It was a blurry smudge at first; hardly noticeable against the shadowy background, but the more she focussed the more she saw. A black cloud of Negative energy revealed itself near the top half of the slope. It spilled out underneath a white van which had been parked on the side and was covered in a thick layer of snow. She watched as she heard something metallic crack and then the van shifted forwards a couple of inches at a time, like the shopping on a conveyor belt. Her eyes snapped back to Kyle who had just about made it to the path and then they flickered back up to the unmanned van. It was sliding slowly but gaining speed. She saw the Negative cloud swell as it grew and spiralled outwards; it traced a deadly straight line down the slope. Alice gasped in horror as Kyle stepped directly into its path. His feet slid slightly and he stuck his arms out to stabilise himself. She looked back at the van; it was gaining momentum now. Its frost-coated wheels were rolling and sliding quickly over the snow. She cursed. Kyle still had his head bent over his feet and she ran, or more accurately, she jumped, through time. Deceased souls were not bound by the laws of human time.
‘Kyle, look out!’ she yelled as she appeared beside him and shoved her hands into his chest; they passed through him and she found herself stumbling through his body. ‘No!’ She spun round. The van was moving faster now, too fast; it had closed half the distance and would finish the rest in less than half the time still. She tried to get Kyle’s attention but his feet slid out from underneath him again and he barely caught himself. He got back up on shaky legs and she tried to push him back towards the library, back towards the snow-covered, grassy verge. ‘Kyle move!’ she shouted. ‘Move, move, move!’ Her voice grew more hysterical and panic overrode her emotions. She didn’t care anymore about being calm; he was going to be seriously hurt or worse if he didn’t get out of the way. Right now. She felt Negative energy flood its way into her system and her body became solid for a fraction of a second. Kyle looked up at that moment, his eyes wide, the unmanned van almost upon them. Alice thrust her hands out with all her might. ‘Kyle!’ she shrieked as a shocking burst of energy erupted from her hands and he sailed backwards through the air.
Pain and peace, hurt and happiness, anger and love claimed her soul all at once. She saw the shock on his face as his eyes locked with hers. The van’s bumper crumpled impossibly as it started to pass through her. His dark eyes saw her and his face portrayed a thousand different thoughts as he landed with a muted thump onto the snowy verge. Her energy drained out of her suddenly. Her vision blurred with lethargy and an intense, high-pitched ping vibrated through her soul. The invisible thread that tied her to Kyle, that tied her to life, was broken. Her body dimmed and faded as the van sailed through her completely, and she felt an overpowering energy swirling around her like a hellish tornado. It was Negative she realised, as her senses were stripped from her one by one. She couldn’t feel, she couldn’t hear, she couldn’t see, she couldn’t sense the energies, and every soul disappeared from her focus. Kyle’s soul was the last to vanish from her mind, and then she felt nothing at all.
Fourteen
The chapel was one of her favourite places on campus. Not because she was religious, but because she felt calm within its walls. Sophia sat in a small alcove and sipped at a cup of tea. She had her physics books and notes spread out on the coffee table before her, but she was finding it difficult to concentrate. There was a strange disturbance in the air; she could feel both Negative and Positive energies, surging one minute and then silent the next. It made the hairs on her arms stand on end and sent shudders down her spine. Something’s not right she thought as she tapped a slender forefinger against the side of her cup. She put it down and went over to the window. The chapel didn’t have stained glass, the windows were all clear, and she could see right across to the library.
Two figures emerged from the library and descended the steps slowly. She glanced at her watch; it was gone one in the morning and she wondered who else was up at this hour. Her question was quickly answered as Kyle and Alice came into view. Kyle’s feet slipped, his shoes struggling to grip the ice-laden snow. He was wearing a pair of headphones and Alice was glancing around nervously. Sophia watched him as he walked to the path and then she realised Alice wasn’t beside him. Her eyes found Alice several metres behind and then she saw the look on the Deykashee’s face. She heard something, muffled, like a shovel being dragged over gritty ground. A cold numbness seeped over the top of her head and down her shoulders. She followed Alice’s gaze and gasped; a van was sliding down the slope, straight for Kyle. Alice was running now; she moved too fast, faster than any living human could possibly move. It looked like she had jumped across the distance to Kyle but when she reached him, she sailed right through him. Sophia spun on her heel and ran for the door. She could feel it now; Negative energy was churning in the air and she could see Positive sparking in response like lightning around her. She stumbled slightly as she sped down the chapel’s narrow corridor and rounded a corner. She reached the door and stepped outside just as a burst of energy like hot electricity crashed into her. She braced herself and saw Alice, surrounded by a chaotic mess of Positive and Negative energy. They twisted around her, black shadows and golden light. Her slender arms were thrust out in front of her and Positive energy sparked from her fingertips like fireworks. Kyle was flying through the air away from the van’s path and the front of the vehicle crumpled as it passed through Alice. Sophia gasped. The van crashed into the metal statue at the bottom of the slope, snapping a couple of its arms, and Alice was consumed by a black cloud of Negative energy.
‘Alice!’ Kyle shouted, his voice hoarse. The cloud lifted but Alice was nowhere to be seen. ‘Alice!’ He screamed her name so loudly and with so much passion. Wait what? He saw her? Sophia was stunned. Kyle was up on his feet and he half-ran and half-slid across the ground, wheezing heavily as he reached the van. It was a wreck, its inner workings spilling out through jagged cracks in its exterior. ‘Alice!’ he yelled as he ran round the van. ‘Alice, can you hear me?’ He gripped the sides of his head. Sophia snapped back to reality and ran towards him.
‘Kyle!’ she shouted. He looked up but his eyes were glazed and lifeless, he didn’t even look human anymore. He gripped her shoulders as soon as she reached him and shook her.
‘Did you see her? Did you see Alice? We have to help her!’ Sophia didn’t know what to say, she didn’t even know what she had just witnessed herself.
‘Kyle,’ she said as calmly as she could, holding his gaze. Kyle stared back at her and then he looked down at her hands and then at his own hands gripping her shoulders. Realisation hit him quickly and cruelly. He let go of her, his chest heaving as his lungs begged for air.
‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.’ He gazed down at the ground. His eyes were wide but Sophia knew he wasn’t really taking anything in. She heard shouts echo as security, staff and a couple of students ran towards them. What the hell just happened here? Where’s Alice?
‘Kyle,’ Sophia said again, gently taking his arm. ‘Come inside the chapel with me.’ His eyes roamed blankly over the wreckage of the van and then landed back on Sophia. She began to tug him away. ‘Come on, you’ve had a nasty shock,’ she said. ‘You need to sit down.’ He nodded slowly and allowed her to guide him away. She paused briefly to assure the security guards that Kyle was fine, just shocked. They seemed happy enough that he was walking and Sophia quickly pulled him inside before they could ask any more questions.
He was spaced out for a good fifteen minutes; she watched him as he stared blankly at the coffee table. She made tea and her hands trembled as she spooned plenty of sugar into both cups. She had never seen anything like that before, not with the forces, not even with huge amount of energies, and especially not with a Deykashee soul. Her phone buzzed on the table and her eyes flickered to the screen. She had a lot of missed calls from the other Letos. She wasn’t surprised, they had probably seen everything. She lifted the cup to her lips an
d sipped at the tea. Kyle didn’t move, or say anything; she only knew he was breathing because of the gentle rise and fall of his chest. She put her cup down and picked up his.
‘Here, you’ll need it for energy,’ she said offering him the cup. What do I even tell him? How much does he even know? He stared at her and took the cup, sipped and supressed a gagging reflex, she guessed he didn’t like sweet tea. She glanced around quickly, but there was still no sign of Alice; she had a really bad feeling about that.
‘Thanks.’ He coughed, wrinkled his nose and then took a deep gulp.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Apart from losing my mind? I’m great,’ he said and then he turned his head and gazed outside.
‘What happened out there?’ She already knew the answer to that question but she wanted to keep him talking.
‘I have no idea. One minute I was sure I was going to die, the next I was flying through the air.’
‘Oh,’ she said. He didn’t mention Alice.
Kyle hunched forwards again and gazed at the floor. The chapel was warm but Sophia could still feel Negative’s cold taint. It was different from the cold she felt during winter; it was a numbness that burrowed deep into your bones and seemed to suck all colour out of your thoughts. She gazed at his soul; the ghostly sphere revealed itself but it was impossibly grey. She struggled to see any of the other colours.
‘You look tired,’ Sophia said. There were dark circles like half-moons under his eyes. He glanced up at her briefly, his eyes sad and distant, and then he looked back down again. She didn’t think he was going to reply but then he said,
‘I’ve not been sleeping, I’ve been having nightmares.’
‘What about?’ Sophia asked. She knew she shouldn’t really pry but the fact he was talking at all was good.
‘I don’t really know, I only remember parts of them.’
‘What do you remember?’ she asked.
‘There are things from my past, old memories,’ he said. He sighed deeply. ‘I’ve been having them for weeks. They wake me up during the night and disrupt my sleep.’
‘I see.’ Sophia nodded once. ‘One of my mentors, a professor from my previous university, used to believe that the subconscious is often a response to emotional triggers. He helped students in your situation by trying to identify the source or trigger. I think you might need to find the source.’
‘Source?’ Kyle said.
‘Yes, the source of your nightmares. To see if there’s a trigger, then help the mind deal with the trigger consciously.’ Kyle frowned at her. She knew that look all too well; he hadn’t been expecting this sort of conversation from her.
‘What if it doesn’t have a source?’
‘Well, it’s possible. But if they’ve been more frequent lately, maybe something triggered them. Maybe your sub-conscious is trying to tell you something but you’re not listening.’
‘What?’ Kyle frowned.
‘Who’s Alice?’ Kyle paused. His knuckles whitened as he gripped them into fists. He was struggling internally with something, that much she could tell. What happened to you Kyle? Why are you studying for a business degree? Why won’t you talk about Alice? She wanted to ask all these questions, but Kyle didn’t know her, he didn’t know about her gifts, and as far as he was concerned, Sophia was barely an acquaintance. He let out a deep breath through his nose.
‘A friend.’
‘Perhaps you should start with your friend,’ Sophia said.
‘I’m sorry,’ Kyle said suddenly, confusion compounded. ‘Why are you here?’
‘Working.’ Sophia smiled. He blinked twice and then looked down properly at the coffee table for the first time.
‘Oh,’ he said.
‘I don’t like working in the library so I come to the chapel instead and, well, that’s why I saw you.’
‘Of course,’ Kyle replied quietly. ‘What’s that?’ he asked, pointing to one of her notebooks. She felt her heart jump in her chest, it was her journal. Maybe if I can get him interested…
‘Ah, that’s my journal for personal theories,’ she replied. ‘It’s the research I do in my free time.’ His soul flared suddenly, but briefly, with a golden glow.
‘What are you working on?’ he asked. Sophia stared at his soul, the grey was easing slightly, it was almost as if…
‘I’m trying to come up with a theory that would bring multiple dimensions and time together,’ she replied, handing over the journal. Kyle’s soul shone a little brighter and she saw his other colours emerge, red, blue, purple.
‘Together?’
‘Yes, I think you could use two interacting timelines to explain multiple dimensions, or rather, multiple possibilities.’ The grey subsided completely for a moment and all of his colours emerged in so many different shades and hues. His inner soul was so Positive, so pure, there was very little in the way of Negative energy.
‘What? Like regular time and space time?’
‘Well no, not exactly, but the theory would have to encompass those too, naturally. Imaginary time too,’ Sophia replied, her eyes fixed on his soul.
‘You ask yourself these sorts of questions in your free time?’
‘Yes.’ Sophia nodded. ‘I’m always asking questions, especially when there are indefinite answers. I think I can simplify the multiple dimensional theories. It doesn’t mean that it would be right but it would give physicists a new possibility, something else to consider perhaps.’ She shrugged.
‘Well, there is string theory…’ he said.
‘Theories,’ Sophia corrected. ‘There’s more than one string theory, a lot more and that’s precisely the reason why I would want to simplify it. It would open the doors to many different possibilities if I could make the maths in my head work’
‘True, though you would have to have some way of proving that your theory was correct.’ His soul dimmed again and the grey swarmed back over his colours.
‘Not necessarily,’ Sophia said. ‘I don’t believe I can prove anything myself. I just want people to think about it. A sort of thought hypothesis, I guess.’ Kyle nodded but she knew he had lost him, his soul was grey again, his mind sucked into his own thoughts. His soul had been so bright for a few moments, she realised then that Kyle still had a genuine interest in the unknown aspects of science. ‘You seem very interested in physics for a business student,’ she said. When he looked at her, the distance was back in his eyes and he stood up.
‘I should get going,’ he said.
‘Are you sure that’s a good idea?’ Kyle shrugged.
‘Thanks for helping me, I guess.’
‘Here, you can borrow this,’ she said quickly and handed him the journal. Flo will not be happy.
‘OK. Thanks,’ he said awkwardly. He picked up his rucksack and checked his headphones; relief flashed over his face when he realised they were OK.
‘I can walk you back if you’d like…’ Sophia bit her lip, he looked extremely pale.
‘No, no-no, I’ll be fine,’ Kyle said. ‘I really need to be alone right now.’
‘Be careful then,’ she said.
‘Sure.’ He nodded at her and then turned to leave the chapel.
Sophia went to the window and watched as he stared at the van for a few moments and then made his way gingerly up the slope. The van had been cordoned off and a couple of security guys hung around. Her eyes darted up to the sky; she could see black shadows moving against the night sky. Negative she thought with a bitter taste at the back of her throat, Alice has been claimed by Negative.
Fifteen
‘Man you are so lucky!’ Cameron said as he cradled Sophia’s journal.
‘If you say so,’ Kyle replied.
‘You’re lucky Sophia was there at all really,’ Cameron said. Sophia was unusual to say the least.
All Kyle could think about were her eyes and the way she had looked at him. He had an uneasy feeling that she had looked at him as though there was something important he needed to know, something she hadn’t spoken aloud. He had said too much to her in the chapel; he wished he’d kept his mouth shut but his nerves had been all over the place.
‘Yeah.’ Kyle shrugged and then winced as his ribs shifted under his bruised skin.
‘You should probably get those checked out,’
‘I’m fine,’ Kyle said, though he knew he wasn’t fine. He was sick he realised, but not physically sick, it was a sickness in his mind, an invisible sickness. In those few moments that the van had almost been on top of him, he had wanted to die; he had wanted it all to end. His primitive instincts for survival weren’t strong enough to kick in against the promise of a sweet, quick death.
‘I wish I’d been there. Maybe next time I’ll try falling in the snow outside the chapel,’ Cameron said and stifled a chuckle.
‘It’s not funny,’ Kyle said. ‘It was… weird.’ It was weird; everything about it had been weird. What had Sophia said again? She had said something about finding a source, the source…
‘Look on the bright side, you’re alive aren’t you? You’re in one piece, and you got to speak to Sophia. That’s more than your fair share of good luck right there,’ Cameron said. Kyle frowned; he sure as hell didn’t feel lucky. ‘She even gave you her physics theories; I mean that’s gold dust! They’ll be worth a fortune in the future,’ Cameron said.
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