Whispers in the Dark

Fatal Attraction

"So she got you too, huh?" Oliver said, sounding cautious. "Olivia, I mean."

Martin shook his head, trying to unscramble his thoughts. "No. She's dead. I killed her."

Oliver was visibly surprised. "Then how-"

"Your bone," Martin answered, already aware what the question would be. "Olivia carved some sort of symbol on it afterwards." He lifted his shirt up, revealing an identical one on his chest. "Just like this. When a bunch of us touched it, it started glowing. Next thing, we were here."

Oliver smiled sadly. "That's the mark of Dolos. He's the one keeping us all trapped here."

"Us?" When Martin realized what that meant, he nearly threw up. "You mean everyone here is... How's that possible?"

"He's old, M. Very old. He was there when the Roman Empire first rose up, and he was also there to watch it fall apart. I think he might be God."

Martin refused to accept that. "If that were true, he wouldn't have needed Olivia to do his dirty work."

"He didn't," replied Oliver.

"What do you mean?"

"Olivia helped speed the process up. She sacrificed people in exchange for power, but Dolos doesn't need sacrifices for this place to function. He snatches souls who are on their way to the other side, then traps them here. From what you've told me, you're the first alive person to set foot in here."

"An anomaly," Martin whispered. "Did you try to leave?"

Oliver snorted. "Of course I have. We've all done it. There's no end to this place. Eventually, you just sort of stumble back where you started. We're stuck here."

That tone didn't sit well with Martin. Oliver had always been the upbeat, optimistic one. The role of the negative sulker was Martin's. "You might not be. The guys who came with me - they might be able to get you out. We need to go."

He turned around and began walking quickly. This time, Oliver was the one who struggled to keep up. Eventually, they made their way over to where Kol was being taken care of by Nikita. Martin approached him. "They're ghosts."

Kol looked up with his remaining eye. "I'm gonna need more than that."

"Oliver, and all the other people here - they're already dead. We're the only alive ones."

That was the first time he saw Kol surprised. "That explains why I wasn't able to sense anything about them."

Nikita looked confused. "I thought you could sense ghosts?"

"Yes, when I'm in my body." Kol stood up. "It's only our souls that got trapped here. I wasn't able to sense they were spirits because we're all spirits, too."

"That mean your isn't really gone?" Nikita asked.

"I doubt my real one will be any better. Damage to the soul is damage to the body, and more."

"But you can help them?" said Martin. "You can make them move on?"

Kol nodded. "That might be our ticket out of here."

"What do you mean?"

"It took a lot of power to built this place. Since it only contains souls, it's on the astral plain, beyond the physical. Los is using the souls of the people trapped here as fuel. Free the souls, remove the fuel, and it comes undone. We'll be free to return to our bodies afterwards."

"And Dolos?" Oliver finally spoke up. "What'll happen to him?"

Kol didn't seem surprised to see him, which Martin had figured would happen. If anyone would be unaffected by meeting the man whose murder you helped solve, it would be Kol.

"He'll be weakened, but still around. That's when I'll either help him move on, or force him to. If he's a spirit, of course."

"Won't he just, like, interfere?" Nikita rose a valid point. "He totally wants us to play his stupid key game. He'll be super pissed if we try to cheat."

"He doesn't know everything that happens here," Oliver stated. "A few of us have managed to keep a secret or two from him. If his focus is on you, you can't hide, but he often gets distracted. If we can find a way to keep Dolos occupied, you'll have enough time to free everyone."

Kol nodded. "But how do we keep him occupied? We don't even know where he is."

"Well, actually," Nikita whispered, then pointed toward a building. They could see Eve sitting inside, looking nervous. Sitting on the other side of the table was Los, who seemed to be attempting to make a joke. Eve wasn't having it.

"That'll do it," the group, bar Oliver, said in unison.

Kol turned toward Nikita. "You go find Luke. After that, the two of you keep playing the key game. We'll need it as our way out if plan A fails." Next, he faced Oliver. "You're the only one he won't be surprised to see. You need to tell that girl he's with to distract him as long as possible. She's with us." After that, he turned to Martin. "I need you to start talking about me as if I was the second coming of Jesus. The power of the mind matters in a place like this. If all the souls here believe I'm able to set them free, it'll become that much easier. I'll be waiting for them at the Ferris Wheel. Everyone understand their job?" The three nodded. "Alright. Get to work."

Oliver headed straight for the restaurant. Whenever two souls got together, they would go there. It was just about the only romantic spot in the Half-Dead Wonderland. He casually passed by the table where Eve and Dolos were sitting. "Oh, you're here," he said, pretending to have just seen them. He did have one advantage in all of this; Dolos' entire purpose in life had always been fun. When Oliver had asked him to stop reading his mind, the redhead agreed instantly, just to let himself be surprised every now and then.

Los smiled at him. "Oliver, what brings you here? I don't see a date."

"Just felt like eating something."

Dolos' eyes narrowed like a cat's. "There are plenty of food stands here." Both Eve and Oliver expected something nasty to happen. Did he mess up already?

In an instant, Los' mood changed. "Well, whatever. You do you, man."

Doing his best not to sigh with relief, Oliver took another step forward, then acted as though he'd just remembered something. "By the way, girls don't enjoy having you go through their heads. Poor etiquette." Telling Eve about the plan would be pointless if her date just read her thoughts and saw what they were up to.

"Really?" The redhead turned to Eve. "Is that true?"

The girl nodded, eyeing Oliver suspiciously. "It's kind of a mood killer."

"Wouldn't want her to have a bad time, would you?"

The sentence seemed to shock Dolos. "Of course not. This place is fun!" He was the only one who thought that. "Thanks for the tip, man," he said to Oliver, then started ignoring him. The ghost kept walking, and when he was out of the other's peripheral vision, he turned toward Eve and started waving at her in an attempt to get her attention. She noticed him, looking confused. Oliver pointed at her, then pointed at Los, then spun a finger through the air slowly. Keep it going.

Eve did not look like she understood.

Oliver sighed, then pointed to the clock on the walls. He then gestured toward the two honeybirds, and gave the girl a thumbs up.

Finally, Eve seemed to understand. In an instant, her sour mood vanished, and she heartily laughed at something Dolos said.

This plan might work, after all.