The Other Side of the Portal

Chapter 2

Present Day

 I walked past the ghost without so much as a second glance. My mind was set on one thing and one thing only.

Toupe.

 I had no idea where she was or how I would find her. All I knew was that she was either possessed or being held captive. How could this have happened? I wondered to myself as I pushed open the hard metal doors and stepped into the darkening twilight. There were people all around me, but I was alone. I couldn't trust anyone but myself. I saw my old boss walking by holding a sandwich to his ear.

 Most ghosts still didn't understand the concept of technology.

 Many still didn't have a body and floated around trying to find a human. What I always wondered was why they never went after me. I was given strange glances and then ignored. I made my past the Deli I used to buy food at from time to time, it was now run-down and all of the contents thrown onto the street.

 For all I knew, I may as well be one of the last thousand humans not taken over. It had all happened so fast. Five weeks! How could they have spread that far and that fast? It was like a contagious virius that no one was immune to. Well, except me.

 Another person I knew walked by, mumbling incoherently and arguing to himself. They've all gone mad and can't take control of human emotions.

 I picked up an old flyer that was blowing in the wind. It was an advertisement for the Coachella Fest that was suppost to take place a week ago. What the bands didn't know was that they had almost willingly brought themselves to the Coachella Valley just to get possesed.

 "Psst." I heard from one of the alleys as I passed by. "Psst" It whispered, slightly louder. I walked into the alley, looking behind me in case someone followed.

 "Who's there?"

 "Shhh, come over here. Your not possessed are you?" It was another human! Joy filled my body, until I thought I was going to explode from happiness.

 "No!" I whispered back, joy clearly showing in my voice.

 "You aren't?" It said, it was a male from what I could tell. But only a teenager. "Let me get a look at you." He stepped away from the shadows.

 He had shaggy dark brown hair and green eyes, he was almost as tall as me and was well built. He circled around me a couple of times, his hands behind his back, face thoughtful. "Well, I'll be damned. 'Guess I'm not the only one in this city. Have you found any others?" He questioned, stopping in front of me.

 "No." I said. I wasn't sure if I should tell him I was the reason he couldn't find anyone else, and that I had caused all of this. I thought better of it. "My name is Russet." I said extending my arm towards him.

 "Luka," He introduced as he looked down at my hand. "We don't have time for that, we have to get out of here. Where have you been staying?"

 "In a lab, downtown ." I pointed behind me to the street.

 "Is it safe?"

 "Yes." I replied, ghosts didn't go back in the lab, for fear the would get sucked back into the door.

 "We'll stay there for now." He said as he lowered himself to the ground, searching for something on the ground. "I'm going to grab my supplies, then we'll head for the lab. But we won't stay there for long, I'm looking for my family."

 I nodded my head in agreement. Obviously he was intelligent for his age, and knew how to take care of himself.

He made us walk through the sewer system on our way back, he had a flashlight in his hands and his pack was slung over his shoulder. Holding the map of the sewer system in my hands, I guided him to our destination.

 "Turn down this way," I whispered to him. We were close to the lab and I felt almost homesick, if you could call a lab home.

 "Where'd you find this lab anyway?" Luka asked me as he lifted the manhole, and stuck his head out checking if we were clear to exit.

 "O-oh you know- just kinda stummbled upon it." I stuttered.

 "Clear." He said climbing up the ladder and hoping out.

 He stuck his head back down. "You comin'?"

 "Yeah," I said climbing up the ladder. It was pitch black for a couple seconds, before my eyes adjusted to the dim light. All of the streetlights were knocked out, ghosts didn't appreciate artificial light sources, and decided to destroy them all. "It's over here." I said leading him to the large outer door. I pulled it a couple of times before it finally opened.

 Walking down the corridor, a silence settled between us. It was odd talking to someone after five weeks of alone-time. "Here." I said opening yet another door. We came inside of my lab, the lights of the machine were completely failed now, and didn't even flash.

 "Well, this will do for now," he said, walking to the machine. Lifting a finger to touch one of the lights above the door, he asked, "Do you know what this thing is?"

 "Nope!" I said a bit too quickly. He glanced back at me.

 "Look, we're some of the last humans that aren't dead or possessed. We shouldn't be keeping secrets." He had a point, but I didn't want him to hate me.

 "I really don't, it was here before I came and it doesn't work. Iv'e tried, it's completely shut-down." I looked from my feet to his face, which was now turned away, looking at the machine again.

 He picked up a frame. It was the picture of Toupe and I.

 "Who's this? Your wife?" He asked.

 "Girlfriend," I corrected, grabbing the picture from him. "I brought some stuff with me when I left my apartment to come here." I was was half-way telling the truth.

 I had brought some things from my apartment, but before all of this happened. I sighed longing to look at her again.

 "Yeah, my girlfriend got possessed a couple weeks ago." He let out a deep breath and asked me where he could sleep.

 "Well, pretty much anywhere," I told him. "I sleep over there," I pointed to a table with a couple of pillows and blankets were. I went to a cupboard meant to hold test tubes, and grabbed two pillows and a large comforter.

 He took them from me and went to the other lab table in the room. "I'll sleep here." He fluffed his pillows and laid down on the table. "Tomorrow we'll find the other remaining humans."

 I laid down on my table and when I closed my eyes memories of Toupe and I filled my head.