The Other Side of the Portal

Chapter 5

 Luka

 We turned onto another cross-street, and followed it down another mile. The ride was getting more strenuous by the minute. I was ready to pull my hair out, we were so close to my family, I could feel it. But they were nowhere in sight.

 Valerie sat up, drowsy, "Where are we now?" She asked me.

 "We're going to stop soon and find somewhere for the night, I know how you feel, I'm tired too."

 I scratched my head and decided to look out the window. It was getting darker and darker, but since there was no clock, I couldn't be presise on the time, nor the day. I was almost positive it was the sixteenth of October, having a calendar didn't really pop out to me on my list of necessities.

 "Russet?" Val asked, "Do you know what time it is?"

 He looked down to his wrist, which, surprise surprise, had a solar powered watch strapped around it. "It's about eight-thirty." He answered before looking back at the road. "There shouldn't be many ghosts out right now, which means we had the pick of shelters."

 He looked around, in search of just that, a shelter.

 It was nearly thirty minutes later when we finally saw a suitable place to rest, it was an old bookstore. It couldn't necessarily be my first choice, but apparently, accoordining to Russet, it was our best bet. Sure.

 "Ugh... Finally." Valerie groaned as we got out of the truck.

 "We'll need to hide this car, so that it doesn't get stolen or damaged." Russet said as he tried to break down the front door to the shop. It had been boarded up for some reason and had nails half hazardly sticking out.

 How he thought he could break it open on his own was beyond me, but I walked up to help him anyway. "Let me give you a hand." I said as I reached his side.

 "I've got it." He lied as he breathed heavily.

 "Shut up, don't be retarded." I said, grabbing ahold of the other side. We both pulled on it and after a couple of hard pulls, the first boarding came off.

 There were five more.

 Great, this was making my day.

 Finally, after fourty-five minutes, we got all of the wood off. Before us, stood a door that's paneling was chipping, the green paint rubbed off almost completely. The door was jammed, but I got it open after a few minutes.

 The library wasn't old, but it hadn't been taken care of for a while, and it's contents were full of dust and grime. Valerie sneezed softly and reached up to grab a book near her. It's title was indistinguishable from the dirt that covered it.

 She set it down softly, "Why hasn't anyone been cleaning here? I thought ghosts appreciated literature."

 "They must have thought this place was unnecessary to their global takeover." I mumbeled, still annoyed from everything that's happened. Who needed a small bookstore when you have an amazing invention called a computer?

 There was a spiral staircase leading to a second floor, and I started walking towards it, Val right on my heels. "I wonder whats up there." She said, thinking aloud.

 "Most likely more books." Russet answered to her retorical question.

 I ignored him and kept climbing. At the top, there was a clerk desk, and one of those rolling ladders you always see in libraries. I decided to check out the desk, and see if I could figure out what day it was.

 On top of the desk was a calendar, thank God. If I knew correctly, it was the seventeenth of October. There was also a computer, but when I tried to turn it on, it asked for a password, so I just left it alone.

 There was a shuffling to my right, and thinking it was Valerie, I ignored it. But then, I heard a small sqeak, I turned around and saw someone with all black holding Val from behind.

 "Let her go!" I yelled, lunging at the figure before me. "I will kill you!" I was telling the truth, I was at my breaking point. At the edge of a sharp, long cliff into insanity.

 But before I could reach him, he jumped to the side and held Val over the edge of the staircase, threatening to drop her. "Who are you and why have you come here?" The male asked me, his voice slightly muffled by the mask he wore over his head, sheilding his face from me.

 "I don't know. We were just looking for shelter! You stupid ghosts don't exactly leave many places to live for refugees."

 "I'm not possessed." The man said, pulling Valerie back over the edge, to safety. "Are you human?" He asked me, looking from Val to me and back again.

 "Yes dumbass, now could you please let go of my girlfriend? We're not the enimies." I yelled to him, my temper barely contolled. "And take that rediculous mask off while your at it, you look like a serial rapitist."

 After releasing Val, he started to take off his mask, and someone I knew very well stood in front of me.

 My brother.

 "Lucas?" I exclaimed, running towards him, nearly knocking him over. "What the hell?"

 "Wait, wait, wait. Luka? That's you? Holy crap, I'm so sorry, I couldn't see correctly in this thing. I can't believe I just threatened to throw your girlfriend off the edge." He sat down on the floor, his head resting in his hands.

 Russet came up the staircase then, holding a woman about my age in his arms. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, and when she saw Lucas, she struggled out of Russet's grasp, and ran to him. "Lucas!" She screamed, and hugged him. "I tried to keep them away, but I couldn't!"

 Lucas lifted his head and told her everything. "Everyone, this is Calla. She's been with me for a while now." He looked at her lovingly, "I'm about to tell you something, and you had better let me at least try to explain." His face hardened and he looked at us menacingly.

 All three of us nodded and waited for him to explain further.

 "Well," He started. "She's a ghost."