“Well, it’s far from done.”
The steam boat finished docking and Wes followed Ken down the stairs to the exit ramp. They followed the ramp into the park and Ken stopped again to look around. “This is simply phenomenal.”
Wes experienced a feeling of pride. He had briefly shown Emily his theme park, but this was the first time anyone else had seen it. Ken’s reaction was more than he’d expected.
“Can we walk around?” Ken asked, pointing down the walkway that led to the wooden bridge and the center of the park.
“Sure, I don’t see why not. I walk around it all the time.”
The park was still void of people. Wes wasn’t ready to share his space with random people from his memory. When he came to relax it was much more enjoyable to be on his own. He watched Ken as he walked around in fascination and tried to figure out why he was so intrigued. The park still needed a lot of work and was nowhere near completion.
After walking over the Liberty Square Bridge and passing in front of the castle, Ken led Wes down Main Street U.S.A. to the train station. “Does the train work?” Ken looked at Wes with anticipation. Wes nodded. “I love the train,” Ken said as he walked up the gray steps that curved to the second floor of the station.
Wes didn’t remember as much about the station as he would have liked. He remembered that the turn-of-the-century-styled building had murals painted on it, but he couldn’t remember specifics and had left the walls blank. He also didn’t remember the names of the trains, but knew he could look them up online. After a few minutes, a red steam engine pulled into the station, bell ringing, and stopped. Ken led the way onto the platform and found a seat on one of the wooden benches that filled the five passenger cars the engine pulled behind it. Once they were seated, the engine blew its whistle and left the station.
“Mr. Wes,” Ken said as the train traveled along the track, dense foliage on either side of the car, “you have a very strong mind to have been able to put all this together so quickly. I have never seen someone so in control of his mind as you have demonstrated here. And for someone so new….”
Wes nodded and thanked Ken for the remark. He hadn’t expected Ken’s praise but accepted it. He was sure his imagination, which had always been stimulated by theme parks, was contributing to their surroundings, not his mind. Still, he wanted to get back to the subject of the pain he felt when Ken punched him.
“You were going to tell me about pain,” Wes said after the train had been traveling for awhile. He knew there were other train stations along the track, but decided to let the train continue before coming to one.
“Yes.” Ken watched the wilderness pass them. “It isn’t until you die that you’re able to fully comprehend the duality of the mind and the body. Mortuis have been around as far back in humanity’s past as any of us can tell. When an antemort is born, a soul comes with the body. The soul and the body are joined by a life force that we, as Mortuis, feed on to keep our own souls joined with our dead bodies. The connection works through our eyes into our physical brain, which in turn acts as a translator of those electrical impulses to the body.
“The body, in a physical sense, is separate from the mind and yet from conception they are joined by the life force. That connection is broken upon death when they separate. After death, the mind, or soul, since they are one and the same, moves on. It is unknown where the mind goes once it is separated from the body, but even we, the dead, have theories. If you believe in God then that is one destination. The soul goes to be with its creator. There are those who believe the mind exists on a different plane from the physical world where time and space become one. There it continues to exist in the energy of the universe.
“I have another theory: that the mind is actually a form of matter we have yet to define. A new mind is joined with a physical body, and life as an antemort is really just a training period for the mind; training wheels, if you will. When the mind has learned all it can from its connection to a physical body, it separates with death and moves on to the next phase of its existence as another form of matter. A form that is difficult for humans to comprehend.
“This explains why you are able to feel, even though the interactions occur only in the mind. If the mind has the physical properties we associate with matter, then that matter can be affected casually from outside forces and hence one feels pain.”
Wes thought about Ken’s argument. It was heavily philosophical, but discussions of these things always were. The ancient Greeks had developed a whole pantheon of gods to explain phenomena outside their understanding. Modern society was no different, and religion was no closer to proving an afterlife than the ancient Greeks had been with their god Hades. “If the soul exists without a body,” Wes asked, “why are Mortuis afraid of being severed from their bodies?”
“Survival and fear. What we know is only based on theory. Nobody truly knows, and this small amount of doubt is enough to keep us feeding on antemorts. The soul does eventually sever on its own, even for a Mortui. It’s rare that a Mortui lives for more than a few hundred years.”
“I guess they become ghosts after that.” Wes tried to visualize a soul walking around by itself.
“Could be,” Ken chuckled. “The truth is we don’t know, and won’t until we find out for ourselves. No one has come back to explain.”
Enough time had passed that Wes was ready for the train to come to another station. The whistle blew and the train slowly came to a stop. The two men slid off the wooden benches and stepped onto the platform. They were now in Frontierland and Wes had mentally recreated the dark wood building he remembered nestled between Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The train blew another whistle and pulled out of the station leaving Wes and Ken alone.
“Mr. Wes,” Ken said after the rumbling of the departing train quieted, “I wanted you to show me all this to give you some advice. This world you have created with your mind is very much as real as the world that exists outside it. If your soul is a material thing, then it has great control over the matter in this place. But remember, even though this is all your creation, I can also exercise control over it.”
The stairs that led down from the train station disappeared and were replaced by an escalator. Its existence in the old West surroundings looked out of place, and Wes knew at once the addition had been put there by Ken.
Ken walked over to the escalator and stepped on one of the steps as it glided from the top of the platform and descended toward the walkway below. “My mind can have just as much control over this place as yours does.”
Wes also stepped onto the escalator and rode it down. “Is there a way to prevent people I sync with from changing what I’ve created?”
Ken’s face wrinkled and a smile appeared. “Anything is possible if you have a strong mind.”
The escalator disappeared and was replaced by the stairs that were there before Ken made the change.
“I must also warn you that it is possible to be pulled into a soul-sync by another Mortui. If his mind is strong enough, you can be locked in connection with him until he releases you. If it is an unfriendly person, you could be in just as much danger in this place, where both your minds exist, as you are outside of sync. Remember the pain you felt. It is very real.”
Wes nodded and Ken continued.
“You have made an impressive start. Continue to exercise your mind and your power will grow. Strengthen it. If you are ever pulled into sync, bring him here to fight in your territory. I have no doubt that with a mind as strong as yours, you would be able to hold him off for quite some time.”
Wes could feel the connection being broken as Ken pulled out of the sync, and Wes followed him. The Magic Kingdom receded from view and immediately Wes was back on the floral couch in the living room of the yellow house. Emily was still sitting in the chair.
“I see good things from this young man,” Ken said to Emily.
“I do too, Ken,” Emily said. “I see it, too.” Her eyes exam
ined Wes’s face; she looked content.
Judging from the light coming in from the window, the sun was still in the process of setting. It was the first time Wes realized that time didn’t pass the same while in sync as it did in the world outside the mind. An interesting thought to consider later.
Emily stood up and smoothed the front of her pants. “Thank you for the tea, Ken. Please tell Carol hello for us when she gets home.”
Ken stood up also. “I will. She’ll be disappointed she missed you, but you do live just upstairs now.” He turned to Wes, who was also getting up. “Mr. Wes, it was a pleasure. I must sync with you again when you get more done in that park of yours.”
“You showed him your theme park, huh?” Emily moved toward the front door.
Wes followed her. “He asked. I’m always happy to share.”
After another round of thanks and goodbyes, Wes and Emily left the older man and went back up to their second-floor apartment. That night Wes used his laptop and watched videos people had posted of their vacations to Walt Disney World. He also found aerial photos and maps. His goal was to fill in his memory gaps of the Magic Kingdom. Luckily, the park’s popularity provided hundreds of opportunities to expand his knowledge. He’d taken Ken’s warning to heart. The Magic Kingdom not only needed to be his sanctuary, as Emily called it, but his home court advantage if he ever soul-synced with an unfriendly Mortui..
Chapter 15
“We have acquired information regarding the recruit in question, Wesley Lohmann,” the voice on the other end of the call said.
Seth listened to the voice. Again, it was different from the one he heard during his previous call with the Body, but that hardly mattered. The members of the Body spoke and acted as one.
“We have heard from our informant within the Ancestors at the Hub in Illinois that the new recruit, Wesley, may be more than just an able-bodied Mortui. It is possible that he has the ability of astral synchronization.”
Seth clenched his teeth in anger. This information did not please him. More importantly, he recognized the Body was even more upset by the loss of this recruit than he was. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation.
Astral synchronization was something only whispered about in Mortui societies. It was more than a skill, it was an elusive inherited capability. Since the beginning of their race, stories were told of only a handful of Mortuis who practiced it with varying degrees of ability. Seth remembered the story of a Mortui with this ability during the Middle Ages who was used by the Body to assassinate members of the organization they wanted eliminated. He would enter the minds of the unsuspecting and sever them while they meditated. The Body eventually felt threatened by his ability and had him severed to remove the risk of his becoming a danger to them.
What frustrated Seth about the current situation was that AfterLife now retained in their ranks someone who could be used against the Atumra. If this Wesley Lohmann was in fact a Mortui who demonstrated the capacity to freely roam minds, it would be the biggest threat the Atumra had ever faced. The governing Body itself could be eliminated in a night, a fact he was sure had not eluded them. They would see the loss of this recruit the same way Seth saw it – a result of poor performance. The difference would be that the poor performance was his responsibility and not the soldiers who had failed to bring in the recruit.
The caller continued in a tone of discontent. “You are the caretaker of one of the largest regional divisions of Atumra, and it now appears you don’t have as much control over the soldiers in that division as we would expect from someone in your position.”
“The Body should not be disappointed in my ability to oversee the daily operation of this division. The Body’s vision and overall goals are not only being upheld, but promoted. Surely this is evident in the work you’ve seen my soldiers do for the good of the Body.”
“You have misspoken, Seth. They are not your soldiers, they are the Body’s. It would be unwise to refer to them as your own.”
“Yes, my Body. You are right to correct me.”
“The work your division has done is not overlooked. We will all benefit from the advancements made in the possession process as well as the increase in recruitment numbers your division has shown. Because of these things the Body continues to tolerate you and allow you to hold your position. Nevertheless, it would be wise to remember that your station within this organization can be taken away at any time if we conclude that you are not performing up to expectations. Should there be further performance shortfalls on your part, you will not only be removed, you will pay for your incompetency in a manner of the Body’s choosing.”
Payment for poor performance was something Seth did not want to experience. It would be worse than being severed. It would be agony. He didn’t want to think about what could be involved in such punishments. “Yes, my Body.”
“We are not pleased by the loss of the recruit to AfterLife. We would have our insider eliminate him now if it were possible to do so in a manner that would not call attention to his position. In the meantime, we have another strategy in place that will allow you to redeem yourself and prove your worth to the Body. We have discovered that Wesley Lohmann has an older brother, Lyall Lohmann, who also has the genetic predisposition to become a Mortui. If Wesley has the ability for astral synchronization, then it is highly likely his brother has the same ability. We want him in Atumra.”
“Yes, my Body, consider it done.” Seth started pondering options for recruitment.
“One more thing,” the voice continued from the receiver, “our contact at AfterLife has assured us that Wesley Lohmann will be stationed in Chicago when his training is complete. It isn’t common for them to send recruits to cities they lived in as an antemort, but this will allow you to remove him as a hazard to our overall goal. Is this understood?”
“We don’t want to recruit him?” Seth asked.
“Our contact in AfterLife doesn’t believe he will make the switch. It would be in our best interest to remove him altogether. As soon as possible. Use his brother as a trap if necessary. Family is always a great lure.”
“Yes, my Body.”
“If Wesley Lohmann cannot be eliminated, you will be dealt with. Is that understood?”
This was not a threat, Seth knew, but an ultimatum. Worse, the decision of one stupid girl, Jezebel, had gotten him into this position. He had no choice but to comply. “Yes, my Body.”
“There is nothing more to discuss at this time. This call is now finished.” There was a click at the other end of the line as the call was disconnected.
The phone felt heavy and made a loud thud on the base when Seth hung it up. In all his years of service to the Atumra, this was the first time his position had been threatened. His ambitions drove him relentlessly, and he aspired to one day become a member of the Body. If he failed in the task that lay before him, he would not only lose everything he had worked for during his entire Mortui existence, he would undoubtedly be severed after the Body had him agonizingly tortured.
He needed to act fast to start the recruitment of Lyall Lohmann. As much as he disliked Jezebel, he knew she would be the perfect person for the assignment. Nor could he punish her to ensure compliance as he had with Blake. That would not give him the results he desired and needed. He would instead dangle the carrot she desperately wanted, the possession of an antemort body, to lure her in the direction he wanted her to go. She wanted to live again, that was the reason she had defected to the Atumra. He would make her think she would be able to have that chance.
Seth sat at his desk and stared out the window while contemplating what he should do to accomplish what was expected of him. It was not long before he knew he needed a break. The call from the Body had exhausted him and he needed to feed.
Chapter 16
Wes had lived in Chicago his whole antemort life and never owned a car. There was no reason to. Today, however, as he climbed into the passenger seat of Ken’s car, he was sure if he owned one it
would be just like the one he was sitting in. It would have the same sun damaged blue paint job as this old hatchback Volkswagen Rabbit, and no doubt would make the same shrill sound this car made when it started. The ease with which Ken fought the steering wheel to maneuver the vehicle in and out of traffic was the third similarity to Wes’s imaginary car.
“I didn’t think there were any more of these things on the road,” Wes said as Ken pulled the car out of the driveway and away from the yellow house.
“There is at least one, Mr. Wes.” Ken grinned at Wes and his face wrinkled up in its familiar way. Ken smiled a lot. “It pleases me, Mr. Wes, that Emily is willing to give up her time with you so I can teach you some learning of my own. She’s incredibly wise and I’m sure she understands how a diverse education will only benefit you in the long run.”
“She told me she had some things to follow up on without me,” Wes said, amused by Ken’s statement. He truly enjoyed the time he spent with Ken, and he’d learned a lot from him. “I don’t know how much of that is due to wanting to diversify my education as just wanting to get away from me.”
“Is there trouble between you two?” Ken didn’t look over at Wes when he posed the question.
“No, none at all,” Wes answered. “We get along great. She’s as amazing as ever.”
“Ah yes, I see,” Ken said. “You are in love with her.”
“What? No, I just know girls sometimes need alone time.” During their weeks in Charleston, Wes had grown to adore Emily, but was careful not to say or do anything to let her know how he felt. Ken certainly didn’t have enough facts to make such a conclusion.
“It’s okay, I don’t think Emily realizes your affection for her as I have. It’s the little things, Mr. Wes, which maybe only I have noticed in our training sessions.”
“Like what?” Wes began to worry that if Ken was able to pick up on his growing feelings for Emily, maybe she was too. The last thing he wanted was to make things uncomfortable between them. He enjoyed being with her. It was as simple as that. They had grown to be friends. So what if Wes hoped that friendship would be the foundation of something more?
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