Raising Echo

13

" A shrink. A fucking shrink."

Desiré scoffed to herself, shaking her head as she sat back in her seat. She was moments away from leaping out of the chair and going back to her car instead of going through with this. There were some things that she couldn't talk about with her friends, Chris, and especially not her husband who'd discover the divorce papers on his desk any moment. She felt the need to talk to somebody who didn't know her and wouldn't judge her off the bat based on their own biases. Her phone dinged and she glanced at it. She had a new message from Chris but she brushed it off and turned it on do not disturb. She felt wrong for ghosting him after such a sentimental night with him. They were able to turn a day so agonizingly sour into something sweet and it conflicted her. It wasn't real. None of it. She needed to snap back into the reality of her boring life.

Even though he made her feel beautiful again...

and smart...

and thought of...

She had yet to believe it herself. So she decided to see a professional to ensure that she kept her sanity even if it meant she had to tell little white lies.

"Ms. Desiré Jones? The doctor is ready for you."

_

"Where is she..." Chris grumbled as he called Desiré for the umpteenth time that morning. He hadn't seen her in days and was left confused. He thought that they were finally starting to move somewhere in their relationship but now he felt like they'd just taken a U turn and was back to square one.

"We'll just have to go on without her," his aunt Christine spoke, carrying Aeko and his rattle. He was a lot more fidgety lately and sensitive to different sounds. It was almost like he was afraid or worried. It was hard to believe a baby could really develop a sense of fear, especially with as much security he has around him. He wondered if it had anything to do with Desiré's sudden absence.

Chris rubbed his face, and scratched his scruffy beard, taking a seat on the couch. They were starting Aeko's training back up and he just wanted Desiré to be there with them.

"Give me your hands," Christine ordered. Chris did as told and she placed a pomade of some sort in his hand. She then grabbed his hand and pressed his thumb inside the thick, dark substance and pressed it on Aeko's forehead leaving a thumbprint. "We ask, spirit realm, for you to protect infant Aeko in his training for he is too young to ward off dark spirits, especially Malum Lux. Guide infant Aeko through the harshness off his visions and the terrifying effects of always knowing. With the body and blood of the ancestors, we offer to you the use of our minds and bodies as vessels..."

Chris' eyes were closed and he say still. He couldn't help but to wander in his mind as his Aunt performed the opening prayer. He wondered about this Malum Lux and what it meant. He'd gotten lost in his thoughts and then he'd realized he really got lost in his thoughts. His eyes wouldn't open. He tried but he felt weak and powerless. He tried to yell out for help but his body just buzzed all over. It felt like static electricity courses through his veins instead of blood and then there was a metallic taste in his mouth. Almost irony, like blood. Everything around him was pitch black. Dark, cold, and empty. "Hello," he attempted to call out but his voice wouldn't carry. He was in empty space. There's nothing for sound to bounce off of so it was absorbed by the eerie darkness never to be heard by anyone. He felt around, trying to at least feel his way around anywhere and then it appeared to him. On his hand, glowing bright hues of purples, greens, and blues. It was Aeko, etched into the back of his hand like a tattoo. Upon noticing the new figure on his hand, Chris was pulled back into reality. He inhaled deeply as his eyes opened, bulging out of his head, his nails dug into to leather couch, as he panted, and then he looked at his hand where the "tattoo" was but it was bare.

"W-what the fuuuuck..." Chris questioned shakily.

"You accidentally put yourself in limbo," Christine said, coming to him with a damp cloth, patting his forehead. "It happens when you focus on something else during an offering to the spiritual realms. Or a seance. Sometimes even meditation or..."

"I don't know what the fuck that was but it wasn't limbo," Chris spoke staring at the daylight shining from the window.

"Not the party game, boy. Limbo is the middle. It isn't life or death. It's between the two."

"So, I could've died...?" Chris looked at his Aunt with a red band across his eyes. She moved back and covered her mouth.

"What?!" Chris asked frantically, wondering what warranted that kind of reaction from her. "What is it?"

She shook her head. "N-nothing, Chris. You should get some rest."

"It's something. Do you think I could really sleep after all that? Now tell me what's going on! Please."

Before she could start with an explanation, Aeko started to cry. His face was balled up in a similar expression to how it was several nights ago. He was not uncomfortable or hungry. He was disturbed.

"T-there's an entity here. In this house." Christine shuffled around, looking for something while Chris scrambled to pick Aeko up.

"How do you know?" Chris said, pleading with her.

"The red stripe in your eye," she spoke still searching through her things, "it shows a spirit was in contact with you. Whatever- or whoever it was put you into limbo. And that's...not good. That would explain Aeko's strange awakenings at the same time. That's the spirits window. But, by doing the opening prayer and you being vulnerable during it, it gave the mother fucker the opportunity to widen that window. And it did- Got it!" Christine pulled out a card with a symbol on it and she recited a few words in latin and then saying "ipsum revelare!"

"Something reveal..." Chris figured.

When he figured things just couldn't get any worse the lights flickered and he heard a faint knock at the door. The house fell silent and the Nephew and Aunt looked at each other with fear encased in their eyes.

"Don't," Christine whispered.

_

Should I have warned y'all before things got this dark? Or should I warn y'all now because it's only gonna get darker? oh well. SEVEN MORE CHAPPIES LEFT. - L.