That's the Spirit

6

6

I screamed. This was terrifying. It was in his voice; his harmless, innocent voice. It was Brett, my brother, but it wasn’t. It was the doctor… but it shouldn’t have been. I was plastered against the back wall as Brett’s five foot six figure loomed in the doorway, staring menacingly into my soul.

“Cara has been a bad girl, hasn’t she? She’s a slut. Too bad she had err… complications when I tried to find a cure for being a slut.”

“Shut up, asshat! Cara is a nice girl. She isn’t a slut.”

“Don’t stick up for the dead, boy. There isn’t anything you can do. They don’t belong in reality. And don’t speak to me in that tone. I can make your guts spill from your ass on will.”

“If they don’t belong in reality, you don’t either.” I had such courage then. I don’t know if it was just me trying to save my brother. Maybe it was my pride. I couldn’t do that now if I tried.

“I am not one of them. I am no human spirit. Look hard enough, David, and you can find the doctor, lurking and moaning in these corridors.”

What the fuck was he? I was panicked. Not only was this thing in my brother, but I didn’t know for sure what he was! Cara was gone, too. Why was I standing up for her when she just ran in a time of need?

Suddenly, the ceiling caved in on top of Brett. When the dust cleared, a paler, weaker Cara stood on the rubble. “Took you long enough,” I remarked selfishly. I should have been grateful. My ass would have been ripped to shreds without her.

“You don’t understand,” she barely squeaked out. I approached her, curious as to why she was acting strange (for ghost standards, that is). “C’mon,” she began, louder but still soft and weak, “we need to go before he gets out. Don’t worry, your brother shouldn’t be hurt too bad, but the doc will get back—,”

She stopped, and we both sort of panicked. When she tried to grab my arm, her hand fell right through me. Her form was no longer solid. Aside from visual appearance, she was basically transparent.

The rubble shifted. “Well, let’s go!” We began to run down the corridors. We zigzagged until even Cara was confused on where we were. We hoped and figured we had lost the doctor. I sat against a wall, exhausted. Cara wasn’t in good shape at all. Her trick with the ceiling had taken a toll on her.

She was becoming transparent. Her face had no character. Cara’s composure was that of the miserable, moaning ghosts that wander the corridors. She was losing herself. This scared me, and not because she had to help me. I was losing a friend.

“Stay with me, Cara,” I ordered as I got to my feet and paced to find an idea. Her eyes were fixed on me. She still had some intelligence, but she had become even closer to transparent. I spotted something in a room I passed. It was Brett’s jacket. I reached in his pockets and found his cell phone and video camera. Both batteries were mostly full. This was just what I needed. I kept the video camera in the jacket for a later use, and I brought the cell phone to Cara in hope of using the energy to revive her.

I placed it next to her figure. Slowly, the battery in his phone drained, and Cara was slowly coming back. Finally she whispered the words, “Thank you, Dave.” I had her back. I was happy.

The nature of these beings was quite peculiar. They were but impressions of their previous spirits. With the right amount of energy, their impressions are made observable and, eventually, tangible. My phone drained as I heard the screams and cries of the doctor’s victims. It also drained in the presence of Cara, whom it strengthened. There was one big question I had though… if they needed energy to be active, then how was the doctor so powerful without submitted energy?

Cara had been staring at me for a while now. She didn’t know that I noticed. It’s one thing when you have that feeling someone, or something like that of a ghost, is watching you. That feeling is creepy. This, on the other hand, was hysterical. This time, I knew what and who was watching me and I knew where they were. I prefer this to the feeling of uncomfortable fear.

“Is the doctor like you?” I finally asked. I had to. “Is he just a ghost? The question was eating away at me, and I was worried since I already had a feeling.

“No,” she sighed. “I wish he were a ghost.”

“What is he?”

“He never lived on this world. He never lived mortal among other mortals. I think you know what he is…”

I gave in. I knew it for a while at this point, after  all, and I knew running from it wouldn’t stop this from happening. “My brother… is possessed by a demon, isn’t he?” I became shaky and began to breathe heavy. The longer Cara held her silence, the worse I felt. I just wanted her to confirm. I wanted to know for one hundred percent sure that there was or wasn’t a demon in my brother. “Cara?” I asked. I waited and asked again, “Caroline?”

Finally, she nodded her head. I covered my face in my palms. This was a nightmare. Who knew what time it was, my parents were probably freaking out by now. The cops were probably upstairs looking. The door to the cell with the hole in the floor was probably locked, as if never touched. I was without any communication down here. My brother was possessed. It was hopeless… All of it was, it seemed.