True Colours

1.4 Dark

"Someone is in the room," Jason stated aloud to the quiet room.

"A gentleman. He was in his late 40s when he passed."
Jason winced and turned his head, as if straining to hear.

"Come forward please sir?"

He paused to allow the spirit to come through fully.

"Yes I can hear you, but please speak slowly. I can't ..."

Jason began to bridge the communication.

"I have a man here," he stated to the deathly quiet room. "He has only recently crossed to the spirit world. His spirit is very strong. He keeps saying that he should have protected them."

Jason, with his eyes still closed, suddenly turned his head to face the other side of the room.

"Wait a moment...someone else is coming through now."
Jason paused.

"A teenage girl. Don't be afraid, no harm will come to you here." he said aloud.

A frown falls on his face.

"She too has only recently passed and she seems quite upset."
Jason's stare moved downward slightly.

'She's holding something in her arms"
The silence in the room rang in his ears.

"A boy...she's holding a baby boy."

The blood drains from Jason's face and he starts to salivate as if he was going to be sick.

"Your baby boy! Christ, they are your family. Your husband and children."

One by one, more spirits started to come though, slowly surrounding him in a growing circle as he sat in his chair. These were weaker, greyed spirits who have been much longer in the spirit world, but they were many. More and more appeared until the room was full. Jason opens his eyes wide and quickly stands up. The communication breaks.

"What are you?", he gasped.

The room was pitch black, yet he could still make out elements. The chair in front of him where she sat is now empty, but her stale odour still hung in the still room. All of his senses sickly tingled. The hair on the back of his neck spiked. Black dots grew on his vision as he felt himself losing consciousness. Jason dropped to his knees and collapsed limp onto the floor.

The last thing he saw before he fully passed out was the narrow strip of light bouncing in from under his office door from the bright hallway. Shadows from Dolores's feet neared the door, concerned by the commotion.

"Is everything alright in there Mr Cruise?" Dolores said, as the darkness swallowed him whole.