CHAPTER ONE

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The scream from outside my hospital room skittered along my frayed nerves and resounded in my head. I sunk to the edge of the bed, knees buckling when they refused to take my weight. The thick weave of the blanket was numb beneath my touch. Not that cotton weave should concern me. There were more horrifying things to worry about, such as the creature that had escaped through an ancient inter-dimensional portal I’d opened to save my sister’s soul and the accompanying black, acidic guilt that cannibalised my insides.

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Laura’s wasn’t the only soul I’d brought back from Black John’s self-created world. Elliot had his chance to find eternal peace with his wife and child after finally completing the unfinished business he’d lost his life for. That they murdered him for.

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I’d ripped the decision to come back with me away from him. I hadn’t asked him when my body had called for the return of my soul. The compulsion to stop myself from reaching for him when my soul returned to my body was too great, even knowing Elliot’s genuine desire.

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Elliot loved his wife with a strength that transcended death. We were drawn to each other, but he still deserved to find his wife in the afterlife. I’d stolen the choice from him. I owed him an apology for bringing him back. I just had no idea how I would do that. What I’d done was monumental. Inexcusable.

The grey-mists trapped Elliot for 80 years, whilst his wife waited for him on the other side of the veil. I wasn’t only hurting Elliot and his wife, but the son he’d left as an infant who had also passed. All because I’d fallen in love with him. It was stupid and selfish and no matter how hard I reasoned with myself, the guilt didn’t go away. To make matters worse, I told him and then I’d brought him back with me when I returned to my body without waiting for his reply.

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I peered at Elliot’s profile as he stood next to Mum and Dad and stared out of the window, watching the terrifying flying skeleton race across the sky before it disappeared from sight. It had forced its way from the portal I’d opened to stop Black John from his insane plan of taking over the Earth with his army of reaped souls. It had vanished before the portal sucked in every inch of Black John’s world and left us stranded in the grey-mists.

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Dad’s mouth opened and closed as he sucked in air. His face reddened and a bead of sweat trickled down his cheek. “I…see it,” he wheezed.

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Dad had never seen the ghosts that plagued Mum, and now me. They’d moved to the middle of the outback so they didn’t bombard her. It was the only way Mum had stayed somewhat sane, although some days that was debatable. After years of living with minimal human interaction, she was a bit…

 

alternative. Her filter had well and truly died, along with her ability to lead a normal life. She was so adamant that she’d save her daughters from the same life she’d had that when I’d started exhibiting the ability to see ghosts, Mum had shut it down. It’d taken an angel to reactivate the gift.

 

It was one thing for the Sighted to see ghosts, and another for people who’d never seen them before. Defences were built, senses numbed, but for the uninitiated, horror awaited. Everyday people who lived life in blissful ignorance witnessed the creature. This was bad. This was very, very bad.

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Dad faced Mum, his eyes stark and wide. “Is this what you see, Jen? All of these years thinking I knew, but this...” Dad swallowed hard, his eyes turning glassy. “I didn’t know it would be anything like this.”

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Mum shook her head. She reached for Dad, finding his hand. “I just see people, David. Never this.”

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Dad’s shoulders slumped. He caught her in his arms, closing his eyes and resting his cheek on top of her head. “Thank God.”

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The distant wail of a siren and the thunder of running footsteps in the corridor outside of the room told me the rest of Melbourne would be as terrified as Dad, and he had accepted Mum’s gift long before she gave birth to me and Laura. The sky darkened as grey clouds removed the sunshine, mirroring my mood.

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“We must catch that thing and get it back through the portal,” Laura said, coming to stand beside me.

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Even taking two steps, she was out of breath. She was pale and a thin sheet of perspiration coated her face. My body had regenerated once my soul was free from Black John’s world, but Laura lay dead for days, her heart and lungs only working through life support. She hadn’t regenerated the same way I had when her soul returned to her body. Ariel had restored her ethereal cord when Laura had asked her.

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“How are we going to do that? I don’t even know what it is,” I said.

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The Soul-Eaters Black John had created to ‘recruit’ souls were terrifying enough, but that creature was something else altogether. The looks of pure and utter terror on the faces that were sucked through the portal had hooked in my mind, and that creature had come from the same place. I didn’t want to come face to face with, but there was no choice.

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“Ask Ariel if she can help,” Elliot said, his expression grave.

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My heart fluttered as he came towards me. I tipped my head back as I fell into his gleaming emerald eyes. The sick feeling that pulsed in my gut now flew through my veins. I stifled the urge to throw my arm around his neck, because that was impossible. I shoved aside the useless, hopeless desire, hating that I would never be able to. Black John’s world was horrifying, but at least I’d been able to touch Elliot. We’d made love, but being here, he was nothing more substantial than air.

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My mouth fell open to say the words that would damn me and divide us forever, but the shriek of emergency sirens stopped me short. Three ambulances shot out of the hospital’s driveway below us, scattering cars as they hurtled onto the main road outside. That wasn’t a good sign.

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I closed my eyes, conjuring up an image of Ariel in my mind. “Ariel, we need your help.”

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I opened my eyes, waiting, but nothing happened. There was no flash of angelic light, let alone an angel appearing.

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“Ariel?” I looked at the ceiling as though that might be helpful and called her again.

Long moments passed. The sounds of the corridor filled with people; scared voices and afraid tones that matched that state of my mind.

My gaze flicked over Elliot’s face. “Why isn’t she coming?”

Elliot shook his head, a frown creasing his brow, “I don’t know.”

She couldn’t hear us in Black John’s world, but we were back now. It made little sense. The ambulance siren echoed in the distance, scraping under my skin.

“Try opening the portal, just like you did before, and suck it back in,” Laura said.

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I rubbed the back of my hand where the tattoo had appeared. It was a perfect etch of the ruby that contained the Light-Stream portal that Marie had hidden in Black John’s world. The portal that Elliot had once flicked open and the reason Black John had wanted Elliot to come to his world.

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A flicker of tingly heat skittered up my arm, warring with the unease that was taking over the better part of my mind. I knew I missed something hugely important when it came to this portal. Something dark and unsettling that was just beyond my senses niggled the far reaches of my brain. Something telling me it was a bad idea to open another portal. I dealt with forces I had no clue about. The portal was a limitless power with ability to do anything. The fiery destruction of the world, for example. I let my hand fall back to my side and forced my attention to my sister.

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“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I said. A flash of heat seared my skin on the inside before it faded. I jumped at the sudden burn, rubbing my arm.

“What is it, Cassie?” Elliot said.

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Of course, he would have seen my reaction. He missed nothing, but I also didn’t want to alarm him. I’d already done enough to him. I came up with the quickest excuse that sprung to mind “Just jumpy. That thing should never have escaped.”

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His eyes gleamed as though he didn’t believe me, but then he said, “Cassie’s right. This might not be the right time. We need to understand what escaped before we ask the portal to take it back to where it came from. There are hundreds of dimensions it’s connected to. We don’t want to send it somewhere else it could damage.”

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“Hundreds of dimensions?” Energy simmered along the tattooed lines of the ruby. I clenched my eyes, trying to ignore the tingling pressure and a panic attack that hovered moments away.

Elliot nodded. “There’s more out there than heaven, hell and earth, Cassie. Parallel worlds, different universes, and other worlds. The portal connects them all.”

A chill worked up my spine, knowing the key was embedded in the back of my hand. So much power. So much responsibility. So much I didn’t know.

“Thadius will be able to help,” Laura said.

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Mum massaged her forehead. “I can’t deal with this. Two daughters nearly dead, and now two daughters with the gift.”

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Laura crossed her arms. “It will be different with me, Mum. It’s what I want. What I’ve always wanted.”

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Mum shook her head, tears falling from her eyes. “You say that now, Laura, but you don’t understand what you’ve done.”

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I placed a hand over my churning stomach, my head spinning. Laura could see ghosts. She could see Elliot now. I liked she could do that, but Mum was right. She didn’t know what she’d really asked for.

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Laura had people on her side. Maybe she was right. Maybe she could handle this a lot better than Mum or myself.

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She also had Thadius who not only knew of the existence of ghosts but worked with Laura to find evidence. They’d worked together for a long time before Laura had introduced him to me and I still wasn’t one hundred percent what their relationship really was. Thadius wasn’t what I’d call the normal person in the street, but I was grateful for his help.

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I’d been woefully unprepared, but Laura? Perhaps Laura would cope with seeing ghosts better than all of us.

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“Jenny, maybe it’s the best thing for both of our girls,” Dad said.

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Mum whipped around to face him, “What do you mean?”

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“You can all help each other, is what I’m saying. Think about it, Jenny. You’re all on the same page now. And Laura is right. She wants this. It makes all the difference,” Dad said.

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“This will wreck her life, David. Her relationships. Her future. It will all go to dust,” Mum said

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Dad tucked his knuckle under Mum’s chin, a brow rising into his forehead, “Are you telling me every aspect of your life went to dust?”

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“Well. Not all aspects I guess,” Mum said. I frowned at her flushed cheeks and exchanged a confused glance with Laura.

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“Then you should trust that our girls know what they’re doing, and we’ll be there for them just as I was there for you all of those years ago,” Dad said.

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Mum and Dad never told us what happened when they’d first met, and now my curiosity was definitely piqued.

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“What happened all those years ago?” Laura asked. Good on Laura for just coming out and saying it. I wanted to know the answer as well.

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Mum cleared her throat, ignoring us. She was good at doing that when she wanted, “What about now, David? What about this creature? Inter-dimensional portals? This is worse than it ever was for us.”

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“They have us. We have Elliot. We have angels on our side,” Dad said.

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“Speaking of whom, why isn’t Ariel here?” Laura asked.

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A prickle ran up from the base of my spine. Ariel still wasn’t here, and the creature was still out there somewhere, and somehow, I was the only person who could send it back where it came from, and I didn’t know how to even go about doing that.

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“Elliot, what do you know about the Light-Stream portal?” I’d get back to Mum and Dad’s story another time. Be upset with Laura later. The creature was dangerous. It didn’t belong to this world and I need all the information I could get to put it back, somehow. Some way.

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So much had happened. It made my head spin and I clung to the most urgent situation to get me through.

 

Elliot rubbed his chin. I heard the rasp of his finger on the stubble that graced his skin as he speared me with a direct look. “I know what the Light-Stream portal is and how it’s connected, but not the beings it connects.”

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“If they’re like that thing out there, I hate to think what else there could be,” I said, stifling my shudder. That thing was bad enough, but if the universe was infinite, it stood to reason there might be other beings more terrifying than that one. After all, I’d seen angels and Soul-Eaters. Logically, there would be more beings in the universe than I could fathom.

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“I’m not sure what’s going on, but the car is downstairs in the parking lot if we need to take it,” Dad said.

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Dad took half conversations all in his stride. If the three of us could now see ghosts, it seemed cruel that Dad didn’t. Just once, I’d like him to meet Elliot in person.

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I mulled around the temptation to ask Ariel if she could gift Dad the same as she’d done for Laura. Given the circumstances, it might be best for everyone that Dad could see ghosts. See Elliot. I wasn’t sure how he’d take to it, but it wasn’t as though he had no experience with the dead, or people who could see the dead. It had to be his choice though. I eyed Mum, knowing she’d probably have a conniption if Dad had the sight.

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Although, it would be easier for us all. Easier for all, or easier for you. I shoved aside the uncomfortable thought. There would be time for my soul to burn in hell later for my current decisions.

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“The girls have to dress. They can’t go out in the streets looking like that,” Mum said.

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I glanced down at my hospital gown and bare legs and feet. I matched Laura, although where I felt strong and awake, Laura looked like she could keel over at any moment. She needed rest, but she wouldn’t get it. I’d get her some vitamins and make her sleep when she could.

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Mum bustled to the corner of the room, put the bag on the chair and unzipped it. She thrust clothes into Laura’s hands and then mine.

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“How did you get our clothes?” I asked Mum.

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“Your mother was worried about you. It calmed her down going to your apartments and gathering your clothing. She said if she had them, you would both come back,” Dad said.

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The bags under Dad’s eyes and the scruff on his cheeks let me know they’d lived on their nerves for the past few days. I guess it gave both Mum and Dad something to do, other than sitting here worrying, which they seemed to have done for hours. They’d been through hell as much as we had, although it hadn’t all been hell for me. I glanced at Elliot. Some of it was pure heaven.

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I hugged Dad and them Mum shoving aside the familiar pang of guilt, “Thank you.”

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I grabbed Laura’s arm and bustled her to the bathroom. “Come on, I’ll help you dress.”

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We wasted no time and after dressing and a quick wash of our faces, we headed out of the hospital room. Nurses and orderlies jogged down the corridor, hustling as fast as they could without outright running.

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Laura jerked when a patient with bloodied bandages across his temple lunged at us, his eyes large and wild. “The Germans are coming!”

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Elliot stepped to him. “Come with me. I’ll help you.”

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The man grabbed Elliot’s outstretched hand, his face slack with relief. “Thank you. My God, thank you.”

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“I’ll meet you at Thadius’s,” he said before they both faded away, Elliot holding onto the man.

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Laura’s brow rose as she turned to me. “Is that how Elliot helps ghosts transcend?”

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“Yes. Sometimes they come out at you like that,” I said, tuning out the people in the corridor that surrounded us, some alive and some not, in favour of watching my sister.

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Mum held Laura’s shoulder. “Do you see the strife this will cause your life? You’ll never have a moment of peace.”

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“You won’t have to worry about me,” Laura said.

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Although Laura was pale, it wasn’t because she was scared at seeing the ghosts passing us by. Quite the opposite, in fact. Her curious gaze trailed behind a nurse from the nineteen fifties, still doing her duties, before tangling with mine.

 

She wasn’t scared. Not at all, but I also knew Mum would never stop trying to stop Laura from seeing ghosts but I was afraid it was too late. The damage was already done to all of us.

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