The Séance • Marvel

Endgame: Chapter 04

Vanessa had been looking at so much information about the dead. She'd gone to talk to a shaman, but nobody had any useful information for her. One of the reasons that she wanted to stay in San Diego was to talk to a Psychology professor at the University of California San Diego, that was known for teaching about death and dying. Vanessa had made an appointment with him to see if he had any information. "Hi, I have an appointment with Dr. Alvarez," Vanessa told the front desk lady. "Name?" "Vanessa Rodriguez" "Have a seat he will be out to meet you in a bit," she said.

"No need to be so fucking rude, bitch" yelled Jason. She waited for about 10 minutes until a man in his mid-40s come out. "Ms. Rodriguez, hello. I'm Dr. Alvarez, what can I help you with?" "Nice to meet you Dr. I was just reading about your paper about what happens once we die and where we go, and I was just wondering if it was possible for you to tell me more about it." "Of course, if you would step into my office, I would be happy to talk to you about it," he said.

The older man leads Vanessa into a small office with a desk and a couple of chairs. "Please have a seat. What is it that you would like me to talk to you about?" "I read in your paper that you had a near-death experience and I would just like to know more about that if you don't mind," said Vanessa. She already knew what sort of happened when someone died and where they went to, she just wanted to see if this man's experience was truly real or if it might've been a subconscious dream.

"Well for me it happened rather suddenly. One minute I was walking down the street on my way to work, the next I was in the back of an ambulance being taken to a hospital. Had a heart attack and my heart stopped for a couple of minutes, but during those minutes I swear that my soul left my body. It was like this, like the real world. I could see everybody, but they couldn't see me. Then the paramedics arrived and restarted my heart, and that other world was left behind" he explained. "The Void," said Jason, "He's legit."

Vanessa looked at the man, thinking what the correct question to ask was, "Before you came back did you see anyone or anything?" "You mean like God or the Devil?" "Or like anything," she said. "No, I don't think I was dead long enough to experience any of those things. But I did hear the sound of a woman's voice screaming for someone. I theorized that it might've been someone in the pits of Hell screaming." "That might be made up, I've never heard a voice before, but then again I stayed dead," said Jason, taking a seat on the desk.

"And once you come back, did you experience anything different. Like were you more...sensitive to death or something" asked Vanessa. Dr. Alvarez shook his head, "Everything remained the same. Many people say it was just a weird experience or a dream, but it felt real. Then I did all this research and come across some people who also come back, but I guess everyone had different experiences" he continued. "And in all of your research, you ever come across someone who comes back different. Like, I don't know, be able to see ghosts?" Vanessa asked hopefully.

Dr. Alvarez looked at her with a questioning look, "No, but even if that ability was real I don't think any person would be able to handle seeing all the dead, they would go crazy" he said. "Right," said Vanessa. "No one truly knows what death is. Of course, over time there have been many myths about it. Some people believe that death is a thing that exists, but has no shape or form. Others believe that it's a person who has been cursed for eternity, to take life in order to keep themselves alive. Those who believe in religion, believe in the Angel of Death. Often depicted as either male or female. The ones who say she's female believe that her child was stolen from her and she takes life in hopes of finding them" Dr. Alvarez explained.

Of course as interesting as all of this was, it was of no use to Vanessa. "Is there any reason that you are asking about this, Ms. Rodriguez?" Vanessa looked at Jason for a split second and looked down at her lap. She'd never told him what she remembered about the accident because even after therapy, a part of her still felt guilty about her surviving and his entire family not. "I was five when I was in a car accident. It killed my best friend and his entire family, and I faintly remember someone pulling me out, but from the report, it said that I was unresponsive and alone when I was found. No heartbeat as well. But, there was no sign of anyone else around. I'm only trying to figure out if I do remember someone pulling me out or if I imagined it."

"Everyone I've talked to that's gone through something similar has had different responses, maybe someone did pull you out. Maybe you imagined it, there really is no real way of knowing. There really is no real point in trying to figure anything out, or it might drive you mad. All you can really do is move forwards." Vanessa nodded and thanked him.

Vanessa made her way back to her car in silence. "You never told me about remembering the car accident," said Jason. "I don't even know if it's real Jason. For all, I know it could be the overactive imagination of a scared five years old" Vanessa responded but still didn't look him in the eyes. "Maybe, but you always tell me everything. Since when do we keep secrets?" He asked and when she didn't answer her asked again, "Why Vanessa?" "Because I felt guilty okay?" She yelled as she put her head on the steering wheel.

"Why?" Jason asked her. "Because if what I remember is true, why did they pull me out and not you or your parents? Why only me? You or your parents would have obviously been the better choice, I mean look at me. Look at how I spend my entire childhood. My parents performed an exorcism on me at the age of eight, kicked me out at the age of nine. Stealing in order to have something to eat. Lived in the streets for almost four years. Started doing drugs at twelve. And so much other shit I did, that I don't even want to think about."

Vanessa closed her eyes in order to stop the tears from spilling. Jason placed his hand on her shoulder, "Vanessa. Nes look at me." Vanessa raised her head and looked over at Jason. "You and I have both read the reports on the accident. Both my parents and I had too much trauma to have been able to survive. You survived because they successfully performed CPR on you and had no major injuries on you. If that person pulled you out, whether you imagined it or not, they knew you would survive. And you keep mentioning all of the bad things you did, but what about all the good you've done? Let's not forget that you risked your life and fought an alien invasion in Wakanda. And everything you've done since. Everybody makes mistakes Vanessa, but you've corrected your life and you are on the right path now. Doing good. Don't go blaming yourself for my death. There was nothing you could've done."

At this point Vanessa had tears rolling down her face. She moved and gave Jason a hug, one that he quickly returned. The two sat there for a whole minute before they pulled apart. Vanessa wiped the tears from her face and turned on the car. "Let's go home."