First Soul

by Keeley Smith

  The screams finally died from Deyna and Lester’s lips but they continued to echo around the large cavernous space surrounding them. He shuddered as he tried to peer through the dark curtain that had fallen around them. This wasn’t the kind of darkness a blind person was accustomed to. The darkness he saw revealed ghostly black figures that floated across his vision and scared the hell out of him.

  Something groaned, he wasn’t sure if it was the wall or Lester. He soon got his answer when the wall gave an almighty crack. Before Stephen could ask what was happening, a faint glow pushed back part of the darkness revealing Lester who was slumped on the floor, his body like a sagging, empty cloud. Stephen had a feeling that the wall had finally released him.

  Lester’s light, he didn’t have any other word for it, was dimmed so much it was difficult to see. Black spots were starting to creep into his vision. Pretty soon they were going to be surrounded by the darkness again and where would they be? His ears were still ringing from the last screaming episode.

  Stephen knelt down beside Lester, his mind coming up with a big fat blank on how to help a ghost. He kept his hands firmly by his sides not wishing to feel the ice on his skin.

  “Lester, are you okay?”

  Stephen felt sorry for the ghost, this both surprised him and made him feel uncomfortable.

  Lester was panting as the small light within his body pulsed and decreased in size. “I need help.”

  Deyna was already dropping to her knees, her hands flapping aimlessly around Lester’s body. “What can I do?” she whispered.

  “No, it has to be Stephen who helps me.”

  “Why?” Stephen stood up and backed away horrified.

  Why did it have to be him? Anyone could help Lester, and Deyna was willing. He didn’t want to. There was something about this that made him feel nervous.

  Since the impromptu visit from the ghost the connection between them was becoming stronger, he felt the pull towards him. Lester finally looked at him expectantly.

  Stephen gasped and stumbled away.

  Lester’s eyes, the soulless black sockets, had changed. Stephen now found himself staring into eyes the colour of avocados tinged with flecks of gold. They weren’t brown like he’d imagined. Was it his imagination or did Lester suddenly appear more living human than ghost? His transparency was disappearing.

  “Stephen, it has to be you,” Lester pleaded, “I need your help but you have to be willing.”

  “Why only me?”

  Lester pulled in a deep breath, “I...”Lester’s light flickered.

  “Help him, Stephen!” Deyna shouted pushing him closer to Lester.

  Stephen had two options, complete darkness or the icy touch.

  “What do I have to do?” he said, biting the bullet.

  “You simply have to want to touch me.”

  He had to do the one thing he didn’t want to do. Brilliant. He’d avoided touching him since feeling the ice surge through his veins from the previous time. “I know that it hurts to touch me-”

  “So why ask me?” Stephen snapped and then instantly saw, and felt, the pain from the ghost. He wasn’t imagining it. He felt the emotion that was expressed on Lester’s face. He’d be damned if he was going to apologise for his outburst. He was entitled to it.

  “Because you surviving this journey depends entirely on me,” Lester sighed.

  “Why?” Whilst Lester was backed into a corner, Stephen felt the urge to extract some answers. It was bad of him, he knew, but this was the only way Lester would talk. He could feel the angry heat pulsing from Deyna but even she couldn’t deny her curiosity.

  He watched Lester struggle with which truth, or lie, he was going to tell him next. The man just never gave an inch.

  “It is only I who knows the way.”

  “I have the map.”

  “No... you don’t.”

  In a shaking hand, Lester lifted up the map.

  “How the hell did you get that?” Stephen stormed, patting his pockets in disbelief.

  “I had to make sure you would help me, it’s leverage. I will give you it back. I just need your help.”

  Stephen couldn’t help feeling impressed.

  “It doesn’t matter, I have the map up here,” he said tapping his finger to his head.

  Lester sighed and muttered something that sounded like ‘trust me to pick a smart one’ under his breath. “I know what you face up ahead.”

  “Tell me,” he demanded certain the ghost wouldn’t reveal anything.

  “I cannot but you have to trust that you need me.”

  Darkness followed quickly after, Deyna’s screamed followed.

  “Fine,” he snapped giving in. He couldn’t take the ringing ears a second longer. “What do I have to do?”

  “Pick me up.”

  “That’s it?” He had to do something more than that, surely? It couldn’t be that easy.

  “Your touch alone restores my energy but you have to want to touch me. The energy needs to be willingly given. Deyna saved me last time with her touch but that wasn’t allowed. He wouldn’t like it to happen again...”

  Lester’s light flickered illuminating their small group, his groan of pain made him feel guilty because the ghost was clearly struggling.

  He looked at Lester. His short cropped, brown hair stood out against the paleness of his skin. He could see more clearly what the man wore, a loose fitting beige shirt, the sleeves rolled up at his elbows and tucked into brown cord trousers. He assumed the ghost was never cold seen as though he was cold generally. Holding out his hand, he nodded his head in agreement. He was backed into a corner anyway. Lester’s hand filled his.

  The pain was instantly unbearable. It shot through his arm like thousands of amps of electricity striking his heart. His heart stuttered and his blood froze. At the same time it felt like he’d wrapped his hand around a stick of ice, the skin was all but burning as it fused. He gritted his teeth holding back the curse.

  Lester’s internal light flickered, sparked and snapped back to life. He blinked slightly blinded by the sudden increase in light.

  “Thank you,” Lester sighed with obvious gratitude.

  “No problem.” Stephen pulled his hand back and started rubbing it to generate some sort of heat. Could you get frost bite from a ghost?

  A loud boom sounded from the moving rock bringing their attention back to it. The wall started opening towards them. His hand wrapped protectively around Deyna’s arm pulling her away from the danger. Lester, almost like he’d read his mind about the lack of light, stepped towards the large black hole.

  The large door shuddered as it rested against the wall coming to a stop. They didn’t move, the open cave remained covered by darkness. Deyna stepped behind him, fearful of more bats. Stephen also expected some sort of creature to jump out at them. Nothing happened. He’d expected something to appear. Stephen watched as Lester walked further into the room, filling it with light.

  “Wow! That is amazing!” Phillip shouted as he ran towards the room, his fear pushed aside by fascination.

  The rocky walls held a selection of weapons, swords, guns, knives and shields that gleamed from the internal glow of Lester. Deyna edged away from him, Phillip’s excited voice pushed away her remaining fear. He stood at the entrance and looked at the room. Why was there a room like this here? Stephen knew there had to be some hidden meaning behind this room being here.

  Phillip had already pulled an old musket from the wall and had expertly shouldered it looking around the room for out of sight targets. His face was lit up like it was Christmas morning. At least he was happy. Deyna was running her index finger along the engraved tail of a dragon which took pride of place in the middle of a large shield. The dragon’s forked tongue lashed out at a large bear. There was writing in a banner but Stephen wasn’t close enough to read it and the letters looked foreign.

  Stephen had been interested in w
eapons since an early age which made the room all the more unbelievable, like it had been placed here just for him. He made his way to a Howdah Hunter that was secured to the wall; he stood and admired the double-barrelled calibre pistol with the fine walnut finish. His father had owned one before selling it for alcohol. His fingers trembled as they brushed the smooth dark wood of the handle. Hardly believing he would finally hold a gun, he carefully lifted it, playing with the weight.

  Phillip came bounding up to him, the noise from the chink of metal was the only sound in the silent room. His face was concealed by a large tarnished metal helmet. Stephen grinned, Phillip looked ridiculous. He could just glimpse his wide eyes behind the long, thin slit. He was dressed in full armour with a large sword in one hand and a musket held in the other.

  “What do you plan on using that for?” Phillip asked him, his helmet dropping as he looked at the pistol.

  Stephen laughed. Sometimes Phillip’s comments made him laugh. Phillip was stood, dressed as if he was going into serious battle, and he’d asked about the gun. One solitary little gun.

  Stephen shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “You never know what will happen next.”

  Phillip nodded, the heavy helmet noisily moving back and forth as he tried to move his shoulders. “Yeah, that was my thinking.”

  “And how do you plan on running away from something wearing all of that?”

  Phillip attempted a shrug again. He couldn’t, the armour was too heavy. “I will take it off and use it as a weapon, throw it at them or something,” he said. Stephen could envision the grin behind the helmet.

  “Wow, look at this.”

  Stephen and Phillip turned in surprise at Deyna’s excited tone. Deyna was pointing at a sconce. Why was she so excited about something that looked like a large stick?

  “Lester could you make it light up,” she asked, turning to face Lester.

  “I will give it a go.”

  The air cackled with energy as a spark flew from within Lester, forcing Stephen and Phillip to jump as it hit the wall. It hissed and ricocheted on to the floor. Lester scrunched up his face with a look of concentration. Stephen could see the way the light pulsed, increasing in strength.

  The second spark rocketed out of Lester, it found its target hitting the sconce directly. Flames licked at the opening and then burnt brightly. He appreciated the light, then the smile on his face stilled when he heard a faint pop and in a heartbeat every sconce within the room suddenly exploded to life. The glowing fires sent much needed warmth around the room. His skin sighed, his hands thawing a little, he hadn’t realised how cold his body was.

  The light cast shadows that struck the weapons at odd angles making them look lethal. Lester panted, his light dimmed slightly. Stephen could see how much energy that one action took from Lester. He walked over to him and his hand brushed Lester’s shoulder which restored the energy lost.

  “Get as many weapons as you can, we don’t know what is waiting for us out there,” Stephen instructed.

  As he spoke he kept his eyes on Lester watching for any sort of change in expression. He got nothing. There was only one person who knew what was out there and he wasn’t telling them anything.

  Phillip started taking off the armour. That was a good idea, Stephen thought smiling. There was no way Phillip could find the time whilst running to take off a piece and use it as a weapon, but Stephen would pay good money to see it.

  Stephen pushed the cartridges into the gun and started filling his pockets. He watched as Phillip dropped the last of the armour and walked along the thin corridor of weapons, his finger touching every little piece as he decided what to choose. His hands lifted to a sconce and pulled it from within its casing.

  “No-” Lester shouted.

  Lester’s shout made him jump. Deyna shrieked whilst Phillip froze with the sconce in his hand.

  The door they’d walked through slammed shut, the ceiling dusting them with shards of rock. Wasn’t that unusual, or convenient, the door was a hell of a lot faster closing than it was opening. He coughed as the dust irritated the back of his throat. At least they still had the light. He had to think of any positive whilst in this place otherwise it was a whole lot of negative.

  “Lester, how do we-”

  His words were cut short when a loud crunching sound filled the room. What the hell was that? He heard the intake of breath around him.

  The wall to his right jerked to life and, if he wasn’t mistaken, started moving towards them. Deyna and Phillip backed up moving slowly towards the other wall. Stephen realised what was happening he knew that they would be squashed like ants under a size 11 shoe.

  “Christ, Phillip. What have you done?!” Stephen shouted.

  He could see exactly what Phillip had done. Phillip had been the one to set off the trap. Phillip was shaking his head in disbelief.

  “I only...I only.... it was the light,” Phillip stuttered.

  Stephen wasn’t angry at him. It could have been any one of them. “Lester, what can we do?”

  Stephen looked at the man for some sort of guidance.

  “We have to get out,” Lester replied calmly.

  He bit back the retort ready on his tongue because it didn’t take a genius to figure that one out. The only problem was, how exactly did they do that?

  The wall moved quickly towards them like it was feeding off their fear. Someone was playing a serious game with them and he couldn’t wait to meet that person. He loved confrontation. Out of sensible options, he ran towards the wall and started pushing on it, trying to force it back. Growling in anger, he pushed all of his strength into his arms. The wall continued its journey. He’d been about as much use as a fly trying to push up against it. The weapons glinted in the light as they moved ever closer to them.

  He pushed his back against the solid wall where the others stood with their mouths open in shock. Lester shimmered next to them, his eyes frozen on the moving wall in horror. It was okay for the ghost, he was already dead. They were very much alive and he wanted to keep it this way.

  The wall continued its journey towards them, making the already thin corridor, even thinner.

  j

  CHAPTER NINE