Part 13: Mist and Shadow Cloud and Shade In the End All Shall Fade
As the little girl strolled up between where my friend and I stood, she looked up at Grant, wearing a proud smile on her tiny face. When she turned to face me, I could barely put into words the sensation I felt. It was like gazing into the eyes of the person I adored with every fiber of my being, while never having met her at the same time. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek as I returned the loving expression.
”I SAID, TAKE THEM, YOU FOOLS!” the old man screamed again, clearly not understanding the grave scenario he found himself in.
The girl allowed the smile to fade from her face when she regarded the raging man before her. As she turned around to face the crowd who appeared unsure of what they should be doing at the time, she waved her hand as though she were lazily swatting a fly to one side.
A vibrant and warm light beamed out from somewhere in the middle of the huddled pack of lost souls, inspiring many of them to emit an aura of their own. As the shocked faces began to fade, transforming into little more than wisps of light darting this way and that, a funnel of pure energy erupted, consuming the throng and shooting upwards, tearing a hole through the shimmering, glossy black waves.
I had to shield my eyes as the light reached a near blinding glow, illuminating the entirety of the cavern, before dissipating, leaving only Brandon, Ashley, and Ed behind. The little girl walked over to the redhead who almost towered over her tiny frame. Ash looked over at Brandon and back down to the pigtailed child. After a moment, she crouched down, to gaze upon this wondrous creature.
As the small fingers caressed her cheek, black tears began to stream from behind the green eyes. She collapsed to the floor, sobbing almost uncontrollably as Brandon ran to her side. With that, the girl turned around once more, to face the tall man with the caterpillar mustache who had begun to visibly tremble.
”They are all gone now,” she said, strolling closer to the man, “every soul you held within these walls. What will you do now, I wonder.”
With the crowd cleared, Dorian ran to where he could now see Ed sprawled out on the floor, having shrunk back down to his more human proportions. After convincing his friend to awaken, he helped him to his feet, and over to where he had laid his coat and hat. From there, the two just watched on as Grant began to speak again.
”Let it go, gov. Walk away, let your castle fall and fade into memory. There is nothing left for you here.”
”FALL? YOU THINK MY CASTLE WILL FALL!?” he got to his feet, backing away from us, holding his arms out again, “You have no conception of the power at my disposal,” he said, tracing his fingers across the shimmering, purple orb.
The emerald lightning began to spike far more violently than it had before, shooting out from within and behind the enormous, glowing sphere. It struck the ground at my feet, thrusting me back a good five feet in the process. More spears of sharp light shot towards Grant and the little girl, sending them both careening as well.
As I got back to my feet, preparing to move in closer and give this jet fuel a nice test run, it quickly became clear that I would not be able to get close enough.
”Damnit!,” I thought, leaping to the side to avoid another strike, “how do we stop this bastard?”
”Your sword, Micheal,” the voice of the little girl whispered into my ear, “draw your sword, my son.”
The lightning now spiraled around the old man, weaving in between and up and down his limbs and body. He cackled madly as he swung his arms from one side to the next, aiming the strikes at each of us in succession.
”We needed this, you see,” her voice spoke again from somewhere in my head, “for him to link with the portal.”
Grant swatted at the shards of emerald that shot towards him, deflecting them against the glistening walls.
”It is almost time…are you ready?”
I didn’t know what I was supposed to be ready for, but I had a feeling it would be very clear when it happened.
”I’m ready…”
I jumped to the side as another spike almost took my leg off at the knee, allowing long-forgotten instincts to take the wheel. I reached to my hip, clutching my fingers around the hilt of my sword as it manifested within my hand. As another stab of lightning shot toward me, I drew my blade, effortlessly deflecting the attack.
”Go!”
Grant charged at the man, leaping from side to side to avoid the incoming barrage. The little girl reached out with both hands, grabbing hold of the lightning that shot at her. Ed sprang to his feet; his body expanding once more as he sped towards our mark. As I ran at the man still encased in that emerald glow, he continued to wage his attacks, but they would be of little use to him anymore.
With the girl clutching tightly to what appeared to be shimmering, green ropes, she pulled at one and then the other, causing every attempted attack to fly far off course.
”Abashed the devil stood…” Grant said softly as we drew closer to our target.
I ducked under a flash of lightning as it deflected against the wall, soaring over my head.
”And felt how awful goodness is…”
The old man screamed out as he beat his arms against the air before him, directing more futile shards of light towards us, only to have their trajectory adjusted by the little girl pulling his strings like a marionette.
”And saw Virtue in her shape, how lovely…”
Grant reached the man first, landing a punch directly to the side of his face, and dropping him to the floor. Ed quickly slid to the ground, rolling to the opposite side of the man. As I charged in, my blade pulled back and ready to wage my final assault, my friend pulled him from the ground, pinning him against the surface of the vibrant orb of purple light on one side, while Ed held him in place on the other.
”And pined his loss.”
As soon as I was within range, while the mad old man attempted to fight against the two holding him in place, I thrust forward my sword. The blade easily tore through his chest and into the gateway he so desperately wished to open.
His screams blended with a horrendously trembling hum that began to emit from the orb. I could feel the ground shudder beneath my feet, as the blackened ocean of the walls and ceiling started to leak, being pulled into the now violently shuddering portal.
”Time to go,” Grant said, releasing his grip on the howling man.
I hesitantly pulled my sword, momentarily worried that freeing it from the chest of the man I had only just run through, would allow him a chance to pull away from the orb, or otherwise reverse what we had done. When the blade detached from the hilt, which erected another in its place, it would seem my concerns were unwarranted.
”Y-you think t-this is over?” Max whispered, coughing thick globs of black blood to the shuddering floor, “t-they will re…rebuild…”
”Maybe so,” I said, allowing an arrogant smirk to reach across my lips, “but you won’t be there to see it.”
As the man before me began to twitch, wailing a far more frenzied shriek, while spasming erratically against the orb as it began to split down its center, I lingered long enough to watch it devour him as it had my parents.
”Michael,” the little girl called, holding her hands out, “come to me!”
I ran towards her while our surroundings were rapidly being pulled into the portal, assuring me that we needed to find a way out before we were sucked in along with everything else.
While Grant helped Brandon and Ashley up from the trembling floor, Ed snatched up Dorian. I ran for the outstretched hand that awaited my grasp. With the others in tow, Grant wrapped his fingers around those of the little girl, as I did the second I reached her. In that instant, we found ourselves at the base of that mountain, on which the house on the hill now quaked.
We all just stood there watching the enormous building steadily fragment as it imploded on itself. I cannot even begin to express how satisfying it was to see that mammoth which had defined the pain of my life since day one, compress smaller and smaller until the ground fell still and the world was silent around us once more.
When the little girl blinked from existence right before my eyes, only to return moments later, holding a small, purple ball, I hoped that this nightmare was truly behind us. As she crushed the tiny orb in her fist, allowing the dust of its remains to sprinkle on the ground, I felt a smile reach across my lips.
There were things to be said; conversations to be had, but not yet. I glanced over to Brandon, who still held his trembling girlfriend in his arms. We would learn sometime later, that whatever corruption had been spoonfed to the scarlet-haired girl since childhood, faded along with those last remaining specs of power the building held.
She would have a lot to deal with when her reeling mind settled down enough for her conscience to grasp the horrific things the building made her do over the centuries. Brandon would stand by her side, though. They would shed many tears together, but they would recover from this, safe in each other’s arms.
After the child with the bright eyes and pigtails in her hair led us to a wide clearing in the woods, in which Brandon’s car still sat in place, she turned to me, beckoning me to crouch down to face her.
”Would you consider coming back…back home with me?” she said, staring through my eyes and right into the back room of my subconscious.
”Home? I…I don’t know…”
It was no small or easy question to answer. These past few days showed me so many things I could never have prepared myself for, from the happy home that was stolen from me to the apparent truth of my lineage. I needed time to process everything; something I could not even begin to know where to start.
”Think about it?” she said, tracing her fingers across my face.
”I will,” I replied, still so lost for words in the presence of this wonderful creature who stood before me.
”Thank you, Eudemore,” the little girl said, to which the big guy tipped his hat.
”Yeah, mate. We couldn’t have gotten through this without you,” Grant added.
”On occasion, I do manage to end up in the wrong place at the right time,” Ed replied with a chuckle, “it was good to share the battlefield with you again, Lucifer.”
”You too, my old friend.”
The little girl looked between us all, wearing a proud smile, before turning to face Grant, holding a hand out to him. As he wrapped his fingers around hers, they both glanced back at me one last time.
”See you soon, mate,” Grant said with that old crooked smile.
”Yeah…I’ll…”
Before I could finish my mediocre attempt at a fitting farewell, the two vanished from before my eyes, taking with them that last drop of jet fuel that had run through my veins for a time. It wasn’t anything jarring, mind you. It simply felt like my body came down from some sort of high, leaving no hangover in its stead.
”You guys need a ride?” I asked, looking over to see no trace of Ed.
”He does that a lot,” Dorian said with a laugh, “I’ll take you up on that ride though if it’s cool.”
”Is it really over?” Brandon asked, after helping Ashley into the car.
As I looked around to where the enormous building had once sat in place, I noticed something that had previously been absent from our surroundings. The crickets chirped, and the cool wind breathed around me. I even heard the occasional bird flapping its wings nearby.
”Yeah, man. I think it is,” I replied, wrapping my arms around the dear friend I had never expected to see again.
Epilogue: Somewhere Else Over the months that followed the fall of the house on the hill, life returned to its normal, carefree course. Admittedly, it took me some time to get used to Ashley being back in the picture; something I had never expected after she exposed her true intent what felt like years ago by this point. Once I grew content in the knowledge that she no longer had anything otherworldly coursing through her veins, I couldn’t deny that it was good to see Brandon so happy again.
Fortunately, once the dust settled, Ash had no memories of the centuries that place held her captive, nor the numerous horrendous acts she committed over that time. Somehow, the only memories she holds are from the life she lived outside of those glossy black walls, as well as the time she spent in our company.
She’s still been attending regular therapy, as she suffers from a certain degree of night terrors. I can’t help but think that some of the atrocities she committed while the building controlled her still lay just below the surface. I hope that she will get through everything intact, though I’m sure her new husband will help in any way he can. She and Brandon married just last week.
They had a small ceremony that we hosted at the bar. Several of our regulars were in attendance for the occasion. Even Richard Dorian and his lovely wife, Ruby, showed up and, of course, Grant didn’t miss it. He couldn’t stick around for long, as he had some business to attend to at his father’s side, but he did take a quick glimpse into Ashley’s mind as he hugged the happy couple. With his classic smile, he assured me that every last ounce of that place was gone, though he couldn’t quite wipe away those memories that lay just beneath the surface.
I didn’t see my friend again for a few days after that, but when he did return, we had a lot to talk about. Firstly, he explained the nature of his father’s last request to me: to come back home. It would seem that a choice would have to be made; to be restored to what I apparently was, several lifetimes ago, or continue on as the man I have become.
Given the nature of the things I had witnessed throughout my life, I had been given a very exclusive glimpse behind the curtain; one that would have to be wiped away should I decide to remain on this plane. It would seem that this is a one-time offer, with an expiration date to boot. Should I stay where I am, I would live out my life in the normal fashion, moving on to whatever comes next for me in the end, with no knowledge of who and what I once was.
The one fact of this matter that filled me with the most anguish was that I would not be permitted to maintain my friendship with Grant. Though he could still come and go from the surface to the beyond, I could have no more than a passing relationship with the man I was closest to on this earth or any other. I would imagine that the sadness that filled his eyes when he revealed this aspect of my decision, mimicked my own at the time.
Before he took me on what he called one last glance behind the veil, he cleared Brandon and Ashley’s minds of everything we mortals should not be privy to. He assured me that he did everything he could to bury away any of those night terrors that would wake the redhead up in the wee hours of the morning, but given the nature of her unique life through the centuries, he couldn’t only do so much.
As Grant led me back to the bar he used to do business in, leaving Brandon and his wife passed out on the couch, he took one last glance at those he could never again be close to, before closing the door behind.
”One for the road?” he asked, slipping behind the counter.
”You know it,” I replied, taking my spot on the stool I had grown to favor.
I lit two cigarettes, handing one to my friend before we clinked our glasses together with a laugh.
”So, how are things, y’know, back home,” I asked, taking a sip of my refreshing draft.
”We still have a lot to discuss; father and I, as well as many of the others, but we’re getting there.”
”So, are you going back?”
”Nah, my place is downstairs. I finally know why I’m there, you know? Why he sent me there in the first place.”
”Even after everything, you’re still banished?”
”Quite the opposite, actually. Father asked me to come home but was downright proud when I told him I had to stay where I was. I’m making a difference, mate; something I never really could upstairs, not like this anyway.”
I couldn’t deny that I was proud of his decision as well, given everything we had endured together. He told me he had an open invitation back at his dad’s place, so to speak, and could come and go at will. That in itself was definite progress. I still remember the pain behind his gaze as he told me what he could about the feud between him and his father, but there was an even brighter twinkle in his eye now.
”So, if I did move back home,” I said with an awkward laugh,
”We could hang out like the old days,” Grant replied, finishing my sentiment.
I smiled back at him, puffing away on my smoke in between sipping from my glass.
”Would I still…you know, be me?” I asked, attempting to put the crazed thoughts running through my mind into words.
”You are you, Michael. Honestly, I don’t know why I could never see it,” he gazed off while he spoke, once more attempting to hide that melancholy behind his eyes, “I hadn’t seen him in so long. He was, well, you were the hardest thing about being banished. I was so angry back then; angry at everything. You tried to reason with me and get through my thick skull, but I wouldn’t hear it! I was so bloody determined that I was right, that…I lost everything, mate. If I had only opened my eyes so long ago…”
He drifted off, still staring off into somewhere beyond the walls of his little pub.
”Got carried away, mate,” he said, smirking back at me, “no sense dwelling on the past, especially when it’s time to look to the future, yeah?”
”Yeah,” I said, gazing into the face of my closest and dearest friend, “that’s right.”
”That’s why I brought you back here. We had a conversation once concerning rules, yes? Given the circumstances, how about we bend one of them a little?”
”What are you up to, you foul git?”
”Way I figure it, once you’ve made your decision, you’ll either be free to look behind any curtain you choose to, or you’ll forget about all of this anyway, but I think you have earned this much, after all you’ve endured.”
He nodded his head towards the door in the back of the bar.
”One last time? For old time’s sake, yeah?”
”Hell yeah!”
”Oy! Watch it,” he replied, looking almost offended for a second, before cracking up.
Once more, perhaps for the last time, our shared laughter echoed through the small tavern.
When Grant led me back to that doorway that led to so many wondrous and terrifying places, I had no way of knowing what to expect this one last time. As he danced his fingers across the keypad of the payphone mounted to the wall, I wondered if he may be taking me on a guided tour around heaven itself, or maybe even back to his place for a look around. When he opened the door to reveal an average city street behind it, I was a bit confused, to say the least.
”Bit less exotic than I was expecting,” I said with another awkward laugh as we strolled out of a replica of the very bar I thought we were leaving behind.
”This is a program I started some time back; sort of a second chance kinda thing. Even father signed off on it when I showed him around recently.”
He was glancing around, taking in all of the people coming and going.
”So, what is it?” I asked, “you trying to drag it out for dramatic effect or something?”
”Think of it as something of a pocket universe; a place where lost souls can be sent to take another stab at life before facing any final verdicts. I call it the Gray Area.”
”Nice touch,” I said with a laugh, “definitely an interesting concept. How does it work? Like, how does coming here give them a second chance?”
”So many people are guided down one path or another according to decisions they had no say in. A troubled life can lead in varying directions, you see. While some have suffered abuse, such as yourself, who may take some missteps along the way, while still finding a way to become truly good people, others, well, the damage festers. The wounds turn gangrenous and ultimately lead them down a path from which there is no escape. In this universe, we allow them to explore how things would have progressed for them had things guided them another way.”
”To see if they would still make the same decisions without the trauma?”
”Exactly! Most souls are not inherently evil, Michael. There are those who cannot be saved, no matter how many hurdles are removed, but it’s not hard to spot the ones that can change; something I have learned all too well over the centuries. Those are the ones we send here.”
As we walked between and around those who shared the busy sidewalk with us, we finally came to a very nice outdoor cafe, where Grant suggested we stop for a bit. We grabbed a table close to the road and, while we ordered a few drinks from the pretty waitress who stopped by, my friend seemed somewhat distracted by what appeared to be a similarly designed restaurant on the opposite side of the road.
It wasn’t until I began to sip on another cold and refreshing beer, that my eyes wandered to meet what Grant was staring at. It took me a moment to recognize the tall and well-built man who approached a table at which an older couple were seemingly awaiting him, as he had grown a lot since I last saw him, but my friend had to stop me from getting to my feet when I did.
”You can’t approach him, Michael. We are only here to observe. Besides, it would only lead to many uncomfortable questions, given the circumstances,” he said in something of a compassionate voice.
”Is it really him?”
I was fighting hard to hold back the welling in my eyes as I looked upon the man who had once been the boy I adored with my whole heart. Even my parents looked so much happier and far more kind than I had ever known them to be, regardless of their far more advanced age. The beautiful, dark-skinned, and curly-haired woman who held my brother’s hand in hers as they took their seat across from my folks, looked just as happy to be in his presence as he did in hers.
As she reached to brush the hair from her face when the gentle wind tossed it to one side, the sun’s glow reflected against the shimmering diamond she wore. Tommy, who looked to be in his mid to late twenties now, wore a smile that seemed so content, that I wanted nothing more than to run to him and wrap my arms around him.
”He goes by Thomas now,” Grant said, matter of factly, “He is currently meeting with his family to celebrate his tenure at a nearby university. He’s been teaching philosophy since about six months after earning his degree, at which point he wed Zoey, his high school sweetheart.”
I couldn’t hope to hold back the tears any longer as I gazed upon the happy family. They laughed as they shared conversations I could not make out, while Tommy would continue to steal glances at his lovely wife every chance he got. It wasn’t until another couple showed up, that my jaw almost hit the table beneath it.
My mirror image strolled up, at which point my brother practically sprang to his feet, embracing the man who wore my face. The other me appeared to be introducing the cute blonde he was with, who also received hugs from everyone at the table before the two sat down. My doppelganger was just as well dressed as the other members of his family and though his face wore fewer wrinkles than mine did, I couldn’t deny that it seemed as though life had been as kind to him as it had to Tommy.
The happy tears that continued to trickle down my face, conjoined with far more remorseful ones that accompanied them. Still, regardless of how much I ached to be able to join them; to be a part of the family I was originally destined for, I could not deny that it made my heart soar to see my dear brother striving and content.
”This is a world in which the building never existed,” Grant said with his own eyes welling up, “Michael, this is the life that father had intended for you to live.”
Though I wanted nothing more than to sprint across the road and embrace my long-lost brother, I couldn’t deny that my friend’s words made a lot of sense. Still, I continued to smile through the tears. Just knowing that Tommy had managed to seek out happiness in life was enough for me.
”Thank you for this, Grant,” I said, unable to break my gaze from this glorious sight.
”Of course, mate,” he replied, “can’t say I don’t have a bit of my own motivation though.”
”Huh?” I said, finally turning my attention back to the man whose company I shared.
”That,” he said, nodding to the group who continued to enjoy being in the presence of one another, “is one shining example of the fact that family is such an important thing.”
I gave a small chuckle, understanding what he was getting at.
”Just something to think about, brother.”
We spent a little while longer in the little pocket universe that Grant named the Gray Area. We talked and laughed just as much as the family across the road, as we often did when bizarre events were not pulling our focus in one direction or the other.
Regardless of the personal reasons behind the gift my dearest friend gave me that day, I felt lighter by the time the door in the back of the bar he used to do business in led me back to my home at the beach. Even after we put an end to that awful place that blew my life off the rails before I took my first breath in this world, I still felt as though I carried the many burdens my experiences had left me.
When I witnessed the joy behind the eyes of my beloved brother, along with the very different versions of our parents, I think I finally achieved a great degree of closure. I can’t deny that I am somewhat envious of the life he lives in that place that can only be accessed through that magical tavern, though. Of course, there are a lot of things in my far more chaotic life that I do not think I would trade for the world.
That being said, it would seem I have quite the decision to make. Grant told me I have some time to think about it. He managed to convince his father to stretch the deadline a bit, as we’ve only just returned, so to speak. He didn’t give me an actual date as to when I need to make my final arrangements, one way or the other, but he recommended that I take significant time to truly think it over; weigh the pros and cons, and whatnot.
For now, I believe I’m going to head to The Other Side of Hell for a bit; to watch my friend sing to his wife for a little while. Again, I can’t thank you enough for hearing me out on this one final, long-winded tale. I am most certainly thrilled to be able to leave you on a far more positive note than our last meeting, but I do believe this may be the last time we speak.
This entire experience has left me with a lot to take in; everything I’ve been through, as well as the great many things I still don’t fully know how to wrap my mind around.
So, what will my decision be in the end; to ascend to the magical place in which dreams are born, past the second star to the right and straight on till morning, or remain alongside my friends at our wonderful house by the beach, where the waves caressing the shore sing me to sleep every night.
At this point, I honestly have no idea, to be completely honest. It is quite literally a life-changing decision, after all. So, to quote the words of the best friend I have ever known; my brother, in this world as well as the other: that’s a conversation for another time, mate.