Shards of Blue Glass

Simon Pulban

"You want me to do what?"

    Alex laughs, and says,"We want you and Zak to go into the room, do an EVP session, then make out. It'll anger the spirit in there, if the stories are true."

"Not that I'm complaining, but who came up with this idea?" I ask, and the guys laugh. Jae raises his hand, and I feel my eyes go round in surprise.

    Jae laughs, and Zak rolls his eyes. "I was surprised, too, Saira. Normally, Jae doesn't come up with random ideas that might just work. But, if you don't want me to go in there with you, we can lock Alex in there with you."

    I shudder, visibly, and everyone laughs. "No, thanks. No offense, Alex, but I'd rather have Zak kissing me in a locked room than you." Mark mutters, though all of us can hear him,"As does every girl in America."

    Everyone laughs, and Zak grins even wider when he looks at me. I roll my eyes at him, then grab the EVP recorder Alex hands me. mWe walk into room 3, closing and locking the door behind us.

    I set my camera up on the dresser/TV stand in front of the bed, then join Zak, who's sitting on the bed. Zak holds the recorder out in front of him, and wraps one arm around my waist.

    "Simon Pulban. We've heard stories that you don't like couples in your room. The stories say that you pull the men out of bed, give them scratches and bruises. But then you harm the girls, as well. Are these stories true?"

    Zak pauses, looking around the room, allowing whatever spirit that's in this room time to answer him. "Simon, what do you think of Zak and me?" I ask, looking around the room as well, alert for any spirits.

    A pause, then Zak asks,"Why do you hurt the women as well, Pulban?" I can hear the undercurrent of anger in Zak's voice. He hates it when spirits attack women and children. Male testerone maybe? Or protectiveness. I have no clue which. "Why are you not showing yourself, Pulban? Is it because you're afraid?" I ask, looking around. Zak's arm twitches around my waist, pulling me closer to him. An unconscious habit for him.

    Zak looks over at me, and I shake my head. He hits the button to stop the recording, then plays it back, holding it up to both our ears.

    When it gets to my first question, the one about Zak and I, a voice can be heard, hissing,"Unfair pairing." I look over at Zak, and he looks over at me. I can tell he heard the same thing as me. "Unfair pairing. What's that mean?" I ask, frowning.

    Zak shrugs, his eyebrows knitting together. "Let's listen to the rest of the recording, then decide," he says. I nod, then lean in to hear the playback. At the next question, the one about Pulban hurting the women as well, a man's voice comes through and says,"Glory."

    Zak's face contorts in rage, and I put my hand on his knee, to let him know that I'm still there. His arm tightens around my waist even more, and Zak lays his chin on the top of my head as I lean into him.

    Suddenly, Zak yelps and pulls back, shaking. I sit up and look at him, and see him clutching his knees.

    "There's a really bad burning sensation on my lower back. It felt like someone just stabbed me with a cold knife, then it heated up and was dragged down my spine. Can you check my back, please, Saira?" Zak says, all in a rush, his face contorted in pain.

    Zak stands, then turns around so his back faces me and the camera. He pulls up his shirt, exposing his lower back. I try not to gasp at the new tattoo on his skin, and I succeed, but just barely.

    A knife, with bones around the handle and a halo as the hilt. Blood is dripping off the point, like the angel tattoo between his shoulder blades. Words are etched onto each side of the knife blade. And, I can read them, since I studied languages out of boredom in high school.