Chapter 15
15
Jack
“ I don’t think we can make it.” Archie/Andrew grabbed my arm as he stumbled near the bottom of the hill. I scooped him up in my arms and carried him to the car. Archie had given me the keys and I helped him inside. “Thank you.”
“No…uh… worries, Drew?”
“Yes. I seem to be the one in charge of his… Archie’s speech. It’s hard to concentrate with both of us in here. Our memories are intermingling to the point that I don’t know if they’re mine or his. I'm sure he feels the same way. ‘Yes,’ he said.” He sighed heavily. “He cares for you.”
“I think I love him. Now let’s get you to Isaac.” I drove fast to my house, and we didn’t speak for the entire five-minute ride. It freaked me out that Archie wasn’t really Archie at the moment. The things that he could do scared and amazed me. He allowed himself to be possessed for me – for Isaac. He was too good for me, and I knew that I had work to do ever to deserve someone like him. But I wanted to be the person he needed. I had never wanted something so badly in my life.
It scared me as much as this situation did.
I had to be strong.
I pulled in front of my house and ran around to open the passenger door. Archie looked so weak and frail. I pulled him up and scooped him into my arms.
“Archie says you are very strong. He likes this side of you,” he groaned as he laid his head on my shoulder. “He also just told me to shut up. He’s embarrassed. But when you’re as old as I am, you know that the only important thing is love, and it can be taken away in a moment. So, hold onto it,” he wheezed.
I opened my door, carried him over the threshold, and sat him down on my comfy chair.
“It was nice to have a voice again,” he moaned, and Archie sat back and unhinged his jaw. A loud moan escaped from his mouth, and he slumped over. “Jack?” he whispered. “I need water and something to eat. Now, please.”
“Is he gone?”
“Yes. Now it’s up to them.”
“Are you ok?”
“I will be. Your house recharges me just as much as I charged Andrew. He’s really nice. His memories were so… They lived a happy life together until they couldn’t any longer. He never really recovered from losing Isaac. He never found real love ever again. It was so sad and mournful – yet hopeful because of us. We did this.”
“You want a sandwich? I’m not sure what I have. Turkey?”
“That’s fine. I’m just gonna sit here for a while.”
I ran into the kitchen and pulled out the bread, meat, and cheese. I had no idea what he wanted on it, so I added some mayonnaise and mustard the way that I liked it. He said he was usually ravenous after ghostly encounters, and this was fucking possession, so I added extra meat and cheese until I practically made a goddamn Dagwood for him. I put it on a small plate, grabbed some vitamin water from the fridge, and carried it back to him.
“Can you sit up, babe?”
“Babe?”
“Well, Drew practically told me that you were in love with me, soI think it’s time we get to some terms of endearment, don’t you?”
“Andrew was too chatty.”
“He barely spoke.”
“We were drained. Your house is a living battery, though, even for me. It’s strange. Your energy is so strong and healthy, so full of life.” He took the plate from me and took a giant bite. “Oh, God… So good.”
“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” I teased. “Unless it’s full of me, then you can talk all you want.”
“How could I with that monster – Jesus.”
“It’ll fit. Trust me.”
“I’m counting on it. I can still feel them, but it’s weird… so weak. Why was he so weak?”
Archie took another huge bite and followed it with a drink of vitamin water.
“Are you feeling a little better, babe?”
“I am, Hulk.”
“That is not a term of endearment.”
“Hmm… It is to me.” He paused and looked toward the stairs. “I can feel frustration… But I can also feel Andrew getting stronger. He’s feeding off this place, the same as me. But… it’s your energy, Jack. He’s not finding… Something’s wrong.”
“You have to be kidding me. You got possessed, for fuck’s sake, and you're telling me it’s not working?”
“I don’t know. It’s… not what… God, it’s overwhelming, Andrew’s anger.”
The air in front of us shimmered. Slowly, a form took shape. Not a shadow, but something else.
“Andrew,” Archie slowly sat up and put his half-eaten sandwich down on the small table in front of him. “You’re stronger.”
Enough.
“Something is wrong. I could feel it.”
Isaac? Nowhere.
“He’s upstairs in the bedroom,” I can feel him there.
Why? I can’t find him.
“Hmm… This is… Dammit! I’ve seen this before, but not very often. Isaac’s shifted into a different plane – one that belongs only to him. That’s why I… I should have thought about this. It’s why I can’t see him when I’m alone. My natural energy hums at the same frequency as the in-between, but sometimes, when a spirit gets trapped in a place of its own making, it’s solitary, and contact is...”
“English, please. Talk to me like I’m stupid,” I snorted.
“They’re in two different places. Andrew is in the place where most spirits who choose the Earthly plane stay. Isaac is in a place of his own making. He’s confined there – I’m not sure that it’s even a choice any longer.”
“How can we…”
“You will not like that answer, Jack. We have to help him to cross out and into our world. I’m afraid that if he could, he would already have. He knew that we were trying to find Andrew.”
Isaac was always stubborn. The form faded until there was only a mist hanging in the air.
“I have an idea, and it’s a very bad one.”
“How could he touch my dresser and throw all my clothes around if he’s not on this plane?”
“Maybe his dresser was in the same place. You and Isaac have a synchronicity that only you have. It is why I can see him when I touch you, but I think you’ve always been able to, Jack. You just didn’t know how. His energy and yours have spiraled together over the years.”
“I… I do not like where this is headed.”
“I know.”
Please.
“Fuck my life. All I wanted was normal, you know. I just wanted a ghost-free house, and now I have two.”
Please.
“We have to bring them together. This is the only way.”
“You’re not strong enough for this, babe. You can barely stand.”
Archie stood slowly. “I’m… recovering. It wasn’t having Andrew inside me that made me so tired. It was all of the energy I had to give him to even form. I’m replenishing. Your house is so full of energy, and now Andrew isn’t as weak. I’ll be ok, Hulk.”
“We really need to work on your terms of endearment.”
“We’ll have time.”
“I’m counting on that and holding you to it.”
“I know.”
“So what do we do?” I asked, knowing that I was going to hate the answer.
“Isaac is trapped in a world of his own making. His despair and loneliness, the sickness that he had when he was living, have shrouded him. He will need help crossing through.”
“I really hate this.”
“I’ll be there to guide you, but I won’t be alone. Isaac will know – he will see Andrew’s spirit inside me – I hope. That should be enough for him to agree.”
“Agree to… Me?”
“Yes. I’ll let Andrew back in, and then the two of us will touch. Isaac will want to cross over, but to do that, he will need your help. Your auras and energies are so tightly interwound that only you can help him escape, Jack.”
“I have to let that bitchy ghost possess me? No fucking way! I wouldn’t even know how.”
“I’ll guide you. We can do this, I promise, Jack. Together I think we could do anything, don’t you? They deserve to be together.”
Like you two, Drew managed. Please?
“Imagine waiting for someone your whole lifebut never beingable to find them when they are standing right in front of you. But you can’t see them or touch them. It would drive you mad.”
“How do I do this?”
“I think you’ve always been able to. You just didn’t want to interact with him. I’m not the one who pulls into his plane, Jack. It’s you. It’s always been you. All you have to do is clear your mind and want it. Call to him, and he will answer. Then try to see him. When you try – you will slip through. It’s your energy there as much as his now. Your soul will naturally take you if you want.”
“I’m scared to…”
“I know. You would be a fool if you weren’t.”
“Will I get sick like you?”
“I don’t think so. That’s just my natural ability and empathic soul, which makes me sick. You’re not me – you’re you, and you are so much stronger than you know. It’s not just your body, Jack. It’s everything that you are.”
“I can do this?” I whispered.
“I know you can. I trust you enough to get possessed – again. I have faith in you.”
God, no one had ever said that tome before. I slowly stood up on shaky knees and reached down inside myself to screw my courage as tightly as I could around me. I could do this – I somehow knew I could, and that scared me. I didn’t want this to be my life. I didn’t want to be Archie. But I also felt a warmth and strength I had never felt before. He had faith in me. That was enough, wasn’t it? I knew in my heart it was.
I bent down and kissed him lightly on the mouth. “What do I do?”
“I’ll take Andrew back inside while you are making contact. I’ll come in and sit down beside you on the bed and touch you – Well, Andrew will touch you in my body. I think that should be enough. Connect with him. Don’t be scared of it. It’s… We’ve done it before, Jack. Inside you, you already know how.”
I kissed him again on top of hisred hair and quickly ran my fingers through it. When this was over, and it would be over soon, I hoped, I would be able to touch him in every way I wanted and needed without making the world wonky.
“I got this. See you soon?”
“Yes. Andrew, are you ready?”
I walked up the stairs, and my feet were heavy with the fear I was trying to control. I could do this – I knew I could. But it still was so unnatural to me. I was doing this willingly. I was planning on letting a ghost inside me, and what the actual fuck? Would it change me? Would I still be the same person after?
Archie wouldn’t let me do this if he didn’t think it was safe.
I opened my bedroom door and sat down on the edge of my bed facing the window. No wonder he looked out of it. It overlooked the tree-lined street where people walked every day. When he was sick, this was as close to normal as he could have gotten.
I tried to push my emotions down – dampening them because I knew my fear of the unknown would only get in my way. I had to open myself up to it – to him. “Isaac?”
I felt him like a shadow all around me, but nothing happened. ‘Want to see him,’ Jack had said. I needed to really want to go where Isaac was waiting. I want to see Isaac. I have good news for him.
“Isaac? I found Drew. He’s here.” I reached down with all my courage and willed myself to be open to this experience. Archie was counting on me, and he couldn’t help me. I had to go there on my own so he could bring Drew with him.
The room dimmed, but there was still a block. Me – I was the block. “Push through,” I gritted my teeth, and the air parted and dissolved in a way I had never seen before. But I was so proud of myself that I forgot to be scared, and I willingly and knowingly let myself slide into the in-between where Isaac waited – staring out the window.
“I did it.”
“Ooo… touch her. Are you here with good news, or am I trapped in this closet forever?” He looked so sad and hopeless.
“No, Isaac. I have something to show you.”
I felt Archie’s weight on the bed even if I couldn’t see him. This ghost and spirit shit was too fucking much. A guy like me wasn’t supposed to know as much as I did or do as much as I’ve done. Archie’s hand on mine. Our fingers interlocked, and he faded into our world.
“Hi, Zac, I’ve…” Archie/Drew choked up.
“Is it really you?” Isaac stood up with a lookthat almost made me weep. Hope – he felt hope. “I waited for you, but I got lost, I think.”
“No, I got lost. I couldn’t come to find you. I tried so hard until I just stopped and suffered in silence. But they brought me here to you. They gave us a second chance.”
“Drew can’t stay here, Isaac. His soul’s energy is on a different plane than yours. It’s very confusing, so please don’t make me get into it. Archie could tell you, but he’s the transportation for your boyfriend. If you want to be together, you have to leave this place forever, Isaac. I can help you, but I’m scared. Don’t prove Archie wrong, ok?”
“What in the world are you talking about?”
“You have to possess me, and I have to bring you into our world. You’ve trapped yourself here, man. But I can free you if you’ll let me.”
“I want to be with my love – with Drew.”
“It’s what I want to.”
“What do I do? I’ve never possessed someone before. Please tell me it’s not like the Exorcist.”
“No,” I actually laughed. Maybe I was going insane, but their second chance at happiness reminded me of my own. “All you have to do is slip inside me. I have to let you, and I’m willing to. But you both have to promise to leave once we’ve slipped through. Understood?”
“I will do whatever is needed to be with him again.”
I held up my other hand and gestured for him. I cleared my mind and tried not to be scared. “I’m willing, Isaac. Let me free you from this place and your pain.”
Have you ever tried to squeeze through a space that you knew you would never fit into? That’s what I felt as Isaac took possession of my body, and the room faded back into color. I saw him looking at the world through my eyes. I felt the tear as it fell down my cheek. I felt him laugh – heard him laugh as he turned to stare at Archie, but only saw Andrew.
“I’m free.”