The Trespassing of Souls

by M S C Barnes

avarice, Braddock called over the noise of the wind, “I do not need a group!”

  And then his face froze; for a good couple of seconds it didn’t move.

  Mr Duir shouted, “Heath, you know he will destroy you too. Deal with him now!”

  Amid all the chaos Seb heard a slight tinkling sound. It was soon drowned by another ferocious howl of the wind and a scream of hatred from Braddock.

  “Heath, I will not tolerate interference!”

  Another freezing of the features and Seb thought Heath was fighting back. He heard the tinkling again and then something caught his eye. From the direction where he had last seen Aiden, from out of the darkness, he could see the tiniest pinpricks of light. They were flitting towards him at incredible speed. He blinked, trying to make out what they were. And then he recognised them: fairies, thousands of fairies. They sped towards him, shining bright light as they went. As they neared, Seb could see that each one was carrying a flamer. From the other direction, where Mr White had stood in isolation at the periphery of the circle, another line of fairies moved towards Seb, joined with the first line and then they all flew above the heads of the people and wolves and around the dark fissure, forming their own shining ring, like a halo. They bathed the whole stone circle in light and now Seb could see, way over by a monolith, Aiden standing, clutching a large, irregular-shaped piece of mirror, and from out of that mirror more and more fairies poured. He turned to see Mr White, on the opposite side, holding another mirror, providing another doorway through which the masses of fairy numbers could pass. In their multitude they created an impervious umbrella, protecting the wolves and the people clinging to them from the wind and the icy raindrops. The throng of little characters sent out a wave of tinkling noises as they hovered above.

  The sound couldn’t, however, compete with the shout of pure rage that Braddock roared into the night.

   

   

  Revelations and Revenge

  To the frightful noise of the howling wind and the ferocious shouts of Braddock more and more fairies transited through the mirrors held by Aiden and Mr White. The halo ring grew taller until it formed a living domed roof. The tempestuous clouds above were shut out and the whole stone circle was illuminated so brightly it seemed as though day had come.

  Braddock was screaming profanities and yelling at Cue to get off Heath’s body. Then suddenly he stopped struggling, stopped shouting and, turning his eyes on Seb, in a calm, low voice, said, “Sebastian Thomas, I will haunt you, haunt you until that host body which should have been mine breathes its last breath and then I will haunt your soul beyond that existence. I curse your soul, Sebastian Thomas. Unless you give up that host you will never be rid of me.”

  Mr Duir, for the first time, took his eyes off Heath and stared up at Seb. And Seb saw the alarm in his eyes. Was he worried that Seb would falter, or was it that Braddock had spoken a true curse? For Seb’s part he was terrified. He had no idea if the words had a power to them. Would he be haunted by Braddock for ever? Was that possible?

  Standing beneath the golden light of the fairy roof, inches from the grotesque gore of Cue’s open wounds, hearing the terrifying howling of the artificial wind which most keenly demonstrated the power of Braddock’s mind, Seb was frozen. He looked at Mr Duir and saw the momentary dread he quickly masked. Seb knew the curse had capacity.

  Should he run scared, give Braddock what he wanted, and just accept he would return to Áberan and come back as a normal soul? Even as the thought crossed his mind Seb knew he couldn’t. It wasn’t just about him! He would be damning all souls to a future of depraved disorder, ruled by a soul Seb had seen enough of to know it was the most evil one he had ever encountered.

  So I am cursed !

  He stared down at Braddock who glared back at him through Heath’s eyes. He felt Cue’s warm body and bloodied fur beneath his fingers, the power emanating from that beast. He felt the overwhelming tingling in his hand from the sheer numbers of fairies, wolf-stags, the purity of his friends’ souls, the teachers, The Caretaker, Scarlet … and he smiled. He sensed Mr Duir look quizzically at him and saw Heath frown.

  “What does that even mean?” he asked and then, unable to help himself, he laughed, suddenly finding it incredibly funny. “You mean you, with your bodiless mind, are going to try and haunt me?” His laughter became stronger. The ripples of it made the light from the flamers brighter and dulled the howling of the wind.

  Braddock glared at him. “I mean I will haunt you! Precisely that! You will have no rest— ”

  Seb interrupted him with a snort he couldn’t help as he fought to control his laughter.

  “Braddock, I have spent the last two weeks being haunted! I was haunted by a Dryad, for goodness’ sake!” He waved his arm up into the sky where he sensed Alice was watching him. “I’ve been haunted by strange shapes that I don’t even want to focus on for fear of what they may turn out to be; I have been haunted by uncertainty, confusion and a fear that they got the wrong guy. My mind has always been so confused, so fearful and so damn’ miserable.”

  “That’s true!” Zach yelled out.

  Seb laughed again. “And you want to come and visit it? To haunt that miserable mind? What are you going to do, whisper in my head like you did when you were inside me before? That worked well for you, didn’t it? Or throw up scary apparitions? I’ve been seeing them for weeks now!” Seb wiped a tear from his eyes. “We all fear ghosts, but I have seen them now and actually, they’re just lost souls, like mine. There’s nothing scary in that. In reality, the thing I fear most now is … going back to being the out-of-place and lonely person I was before – not any of this, and certainly not you!”

  He stopped a second to catch his breath.

  “You’re clever, that’s for sure,” he continued. “This stuff you can do with your mind? That is impressive. But Braddock,” he paused, staring at Heath’s face, his own becoming suddenly serious, “I can do it too!”

  With that Seb swept his arm outward, there was a thunderclap and the wind howling above the fairy roof and whipping between the stones, stopped. A sudden silence engulfed the whole gathering. The tinkling of the fairies stopped, the wolves hushed their whining and everyone seemed to hold their breath.

  Seb waited. Braddock was speechless.

  “Haunt me if you like. You will come off worse I think.” With that Seb took his hand from Cue’s back.

  Now Cue stepped off Heath to stand beside Seb.

  Heath sat up.

  “Heath, I am a self-doubting, inexperienced and confused soul and I cannot be the judge and jury. But I can say this to you: either you get rid of Braddock or you go with him!”

  By now Heath was on his feet and there was something strange about the way he moved. His head jerked slightly and he seemed to have difficulty balancing.

  Mr Duir remained kneeling on the ground. Without looking up he said, “It is time. Greg.”

  Mr West trotted over to the tower and from under his jumper he produced another of the odd-shaped mirrors.

  Braddock roared with anger, “No! I will not … You will not send me back there!”

  Seb didn’t know what the teachers’ plan was but he did believe that he was ready for anything Braddock might try. Heath stood motionless now. Seb could sense a mixture of sadness, confusion and anger and wondered if Heath would have the strength and the will to overthrow his twin soul.

  Mr White and Aiden walked to the tower, the wolves parting for them, and stood, one either side of Heath, holding their pieces of mirror at waist height. The outpouring of fairies had stopped.

  Seb looked at the mirrors. They were triangular in shape but with one curved, indented, unframed side that made them look a bit like a love heart. The two straight sides had a fine frame running along them and from one of the edges a straight silver metal bar protruded. They were over a foot tall and Aiden was having difficulty holding his.

  “We just need Lily,” Greg West said and looked to Mr Duir who nodde
d.

  “They’re a minute away.” He smiled weakly, still clutching his arm. The wounds on his neck and jaw were bleeding badly. He looked pale, exhausted.

  Heath twitched and Seb could clearly see red glowing in his eyes. Like a gytrash, he thought. There was no speech from Braddock now, as if what was going on between him and Heath, inside Heath’s body, left him no quarter for external communication.

  Suddenly Heath threw back his head and, with difficulty, moved his right arm across to his left. His head jerked. Then there was a yell of fury, of rage, so carnal and base that it stirred age-old memories of violence, hatred and cruelty Seb found familiar, yet could not grasp.

  Braddock screamed, “Heath, it is destruction!”

  Heath twisted his arm, catching the light from the flamers above. A piercing line of silver fire shot from his hand and he tilted it towards his own chest. The impact was staggering. His body was consumed in a column of silver fire. It showered sparkles skyward, and the fairies at the top of the dome parted to avoid it, opening a peep-hole to the dark night sky, through which the rising column shot. Seb felt its power and devastation inside his own soul; a rending, tearing destruction and he sank to his knees.

  Mr Duir too fell to the floor, clutching his chest.

  “Heath, not like this,” he groaned.

  The wolves around them howled and that sound, mixed with the painful, angry screech that Braddock