In Essence

Chapter 5

 Chapter Five

"You’re lying."

"Why would I lie about something this serious?"

"I don’t know why but you have to be lying. This can’t be happening!"

 I was no longer hovering above my chair. Instead I had stood up and began to walk back and forth, just as Zach had earlier.

 "There had to be some way to stop this," I stopped and looked at him expectedly.

 In the short time that I had come to know him I had become more depend on his answers than I thought possible.

Zach took a step forward and tried to say in what I assumed was his most reassuring voice, "Don’t worry we’ll find a way to stop this." 

I don't what it was but his tone of voice didn't sound as reassuring as I would have liked it to be. 

"How?"

"You just have to trust me," he shrugged, as if to suggest that trusting him was a no-brainer.

            Like it would be stupid if I didn’t automatically know that he was a person I could trust. A person that I should trust. And then it hit me. 

 I didn’t know a single thing about Zach. I mean here he was, this guy who could light up a whole room, literally, and I seemed to have just accepted that as a fact. Yes, I may be just a spirit or whatever and who knows, maybe this was all just a really bad dream but even in my dreams I’m not that stupid. 

Gathering up all the courage I had left, and let me tell you I was pretty nervous about confronting the only person who seemed to know what was happening, let along the only person who could actually see me, I took a step towards Zach.

"Who are you?" I said in my most demanding voice.

"I told you, my name is Zach. Zach Dawson if you want my full name," he replied calmly, showing no reaction to my tone at all. In fact I thought he had the nerve to sound slightly amused!

Thankfully any trace of hilarity soon disappeared from the situation when I stormed over to him, cornering him against the wall and once again demanded to know who he was.

"I’m not joking. Who the hell are you?"

"I told you I’m-"

"No! Don’t tell me you’re Zach. I know your name already!" I took a few steps back, giving the two of us the room to breathe.

"Ask the right question," he said, as though daring me.

I thought for a minute before I asked again, trying to maintain the no-nonsense tone I had in my voice,

"What are you?"

"Ahh," he hesitated, "Okay I didn’t expect that to be the first question you asked."

"What did you expect me to ask then?"

"Something along the lines of ‘How are you here and able to see me?’ "

"Fine. How are you here and able to see me then?"

"Well in order to understand that you would need to know what I am," he replied with a slight mischievous grin on his face.

"Arrrggggh! What is the matter with you? I ask you a simple question and you’re practically making me run around hoops to get the answer! And then you have the nerve to tell me to trust you? All I know about you is that your name is Zach! That’s all. So please, just tell me what the hell are you?"