“Oh, just rattling some chains, saying ‘Boo!’ a lot, you know, typical ghost stuff.”
“Well, now we know one thing for sure, being a ghost does not improve the quality of your jokes.”
“Ha! Very funny. Being alive hasn’t improved the quality of your looks, either, by the way.”
“Alright, alright, you win as always. So what have you really been doing?”
Marsh-dog’s expression turned serious, and he sat down on a rock that somehow appeared out of nowhere. “I’ve been trying to make contact with Dr. Reyes up at the university. If I concentrate I can push the keys on the keyboard of his computer and I’ve been trying to talk to him that way, but so far he just thinks he has some kind of virus. I need him to let me into the system so I can complete my simulations. I was so close to locating another of those Seven dudes; you know, supernatural dorks like you, and cool ones like Ling, when that jerk McCandless shot me and I ended up here. I do not like that dude. Anyway, somehow I need to get him to do just a couple of things, and then let it run. It won’t even take long, but it has to get done. Plus, did you know there are other ghosts in here? I run into some of them every once in a while. I can’t talk to them, though, they all seem like they’re mental or something. Sorry, I’m kind of free-associating; I need someone to talk to.”
It suddenly seemed as if Marsh-dog might cry, and I couldn’t really blame him. “I’m sorry, Marsh, I wish there was something I could do to change your situation. But remember, we are in this together, no matter what happens. And we are going to make them pay, no matter what.”
“Yeah, well, let’s get this crap wagon rolling, ok? I don’t want to be stuck here forever.”
“So what should we do to get Dr. Reyes to help complete your… what did you call them? Stimulations?”
“Dude, If we went with stimulations instead of simulations we would get a whole different kind of result. Let me think… hey, how about this: how would you feel about going down to the college and talking to Dr. Reyes yourself? You could tell him we were working on the simulation together and you’re trying to finish it up as a memorial to me or something.”
“Dude, I’m not sure about that. What if he tries to contact social services or the police? Does he know who I am? Did you ever talk to him about me?”
“Man, are you a narcissist or what? Do you think I’m going to talk to everyone I know about you? ‘Hey, Dr. Reyes, have I ever told you about my friend, The Great Ferdie? He’s a superhero!’ Of course I haven’t told him about you. He won’t know you from The Green Lantern.”
I stared at Marsh-Dog. “Man, being in this place is making you crabby.”
“Yeah, well you try staying in here permanently with crazy ghosts and other stuff floating around. It’s creepy. Sorry dude, you’re right, I need to calm down.”
Now he had my curiosity aroused. “What do the other ghosts look like?”
“Oh, mostly like sheets. What do you think? They look like people, dummy. They all just seem kind of like, I don’t know, blanked out or something, like they’re so preoccupied with whatever’s keeping them here that they can’t pay attention to anything else.”
“So you can’t talk to any of them?”
“Well, none so far. They just act like I’m not there. It’s freakin’ weird.”
“Dude… you said there’s some other stuff in here besides other ghosts. What did you mean?”
“I’m not sure yet… there’s something here but I don’t quite have a handle on it. I’m gonna figure it out, though, just give me a little time.”
“Ok, well, if I go over to the university to talk to Dr. Reyes, what should I say?”
The conversation swung to more constructive things, and soon it was time for me to leave, as I was beginning to feel a little nauseous. “Ok, dude,” said Marsh-dog, “You think you got it?”
Putting on my gruffest voice, I growled, “Sure, I got it. Just leave it to me, because… I’m Batman.”
Marsh-dog started cackling, which was music to my ears. Ah, finally got him to loosen up a little bit!
“Alright, Batman, you better take off, but if you call me Robin I swear I will haunt you from the grave.”
Then it was my turn to laugh. “Ok, dude, I’ll see you later.”
Chapter 2
I faded back into the claustrophobic world of our little apartment, and standing right in front of me was Ling Lee. Ling is looking a little rough… she’s usually careful about her appearance, but her hair is kind of messed up and her clothes are wrinkled… I wonder what’s wrong… I mean, aside from being thousands of miles away from home, being blind in one eye, and having a death sentence hanging over her head? “Hi Ling, I was just talking to Marsh-dog. We were making some plans that include you, so I’m glad you’re here so we can talk about it.”
Well, apparently that was totally the wrong thing to say. Looking intense and angry, she growled, “You cannot just make plans for me without speaking first to me, you know. I am not your servant.”
Wow, something is wrong. What did I do? Oh, there I go again… it might not have anything to do with me, so why would I immediately think it’s something I did? Come on, dude, not everything is about you… “I’m sorry, Ling. What’s going on with you? You seem awfully upset.”
Ling’s anger faded and was replaced by tears. “Oh, Ferdie, I too am sorry. There are many problems I need to discuss, can we now talk?”
I harbored a secret smile, because her way of saying things has always been funny to me for some reason. “Sure, do you want to, like, sit down or something?”
We went into the little kitchen and sat at the table below the window looking out onto the surrounding neighborhood, and the university in the distance. Ling had regained her usual composure, and said, “These are the problems, Ferdie: I have not seen my family and friends in many months, and I am the, how do you say it? Sick for home? No, homesick, that is it. The next problem is I cannot see from my left eye. This is not so bad, but I think it is affecting my ability somehow. I cannot seem to get back to the in-between very well, and when I am able, I feel very ill, more than before. And, I am sorry to not be brave, but I do not want to die, and most of all I do not want to go to that bad place, Ferdie. I am very much afraid.”
Ling was shaking a little as she spoke, which made me feel terribly sorry for her and guilty for getting her mixed up in everything. I felt like I was going to cry, but I stopped myself… come on, that’s not going to do any good right now, let’s come up with some ways to help instead… She seemed to know what I was thinking, as she said, “Please, Ferdie, do not feel bad. It was my choice to come here and help you, to be a part of this quest. I am feeling bad for myself but I will conquer my feelings if you will help me.”
After that I couldn’t help it, a few tears leaked out. “Well, what if you flew home for a week or two? You could tell them you’re on vacation from school or something. We can manage without you for a little while. And as far as your eye goes, I wonder if we should take you to a doctor. I know we’ve been avoiding it, because it may bring up some questions that we can’t answer, but maybe getting to the in-between has something to do with eyesight… I’m just thinking out loud, but we rely on our sight so much, maybe you need both eyes working to get to the right frequency or something. I don’t know for sure how it works, but I bet that has something to do with it. And as far as going to the Bad Line goes, I’m not looking forward to that either. We’ve got to stop The Others. I feel sure that if we do it will change our future, and then it will be up to us and our behavior as to where we end up.”
Ling walked to the window and stood there for a moment, gazing out thoughtfully with her arms crossed tightly over her chest. Finally, she said, “Yes, I think that is true. So much of going to in-between is picturing the place in your mind, how you say, envisioning it, and because one side is damaged, my aim is a little off. To do it I must squeeze my vision and look a little not in focus, and it is difficult to keep it lik
e that. It causes headache.”
As she was talking, I felt part of an idea taking shape in my mind. Hmm… I might have something that could help… “Hey, Ling, I was just thinking… when I first went to the in-between and felt the vibrations, or frequencies, or whatever it is that happens to get us there, it reminded me of something one of my teachers discussed when we were studying science. She was talking about medical stuff, including MRI machines and how they work. Are you familiar with them?”
“Oh, yes, I was in the study of technology at the university in Hong Kong, and we learned about the magnetic resonance imaging machine. Very interesting. Powerful magnets cause certain atoms to line up in a predictable way, then send pulses of radio waves through, making very clear picture of inside the body. Very clever machine.”
“Ok, I’m thinking out loud again, but isn’t that kind of what we’re doing when we go to the in-between? I mean the part about our atoms lining up in a certain way? I know it’s not exactly the same, but I just wonder if there is some point in there that… um, how about this: you know how I can see into another person’s mind? How I just picture walking down a hall until I find a door that corresponds to them, and open it and there I am in their mind? So here’s what I’m wondering… if you were at some point in going to the in-between, and I was in your mind at the right moment, maybe I could see not only what you’re thinking, but also the actual structure of your brain. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
Ling’s eyebrows scrunched together thoughtfully. “So if you were capable of this, and if you were knowing what to look for, you could perhaps see where my vision problem is. You do not think there is any way possible that you could even cause my problem to be fixed, do you?”
“Well, I didn’t think that far ahead, but maybe it’s worth a try… I can do lots of other crap I had no idea was possible, right?”
“Please, Ferdie, I do not want you to do the crap in my brain.”
“No, that’s just an… oh, never mind. How about we start by looking up how the eyes work.” We dashed to one of Marsh-dog’s computers and did a little research on the brain, especially how the eyes work and how they are connected to the brain. “Hey, look here, Ling. Did you know that the ocular nerves decussate at the medular level on their path back to the occipital lobe of the brain?”
A puzzled expression crossed Ling’s face. “You have not an idea what that means, do you?”
“Well, no,” I snickered, “but it sounded good there for a minute, didn’t it?”
We continued researching in this manner until we felt we had an accurate mental picture of the structures of the eyes and nerves. “Well, do you want to try it? I promise, if I’m able to actually see into your brain, which is a big if, and see any kind of problem, which is an even bigger if, and can cause something to change in there, which is the biggest if of all, I won’t do anything that could hurt you or make things worse. In fact, how about this: I’ll just take a look in there, and then we’ll stop and talk about it before doing anything else. Is that good for you?”
Ling smiled, clapped her hands, and said, “I think to try is worth it. What is the American saying? Oh, yes, ‘nothing ventured, nothing gained’.”
“Yeah, but there’s this other American saying: ‘no good deed goes unpunished’. Let’s hope that saying doesn’t apply to this situation. By the way, have you seen Gabriella or Rafael lately?”
“Well, they have a way of disappearing often without notice. And, it is interesting how they also seem to appear just when they are being thought about.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed that too. Well, anyway, are you ready to give it a try?”
Ling took several deep breaths, and I did the same. It seemed like a good idea, but now it just seems risky… Ling stood up and said, “Ok, Ferdie, I am ready. What should I first do?”
“Well, I’ve done this exactly zero times, so we’ll have to figure it out together. Let’s try this: I’m going to peek into your mind, and when I’m there I’ll give you a signal. What should we use?”
“I am happy to do the high-five. Would that be a good one?”
“That’s a perfect one. High-five it is. Ok, get ready…”
I did my old trick: I walked down the hallway in my mind until I found Ling’s door, opened it just a crack, and peeked in. I held my hand up, we high-fived, and I don’t know why, that just seemed funny to me so I started giggling. Of course laughing is contagious, kind of like yawning, so Ling started up too. “Ok, Ling, I’m ready. Start going toward the in-between, and I’ll let you know if I see anything.” Ling’s concentration was strong, but she was still struggling. She’s right, this is really difficult for her now… she was getting there easily before, but now she’s shaking and sweating… I don’t think she’s going to get there… wait a minute, she’s starting to vibrate… I can feel her mind fading, though, like she might pass out… oh crap…
I had to lunge out to grab Ling as she fell, and I eased her down to a chair at the kitchen table. Her eyes were rolling around, unfocused, but she recovered swiftly. “Whoa, Ling, you scared me there! What can I do for you?”
“Please, Ferdie, a drink of water. I have bad headache.”
I ran to the sink and poured some water, then rummaged around in one of the cabinets and grabbed the Ibuprofen. Dude, I hope this water is ok… better take three Ibuprofen… two is for wimps… Ling downed the pills, choked a little bit, and said, “In just a minute I will be ready for trying again. Will you be ready also?”
Dude, Ling is tough. “I’m ready when you are,” I said. It only took Ling about a minute to recover. We repeated the process, again with a high-five, and I peeked into her mind. “Ok, Ling, going to the in-between, take two!”
Ling looked at me a little confused, and said “I cannot take two, I have already taken three.”
“No, not that, it’s like in the movies, when they… let’s just give it a try, ok?” Then she began her second attempt. Whoa, she’s shaking like crazy… come on Ling… wait, what am I seeing? I can see her thoughts, but fading in, kind of superimposed, not clear yet, I can see… is this her actual brain? It’s too jumbled up, I can’t tell what’s what… she’s getting closer to the in-between, and it’s getting a little clearer… I’m in the wrong spot in her brain… how do I move in here? I can’t believe this; I didn’t think it would really work… I can see the long, what are they called… oh yeah, dendrites… how is Ling doing? Looks like she’s going to make it this time… really close… I can see wherever I am in her brain super clear now, but I don’t see her ocular nerve… it’s not how it looks in the textbooks, everything is mashed together… I’m on the wrong side, I have to push forward and to the right… wait, is that the back of her eye? There it is! Uh oh, it’s starting to get fuzzy… she’s almost there but not quite… it looks like the perfect point to see what’s going on is like three-fourths to the in-between… I wonder if it’s possible to hold it there… that’s going to be tricky…
Ling was struggling again, so I removed my hand from the high-five and said, “Ok, Ling, that’s enough for now. Let me tell you what I saw.” We sat down and I gave her a full description, and of course we were both pretty excited that it actually seemed to be working.
“Ferdie, this is truly amazing; is there anything you cannot do?” Ling gushed.
“Well, the one thing I absolutely want to do is to catch The Others, but I haven’t been able to do that yet.” Still, it felt good to know that I was continuing to progress. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to do that stuff that Arnie could do… uh oh, don’t think about Arnie, you’ll start to leak again… get it together… “What we have to do is figure out some way to get you to just the right point but then stop there, and I don’t think that’s going to be easy, because right when you get to that point the fishhooks are pulling so powerfully that you can’t resist them. I think we’re going to need help with that. Maybe…”
I was unable to finish my thought, because from behi
nd me came a deep, familiar voice, with the lilting, vaguely Caribbean accent: “This is an interesting and unprecedented experiment, Mr. Ferdie, Ms. Ling. There really seems to be no end to your precociousness.” and then the signature booming laughter.
Chapter 3
Rafael, the angel assigned to watch Ling, had just appeared behind me. He was always NBA basketball player tall, but he almost seems taller than the last time I saw him… is that possible? He seems thin and looks tired, maybe that’s it… his bald head is shinier than ever, too… “Hey, Raffy, how’s it going? What have you been up to?”
He flashed that familiar ear-to-ear grin, and said, “Oh, that is a long story, Mr. Ferdie. I will tell you soon, but first, tell me all about what you are attempting; it seems so exciting!”
I filled him in on our idea and what we had discovered so far, and he slapped his knee, saying, “Oh, my goodness, Mr. Ferdie, please get me a chair, I must sit down before I fall down right here on this spot. No one has ever attempted this before… or even thought to do so. You are surely the cleverest of the clever!”
I felt myself blushing and tapping my head, so I quickly covered it by running my hand through my hair. I can never tell if he’s sincere, or if he does this kind of flattery to get on people’s good side… it was pretty clever, though…
“Well, we’ll try again in a little while, if Ling wants to. I think we might have been getting somewhere. How about you, Ling?”
Ling was still sweating and her breathing was hurried from the exertion of attempting to get to the in-between. Her pageboy haircut, which I always found super-cute, was totally soaked and plastered to her head and face. “Yes, yes, Ferdie, we must try again, though first I must rest. Also, please, Rafael, tell us where you have been and what have you been doing. I have had very much the concern for you.”
An uncharacteristically grave, somber expression clouded Rafael’s face. I thought he was going to deflect the question by focusing on Ling, but instead he said, “Things have become complicated, Mr. Ferdie, Ms. Ling. If anyone else were to ask me I would not tell them, but with you I must be honest. I have been doing my best, running all over the world trying to make contact with other angels and attempting to discern if they have seen any evidence of aberrant behavior from their charges, but I have been unable to locate any of them. This is most unusual and concerning. There are angels here for each of The Seven, so being unable to find any of them… well, I don’t know what to make of it, my friends.”
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