by JD Jones
Chapter Two
From his new perspective, standing outside his body, he looked down at the blood seeping into the carpet around his body and thought he looked quiet and calm. He saw the chest rising and falling slowly and knew he was asleep. Why he could see these things from this perspective, he had no idea. It just was.
“What's happening?” He asked Rita who ignored him and continued screaming into the phone.
She must be calling for help. She was so excited that he doubted anyone at the other end could tell what she was saying. She talked fast enough when she was in a normal state. Now, she was a cascading torrent of words that made no sense and connected even less. If it was a 9-1-1 call, she would get a response because of the location coming up on the operator's screen. No one could decipher what Rita was screaming into the phone at the moment. All the person at the other end would know is that some hysterical woman was calling 9-1-1. He was standing right there and he could not understand anything she said and he knew what she was calling for.
The intruder was still dead. Suddenly the intruder stirred. Paul had a momentary flash of panic. What if the intruder woke up and attacked Rita again. He was not in his body. He instinctively moved toward the rousing figure, placing himself between Rita and the intruder.
“No need for alarm, brother.” A voice spoke calmly from behind him.
“Huh?” Paul turned. Alarm was written all over his face. Two intruders.
“Whoa! Keep it cool, brother.”
Paul turned to see a man standing there. He was in shadow beyond the reach of the light from the window. A tall, thin man with small shoulders and long legs. A shadow inside the shadows. The stance of his form suggested he was calm, stationary. No threat. Paul lowered his guard for a moment. He would wait to see if the guy was here to help or hurt. He had already killed once. He would not hesitate to do it again. The adrenaline was still coursing through his body.
“No threat.” the man raised his hands. “Just want to talk.”
“We need help.” Paul answered the man. “We've been attacked.”
“I know. He was working for us.”
“You?” Paul was incredulous. His fear rose up and his defenses went back up.
“Whoa, Tiger. You're dying.” The man pointed to Paul's immobile body on the floor. Paul looked.
“This man attacked us. I defended our lives and he is dead now.” Paul defended his actions.
“I know. I saw.”
“You saw?” Paul could not remember anyone else being there. Had he missed someone in a corner? Someone who came to watch the murders?
“Yes. From the plane of Sand, I watched.”
“Plane of sand?” Paul repeated the guy's words. This guy was as crazy as the attacker had been. Paul did not let down his guard. Rita was still screaming into the phone. He wished she would stop.
“No time for long explanations. You're bleeding badly.”
“The man cut me in several places. Bad. Deep.” Paul explained. But if the guy had been watching, he already knew that.
“You have a decision to make.”
“Decision?” Paul asked.
“You're dying.”
“You said that already.” Paul hated people who repeated themselves to him like he was stupid.
“It's a truth you need to deal with.”
“How?” I can't fix it. I need the paramedics to arrive.” Paul glanced at the still yelling Rita on the phone. He wondered if anyone was on their way.
“We can fix this.” The shadow man said.
“How?”
“At death, every human of this plane gets to choose their destination unless they have been wicked and are already earmarked for the Place of Chains.”
“Place of Chains?” Paul was confused.
“Yeah. A place of interminable boredom and agony away from the Creator of Life and all that He has created. A death place if you wish. Anyway. You get to choose what plane you wish to move into upon your physical death.”
“Physical death?” Paul looked down at his body on the floor. There was a lot of blood. He could see it clearly in the light from the window, spreading outward from his body seeping into the carpet underneath him.
“Any minute now, unless we do something fast.”
“What?” Paul asked, noting the urgency of the man's voice.
“Like I said. You can die and choose where you would like to spend eternity, what plane I mean. Or, you can take assistance from us and we can put you right back into your life here.”
“Why would I choose death if you can fix me up and put me back where I belong?” Paul asked the obvious.
“Because, if we fix you up, you'll be one of us and … uh … quite different from what you were before.” Shadow man explained.
“Different? How?”
“For one thing, you'll not be flesh and bone any more. You'll be sand.”
“Sand?” Paul was really confused now. The onset of death must make people crazy.
“Yes. We will replace your flesh and blood body with a sand and blood body. You'll look the same. Act the same, be the same as before. Only, you'll really be one of us living in the human plane.”
“Human plane?” Paul was not following as well as he would have liked.
“No time for long explanations. You're slipping away fast. If you die before we make this decision, we can not help you stay here. You're flesh and blood body is dying. Dead for all intensive purposes. Even if the paramedics were here already, there is nothing they can do to reverse the damage already done to your body. You have the choice at death of choosing where you want to live after death. There are many different planes of existence within the panorama of life the Creator of Life has given us. You always admitted there was a God and did not choose to be evil, so you are a candidate for one of the other existences besides punishment. You have the option of dying peacefully right there on the floor and passing away to one of those other planes. At your death there will be about ten of the representatives from a few of the planes coming to offer their existence to you as an option. They'll explain all about the life they can offer you away from your wife. It will seem like they come and give you a long time to decide, but it actually takes place in less than the span of a human breath.”
“There not here yet, so I'm not dead yet.” Paul reasoned out and tried to follow this strange logic the man was revealing. He had no idea how death worked so this was as good an explanation as he had ever heard. Best one.
“Or.” the man raised his hands in a gesture of option. “You can join us and become one of us walking the human plane.”
“As sand?” Paul asked.
“Yes.” The voice chuckled. Paul saw no movement that suggested mirth. “You will in effect, become a sand man, living and residing in the human plane just like you always have. Only thing is, you will not be subject to the ills and failings of the human body or the human intellect. You will be smarter and healthier and stronger than ever before. Improvements to be sure, but with a purpose.”
“What purpose?” Paul was interested in anything that made him smarter. That was one area where he felt totally inferior to Rita. She was a genius as well as being beautiful.
“To work for Sand.”
“What's sand? You mean like normal sand on the ground?”
“Well, yeah.” The man said. “Exactly. Only you don't know that your ORDINARY sand on the ground is part of a vast series of elemental existences that span the planes and have a life all their own.”
“Life? In sand?”
“Exactly. Sand is a plane unto itself. It exists inside of the other planes. Almost every plane allows sand to exist inside it for purpose of substance and ground to exist. Sand is very important in this respect. We establish continents and land structures in every plane. A very important task and a very important existence.”
Paul nodded his head. If other planes of existence were real, he could imagine they all needed sand as part of their structure. He could follow that.
“Sand people?”
“Yes. Sand People. People who are comprised of the life force of their human blood and our sand. Cross breeders in a sense. Half human and half sand. But far superior.”
“Superior?” Paul asked. “Smarter, stronger?”
“Exactly. You will be our first.”
“Why me?”
“Because our man Lucius there botched the job of feeding us more blood in the proper manner.”
“More blood?”
“Yes, all life exists because of the life force of blood. In the human plane it is prevalent and wasted too many times. We enlist the aid of men like Lucius, castaways, killers with no moral compunctions. They are going to kill anyway. We just allow them to kill with a little protection from us and they share their bounty of blood with us.”
“Blood?”
“Well, blood, bodily fluids and spiritual energy as the life force of the human killed exits the human plane. With so many humans killing each other all over your plane, we do not have to actually kill anyone ourselves, only reap the harvest of that which is wasted. All the elemental planes reap of that bounty. There are always wars and murders and such in your plane. My task was to keep Lucius, there, supplying for us.” Shadow man pointed at the dead body of the stranger.
Paul shook his head to clear it of the pictures the words of this stranger were creating. This seemed incredible. But he always knew the world was far more complicated than anything he could conceive of. Now this guy was explaining it and he knew he had been right. It was too much for him to understand. He wished Rita could help make sense of it all for him.
“So, I need to choose a place to live for eternity?” Paul asked.
“Or choose to join us in Sand and become one of us. To live in eternity, you must die and leave Rita behind as you move on to your new plane. If you join us, we will fix your body back to better than before, increase your intellect with ours and help you succeed in life where you have not been so effective before.”
“You mean I get to stay with Rita, stayed married, and you'll help me become more successful in the future?”
“Exactly.”
“How much in the future?”
“How about tomorrow?”
“That sounds like a deal to me. What's the catch? There's always a catch?” Paul was serious.
“You'll live forever as Sand. You will only age as you desire to age. Someday, your lovely Rita will die but you will not. We can help you move on and acquire another identity, but you will live in the human plane forever.”
Paul gave the words some serious thought. He felt a fatigue coming over himself that pulled at him. He felt tired like never before. He wondered if that was what death felt like.
“That's exactly what physical death feels like.” The voice was inside his head, now.
“Huh?” Paul was startled.
“That's another thing.” The voice said in his head again. “As part of Sand you'll also be part of the spiritual world we inhabit. That means you can speak mentally without the usage of your physical mouth. Just think the thoughts and they are out there. You can learn to control who can hear you, too.”
“That's good,” Paul thought. Sometimes, he did not want people to know what he was thinking.
“I will help you until you get proficient.” The voice offered, helpfully.
Paul thought some more. He felt the pull of the fatigue again.
“You don't have much time, Paul.” The voice told him. “A few more minutes and the choice of joining Sand will be gone. All that will be left is the options for eternity like everyone else gets.”
“I'll do it,” Paul decided. He wanted to live. He had just started a new life with Rita. He couldn't leave her yet. And with the help of this sand, he might be able to provide a little better for her, too.
“A lot better,” the voice in his head, explained.
“Let's do it,” Paul urged. “What do I need to do?”
“Nothing? You just lie there in your body and we'll take care of everything. we'll have to let the police and paramedics do their thing first. That will take a few days. Then we'll start replacing your flesh with sand little by little so that you will not be shocked with all the pain of such a process. We also need the doctors to stop the bleeding and get your body back to making healthy blood reserves again. This will take a little time but it will also make everything seem normal to everyone around, especially Rita. We do not want to frighten her off after all this effort you are going to to stay with her. Do we?”
“No,” Paul agreed.
“Climb back inside.” The voice commanded and pointed to Paul's body.
Paul knew what he meant but had no idea how to accomplish it.
“Just want to be back inside and looking up at the ceiling,” the voice instructed.
Paul did as he was told and in a flash he was back inside his own body looking out through his own eyes. Also back was the terrific pain of his wounds. Paul sucked air through his teeth as he felt the stabs of pulsing fire burning in each cut he had received. He also noticed Rita glance sharply down at him as he breathed in raggedly.
“I can hear the ambulances and police,” Rita spoke into the phone. She sounded much more calm now. Her words were making sense.
“Yes, I'll go out and meet them and direct them in.” She laid the receiver on the nightstand and left the room without looking at Paul again.
A few minutes later he heard sirens and saw flashing red and blue lights playing off the walls and ceiling, all around the room. He heard Rita calling out to the rescue workers, directing them to the front bedroom where he lay. Then all was calamity. Voices, hands, arms, instruments, bandages, pain. Oh, the pain. Who knew helpful hands caused so much more pain.
“Easy,” Paul heard the voice in his head. “Don't talk out loud now. Just think what you want to say and I'll be with you every step of the way. You're one of us now. Nothing can harm you.”
“What about intruder guy?” Paul thought. Being one of them hadn't helped him.
“He was one of us only in that he worked for us by bringing us blood. He was not one of us as you are now one of us. He was not of the Sand like you are. Think of it like he was an employee and you are an owner.”
“Wow! I never owned much before.” Paul was feeling drowsy from the medications the paramedics were introducing into his system.
“Before we are done you will own a substantial piece of the human plane. We'll see to that. The medication is starting to take effect, so you'll sleep now. When you wake up, we'll be further along in the process and we'll talk more then. Sleep well, friend.”
“Thank...” Paul never finished the thought. He drifted into a grayness that enveloped him and succored him. He felt the nourishment of the ages swirling around him. He tasted of the metallic tinge on some breeze and felt the cool wetness of the swirling particles of sand that touched his body occasionally. It felt electric, stimulating. Instead of pain, he felt regeneration. Instead of patched stabs he felt healing reconnection. He let whatever was happening to him take place. The medication. The paramedics. The Sand.
John awoke to a bright sunshine, despite the coolness of the weather. Winter time in the campground was a time of replenishing and rebuilding and adding on the new things. That was the plan he and Kathy had developed before she had gone away. The guys took care of the work in John's absence. Enrico was turning out to be not only a great worker around the campground but also a capable manager, which was good, given the disposition John possessed of late.
John had no false idea that he was okay. He knew he was slowly sinking into a mire of self pity and self absorbed anger and frustration. It was okay. He was still in control. The worst part was, he was enjoying it. The anger was something he had kept bottled inside for years. He had tried to be the model Christian, like his father. Never mind how awful it made him feel to always bac
k down, always let the other guy win, always take the back seat to others. Not now, though. Now he was number one. Anyone who had a problem with that could go pound sand.
He got up from the bed and poured himself a cup of coffee. He had remembered to set it up the night before. It had not been a regular thing lately. Forgetting or more aptly described, not caring, about things had become his modus operandi lately. No reason to care with Kathy gone. That was his reasoning. He knew he loved her before she died. He had just not been prepared for how deeply he had come to love her. It was like someone had reached down inside his gut and pulled everything out. Everything that was good about his life. The hole it left was filled with anger and frustration and revenge and everything else he had fought to keep out of his life for so many years. And he savored the feeling of being like everyone else for a change.
He had always envied the other kids growing up. They could show their emotions without their parents reminding them to act like Jesus would act. And of course, whatever the situation was, Jesus would always allow the other guys to win or do whatever they wanted. His father had called it, taking the high road. It always sounded like a trick to him as a child and more so as a young adult. But he had learned what his parents wanted him to learn, how to be submissive to the bad things of this world to allow the Christian idea of love to prosper. Now he wondered about his parents. Who were they kidding. Taking the high road always put him below everyone else. It should have been called, taking a beating, because that was what it felt like every time.
No more. No more taking a beating. That was his plan now. He had no idea what that meant, but he was through waiting for others to advance while he looked on. He would stand up for John Corwin now. He would take what he wanted and needed. He would look after John Corwin's affairs and desires. No more taking a back seat to anyone. He was definitely going to take the high road from now on, but it was not going to cast him out below everyone else any more. His high road was going to lead to a place where he was on top. Screw the rest of the world.
John could sense his thoughts exciting him emotionally. It was the only emotional exercise he could accomplish any more. He used to get excited thinking about life with Kathy. Now, it was life for John. The difference was the emotion that drove his excitement. When Kathy was alive, it had been love for her and love for everything. Now, it was hatred and hatred of everything. Two sides of the same coin. Love and hate.
He remembered how his father had always preached that hate bred bitterness and he guessed it was having a field day inside him. Bitterness only needed something to focus on and he gave it plenty. His father had served God all his life and been severely mistreated by the people he gave his life ministering to.
John had tried to escape the whole idea of God and moved away to start a new life. That new start had been interrupted by the love of Kathy at the same time that a new revelation of God or, as the entities in the Mist called Him, the Creator of Life, took hold in his life. Then he had been thrust into the do good scenario again. Kathy's brush with death as a child drove her to try and fix other people's hurts. On their first time out, that desire to help others caused Kathy to be put in a situation of danger beyond the scope of normal people to imagine. She had been forced to choose between having the child of a monster named Gol or dying and living eternally in the Mist with the other entities of that plane of existence. She had chosen death rather than give birth to a monster's child, thus ending the monster's claim to life in the human plane.
John understood the decision just as he understood her desire to help others. He had lived with it all his life. What angered him was that both the people he loved, his father and his wife, had wanted to help others using a spiritual emphasis, and only ended up leaving him alone. That was the real problem. John was alone again.