Temporum - The Open One Ch. 01

"Hey, I've been in limbo for four years. I've learned how to escape demons and deal with them... I may be weak but I know my limits...I know what I can do." I said back. She smiled at me, extending her hand towards me.

"I'm Traci...Traci Malbert." She said. Our hands were able to touch, her hand not phasing through mine. It shocked me for a bit, as I remembered I was dead.

"Nice to meet you." I responded.

"Have you done anything to try to show him he's spiritually open?" She asked.

"I just made him relive his near death experience through my eyes. I don't know what else I can do." I said, unsure how she'd take this.

"Eh, I don't want to get in trouble... I'll um... think of something! I've seen him on campus once or twice before. Maybe one of my friends is a mutual of his and we can get connected some way... We got to do something for him though. He is very unarmed in a dangerous world." Traci said, stroking her chin, "I gotta go..."

"Ok, there's a big gap between now and when he's well enough to get back on campus. What am I to do until then?" I asked.

"Well it looks like he may have a concussion at worst with a few scars to show. I'll be in touch...trust me..." She said, leaving the room.

The boy was in a medically induced coma for now. The drugs were set for him to come out if it within the next few hours but I thought the injuries were more severe. Maybe he could walk out of here sooner rather than later.

Within these hours, his parents had come all the way from Kentucky to see him. At the same time, he came to his senses waking up from surgery just as they came into the room. His mother, teary eyed and relieved to see her son doing well, came over to him.

"My baby..." She said.

"What happened?" The boy asked.

"You almost got hit by a platform but you fell before it hit you. You narrowly escaped with your life." A doctor said, writing on a clipboard.

"Wait, that wasn't a dream?" The boy asked, growing deeply upset and deeply confused.

"No, it was real... I say a miracle happened. You were the only one to survive..." The doctor said.

"My god..." His mother said, placing her hand over her heart, remembering her faith.

"You had a really close call, Lyre." His father laughed.

So his name was Lyre! It was a weird name but I liked it. His eyes slumped to the floor as he sat deep in thought.

"So this wasn't a dream?" Lyre asked.

"No, but you do have a very, very bad concussion and will need to stay under medical watch for a week. A nursing student from your school volunteered to aid you during this week. You should be back to normal in the coming months. I'm prescribing you some pain meds. The nursing student will be sure you take them while you're here and when you're gone, the responsibility will roll over to you. Be light on your feet for the next few months. No working out, no extensive physical activity." The Doctor said.

"So um... what happened exactly?" Lyre asked, very much confused.

"I'm not sure. Eyewitnesses say the thing just snapped and swung down and cut through a bunch of people." The doctor responded, rather perplexed.

Lyre's eyes then locked onto me. At first I thought it was a fluke until I could see he was eyeing me from head to toe. If the boy was confused before, he downright was facing a conundrum now. He extended out his hand pointing a finger at me.

"Who's he?" He asked. His parents and the doctor looked where I was standing but saw nothing.

"No one's there." His father responded.

The boy's eyes wandered to the ceiling, feeling he was going crazy.

"You need to take it easy Lyre." The doctor said.

"Is he gonna be okay?" His mother asked, growing concerned. It was obvious she recalled when her son was younger and asked questions like this all the time. Lyre's father kept glimpsing back to where I was standing, also haunted by Lyre's youth.

"He just needs some rest and his head should be okay." The Doctor responded. He led the parents out of the hospital room.

Lyre looked at me again, unsure if his eyes were deceiving him.

"Hi." I said, hailing no response. The boy simply looked at me, trying to decipher whether or not I was a figment of his imagination.

"Are you..." He began.

"I'm real, but not real in the sense that you can reach out and touch me. I died in this hospital four years ago...I um... I could sense what you were so I followed you for a while, then that thing attacked you..." I said.

"I um...how...it..." The boy said struggling to find words.

"It might be a lot to digest but you're an Open One, Lyre. You always have been and always will be." I said.

"How come I couldn't see you before?" Lyre asked.

"Because your sight had been taken away from you by priests. It may have been for your own good since children are very spiritually receptive. There are some fucked up and evil things out there." I said.

"So...those weren't dreams either..." Lyre said reflecting back on his childhood, "Why'd you help me?"

"Because I thought you could help me! Your energy was strong, I thought you were an advanced medium, your energy radiated so much. But, I was misled. Something drew me to you though and I'm glad it did. If I wouldn't have found you, you would have died." I said.

"Help you?" He asked.

"I've been stuck here for years and I can't pass on because Limbo has a tight hold on me. I have one more trial before I can pass on to the Celestial Plain and face judgement." I said back.

"And I was supposed to help you pass on?" He asked, surprised.

"Humans have the power of the tongue. It is their greatest tool and their greatest weapon... You'll be surprised how simple it would be for you to allow me to pass on..." I smiled.

"So ghosts and stuff are real? How'd you get here?" He asked, definitely intrigued.

"I...died." I said back.

"Oh.. How?" He asked.

"I um," I began, this still a very touchy topic to discuss, "I was a freshman in college, like you. I was dating this guy, a preacher's kid. He and I were so in love but when his dad found out about us, he beat his son and ordered for me the be beaten and tortured. It was terrible, man... I remember my ears throbbing so loud and everything happening in slow motion then everything turned white. When I woke up, I was in a hospital looking at my own body...dead."

"Damn..." Lyre said, sorry he asked.

"It's fine. That was my first trail of Limbo. When you die a wrongful death, you have to come to terms with the fact that you're dead. It took me two years..." I continued.

"You didn't know you were dead?" He asked.

"Spirits seldom do. There was a spirit named Von that helped me...his act of helping me was his final trial and he was able to go to the Celeste and face judgment. I hope he made it to paradise...he was a great guy." I smiled.

"How'd he die?" Lyre asked.

"He never told me." I laughed, "But you'd be surprised... A lot of spirits make you thankful for the way you died. Some of the residual spirits, spirits that constantly relive their death, die in the most gruesome ways! One lady had an earth boring drill shoved up her... I... she had to relive it, day after day after day because she couldn't come to terms with the fact that she was dead... And I watched it happen for a long time."

"Wow..." Lyre said, completely shocked.

"I was like that too, when I first came to terms with my death. Other spirit's deaths made me grateful for mine... I mean it was sad that I died, but the way I died was not quite as bad as a few others." I added.

"Well that's an attitude to have." Lyre said, impressed by my positivity, "So if I died, I would have been a ghost too?"

"Eh...ghost is such a misleading term. You would have been a spirit, not really a ghost, but that demon wanted you dead. I'm pretty sure it was waiting for your soul to be ready for harvest. I bet it's gonna be a slap in the face when it learn's you're not dead..." I giggled.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa...demon?" He asked.

"Yeah... you were attacked by a demon. I was trying to tell you!" I said, "But, I'm not surprised you found it hard to believe. If I were you, I wouldn't have believed it either. Before all of this, I was a faithless skeptic... The idea of a demon was laughable, really."

"So...you saved me from a demon?" Lyre asked, struggling to wrap his head around it.

"Eh, I wouldn't say saved...more so kept it from killing you..."

"Why was it trying to kill me?"

"Because, just like how I could sense you were an Open One, it could too. Open people are very, very powerful. You can kill a demon with your tongue! To see an unprotected, unaware Open One... it's the perfect opportunity to take one out." I enlightened.

"Wow..." He said, "And you?"
"Me?"

"Yeah, you, what kind of spirit are you?" He asked.

"I'm a meanderer, one step above a residual spirit, but one step below an interactive. An interactive is what you consider a ghost." I said.

"And how does that compare, to like demons."

"It doesn't... Like, we're low level in every way. I don't know much about demons but I know even the lowest level demon is beyond the power of even the most powerful interactive. But, an interactive can defend itself against any demon though to what avail, I do not know." I said.

"So, can you still die, even as a spirit?" He asked.

"Yes! I've seen spirits ripped apart, set ablaze, struck by lightning...all kinds of horrific deaths." I said, "You just stop existing... your energy, gets neutralized and returned to the maker..."

"Maker?" Her asked, "As in God? And...really? You saved me from that Demon when it could have easily destroyed you? That is some real bravery!"

"I don't want say God... I won't know until I pass on. Everything I thought before I died has just about been proven wrong by this place. There's something out there... It has to be because if Demons report to someone then the Righteous Ones have to as well?" I noted.

"Righteous ones?" Lyre continued, "As in angelic beings?"

"Yes and no... They come from the Celestial Plain but they don't act very Angelic...or look like what I'd picture angels to look like. In fact, them and demons are damn near identical... just that one is well fed and clean with good hygene... The other festers in death and rotting because it's the only way it can feed."

"I still can't get over the fact that you saved me from a demon..." Lyre said, stuck on the matter.

"Eh, that demon wasn't too bright. It had to use a considerable amount of it's power to manifest in your world for the split second it did. It took even more power to cut the cable. Then to stabilize itself, it had to redistribute the energy it channeled into it's feet and claws to the rest of it's body. During that time, I could have vanished..." I smiled, teasing the boy.

"But you didn't." Lyre smiled.

"Eh, I wouldn't try to think so much into it. What I did was sheer spiritual impulse... Sometimes spirits are drawn to doing things they can't help but do. Demons are a prime example. It probably wanted to kill you becuase it was hungry." I said.

"Oh," He said sounding rather disenchanted.

"But," I began, "One thing you need to do, and I won't leave you until you do is learn how to be less of a prime target. You can see spirits, now but that's just the tip of the iceberg. You got to know how to defend yourself against spirits and demons! You can't just vanish like I can...in the future, you many not have a choice but to fight."

As I said, that the door opened. It was Traci. She was followed by another nurse, a senior nurse. Traci laid eyes on me, then to the Lyre. She pointed at me with her thumb, nodding. Fortunately for the sake of looking sane, there was a TV behind her so the senior wasn't too confused. I put my finger over my lip, gesturing for Lyre to keep quiet about it.

"How are you feeling." The lead nurse asked.

"I feel fine..." Lyre responded.

"Are you light headed, are any areas of your head hurting?" She asked.

"My eyes are a little tender under this lighting." He said.

"Well, we're going to keep you on meds for a good bit. You'll be out of here soon." The nurse smiled. She walked over to the IV sack hanging on the catheter stand. She put gloves on her hands, before reaching inside her lab coat for a fresh syringe.

Traci brought over a tiny glass bottle of pain medicine. The lead nurse took it, piercing the cap with the needle. She slowly filled the syringe with the medicine then injected it into Lyre's IV.

"You lost a lot of blood." The nurse said. Lyre looked at me, his eyes bearing heavy upon me.

"Really?" He said, not surprised, tossing the blame onto me.

A thin smile came across Traci's face.

"Yeah, you're pretty lucky to have survived this..." Traci added, it being a double edged blade.

"You don't say..." Lyre smiled.

"You're pretty enthusiastic, kid... I like your spunk." The lead nurse said, getting ready to leave.

"Thanks..." Lyre laughed, finding humor in how oblivious the nurse was to what was really going on.

"I'm gonna stay and make sure he's extra comfortable." Traci said.

"Alright..." The lead smiled. She left the room, the latch clicking ever so gently. Lyre looked on, beyond enthused.

"So you're an Open One too?" He asked.

"In a way. I'm a Parabonish... AKA, a witch...one in training, at least." Traci said.

"Wait, witch?" Lyre asked, unsettled by the fact.

"Don't let your prejudices close you to the world of witchcraft. It, like religion, is only as good as the practitioner." Traci said to him.

"Wait, so...this is all going over my head... So old wivestales of witches and shit..."

"Are exactly that, old wivestales..." Traci said back defensively. I could see Traci was a bit on edge.

"Um, a lot of spooky stories from your youth are not really true. They are stretched and warped out of proportion since they go by earsay to earsay. This right here, is a whole new world." I said.

"So...." Lyre asked looking on lost.

"I'm here to help... You're weak...defenseless... A target, but as Vincent told me, there's something different about you compared to other Open Ones... You radiate! It's too great a gift to simply let you perish at the hands of a demon or a powerful interactive..." Traci said.

"Gift?" Lyre asked, lapping all of this up with child-like curiosity.

"We don't know what your gift means yet... For one, you need to bathe because you reek of years of crusted energy build up. Secondly, in this week I'll be visiting you, you need to learn as much as you can about spirituality because I can assure you, this will not be the last time a demon comes for you. Then after than, we shall meet up and your training shall commence." Traci said.

"Bathe, um, training...slow down, slow down!" Lyre begged.

It was clear Traci had no intentions on making this easy for Lyre. His enthusiasm on the subject not only bothered her, but also bothered me! I wasn't sure if he knew how serious this was. If this wasn't a wake up call for him, I wasn't sure what could be. Traci simply left him there. Lyre was left looking at me in confusion.

"What's with her?" Lyre asked.

"See, this may be new to you, you may be enthusiastic and all smiles and giggles but to her, this is serious. I don't knew her well, sorted her out through a crowd... But that girl has been through a lot...her story is written on her, plainly, kinda like yours was when I first saw you. The life of being a Parabonish was forced on her due to her dwellings... So for her, from a young age, she learned to cope to survive or face death. For her sake, take this seriously because she doesn't have to help you... This isn't childhood ghouls and ghosts...this is life or death!" I explained.

"I mean," Lyre began, "I'm doped up and half way thinking I'm going to wake up from this! I try to keep an open mind but you must admit this is rather... atypical... Don't shoot me for this."

"It's not about that. Just understand that spirituality is something extremely serious and don't take any of what you see for granted. I've been stuck in Limbo for four years, have seen it at it's worst. If you don't want to end up like me, I'd suggest you get a little stern blood in your system because this is VERY real..." I responded.

"Thanks for the tips..." Lyre said, looking rather overwhelmed. He didn't know in what ways to apply them and quite frankly, if I were in his shoes, I wouldn't either. He'd have a long road ahead of him though, so much ground to cover in so little time.