. As for myself, the entire school must know by now I am the unwilling ward of your ill-gotten position as my guardians.
"Will do," Kyle smirked. ‘Whatever you just said.”
"If you are both ready, we will leave. Oh, and one more suggestion. If you should come across a haberdasher of nouns and pronouns, avoid looking into their eyes. They will know promptly you are imposters,” stated Zachary.
“A haber—what?” Alex furrowed his brow.
“Pay no attention to the medieval gibberish Zachary spits out from time to time. He was a teenager during the 16th century when they spoke like they dressed—boring.”
Zachary locked his teeth but ignored Amry’s statement. "Take in a good breath before we open the door. Hold it until we are ready to go outside. When we pass through the doors to the courtyard, take in another breath. It is not that far to the west side hall. Once we are there, you should be able to breath normally. Students rarely travel the halls. After that, it will be a longer walk through campus to the gym. Is this clear?"
"Yup." Alex clenched Margaret's hand.
The five friends materialized in solid form.
Filling his lungs, Alex squeezed Margaret's hand. They exchanged a glance and then relaxed. When the door closed behind them, Alex quivered. The electrical energy was intense. So many souls passing through the walls of the dorm, leaving traces everywhere they went. The charge raced through his veins, pumping a river of rapid blood to his heart.
"Babe, you're burning me," Margaret whispered.
Alex couldn't hear her. Buzzing in his ears had taken over, piercing the drum causing short bursts of pain. He needed to get to a desolate place as quickly as possible.
"Alex."
Margaret wriggled her hand, but his grip was too tight. The stronger the charge invading his body, the tighter he squeezed.
"Alex. Dude, let go," Margaret's voice carried.
"Margaret, what's wrong?" Ophelia murmured.
"It's Alex. Something's wrong. His hand is on fire and he won't let go. It's like he's not even listening to me."
Ophelia wrapped her hand around his wrist and squeezed. Startled, he pulled back, releasing Margaret.
"What the hell was that?" Alex rubbed his wrist.
"You were hurting Margaret." Ophelia curled her lip.
"What? Tesoro, are you okay?"
"I'm fine. But what happened? You're burning up," Margaret mumbled.
"It's all the energy. I feel like I'm gonna explode."
"Ready yourselves, we are walking out. Take in a breath—hold it," Zachary instructed.
"Maybe you should stop talking. It's going to make it harder," Ophelia pleaded.
The couple nodded.
Alex focused on his surroundings. Never had he seen so many spirits at one time. Well, not counting all his relatives that came to help him defeat Greta. But this was different. These are kids. It could easily be him or Margaret occupying a place at the Academy. The more dangerous the cases become, the harder it gets to protect her. She'll argue and say she doesn't need anyone looking out for her, but his world was one that defied the confines of the living. He turned to her, she smiled.
They took a sharp left and turned into a small hallway. It was deserted.
His chest sawed, taking in life.
"Alex are you okay?" Margaret nuzzled next to him.
"My insides are on fire, but I'm managing. You?"
"I'm okay."
"This is the long stretch. Prepare," Zachary advised.
The gray walls of the Academy blurred into the dark sky. There was no sun. Alex fought to move without inhaling. The heat sizzling his flesh, making it more difficult to calm his struggle.
How much further, Alex mouthed.
"Soon, we are almost there. Concentrate." Zachary quickened his pace.
Margaret clutched Alex's arm. "We're gonna make it."
He nodded.
When the double doors to the gym were visible, Alex pushed ahead of Amry and Ophelia. Pulling Margaret, they blasted through and collapsed on the floor. Filling up their lungs and exhaling, they lay back on the cool oak. The room was free from outside heat due to the enormous stones used in its construction. Regaining their composure, they followed the celestials to the showers.
A drip from a rusty showerhead patted a small pool of water gathered around the drain, echoing through the barren walls. The cool, damp confinement of the stalls sizzled out the volcanic bubbles that had taken over Alex's highway to his organs.
"Is everyone well?" Zachary rippled, letting go of his solid form.
"Yeah. We're good." Margaret grinned.
"Babe, how's the burning?" Margaret directed her gaze toward Alex.
"Gone." Alex rubbed his temples.
"What the hell was that?"
"I think it was the concentration of all the electrical energy."
"Well that sucks. How you gonna be able to move around?"
"I'm not sure. Maybe if I clear my mind when we leave, I'll be better prepared to handle it. I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen, the grip was intense." Alex used the back of his hand to wipe off the sweat from his brow.
"Crap. I hope so." Margaret leaned in and kissed his lips."
"The room is down here." Ophelia pointed.
Alex and Margaret followed. By now, they had all disbanded their corporal appearance. Like the tide coming in from the ocean, their celestial forms floated down the tunnel.
Alex grinned. It really was kind of cool.
Passing through the archway, he noticed an inscription etched in the stone above. He tugged Margaret's t-shirt and looked up. She immediately understood. Slipping her phone from her back pocket, she snapped a photo.
"We may not be able to phone home, but at least we can make a memory to take with us," she chuckled.
The teens abruptly stopped.
"Everybody knows something we don’t. Why aren't we still moving?" Margaret asked.
"What is that?" Ophelia glided back, pointing to the cell phone in Margaret's hand.
"My phone. You haven't seen one before?" asked Margaret.
"In movies, we have seen some. But why did yours glow?" Ophelia stayed back.
"It's has a camera in it. I took a picture. It wasn't a glow; it was a flash." Margaret held out the phone. "Wait. You watch movies?"
"Yes. In the theater."
"Alex, this place is even weirder than we first thought."
"I guess it makes sense. If the Academy of Souls is sharing space with CTA Academy, if we have a theater, then so do they."
"But—they watch movies. They’re dead. You get this, right?" Margaret said sarcastically.
Alex grinned.
"Let's get back to the phone," Kyle insisted, “You can talk to people and then take pictures too? Far out.”
"Didn't they have cell phones when you were living?"
"No." Kyle put his hand out.
Margaret laid it in his palm.
"Kyle, when did you die?"
"1978, and Bethany in ’79. We were meant to be together.” Kyle leaned in and kissed her cheek.
Alex and Margaret locked eyes and he smiled; he knew how Kyle felt. Margaret was the love of his life, and if anything happened to her, he would… “Okay, let’s keep going. Explain to me again what exactly happened here.”
Ophelia spilled out every detail of their encounter with Roger and Leon. Recounting the terror shook her being, pieces of color brok
e off, surrounding her celestial silhouette and illuminating the room.
Slowly, Alex stepped toward the scene of prior chaos. Allowing the energy to guide him, he ran his fingers lightly across the wall. Gasping, his throat tightened. Terror ripped through his flesh, peeling back layer by layer, reaching into his soul, filling it with paralyzing desperation. Quickly, he retracted his hand and stepped back.
"Alex. Are you all right?" Ophelia patted his back.
"I felt him. Roger. Everything he experienced when going through the gateway. He was terrified out of his mind."
Ophelia covered her face with her hands.
"It's not your fault. He chose his actions, not you. The gateway is still here."
"W-w-what?" Ophelia stammered.
"It's closed for now. But the portal is ready and waiting. This is the point of entry for The Nowhere. We won't find it anywhere else on campus. Unlike the in-between realms, this entry is very specific. I could feel the pull. That's probably why Roger brought Bethany here. If his twisted love plan didn't work, he knew he could only banish her soul from this specific place."
"Now what? Your spidey sense is going wild." Margaret observed.
Alex pulled down the sleeves of his hoodie to cover his arms.
"I'm not sure. I think I'd need to have a better look at that book. Can Margaret and I stay in your room tonight?" he addressed Ophelia and Amry.
"Of course," Both girls sang out.
"We'll give you guys some privacy. Lia and I can bunk with Bethany for the night." Amry glanced at her friend.
"A sleepover—fun! Bethany grinned.
"We don't want to put you out. Alex and I can take the floor. You girls can have your beds," Margaret replied.
"No. You take it. Besides, we don't sleep, remember? Only Lia needs her pleasant dreams, and she can crash on Bethany's bed."
"Absolutely," Bethany chimed in.
"Do not worry about us. You two need to get some rest," Ophelia persuaded.
"You convinced us." Alex rubbed his eyes. "I'm pretty worn out. How about you, ciuccia mia?"
Margaret lay her head on his shoulder. "I'm so ready for sleep."
"Ophelia, I do have one more question about your beginning, if you're up to it?" Alex asked softly.
Ophelia crossed her arms and dropped her chin. "Of course, what is your question?"
"You said that when Haven ran into the street, you were on the porch. Right?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember hearing anything?"
" I heard the rumbling of the car."
"What else?"
Ophelia's brows furrowed. "The birds. I heard the birds singing. But they stopped."
"When?"
"I don’t understand."
"When did they stop?"
"I am not sure." Ophelia began rocking back and forth.
"Please, this is very important. “Alex was overanxious.
"Alex. Hold up a second." Margaret intervened.
"Ophelia it's okay. Sometimes it doesn't come right away. Give it time."
Alex weaved his fingers in Margaret's hand and nodded.
"They stopped when I ran into the street."
"I think that's it." Alex stood up.
"Alex, can you elaborate for us?" Zachary asked.
"Why Ophelia is connected to the living. She wasn't supposed to die. Her life-force is tethered because it wasn't supposed to be here."
"But how do you know this?" Ophelia trembled.
"Because of the birds. My grandfather told me that when a soul is being released, the birds sing. But you said they stopped. You weren't supposed to run out after Haven. In that moment, they knew there would be a disruption in the balance between the two worlds."
"What do we do? I mean it is too late to change what happened. Do I stay like this forever?" Ophelia muttered.
"I don't know. Let's get back to the room and maybe I can find something in the book."
After repeating the excruciating journey back to the girl’s dorm room, Alex and Margaret collapsed on Amry's bed. It was closest to the window and Margaret liked having the view.
"Alex, I need to say something. Back there, with Ophelia..."
"I came on too strong. I know that's why you interjected."
"She's frightened of who she is. You out of all of us understands what that's like. You need to work on your people, and ghost skills."
"I know, I'll try to be more aware." Alex sat up.
"You better." Margaret ran her fingers down his back. “There’s something else.”
“What else did I do?”
“It’s not so much what you do, it’s what you don’t do.”
“I’m not following.”
Margaret cleared her throat. “When you’re in the middle of a case and something is dangerous, you seem to always treat the women around you like we’re fragile. You tend to rely on the guys. But this is a direct contradiction to what you’ve said about me. I hear tough, spunky, capable, but sometimes you don’t back up the words.”
“I just don’t want you or any other girl to get hurt.”
“I love that you love me, but remember, we protect each other. Women are not little china dolls that are gonna break when it gets rough. For Christ’s sake, look at your mom and grandma. I don’t know anyone, man, or woman, more capable than they are. It’s like me coming here with you. I know you were pissed but you never even gave me the opportunity to decide for myself. You made that decision on your own. Not fair.”
The words stung him. It never even entered his mind that he’d been basically taken her—women for granted. Assuming they needed to be rescued. Alex tried to suppress the rising wave of nausea. He’d been doing exactly the same thing that had been done to him most of his life…assuming. People assumed they knew everything about him based on the hand he was dealt. But in actuality, they knew very little. To think he was responsible for the same act of ignorance repulsed him.
“Tesoro, I’m so very sorry. There are no words, no excuses.”
“Change. Just change.”
Alex lay his head on her shoulder and she pulled him close.
"Can you help with this?" Alex pleaded.
"Your binder?"
"Yeah."
"Sure. Arms up."
Margaret pulled up Alex's t-shirt and threw it on Ophelia's bed. With a firm grip on either side, she shimmied up the binder over his chest, and then yanked it passed his head.
"How's that?"
"So much better. But I'm really itchy."
"Turn around."
Alex scooted around with his back facing her. Margaret lightly pressed her nails across the middle of his back, sawing across and then up and down. The edges of his second skin had left an imprint circling his torso.
"Is that thing getting tight?" she asked concerned.
"A little. It's the same one from two years ago. So is my spare," Alex sighed.
"You need to get some new ones when we get back. You're all marked up."
"I need to get surgery when we get back. I can't take much more of this."
"I know. Have you decided not to wait?"
"Yeah. I really wanted a car first, but this is really getting to me."
"Car, shmar. You got me. Your personal, full time chauffeur. And you know how much I love to drive."
"I do." Alex smirked.
"Seriously. Get your surgery. The car can wait a little longer. If you're this uncomfortable, I think it should be taken care of."
Alex nodded. He loved her so much. She always understood. She got him.
"Better?"
He slipped his t-shirt back on.
"Yes, thanks. Now, let's have a look at this book."
"I got a question. I wanted to ask earlier, but with everything Ophelia's had to deal with, I didn't want to add to the weirdness. Have you noticed she smells sweet? Like flowers or something." Margaret furrowed her brow.
"I did. But like you said, too much already going on."
Th
e couple hunkered down under the blanket, and Alex held the book up for both to see.
"Look at this." Alex pointed to a drawing.
"It sort of looks like Dante's Inferno." Margaret bit her bottom lip.
"It's a rendition of the in-between realm, the Underworld. This is where Zachary was for over five hundred years."
"That poor guy. How he's still sane is incredible." Margaret pulled the covers up.
"I think being half dark sorcerer is probably why. Another soul would’ve gone looney already. There's a reason they're hunting him. I don't think he knows how badass he is."
"I think you're right. He's like a lamb in the woods. But I got a feeling if provoked, the lamb will quickly turn into the wolf."
Alex turned the page. Horrified, he sat up.
"This is bad. This is very bad." He tapped his forehead to the book.
"What is it?"
"I was right about the location of The Nowhere. Only ten gateways exist around the entire world. One of them is here, another in the in-between realm of Purgatory. The rest are scattered among the living world. Anyway, it states that the realm can be opened in two ways. One by a sorcerer and the other...I don't like this."
"What?"
"The other way is, if two souls of magick descent simultaneously repeat the spell, then it will access the passageway. And, this is the part I really hate. The person who initiated it, can do it again without the other soul. It's like they hold a permanent key to the lock. This means there's a chance, Roger can find his way back."
"Oh brother. This is getting exasperating. We have Ophelia looking for Haven, who's being held by a loony Soul Gatherer. Zachary, who's being hunted by a squad of evil whatevers, and Leon, who is pissed off because he blames the dead teen squad for his best friends’ ticket to the abyss. Now, we get to throw in Roger. A crazy, maniacal ghost, with a mad crush on Bethany, and very well may find a way to crawl out of The Nowhere, and into our backyard. Did I leave anything out?"
"Well, there is the thing about staying too long. But not to worry, I got it covered."
Margaret turned on her side and rested her head on the palm of her hand.
"Explain."
"Remember that conversation I had with Gram? She told me not to come because it's dangerous."
"Yes, not that it meant anything to you. Deaf ears and all."
"Yeah, I get it. Anyway, the reason it's so dangerous is because if a living soul stays too long in a realm for the dead, they can't go home."
Alex McKenna & the Academy of Souls Page 12
