Ghost

by Charmaine Ross

  There was a surge of energy and my arm was propelled forwards, connecting with Paul’s jaw with a crisp right upper-cut. His head snapped back and he crumpled to the floor. There was no way I could do that. That I would even know how to do hit someone like that. The skill or the strength. It was Elliot. All Elliot. If he could control my arm like that, there had to be a way for him to fully manifest.

  “Did I...did you...is he dead?”

  “Just knocked out.”

  “I feel you inside me!”

  “I feel you, too.” The deep rumble of his voice caressed my heart. Just as his energy merged with mine, I felt my soul reach to enfold his. Our connection was a tangible thing. I was his and he was mine, without beginning or end. Together, we were complete. There was no time. No space. Nothing existed beyond us and nothing else mattered. We were all that was. All said, all felt without words. All accepted without question.

  “Do you...feel it?” I began.

  “I feel…you. So beautiful.” Elliot’s voice was weak and strained. He staggered, falling to his knees. Our connection broke and my arm was instantly freezing as we separated.

  “Elliot!” I fell beside him, I reached to him but my fingertips sailed right through him.

  He smiled at me, the weakness making it difficult for him even to do that. “Reverse energy. I thought if Henry could take it out of Paul, and I could give mine…to you.”

  I gasped, “I didn’t want you to...”

  He shook his head, “I don’t mind. It was the only way.” His smile turned lop-sided. “It was worth it. Touching you. Feeling you. Our connection. I can’t explain it, but…there’s more.”

  “I know. I feel it too…but it ended with you...like this,” I said.

  “It’s worth it.”

  “What’d I miss?” Laura draped over a divider, a hand to her forehead. She saw Paul crumpled on the ground. “Did you knock him out?”

  “Don’t look so surprised,” I sniffed, “Actually, it was Elliot.”

  “How’d he...?”

  “Tell you after.” The pain suddenly returned to my arm and I gasped, putting my hand up to the wound.

  “You’re shot!” Laura exclaimed.

  I waved her away, “It’s a scratch. Just needs a couple of stitches. Don’t worry, I’m a doctor.” Suddenly I felt very, very tired.

  Henry sat on the floor, right in the middle of the unconscious Paul, keeping him subdued. “Well done, Elliot. What a show!”

  “Be careful you don’t take too much energy out of Paul,” I said.

  “Better he’s like this, than not,” Henry said.

  I looked to Laura. “Let’s find something to hog tie him.”

  She ripped out a computer cord and quickly tied Paul’s hands and feet with an expert ease I found amazing. I shook my head at my sister. “Are you really my sister?”

  She grinned as she finished tying Paul. He wasn’t going anywhere soon. “I think it’s time we rang the cops.”

  “Are they going to believe all of this? I hardly believe all of this.”

  “We’ll leave out a few...details. We have indisputable proof that Paul murdered Henry. He’s admitted to it and we have the real will. The motivation. The evidence. And you are Henry’s doctor researching his death. Don’t worry. I’ll make it all sound perfectly acceptable.”

  I shook my head, although I had the utmost belief that Laura would pull this off with the minimum of fuss. “What about Lucy?”

  “She’s a part of this problem, no matter how hard she’ll try to pretend she isn’t. Anyone who can bring up a son as brainwashed as Paul deserves some retribution. We’ll leave it to the police to tell her. I for one don’t want to be near her again.”

  I nodded, my mind reeling with the implication of what we’d just done. “We did it, Laura. I can’t believe it, but we did it!” I smiled at Elliot. Relief like no other flooded through me. All I wanted to do was throw my arms around Elliot, feel the heat of his body soak into mine and wash away the exhaustion in my bones, but all I could do was stand next to him like a shadow.

  I turned to Henry. “Looks like you’re free, Henry. We’ve found your will. Found your murderer. We’ll set things right for you legally.”

  He sighed. A deep soul cleansing sound, as though the worries of the world slipped away from him. The last ties that bound him to the earth fell free. “I am so grateful for you. To your sister and to Elliot.”

  “It’s over,” Elliot shook his head, as though not believing what we’d achieved. “Thanks to you Cassie, I’ve earned my prize in the world beyond this.”

  A hot lump stuck in the middle of my throat. It had ended and with it came the realization that Elliot would go with Henry to the hereafter. He’d done his penance. Had proven himself successful.

  And now he would leave me. A deep, painful hollowness gathered where my heart used to be. “That’s great Elliot. I hope it works out for you.” My voice with thick with emotion and I blinked to keep the tears in my eyes. “I’ll see you in the next life.”

  I smiled, despite the hurt that tore through me. “I’d like that.” This time when he left me it would be forever. I could hardly believe it. It was all so—sudden.

  A soul-tearing scream slashed through the solemn silence of the office. It was a sound straight from the depths of hell, the pain and terror of a thousand voices igniting it. My blood froze in my veins, radiating to my skin, freezing it instantly. My breath condensed as it escaped from my mouth in the now frigid air.

  Laura’s eyes were round saucers as she looked about. Her hand rested on Paul’s gun she’d retrieved and she stood ready to spring. Like her, Elliot stood ready for whatever was coming. His gaze roamed the confines of the office space. He was ready to fight. Ready to protect us.

  A black shadow, more solid than natural shadows drifted across the floor, dwelling in the dark pockets between things. A stench burned my nostrils. Decomposing flesh and stagnant refuse mixed into one and I gagged.

  A dark shape drifted up a divider, finding form, sucking all the light from the room. It morphed into a head and body. The mouth gaped open in a silent scream. My entire body tensed, caught in a hypnotized stupor. It was the shadow-creature. The Soul-Eater.

  Elongated fingers reached from the dark, floating towards me. I locked up. I wanted to scream. Run. But I couldn’t twitch a muscle. All I could do was stand and watch death come towards me.

  “You’re not taking her!” Elliot put his body in front of mine. “Come and get me!”

  The head turned toward him. The mouth yawned wider. It smiled, but there was no humour.

  The arms reached for him. “No! Elliot!” I screamed.

  The arms tangled around Elliot. A claw through his shoulder, another through his arm. He groaned in pain, fighting, but the claws were strong and he was already weakened. His knees buckled. He locked his hands around the shadow arms, trying to shake free, but they were immovable. He looked at me, pain searing his face. “Not going to let it…take you.”

  And then the shadow disappeared, taking Elliot with him and I screamed his name into empty space.

  Chapter Twelve

  Laura threw her arms around me, trembling. “That was the Soul-Eater!”

  “You saw?”

  “I smelt it. And the ice in the air...the same as when we were in the car.”

  “It took Elliot.” I trembled from head to foot, tears ran freely down my cheeks.

  Laura pulled me close. Elliot was gone. Taken. And there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it. I called for him again and again. Nothing. The putrid smell and the cold were gone as though it was never there. And so was Elliot. I was empty. Alone with nothing more than a gift that was useless to me. I fell to my knees, the heaviness in my chest too much to withstand. Hollow grief swirled and froze me on the inside. “He sacrificed himself for me. That…that thing came for me...and he fought it. And now he’s gone. I have to help him. I have to get to him.”

  “But…how? You have
to be dead to get to the grey mists,” Henry said.

  “No. I’m not dead. But I could be.”

  Wild thoughts tumbled through my head and I spoke as fast as I thought. “It’s all about the energy and how it packs together. Elliot became more solid when he concentrated with strong emotion. It must work the same way, but in reverse. If I could relax enough, I might be able to lift my energy away from my body. People have done it before. Astral travelling. If I can separate my energy from the physical, then I should be able to break free and get into the Grey Mists. I need you to guide me into the grey world, Henry. Do you think you could do it?”

  “I can take you there, but the question is...can you pull free of your body?” Henry asked.

  “Laura, you must know about astral travel. How to help people do it.”

  She reluctantly nodded. “This is dangerous, Cassie. Usually, the circumstances are relaxing and we make sure the white light guides the traveller. It takes years to master the art. But here, now…it’s not good. I can’t guarantee that you will be able to do it.”

  I didn’t care. “If it doesn’t work, Elliot might be gone forever. And I can’t…can’t…” My breath seemed to have run out and my words were lost in a painful gasp.

  “Cassie, what if…what if you don’t come back?” Laura asked.

  I blinked at her, willing words to convey how desperate I was. But they were mere words. I couldn’t expect a miracle from them and had to settle for less than I could ever explain. I shook my head, “I...have to try. There’s no other choice. I need Elliot. Here. With me.” I knew I sounded desperate, and yes, I was. So desperate I’d do anything to see Elliot safe. There was so much more than my mere safety at stake. “That thing has come for me twice. What happens if it comes again? To me. To other innocent people. How many other Soul-Eaters will follow this one? There will be no-one to stop it.”

  She hesitated only a moment before she took me in a giant bear-hug. Her body shook as she held me and I felt the power of her love. “You’d better come back or I’ll follow you and bring you back myself.”

  “I’m counting on it,” I said, wiping tears from my cheek.

  She dusted her palms on her backside, down to business, looking around at the floor, “Okay. You need to get comfortable. Lie down, somewhere semi clean if you can find it. Relax and we’ll get started.”

  Laura bunched a jumper someone had left on the back of their chair and put it beneath my head to soften the concrete beneath the threadbare carpet. She knelt beside me and held my hand. She sniffed long and loud, the tip of her nose was red.

  “Henry, take good care of my sister.”

  “Tell her I will.”

  “Okay, Cassie. Close your eyes and I’ll lead you down through your layers of consciousness. You’ll be in a deep hypnotic state until you won’t hear me anymore. When that happens, try to float. Don’t move or you’ll jolt yourself back into your body. Just think about floating upwards. When you feel yourself lift, jump as far away from your body as you can as possible. It’ll try to pull you back but you have to try and resist its pull. Got it?”

  “Clear as mud,” I muttered.

  Lara bent down and kissed my cheek and I held her in my arms a moment. Henry and Laura knelt either side of me. I closed my eyes and forced myself to relax. I didn’t know what to do, or how I was going to go about it, but like anything else, trying with force would probably lead to failure. I tried for the opposite and imagined myself lying on the softest of beds and let my mind relax. In my mind, I worked through my body from the head down, relaxing each muscle group, each limb, each joint, as though I were putting it to sleep. My body felt twice as heavy as I felt the weight of gravity take over relaxed appendages. Laura started speaking and I let her voice guide me down through the layers that bordered on sleep.

  It helped I verged on the point of exhaustion. My body responded, steadily relaxing down layers, limbs growing lethargic. I felt sleep touch my mind, lulling me gently as it did every night. I focussed my thoughts on lifting free, just like a feather on a sweet, light breeze. My body was so heavy I couldn’t move a finger if I wanted. I felt so dense. So heavy. I did what Laura suggested and pictured myself lighter than air.

  There was a jolt, I surged upwards and something grazed my nose. I opened my eyes and came face to face with the ceiling. I jerked and nearly tumbled back down. I turned to see my body beneath me, sprawled on the ground. I heard Laura sniff, saw the top of her head as she bent over me. And saw Henry looking up at me.

  He smiled, “Nice to see you on the other side.”

  “I did it!” My voice popped from the surrounding air. I didn’t sound exactly the same. I guess I didn’t have a voice box to make me sound like me.

  “Come down here with me.” Henry reached towards me. I didn’t know what to do, but moved what I thought would be my hand towards his. My ethereal arm reached and my hand found his. His fingers wrapped around mine, warm and real. He tugged me and I drifted gently so that I stood next to him. “I’m so glad I can do this,” Henry said and placed a kiss on my cheek. He was so real and solid.

  I grinned, “This is amazing!”

  I looked down at my physical body, seeing the bruises and the blood on my arm. My hair clumped in sweaty strands on my forehead. At least my body was breathing. In this form, I felt nothing. I looked at my arm. It was perfect, no cuts or bruises.

  “Things work differently here,” Henry said.

  A thin, glowing silver cord connected my ethereal form to my earthly body, solar plexus to solar plexus, twisting and floating as though it were in zero gravity, lighter than the air. I hadn’t seen that on any of the spirits I’d seen. I touched it. It was filled with vibrant, gently throbbing energy. A pleasant tingling heated my stomach. The hand on my earthly body moved to where the cord connected. An irresistible urge enticed me to come back into my body. It would so easy to tilt forwards and fall back inside the warm cocoon. Irresistible in fact.

  I stepped back and the overwhelming sensation lessened to a degree, but it took all of my concentration to stay on my feet. The silver cord must connect my soul to my body. I had heard of such a thing. I hadn’t seen it on any of the spirits I saw, but I realised that they didn’t have one. Not any longer. Their connection had been severed when the physical had died. Logically, that would mean, if mine was broke—I’d be dead too.

  I reached for Henry’s hand, not wanting to dwell on my death any more than that passing thought, “Let’s get going. There’s no time to lose.”

  “Are you sure you’re ready?”

  I nodded, not sure about anything, but knowing I still had to try. His fingers wrapped around mine. I didn’t step, but movement tugged me forward and grey mist swirled around my ankles. The office dimmed, objects grew vague until there was nothing more than a wall of dense grey surrounding me as though I stood in the middle of a cloud.

  I turned full circle. Mist swirled in wisps with my movements, lifting around me and twisting around my limbs. My skin was moistened, almost dewy, as though I was in a slight drizzle. My shining silver cord disappeared somewhere into the mist. I didn’t like the look of it vanishing from sight. Anything could be hidden here. The sooner I was out of here, the better.

  “Where’s Elliot?” My voice echoed back to me dully. The mist worked as soundproofing, so thick I couldn’t see anything beyond the reach of my arm, or hear anything other than my ragged breathing. I guess I still had my bodily response, because I knew I didn’t have to breathe, but I still did. “I can’t see anything here. How are we going to find him?”

  Henry shook his head, “This is all I know. As for finding him, I’m not sure exactly how that works. I thought you might know.”

  I momentarily closed my ethereal eyes. This couldn’t be it. I couldn’t come this far and not find Elliot. A dark shadow moved at my side, the mist billowed as it passed me. It closed in again after the vague shape passed me, the mist swallowing it up. Other forms wandered here and there, their shape
s no more than darker, indistinct patches in the grey. Lost souls, endlessly wandering through the mists. This was how Elliot had lived for so many years. So alone. So trapped. My heart stuttered and twisted to think this was where he’d been. Absorbed into nothingness.

  I wasn’t going to let him be here anymore! Enough was enough. I was going to find him here. Somehow. Some way. I swung around in a full circle, angry now at this mist. It was not going to defeat me.

  “Elliot?” My voice clung to the mist. Absorbed as though I was in a soundproof room.

  God, where was he! He could be standing just in front of me and I wouldn’t even know. Where I saw him so clearly before, now this clinging mist obscured everything. I might run forever and find nothing. Just more mist. My heart hammered as panic shoved aside control. I was losing it, something I couldn’t afford to do here. Here was timeless. Here could be anywhere and back on the floor in the office my body was slowly bleeding.

  Calm. I had to find calm. My mind grappled with flickering images that didn’t seem to find any traction. I had to see the one face in my mind that had the capacity to be able to calm me. I let the images fall from my mind and instead imagined my office. I was seated at my desk, looking at the empty chair reserved for patients.

  Then I imaged Elliot sitting in the chair, just as he had that day I first started researching his life. Where he’d remembered the plane crash. I imagined his clothing, his hat, the charcoal grey of his suit. The way his shoulders filled out his jacket. How the waist-coat bunched over his flat stomach.

  I imaged the feel of his hand holding mine in that second that could have stretched into eternity. The way he sometimes stood before me, twirling the rim of his hat in restless fingers. The same fingers that I wanted so much to be able to reach out and hold anytime I wanted to. The way he saw everything with those eagle eyes. The way they softened when they looked at me. The way he studied me when I caught him watching me from the corner of my eye. The depth of understanding. The keen intelligence. The frown that was a permanent feature that I just wanted to smooth out.