Spirit

by Charmaine Ross

  Wind wound around us, whipping my hair across my face. The whine of the ruby was as loud as an aircraft motor. Objects blurred and disappeared. I was in the full force of a tornado. The world was crumbling around us and there was nothing I could do but clutch Laura and Elliot. The ruby had a mind of its own and it was angry and hungry and out for revenge.

  Laura’s arm tightened around my waist and I felt her body move from mine, “I’m slipping!” she yelled. Elliot tightened his grip on me and placed his arm around Laura’s waist. “It won’t make any difference. The ruby’s going to take all of us!”

  Elliot pressed his lips against my ear, “You have to protect us, Cassie.”

  “How?” I was as futile as everything else going into the Portal. Helpless to stop the storm.

  “Imagine us in a ball of white light. If you can do that, the ruby will know not to take us.”

  “I can’t!” I sobbed.

  Elliot kissed my cheek, “You have to. If you don’t, both Laura and I will be taken with the rest. We’re not anchored to the Earth as you are, Cassie. Our real place is not here, it’s there.”

  “Why does it have to come down to me?”

  “I have faith in you, Cassie. You can do this. You’ve saved me once. You can save me again. I don’t want to be taken away from you. I…I love you.” Elliot breath was hot against the back of my neck. He pressed a lingering kiss to the back of my neck.

  I sobbed. He’d never told me he loved me. I didn’t want to even think about it. Ours was not the perfect set-up. There were a whole lot of ‘what ifs’ and a whole lot of unanswered questions. Damned was one word that went over and over in my mind.

  But he’d told me he loved me and it was the most wonderful thing in the world. Despite the storm and fear raging around me, a smile touched my lips and warmth flooded my heart.

  I clenched my teeth. I would fight for what I wanted. Despite everything stacked against us, I would fight until I couldn’t fight anymore. There would be a life for us together, whether it was on Earth or the afterlife I didn’t know. But if we wanted that, then we couldn’t be separated now.

  I was attached to my body by the silver cord. I was safe from the Portal. I had a link back to Earth. But Elliot and Laura’s cords were severed. They would be taken if I couldn’t get the ruby to listen to me. Taken to their next life. Away from me.

  Claws closed over the edge. Another creature fighting to emerge. One was enough. One was too many. I had to shut to down. Now.

  I closed my eyes, trying to still my mind, quieten my heart-rate and ignore the trepidation reeling through me. I withdrew from the screaming wind, and the objects racing past, crashing into each other and slipping right into the Portal. I went somewhere in the middle of my mind where there was peace and I could think.

  I anchored an image of myself in my mind, clutching Elliot and Laura. I visualised a glowing shell around us, where the Portal could not penetrate. The light of our shell glowed with protection and warmth, and it was tough, nothing could break through it. It was a place where we were safe, a cocoon that would provide us with shelter.

  “You can’t touch us here,” I whispered. “We. Are. Safe.”

  There was a faint chuckle in the back of my mind, so quiet it was barely audible, but I knew I heard it. There was an agreement. That I inherently knew. We were safe and that was all that mattered.

  I opened my eyes and let the ruby do its thing. Beyond our shell, there was a complete blur of shade and shadows, slipping through the Portal so quickly I couldn’t distinguish one object from the next. Black John’s world was being sucked in, every centimetre, every cell of his creation.

  Souls included.

  My hand was numb, surrounded by a golden ball of light. I couldn’t feel the gem, my fingers, or any heat. The ruby wasn’t shaking so violently. Instead there was a vibration that was slowly settling into stillness. As this fake world disintegrated, the Grey-Mists were being restored. Aligned to normal.

  The ruby stilled. Heat faded. Light diminished. I slowly opened my hand. The ruby sat in the middle of my palm. An innocuous gem. Innocent once again. I just stared at it, barely breathing, thinking.

  “You did it, Cassie.” Elliot’s gentle tone broke through my blankness. “I knew you could.”

  My gaze drifted from the ruby to his face. He smiled, eyes gleaming, face becoming alight. I burrowed into his arms, my heart lurching. He pulled me against him. My body trembled. I couldn’t seem to stop. It came on, locking me in its grip. I tried to suck in a sob, but it broke from my mouth. Then the next sob exploded from me and I couldn’t stop the tide after that.

  I shuddered. I was glad Black John was gone and I hoped he was paying ten times in full for what he did in his life and after. Paid for what he did to Elliot. Elliot’s wife and child. All of those souls he stole from their bodies. I grabbed the edges of Elliot’s coat, scrunching the material. I was so glad, so ecstatically happy that Elliot was still here with me. I hiccupped as calmness swept the internal storm away. He rubbed my back, “Let it out. That’s a girl. You’ve done such a brave thing.”

  “I didn’t do anything. The ruby did it all.”

  “You opened the Portal. You disintegrated Black Johns world. He’s gone. He can’t hurt us anymore.”

  “How…did I do that?”

  Elliot lifted the ruby and put it around my neck, “There was only one other person I knew that could open a Portal with the ruby.”

  “Who?”

  He rested his hands on my shoulders, looking down at me. A glimmer of sadness and exquisite happiness shadowed his eyes, “Marie.”

  “But I thought…you opened a Portal. I thought you found it.”

  “I found it, yes, but Marie was the person who opened a Portal at first. Not as large or as powerful as that last one, granted, but she opened one none-the-less. She showed me how to use it. I managed a weak Portal, once. That’s what Black John saw. That’s what he wanted me to repeat but I couldn’t. Only Marie could do that. And now…you.” He frowned, studying me with a mix of confusion and sentience.

  “I don’t understand.”

  He paused, then, “The ruby chose you, just like it chose her. It must be coincidence, but…”

  Laura clutched my wrist, staring at my open palm, “Cassie. Your hand…”

  A ruby the colour of blood was etched into my palm, intricate, just a graphite etching but of the same dimensions as the real-life version filling my entire palm. The gem itself had disappeared. I gasped, tracing the lines with a fingertip. The more I concentrated, the more the lines tingled, as though they were firing electric currents. “How…?”

  Elliot took my wrist and traced the lines of the ruby. Goosebumps scattered over my skin, “Amazing. It’s as though it’s become a part of you.”

  “Has this ever happened to anyone else?” I asked Laura.

  She shook her head, “This is new for me.”

  “Amazing, something you don’t know about,” I muttered. “But what about that thing that came out? Where did it go?”

  Elliot’s expression turned grave, “I don’t know.” He looked to Laura, “Do you have any idea?”

  She shook her head, “I don’t know. It’s not good. Did you smell it?”

  “I think everyone smelt it,” I said.

  “That’s the stench of Hell. There’s nothing quite like it. Not a smell usually forgotten.”

  “Let’s think about that later,” I hugged Laura, “First things first. Let’s get you back into your body. I have a sister to bring back to life.”

  I only now became aware of the mists swirling around us. It seemed so empty. Void. No shadows circling. No figures walking so close, yet so far away. Yet that was all I saw. Nothing else but a wall of grey met my eyes. “How are we going to get back to the hospital?”

  “The Finder’s Light,” Elliot said. He traced my cheek with a fingertip, “That’s how I found you, remember? Just concentrate on the light of your body, and we’ll see it.”
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  Swallowed hard, knowing that my time touching Elliot like this was coming to an end. More pressing was getting Laura back to her body. I was afraid that the more time passed, the harder it would be to call her body back to life.

  I paused, concentrating on seeing the Finders Light, calling for it to come to me through the mists. Eventually a faint light grew stronger. The mists dissipated enough for me to see another light. It was yellower, duller, compared to the light so bright it was like the first star out in the dusk sky.

  There was a slight feeling of movement, which was strange because we didn’t walk or move anywhere. The mist cleared and we stood in the hospital room. I saw the bright light around my body, beckoning and welcoming. The yellower, dimmer light belonged to my mother. She also had The Finders Light glowing like a glove around her body.

  “Thank God!” Mum leapt from her chair. Her hair was askew, eyes red-rimmed with tears and tiredness. Dad stirred in his chair, awakening to watch Mum. He jerked upright, knowing we were back.

  “I told you we wouldn’t be a back without Laura,” I told her.

  “Quickly, then. Time is of the essence,” she said.

  A gravitational pull wrapped around me, along with an unbearable urge to return to my body. I threw myself against Elliot, locking my arms around his neck. I couldn’t help the tears that wet his shirt. He hugged me tightly against him, as though he didn’t want to let me go, “We’ll get what we want, Cassie. I have to believe that, otherwise…”

  “I know…” I managed a small smile, “Otherwise what’s the point of all this?”

  He caught my lips with his, I felt his tenderness, his sadness and restraint all the way to my toes. I returned everything that I had in our kiss, letting him know that in no uncertain terms, that I was not going to give up on us. Not when I knew how good it was to be with him.

  Finally, he pulled back, regret washed his features, “You have to get back to your body.”

  “At least I’ll still be able to see you.”

  He smiled, but I knew that wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. I wanted so much more than just to see him.

  I folded Laura in my arms, “Get ready to live again, okay?” My gaze swept to Laura’s body on the bed, life support tubes and wires keeping her body alive.

  “Looks bleak,” she said.

  “You might feel a bit sad and sorry for yourself when you wake up, but it looks worse than it actually is.”

  I lied. She would feel like shit if she woke up. I mentally shook myself, when she woke up. I squeezed Elliot’s hand and let go to the force that sucked me into my body. I jolted, feeling as though I’d received an electric shock. Mum and Dad gathered me in their arms, pulling me up and draping themselves over me. Mum bawled out loud, Dad sniffed, trying to keep himself together. I didn’t bother doing that. I sobbed openly, hugging them back, grateful I had people I could touch if I couldn’t touch Elliot.

  I wiped my cheeks, looking at Elliot. He was dressed back in his trench coat, hat, starched white collar, and straight tie. Laura stood next to him, so real and yet I knew I couldn’t touch her if I wanted to. I stepped over to her body, “Okay Laura, just let the pull take you back.”

  Her brows knit, “What pull?”

  “Don’t you feel it? There’s a pull. An urge. It will guide you back.”

  She shook her head, her eyes brimming with sadness, “There’s nothing.”

  “She has no cord,” Elliot said.

  I put my fingers to my temple. Okay, think. Think. There had to be a way to get her spirit back into her body. “Can you just…lie down on top of yourself?”

  “I’ll try.” She laid on the bed and I saw her spirit within her body, like two photographs merging into one. I waited, but there were no signs of life from her body, other than the steady beats of a machine-induced heart-beat.

  “Elliot?”

  He shook his head silently, lost.

  I put my hands on Laura’s shoulders, feeling her physical shoulders, but nothing of the spirit.

  “Why isn’t she coming back?” Mum asked. “She should be coming back. Her body is alive. I made sure of it. Kept her safe. Made sure she was being looked after.”

  “How long have we been gone?”

  “A week,” Dad said.

  A whole week had passed? To me it had only been a couple of days. I looked back at Laura, helplessness raging through my mind. “I don’t know what to do. If her body was broken I could fix it, but this…this is something I don’t have any training in. I need bigger help.”

  Elliot and I looked at each other, “Ariel!”

  “Ariel. We need your help. Please come to us. Please hear us,” I sobbed.

  “Who’s Ariel?” Mum asked.

  Warmth and light flooded the room. There was a blast of pure light and Ariel stood before us. Her spun-gold hair waving in an unfelt breeze, her eyes full of compassion took everything in. Empathy radiated from her so strong it was as though the feeling was my own. “This is Ariel, Mum. This is our angel. She’s come to help us to bring Laura’s body back to life. You can do that, Ariel, you can connect Laura back to her body. Can’t you?”

  Ariel’s sad gaze swept to mine, “I’m sorry, Cassandra. But this is something I cannot do.”

  A sob broke past my lips. Fear and heat burnt deep in my core, “Yes, you can. You’re an angel. You said you would help us.”

  “I cannot oppose free will.”

  “But…it doesn’t. Laura wants to come back to life, don’t you Laura.”

  Laura lifted her head and nodded, so I had a view of Laura’s body with two heads. I blinked and focussed back to Ariel. “I have so much I want to do. I was taken out of my body against my will and I want to come back. I want to live the rest of my life.”

  A brilliant smile lit Ariel’s lips, so sweet I almost cried. Never in my brightest dreams, could I have imagined an angel so beautiful. It brought home the power that must be out there and that I had no idea about. My gifts seemed so trivial by comparison.

  “Not trivial. Everything touches the other, reflecting and shaping. There cannot be one without the other. Do not doubt yourself.”

  I gasped. “You read my mind?”

  “Every thought is energy. I am made of energy, so yes, I felt what you intended.”

  I just blinked. I’d have to mind my…mind in future.

  Ariel floated to Laura. She didn’t walk, in fact I couldn’t see her feet. Ariel placed her hand over Laura’s forehead. A golden ball of light radiated out from her hand, glowing and growing with warmth. Ariel placed her hand over Laura’s solar plexus. Light radiated from that hand also, but this light was swirling with blues, reds, and oranges. The lights from Ariel’s hands expanded and began to merge, swirling with a life of their own.

  The colours changed to bright silver, like trails of liquid mercury. The light intensified and flashed outwards, radiant and blinding. When I was able to focus again, Ariel had disappeared.

  I stepped to Laura’s side. She didn’t move. A mechanical blip of Laura’s heart and pop of her breathing tube were the only sounds in the room. Her eyes remained shut, her limbs limp and unmoving.

  “Laura?” It was Mum.

  “Cassie?” Dad stood behind Mum, clutching her shoulders. “Did it…work?”

  I looked from my parents to Elliot, back to Laura. There were no signs of her spirit. No double heads, no blurred lines where her limbs didn’t quite match up. Nothing but un-animated bone and muscle.

  My breath left me. There was hollowness inside. I wilted in on myself. Laura was gone. She’d left me. Us. My beautiful sister had been taken and there was no way I was going to get her back. My fingers wound through hers. I would never see her alive again. I was empty. Dark. Cold.

  I lifted her hand to my mouth and kissed her fingers. Her fingers jerked in mine, squeezing them. I gasped, my gaze flying to her face. Her eyes blinked open. Focussed and found us.

  She went to talk, but started to choke with the br
eathing tube down her throat, “Wait. I’ll disconnect you.” I took the various tubes and wires from her body as quickly as I could. When I was done, I gathered her in my arms and hugged her. She embraced me back and all I could do was feel eternally grateful to have my sister back with me.

  “Do not doubt,” whispered through my mind, or rather the feeling of it did and I knew it was Ariel speaking to me.

  “My turn, get out of the way,” Mum said.

  I stood back as my parents hugged Laura. She grinned at us from the bed, holding Dad’s hand with one of hers and Mum’s hand with the other. “I have a lot to live for,” she said, her voice dry from the respiratory tube.

  “You bet you do,” I said, my voice wobbly.

  “And I have a big thank you to make. To you,” then she glanced straight at Elliot, “and to you.”

  My mouth gaped open. I stared at her, my mind reeling. I licked dry lips, finally able to find a handful of words. “You…you can see Elliot?”

  Laura grinned.

  I didn’t know whether to be thankful she could see Eliot or mad that she’d opened the one and only door that would save her from the mess I gave into every day. “How…why?”

  “I wanted it. When Ariel joined me back to my body, I asked her if it could be possible. As its free will, she offered the gift and I accepted.”

  I looked at Mum’s stunned face. She was pale and looked like she’d aged years in the last week. Dad looked worn out. Defeated.

  “Why did you go and do something like that? Surely you know what this means,” Mum said.

  The gift was something I thought Laura was saved from, and now she’d gone and done the one thing that could save her all of this insanity. I looked into her face and knew that she, like us, would never have a day of peace until the day she died.

  Finally, my gaze slid to Elliot. The man who had told me he loved me. The man I loved with all my heart and had yet to tell I was hopelessly in love with him in return. At least though, he was here. He was a sanctuary in all of this uncertainness.

  With him, I could go forward. And for that, I was thankful.