by Dale Mayer
How did you realize you could cross that veil?
It was an accident at first, he said. I was high on acid. Everything was bizarre, out of shape, out of tone—the noises, faces, features. It was just crazy. I could see something, and I kept trying to reach it. I kept straining toward it, and, when a hand came out of the distance, and when I put my hand in that hand, I could see better. I could see clearer, and I could see a way forward. He told me to trust him.
And you believed him? she asked in disbelief. You were high on drugs that can rot your brain, and you believed him?
I believed him because I was high on all those drugs, Jamie said.
She could almost hear the smile in his voice.
You have to understand how I was on a mission. Maybe it was to destroy myself. I don’t know. I was trying to destroy the establishment of how I lived, where I lived, what I lived. And this hand offered me another path. It offered me another avenue. And, once I stepped forward, something completely different happened. There were no more crazy faces, no more colors switching around in chaos. I could see the colors, but everything was in layers. There was a weird silence before he added softly, Only now have I come to realize it’s the layers of energy around us. I’m at the center of my world. Everybody is at the center of their world, but between us are our multiple layers of soft colors. It’s so much easier on the senses than the acid trip, he said with a laugh. It took me a long time to understand, but what it really did was, whatever the doctors gave me to help combat my drug-induced high, had given me some sort of separation ability from that world to the next.
The next world? she asked, her tone ominous.
I told you that he’s not quite normal in this state, Samson said.
What you don’t understand, Jamie said, is it was the combination of drugs that let me see this other world, that let me step out from that chaotic nightmare of the physical world and step into a spirit world. And, once I made that connection, once I made that step, there was never any going back. I never did drugs again. Well, no, that’s not true, he backtracked. For a long time I tried to mix them. I tried cocktails of multiple drugs trying to regain the same state. I was hospitalized several times, and I thought for sure that would help me cross over. They’d give me the same thing they’d given me before, and I could make that same jump. But it never happened.
They put him on suicide watch several times, Samson said.
His voice was weary, long-suffering, and she could sense the pain of all he’d been through.
And you had absolutely no care for those around you? she asked. For those who watched you on this self-destructive path?
I cared, Jamie said simply. But I don’t know that you can understand how distant all of that felt. I could feel Nirvana. I had touched Nirvana. I knew where I was going was where I was meant to be.
Did you ever believe it was God who reached out for you? she asked.
I wondered at the time if it was something like that. But you know what? Back then I was into every spiritual group in the world. For all I knew, it was Buddha. It could have been Lao-tzu. It could have been any number of spiritual leaders. I just firmly believed it was the one I needed to grasp in order to find my salvation, my calling, my world. Unfortunately I’ve never seen that hand again, Jamie said with a reverence in his tone. I’m not sure anybody else can really understand what I went through, except that entity.
She could hear his words; she could hear the emotion in them; she could see colors around him, almost a strobe light of colors as they flashed between her, Samson and Jamie. She couldn’t believe she was sitting on a beach, completely struck by the change in their circumstances. She stared at the black water. Just as everything between the three of them was colorful, there was only blackness in front of them.
Why is the water so dark? she whispered. Everything I see around the three of us is flashing colors, but, in that sound, it’s only a dark nothingness.
Where there is love, Jamie said, there is color. Where there is an absence of color, there is no love.
So why are we sitting here on the beach, watching the water churn?
Good question. Because we have to be here, Jamie said. I don’t know why. I just know that everything inside me says I need to be here, watching.
And, if the veil is thinning, she said in exasperation to Samson, what are we supposed to do about it? How is it we’re supposed to heal it?
Heal, exactly, Jamie cried out. We have to heal this.
How? Samson snapped. It’s not like we can hold a big séance and get all your little ghostly buddies down here sending their love and energy toward the water.
Can’t we? Jamie asked. I suppose it’s a lot to heal though, isn’t it? That body of water is vast.
Water is a conductor, Whimsy said. And the more you heal, the more healing will move outward.
Yes, both brothers said.
But whatever is in there is also conducting negative energy outward.
Are you sure it’s negative?
You’re the one in a ball on the sand, Samson said in her head. Trembling because you don’t know what is out there.
Right, she said, fear of the unknown. It’s not fear of whatever it is. It’s fear of what we don’t know that it is.
If you say so.
Suddenly a huge wave rose up in front of her. She cried out, her physical form snapping free of whatever weird telecommunication system they had going on. The wave broke, crashing down over them. The dogs barked. She bolted to her feet and jumped back so she was well out of the way of the water, but she was too late, already dripping with the cold ocean water. She looked at the two men.
Jamie stood still, that exalted look on his face as if he’d never experienced anything better.
But Samson was the opposite. He stared at the water with loathing.
“Samson?” she called out. He turned to look at her. She motioned for him to come. “I don’t know what’s going on,” she said, “but how is it that Jamie sees all the positive and is loving that, and I’m just terrified?”
“I am too,” he admitted softly. “And I think it’s fear again. Fear of the unknown.”
“Sure,” she said. “But nothing is here. It’s not like we can see anything. It’s not like we can touch anything. It’s unexplainable that this whole water fissure should open up and crash on us like that. Unless it was like a whale spout.”
He looked at her and said, “Did you really just say that?”
She flushed. “Okay. I get it. The water is shallow here. There’s no great big whale in front of us. He’d have to go deep and then come to the surface. And that obviously isn’t what’s going on, but it had that kind of a look to it.”
“I think there’s another name for it,” Samson said. “Or at least Jamie mentioned something about it at one time. It’s more than a waterspout. It’s more like an energy spout. Like a build-up underneath is so strong that it needs to be released into the air. So it shoots up from the ground. Whatever is churning out there ends up in this big blast that makes you think of a whale spout.”
She stared off at Jamie near the water. “And yet, he still won’t move.”
Samson looked at his brother and frowned. “That’s the problem with him being here. He spends more time in that state than he does any other.”
“When he’s lucid, he’s leaning on you. But, when he’s here in the ethers, he’s leaning entirely on the energy of the world around us.”
“Since when is that a good thing?” Samson asked. “Honestly, this is all just so far-fetched that sometimes I shake my head and wonder if we aren’t the ones who belong in that institute we just rescued him from.”
*
Samson motioned Whimsy toward the house. “Go on up to the house and get changed. The weather doesn’t look like it’ll turn. I’ll see if I can convince Jamie to come home.”
“He doesn’t look like he wants to. It seems like he’s more in tune with the water here than anything.”
&nbs
p; “He is,” Samson said. “He’s never really been in danger before, but I’m not sure what’s going on right now. Normally he doesn’t stand so close to the edge. It’s as if he’s communing with the waves themselves.”
“I wonder if that isn’t exactly what’s going on,” Whimsy said softly. “The telepathy itself was wondrous. But we were discussing healing the ocean when the whale spout occurred. That was the most incredible experience I’ve ever felt. As far as I’m concerned that was the ocean—or its residents—trying to communicate with us. Telling us, Yes, heal us.” She stared at Samson with wide-eyed wonder. “Wow. I can see how Jamie would become so addicted to this that he could do nothing but keep looking for that outlet.”
“Maybe,” Samson said. “But something here, something that’s happening right now, is beyond anything any of us have ever experienced. Jamie has been working on this out-of-body state, this connected-to-everything state for years. But this is the first time we’ve ever connected to anything in the ocean—or an actual part of the ocean itself—like this. And that concerns me because I don’t know what it is. I don’t know who it is. I don’t know if it’s good or if it’s bad. I don’t know anything about it. And that, of course, is even more disturbing.”
“Of course it is,” she said. “But, since we were discussing healing the ocean, with all three of us in agreement but not knowing how to do it, I see us as positive influences on the ocean. And I choose to think that we have started the process.” She turned to point to the shoreline. “And that whale spout was its affirmative answer.”
Samson frowned, shook his head. “I’m not so sure.”
“See if you can grab Jamie, and I’ll go on up and maybe put on some tea. Let’s talk it over.”
He nodded. “Yes. We also need to catch some more sleep today. None of us got any last night.”
“I got a few hours.” She turned to walk away. One of the dogs arrived at her side, and she walked with it. She turned to look back at Samson. “Is it all right if the dog comes with me?”
He turned to look at the dog, his gaze lighting up. “I hadn’t expected Queen to go with you, but, if that’s what she needs to do, then that’s what she needs to do.”
“That’s very strange phrasing,” she said cautiously. “It’s as if she’s her own boss, not your pet?”
He grinned at her. “It is, indeed. They are special spirits and I learned a long time ago to honor and be grateful that they chose me to live with. Their breeding comes from a pair belonging to the old mariner who lived here before me. He called them the Guardians of the island. And all the generations of the dogs were all the same. And they rarely reproduce as if understanding their duty is to something else.” He twisted to look around. “If you want to wait a minute, I’ll see if I can get Jamie to join us. Otherwise, King will stay here with Jamie.” Samson walked over to the rock where Jamie stood. “Come on, Jamie. Let’s go up to the house so you can rest.”
Ever-so-slowly Jamie turned to look at him. “I don’t want to,” he said softly. “The energy here is incredible. It’s like some weird vortex.”
“Maybe,” Samson said, “but you need more physical rest. Remember. Even though you’re this exalted, you still live a physical lifestyle.”
“I know,” Jamie said almost regretfully. “It would be easier if I didn’t.”
“You mean, not be connected to this world? You need your physical body. Otherwise you’re just spirit.”
“Yes,” Jamie said. “And that’s what I should be. I am all spirit.”
“Not all spirit,” Samson said gently. “You live a spiritual lifestyle, and you live away from your body a lot of the time. But you are not always without one. And that is where the problem comes in. You have to also live a physical life. Your body requires food. It requires rest. You cannot just exist in this space and expect the world to continue around you when you have no physical form.”
“But that’s exactly what should happen,” Jamie said softly.
“Well then, at least until you obtain that state,” Samson said, his voice sharpening, “come back up where you can be warm, where we can get you some food and where you can have a nap.”
Jamie shot him a disgruntled look, but Samson could see the fatigue on his face. “Disconnect from me please,” he said, his tone sharp. “I need my energy too.”
And, just like that, his brother slipped inside and disappeared, his face got a vacant look, and his eyes were empty. Sighing heavily, Samson grabbed his brother by the arm and led him off the rocks. He looked up to see Whimsy still there, her gaze confused, but he understood.
“I know,” he said when he joined her. “He can turn it on and off. But he needs me to keep it turned on.”
“And you know that?”
“I do now,” Samson said. “I often wondered why he improved when I was around, but, of course, it’s because he’s using my energy to keep himself one foot on the other side. He always wants to be on the other side, so, if I want him on this side, he has to disconnect, and I think that initial disconnect puts him into this state. He’ll be more normal once he uses my energy to help anchor him on this side too.”
She shook her head. “We’re all nuts.”
As they walked up the path, King barked from the beach. Samson turned to look behind, and once again the waterspout rose high above the surface before crashing down on the beach. King jumped back, barking like crazy as it crashed where he’d stood.
Samson called King to him. The dog, with one last look at the sound, came running. He was soaked from the spray, quivering intensely. Also the ridge along the back of his spine was raised.
“Come on, everyone. Let’s get up to the house, where we can get the fire going and get some hot tea into us.” Samson maneuvered everybody back inside, wondering how he’d come to have such a menagerie.
Inside, he led his brother to the dark fireplace. Jamie stared blankly at it, and Samson groaned. “I’ll get the generator going.”
“If you show me how things run around here,” Whimsy said at his side, “I can help. I’m not here to be another burden. You go deal with the generator, and I’ll light the fire.”
He let her brush him out of the way and stood watching as she lit a fire. It was passable enough that at least he could tell the wood would burn, and the place would warm up quickly. He headed outside, primed the generator and got it running. Back inside he put on the kettle and got the wood stove going as well. The house held a chill. He hadn’t been gone long, but the weather had been ugly and dark in his absence.
He sorted through some of the boxes of food. “I hate to say it, but it looks like sandwiches for breakfast.”
“There’s leftover Greek food,” Whimsy said. “We can call it brunch today.” She closed the glass doors in front of the fireplace and glanced at Jamie, then sorted through the boxes with Samson. Within minutes they had all the leftovers out.
“Guess you don’t have a microwave, huh?”
“Actually I do,” Samson said. “It’s not something I use much though. But, when we have a lot of leftovers like this, it’s definitely helpful.”
With their meal warmed up and set on the coffee table in front of the fire, Whimsy looked around. “I don’t suppose there’s one more spare bedroom, is there?”
Samson chuckled. “There’s a full loft, so we definitely have room for you to sleep.”
“That’s good to hear,” she said, stifling a yawn. “I know I got a few hours last night, but I certainly didn’t get enough.”
“No,” he said with a smile. “None of us did. When we finish eating, if you give me a hand, we’ll put all the foodstuffs away and get Jamie to bed where he can rest, and I can lay down for a nap too.”
She nodded.
About thirty minutes later, he just stacked up the rest of the boxes of pantry goods. “We’ll leave these for the moment.” He turned and walked down the hallway.
A closet door was at the end of the hallway, but, when he opened it, she coul
d see stairs. He led her up the stairs to an open loft. Several beds were already laid out.
She went to the far corner where there was a window, dropped her small bag and lay down on top of the bed. “This is perfect. I had no idea this was here.” A yawn caught her by surprise.
“You sleep as long as you need to,” he said, “but don’t lie down without a blanket on you. You’ll catch a chill.”
Watching to make sure she grabbed the top blanket and pulled it over her, Samson headed downstairs. He checked on Jamie, finding him crashed out in his room, blankets pulled up to his chin. Samson walked to the kitchen, made himself a small pot of coffee, and, when it was done, he sat down in front of the fireplace with both dogs.
King dropped his head on Samson’s shoulder, something he only did when he was upset. Samson spent a few moments talking with the beautiful animal, trying to help him feel comfortable with the craziness. “I’m sorry, boy, but something is definitely moving out there, and we don’t know what it is, do we?”
King growled, looking toward the window. Not wanting to take a chance, Samson stood up with his coffee cup in his hand and walked over to the double front doors. He opened them and stepped out on the porch, King on one side, Queen on the other. He watched as shadows moved between the trees.
“I don’t know what you want,” he called out, “and I don’t know how I can help, but, if there’s something I can do, let me know.”
Instantly the wind picked up, and the darkness twisted all around the house. It had happened before, and always before it had stayed a safe distance away. This time it moved closer. Samson didn’t quite understand, but something was going on, something odd. But then, everything about this place was odd. It used to be his favorite place to get away from the world, but now it seemed to be a refuge for all things crazy, and he didn’t know how to handle it.
He called the dogs back inside, closing the front doors, and sat down in front of the fireplace again. Nothing he had ever researched had given him any insight into what was going on here. He had his data that the plates were shifting, and this weird gas was being released—a gas nobody could identify.