Unearthly Realms

by Ron L. Carter

As they left the hospital with Maggie, Tyler could see and hear their pain and wished there was something he could do to comfort them. He didn’t quite understand exactly what he was going through because he didn’t feel sad or lonely like he thought he should. His spirit still felt very much like he was vibrant and alive. He could still see everything that was happening and it was like he was still there but yet he couldn’t contact the living from where he was.

  Over the next several days, after his funeral, he stayed close to Maggie, his mom, dad and brother. Tyler thought, “If they only knew how wonderful and peaceful I feel, it would make them feel better for me.” He tried with everything he could to contact each and every one of them to try to let them know. Nothing he could do would allow him to cross back into that realm, no matter how hard he tried.

  After the funeral Tyler felt like he needed to give everyone time to deal with his death. He knew he couldn’t just stick around and watch them. He was thinking about the place where he and his brother Justin, grew up during their early years and how much they loved the big old house. He had a lot of great childhood memories there with his parents and brother. It had a large circle driveway and big old barn out behind the house. It was a large, six thousand square foot, two story Victorian style house and it was located at the end of a dirt road between two vineyards.

  It had lots of nooks and crannies and Tyler and Justin knew where they all were and they used to play in most of them. They played hide-and-seek every chance they got. Justin was five years older than Tyler but he and Justin always loved playing the game. Sometimes they would hide from each other for hours or until they became bored with the game and then surrender. They would pull pranks on each other and try to scare each other as they hid and jumped out from where they were hiding. They had found a small door in their bedroom, inside their closet. The door was only about two feet wide and three feet tall and just enough room for them to squeeze through. It was a triangle room only about five feet wide, six feet high in the middle and about twelve feet deep. It was a perfect hiding place for them. They spent a lot of time hiding there and it was their favorite hiding place in the house. They hid all their private possessions they didn’t want anyone else to see hidden there. They tried to pretend their parents didn’t know it existed, and called it their “little Cubby Hole”.

  Just after you entered the house there was a long winding staircase and it had a thick hand rail all the way to the bottom of the stairs. When their parents were busy Tyler and Justin would sometimes put powder on the wooden banister and slide down the stairs. They would do it over and over again until they got caught. Because the house was so big, they thought it was also sometimes a little spooky. On several occasions while sliding down the stairs, they would have an encounter with what Tyler and Justin thought was a ghost. They would hear footsteps repeatedly going up and down the stairs and see a shadow they couldn’t explain.

  The house constantly made creaking sounds and sometimes they thought there were ghosts watching them as they played. They tried to tell their mom and dad about the noises and shadows, but they were always told the things they heard and saw were just the old house making settling sounds. Sometime their dad would tell them it was just their wild imagination. Tyler never understood his dad’s logic behind the settling house theory because he thought if the house was so old it should’ve settled years ago. They figured since their mom and dad weren’t all that concerned about anything in the house, and in particular the ghosts, who never tried to hurt them, it never became a big issue with them either. They just went about their business of playing and having fun, like the ghost weren’t even there.

  Tyler was around thirteen years old and didn’t really want to move away from the house when their mom and dad decided to sell it and move into town. Especially since he and Justin had so much fun living there. Justin had just graduated from high school and they knew he would be moving away to go to college soon. They felt like they didn’t need such a big old house with him gone. Once they moved into town Tyler always missed the old house and all the fun times he had in it.

  Now he was just standing inside the house and he didn’t understand why he was suddenly there just because he was thinking about it. He didn’t fully understand that all he had to do now was think about a place he wanted to be or to wish that he was somewhere and he would be teleported to that location.

  While standing inside the old house, he could tell there were people still living in it as he moved slowly from room to room. All of his memories of what happened in the house started coming back to him as he walked through it and looked for his old secret hiding places. As he approached the stairs he saw the spirit that he and Justin used to see shadows of when they were kids. Now he could see him clearly. The spirit had his head down and he was simply going up and down the stairs as if he didn’t know what he wanted to do or where he wanted to go. He watched the man go up and down a few times and then approached the stairs and called out to him, “Hello, do you remember me? I’m Tyler and I used to live here.” The man didn’t act like he heard him as went about his business of just pacing up and down the stairs. Tyler thought, “Wow, now I can’t even get the attention of another spirit.” After trying a few more times to get the guy’s attention he realized it was useless, so he decided to continue his journey through the house.

  When he came to the kitchen there was a man and woman in their mid-thirties, two girls about nine and ten years old, and a boy around twelve years old. They were sitting at the kitchen table and having dinner. When he entered the kitchen and saw them, he quickly ducked behind the door so they wouldn’t see him. For a few short moments he thought, “Man, that was close, they almost saw me.” He knew this was no longer his house and he was now trespassing. He thought, “I’m invading their privacy.” He didn’t realize that they couldn’t even see him if he walked out into the middle of the room and screamed at them.

  He watched them for a few minutes from the corner of the door and then decided to leave them alone. He wanted to explore the rest of the house since he was already there. He checked out all the old hiding places one by one and then went up to his bedroom to look around. His mind was racing a million miles a minute as he made his way around the room. His thoughts went back to where all his things used to be inside the room. He remembered where he had his bed, where he had his dresser and all his other things scattered throughout the room. Looking around, he envisioned himself being there and playing with some of his favorite toys.

  After a few minutes he went over to the closet and went inside. He found the small door inside the closet and slowly opened it. It still made the old creaking sound it did when he lived there. As he looked inside he could tell the kids that lived here, either didn’t know it was there, or they felt like it was too creepy to play in. While looking inside he suddenly saw a movement at the back of the dark musty room. He crawled in to get a better look to see what it might be. When he got within a few feet of it he could tell it was a spirit person. He was cowering in the corner like he was scared of something or someone. He was curled up in a fetal position with his arms and legs up by his face and chest. He had his hands over his eyes and peeking through his fingers as Tyler stepped back startled and asked him what he was doing in there.

  The young man slowly took his hands away from his face and stared back at Tyler in somewhat disbelief. He quietly said, “You can see me and hear me?” Tyler replied, “Of course I can see you, what do you think you are, a ghost or something?” The young man immediately started laughing and said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I am. You must be a ghost too if you are talking to me.” That shocked Tyler when he heard those words because even though he knew that he was a ghost he hadn’t started to think of himself as a ghost yet. He looked at his body and then looked back at the young man in the corner and said, “Neither of us looks like a ghost. I can see you as plain as day.” The young man said, “That’s b
ecause you’re now in the spirit world and what we call another realm or dimension. We still look exactly the way we did in the other dimension or what we call the earthly world accept we’re transparent to that dimension. We can see them but they can’t see us. Sometimes it can be pretty cool.”

  Tyler told him his name and asked him his. He asked what he was doing in the house and also wanted to know why he was hiding in the corner of that small room. He told Tyler that his name was Markus Cryder and he also used to live in the old house when he was younger. He told him that he always loved it and that’s why he came back to it after he passed. He told Tyler this was his favorite hiding place when he lived there. Tyler told him his name was Tyler McBride and that everyone used to just call him Ty. He told Markus he too once lived in the old house when he was younger and that was also his favorite place in the house.

  Without getting an answer as to why he was hiding in the little room Ty asked Markus how old he was and what happened to him and why he was now a spirit. Markus told him that he had become ill with cancer when he was about fourteen years old and that his mom had tried everything and taken him to all the best doctors and hospitals she could afford but he still passed away when he was seventeen. He told Ty that his dad abandoned him and his mom once he got sick. Ty felt sad that his dad took off and left him as he said, “Man, I’m really sorry to hear that about your dad. You don’t look much older than seventeen right now. “He just grinned at Ty as he replied, “When you’re stuck in this dimension you stay the same age as when you passed from the other dimension or you can choose whatever age of your life that you want. I just chose to stay the same age as I was when I passed into this dimension.”

  Ty told him that he had just recently passed from a car accident and that this was his first place he stopped after he left his family. He told Markus, “I don’t know anything about what to do or what I’m even doing here. Markus told him that he had been all over the different dimensions but the old house was the place he stayed most of the time. Ty asked him if he knew anything about the majestic and brilliant white light he had encountered with his grandfather and uncle. Markus told him that some people are met by loved ones and choose to go immediately into that dimension through the white light. He said, “Those are people just like you and me but they choose to immediately be either angels or disciples of God and go directly into the light. They can come back from time to time as guardian angels and sometimes just regular spirits to try to convince us to cross through the white light with them. They talk about how beautiful and serene everything is in their eternal life and how we can join them and be with God. They also talk about the love and support that awaits us there from loved ones and friends we had on earth that have had already passed through the light. They will tell you that each of us had a spirit guide with us most of our lives on earth to help guide and direct us, and keep us on the right path with God and the eternal life. Some people just don’t listen and follow their own paths. They call the guides our guardian angels because they try to protect us from harm whenever they can. The angels and spirit guides also come to help us ward off the demons and evil spirits when we need their help. Ty said, “Wait a minute, what are you talking about? I thought the stories about the demons and angry spirits were just something the pastors in church used to scare us into going to Sunday school and church?” Markus’s eyes widened as he looked around behind Ty and said, “What do you think I’m hiding from right now?” Ty quickly turned around and looked behind him as he said, “I don’t see anything scary out there and when I was going through the house and I didn’t see anything except the guy on the stairs going up and down them.” He told Markus that he did see the family that was having dinner in the kitchen but they weren’t spirits or demons. He told Markus the spirit on the stairs seemed like he was pre-occupied and wouldn’t even acknowledge me as I tried to talk to him. Markus said, “That’s because he couldn’t speak to you. He’s stuck in a total different dimension than us and when you are in that dimension you just keep doing the same thing over and over again and you never leave that spot. They are the ones that can’t accept their own tragic deaths that happened to them on earth. They are unfortunately stuck in the same location where they died until the angels or someone else can convince them to move on. He said on earth we just call them residual haunts or ghosts. They are the hardest ones to convince to cross into the light because they don’t know their dead. Only the angels or sometimes physic mediums can make contact with them and convince them they have passed away and they need to go into the light. The people that are currently living in the houses where they died can sometimes hear them through residual footsteps, doors opening and closing and occasionally voices.

  Ty wanted to know more about what Markus was telling him so he asked him tons of questions. Markus told Ty about the tortured souls, the spirits that are always angry, just like they were when they were alive and on earth. They were the evil forces on earth, the killers, the thieves and unjust people that are stuck in the same dimension as Ty and Markus. They are the ones that have chosen to follow God’s fallen angel “Lucifer.” Markus said, “Not only do they make things miserable for the good spirits like you and me in this dimension, their only purpose is to follow Lucifer’s orders and try to penetrate souls of the people still living on earth to try and get them to follow Satan and not God. They are powerful and they can suck away energy from things with batteries or electricity and it gives them the ability to make contact with the earthly beings and in extreme cases scratch, push, pull hair and hit and sometimes rape their victims. They don’t like religious people because they are the only ones that have any power over them. They will try everything they can to make contact with the earthly beings in grotesque and monstrous shapes and sizes. They try to scare them into moving away from their homes so they can once again occupy and control where they used to live on earth. They also try to convince the spirits in our dimension to follow Satan by fear and intimidation. Once they realize they can’t convert us to their way of thinking they just bully us around. They sometimes knock us down or push us against the wall or just beat us up. Most of the good spirits try to avoid the demons and the angry spirits as much as possible. That’s why I was hiding in the little room behind the closet. I didn’t want to be knocked around, beat up or intimidated by the demons. They have beaten me around several times, trying to convert me.” Ty rolled his eyes and sarcastically said under his breath, “Wow! That sounds like a nice way to spend eternity.”

  Ty was feeling a little overwhelmed with the entire conversation with Markus and started to question if what Markus was telling him could possibly be true. None of it made a lot of since to Ty. He asked Markus, “So if it’s so bad, why are we in this dimension? Why didn’t you go directly into the light like you were supposed to?” Markus hesitated for a moment and then said, I’m here for the same reason you’re probably still here. “I’m not ready to cross through into the light yet; I had to stay behind for my mom. She couldn’t accept my death and went a little bit crazy. She’s always blamed herself for not being able to get some miracle cure that would’ve saved me. She also blamed God for me dying at such a young age. She has been having a hard time since I left and I’ve been trying to make some type of contact with her to let her know that I’m fine and happy now and that it’s okay to let me go. I need for her to not blame herself for my death. By her hanging on to that guilt it’s actually keeping me from passing through the light. I’m hoping someday I’ll be able to find a way to reach out to her and let her know that I no longer have any pain and that I’m truly at peace with myself. Right now I just need to stay away from the demons and angry spirits and after I talk to my mom then I’ll go through the light.” Ty replied, “Just how do you plan on communicating with her since she can’t hear you or see you?” Markus told him there are ways through psychic’s and medians and sometimes direct contact but it just takes the right m
oment. He told Ty that he was going find a way to make the contact someday. He just had to find out how and when.

  Ty wanted to know more about the demons and evil spirits so he started asking Markus more questions, “What do they look like and where do they live?” Markus told him everything he knew about them. He said, “They can take on hundreds of different shapes and forms, like a chameleon. Sometimes they are small little creepy dark figures about three feet tall, resembling a troll and they just try to intimidate you and other times they are very powerful, huge and grotesque looking creatures. If you get in their way they’ll throw you against the wall or run right over you. They’ll stomp on you when they see you. Ty asked him, “What exactly are they? Markus replied, “Some of them started out as just angry spirits and then realize they are stuck in this different dimension forever so they make the transition into a demon or angel for Lucifer. They are the ones that are living in what we used to call hell or purgatory and they’ll never be allowed through the light, as long as they follow Satan’s wishes. They also don’t want us to cross through the light and they try to convince us to join them. If we don’t, they’ll use all kinds of scare tactics against us.” After listening to what Markus was telling him, he though, “That’s great, not only do we have to fight with temptation and evil within our souls while we were on earth now we have to fight with the devil and his puppets in this dimension as well.”

  Markus asked Ty the same question about why he didn’t just go through the light with his grandfather and uncle when they came to get him. He said, “That would’ve been very easy for you because you had a choice, you didn’t have to stay here?” Ty replied, “Yeah, I felt a strong desire to go with them, but I have a wife named Maggie that I left behind. We’ve been married for just one year and I passed away on the night of our first anniversary. I love her so much. I was rushing home to take a shower then take her out for our celebratory dinner when I ran a stop sign and I ended up dead and in this dimension. I was in too big of a hurry to get home and I was driving I wanted to call Maggie and let her know I was on my way. As I reached for my phone, I fumbled it and dropped it on the floor in front of me. When I bent down to pick it up, I took my eyes off the road and went through the stop sign.” Markus looked at him with a grin and Ty wondered why he was smiling when he had just told him something that he thought would be an unhappy and sad story. Markus said, “You know you really didn’t die, man. Your spirit just left that physical body and now it’s in this dimension. It’s translucent and can move freely inside or outside of different dimensions or wherever you want to go. You’ll one day find that your spirit has been around for a long time and it’ll live forever.” Ty chuckled, “You mean, like a vampire?” Markus laughed as he replied, “Something like that, except that vampires aren’t real and our spirits are.”

  Markus wanted to hear more about Ty’s marriage to Maggie as he questioned Ty, “Tell me about your wife. What’s does she look like? Is she pretty?” Ty was more than eager to talk about her, instead of talking about demons and being a spirit. He told him that she was very attractive with long blond hair, green eyes, and she was five feet six inches tall with a nice curvy figure. Markus said, “I knew it. I knew she was pretty.” He told Markus they had been together for about three years before they decided to get married. They were planning on having children within a few years after Maggie was established in her new job at the hospital. They agreed they wanted three kids, maybe two boys and a girl or the other way around it didn’t really matter to them as long as they were healthy. He said that since he’d met Maggie she had become the most important person in his life and he loved her more than anyone or anything he’d ever loved before. He said they had a special bond and could talk to each other about anything and everything. They even spent time talking about what they would do if either of them were to pass away before the other. They’d made a promise to each other if that happened they’d come back in the spirit form and let the other person know they were okay. Markus interrupted him and said, “You mean like ADC, after death communication?” Ty shook his head yes, as he told him that she was the main reason he stayed behind; he needed to let Maggie and his parents know he was at peace and not in any pain or suffering. He also wanted to tell her how much he missed her and loved her, one last time. He somehow wanted to let her know that he would see her again someday. He desperately needed to give her that message of hope and a last goodbye before he moved on into the light. Markus seemed very interested as he listened intently to every word Ty told him about Maggie. He looked Ty in the eyes and said, “You’re very lucky you had someone you loved so deeply.”

  Markus told Ty he had seen it over and over again since he had been in that dimension, where the spirits are stuck trying to make the final contact before they move on. “They keep moving from place to place in hope of meeting up with their loved ones and delivering their message. Sometimes they help solve a crime, save a loved one, or just let the loved ones know they are okay. Sometimes it happens immediately and other times it takes a long time to make the connection to the loved one. A lot of the spirits stay with their loved ones trying desperately to that contact before they do anything. It’s during that time, the energy connection is still very strong and sometimes the connection is made right away.” Ty had so many questions, but he knew it was going to take a while for the two of them to get to all of them. He took Markus by the arm and began dragging him toward the small door opening as he said, “Come on Markus, let’s get out of this hiding place and see what else is going on in the house. I’ll protect you from the demons if they come after you.”

  At first Markus was very reluctant to move from the safety of his hiding place. He told Ty, “The demons can be very scary and threatening so we need to keep an eye out for them. Don’t try to fight them because they are very strong and if they can’t hurt you they’ll call in support. Then they’ll really torment you and make things rough on you.”

  While they were moving from room to room in the house Ty asked Markus about eating, drinking, sex and the other pleasures of the earthly life. Markus chuckled and said, “There’s no need for any of those things in the spirit world. As a spirit we don’t want or need food, water, sex, or anything of those things we used to crave. In this dimension everyone is trying to accept the reality that they’ve passed on and begin adjusting to their new home. Everyone shows love and comfort to each other, but not like the love we had on earth. Here it’s much deeper, sincere, and meaningful than any love you’ve ever known.

  The demons are just trouble makers and they try to rule this dimension through fear and intimidation. Everyone tries to avoid them by staying out of their way or hiding from them. They can sometimes take the form of your worst nightmare. They are the cause of all havoc in the spirit life just like on earth. They’re bullies and they love to make your presence in this dimension miserable if you don’t join them. They are also able to tap into the earthly beings and scare our loved ones we left behind. They can be summoned to earth by the devil worshipers, witchcraft, and people playing with Ouija boards. They sometimes take on the form of the incubus and succubus and torment their victims in the earthly dimension by raping them. Some of the things I’ve seen and heard them do since I’ve been here really frighten me.” Ty looked at Markus’s frail thin body and he thought, “No wonder, he looks like an undernourished skinny seventeen year old kid that can’t defend himself.” He understood why he was afraid of the demons and why they were victimizing him. Even so, Ty believed maybe Markus was blowing it a little out of proportion to try and make a point or maybe to try and scare him. Ty was 6’ 2” and 205 pounds in his earthly form and he wasn’t afraid of very many things, especially some ghostly figures, like a demon. They didn’t scare him, like they did when he was a kid and saw them. He told Markus, “Just stick with me and I’ll protect you.” Markus just looked at Ty and said, “Yea, right, you’ll see what I’m
talking about soon enough. They’ll come after you too.”

  As they continued through the house Ty asked Markus if there were any other spirits in the house besides the man on the stairs and the demons. He told Ty that a lot of spirits liked this old house and it had become like a portal for the spirits. They come and go from time to time, as they are passing through. “You just never know when they’re going to show up.” Ty was very curious about their movement from place to place so he asked him how that happens. “Can you tell me how we all move from place to place so freely?” Markus said, “If you want to go somewhere all you have to do is just envision a place in your mind where you’d like to be and then focus on it for a second and you’ll be there. We can move freely within the different dimension to wherever we want to go just by wanting to be there. Sometimes our spirits are summoned by someone or by a psychic median that can hear your voice. They can then help you talk to the person that requested you to come through to them. The only problem with mediums is that they only hear bits and pieces of what we try to tell them and that’s how they pass it on to our loved ones.” Ty raised his eyebrows and said, “Man, that all sounds a little too weird for me.” Markus shrugged his shoulders and replied, “You’ll get used to it. If you want to communicate with Maggie you’ll have to find a way to make that connection.”

  Just as they rounded the bottom of the stairs they heard a loud low growl as something big and strong came flying up from behind them and knocked them both to the floor. It made a hideous yell as it passed by. Ty was making his way to his feet when he saw the huge dark figure coming toward him once again. It was massive and it looked like something Ty had seen in one of his nightmares as a kid. It looked like a hairy black werewolf with red eyes and big long sharp teeth. As it lunged at him again he ducked into a football defensive blocking position. Just as it hit him he threw his shoulders and weight into it and knocked it against the wall and he went rolling across the room. Markus was cowering in the corner of the room just watching the entire attack unfolded. It was one of the demons that Markus had told Ty about that had been picking on him. Just as Ty got to his feet so did the demon. It screamed at him in a deep loud voice, “You just messed with the wrong guy, Son.” He didn’t try to attack Ty again when he said to himself, “Another new guy that thinks he’s tough. I’ll be back, but I’ll have others with me.” Ty just looked at him and said, “Bring it on.” He had no idea exactly what effect that would have or what he was dealing with in this dimension when he said it, but believed he could handle himself against the demon.

  After the short encounter was over Markus ran over to Ty and said, “That was awesome Dude! I’ve never seen anyone do that to one of them before.” He said, “Come on. We have to hide. He’ll be back with re-enforcements.” Ty said, “I’m not hiding from him. I don’t care how many pals he brings back with him.” He sort of chuckled as said, “What are they going to do, kill me?” Markus knew what was going to happen if they stayed there, but figured he would let Ty find out for himself. He told Ty that they should keep their eyes open for the demons because now he’d made one of them angry. Markus knew he would come after Ty and bring three or four others with him.

  A few minutes later as they were making their way into the family room they heard loud screaming voices and were blindsided by the demon once again. He had brought back three demons with him and they were all very angry. Markus went running to find a place to hide while they attacked Ty. The demons were all about the same size and Ty knew this wasn’t going to be a fair fight. The one that Ty had knocked down a few minutes earlier said to the other two, “That’s the new guy! The big one! Let’s teach him a lesson!” They were yelling at Ty as they tackled him and knocked him to the ground. They began to knock him around and threw him against the wall. They took turns pounding on him for several minutes. Ty was fighting back, but it was in a losing effort. The harder he fought back the more intense the battle became. They were making strange muffled growling noises like they were enjoying themselves as they tried to make their point loud and clear to Ty. Even though they were beating on him and kicking him around, Ty didn’t feel any pain like he would’ve felt in his earthly body. He believed there entire purpose in the attack was all about intimidation, mind and body control more than physical harm. They were letting him know that they controlled the house and they wanted him to stay out of their way. After a while of beating on him, they decided they were through and let him up. Ty made it to his feet as the three demons warned him again to stay out of their way or they would beat him up every time they saw him. They quickly flew out of the room through the doorway and the confrontation was over.

  As Ty looked back at them he saw a dark spirit who was just standing in the doorway laughing at him, for getting his butt kicked. He didn’t look like the three that had just taken turns beating him up. He looked more like Markus and the guy he saw on the stairs. After he gathered himself, Ty slowly went over to the guy in the doorway and stuck out his hand to introduce himself. The man suddenly slapped his hand away and said, “You got lucky this time Mister. If it would’ve been me I wouldn’t have let you get off so easy.” He then turned and headed into another room. As he left he said, “Just stay out of my way and I’ll stay out of yours.” Ty realized this was another demon that had just taken a different form. Now he was beginning to understand exactly what Markus was talking about. The demons in the house were the bullies and they controlled everything and everyone in that dimension.

  When Markus was sure none of them were around any longer he came out of his hiding place and ran over to Ty, and said, “That was awesome, man! You put up a good fight! Are you ok?” Before Ty could say, “Hey, what happened with you. You ran and hid like a scared rabbit. You didn’t even try to help me.” Markus ignored the question and said, “Now do you see what I was trying to tell you?” Ty shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Yeah, I’m starting to get the picture.”

  Ty asked Markus how big this dimension was and if there was any place where they could go without having to deal with that type of harassment from demons. Markus said, “It’s bigger than you could ever imagine, it’s endless. Everywhere we go we could run into the same problems with demons and angry spirits, just like these thugs. We just have to realize that when they’re around we need to stay out of their way.” Ty wanted to know if these were some of the evil demons that sometimes terrorize him. Markus just sheepishly looked down at the ground and said, “Yes, they’re just a few of the several we have to deal with in this house, but there’re millions of them in this dimension.”

  As they continued to make their way through the house Markus told Ty he wanted him to meet someone very special. When they went into one of the bedrooms Markus softly called out, “Holly, Holly, are you here?” In an instant a beautiful young woman stood before them smiling. Ty thought she was stunning. She looked like she may be in her late teens to early twenties. She was about five foot eight inches tall with long dark shoulder length hair and big round piercing brown eyes. Her skin color wasn’t dark and it wasn’t light, it was more of an olive color. Ty felt an instant feeling of love and compassion radiating from her. It wasn’t like the love he had for Maggie; it was more like you would have for a very close friend or sister. Markus said to her, “I wanted to introduce you to a new friend of mine. This is Tyler but you can call him Ty.” She reached out her hand and as she touched Ty’s hand she said, “I’m Holly. Nice to meet you.” Ty could tell they’d soon become great friends. Markus told her that he’d only been there a short time and had already had an encounter with the demons. He also told her that Ty was going to hang out with them for a while.

  Ty asked Holly, “Are you sticking around in this dimension because you have someone you want to contact like Markus? She began to tell him that she needed to try and get in touch with her sister Rebecca, to give her a message that she was okay. She said that she and Rebec
ca were only one year apart and they were almost like twins. They did everything together, except for the day she died and went into the spirit world. She said that she and Rebecca were supposed to go to a party together that night but Rebecca had to work, so she went without her. She said had too much to drink at the party and foolishly decided to drive drunk. As she was on her way home, she missed a turn and ran off the road and crashed into a large tree. She said Rebecca always felt guilty for not taking the time off work to go with her to the party. Rebecca always told everyone that maybe if she’d gone with Holly that night she could’ve somehow prevented the accident from happening. Holly wanted and needed to let her know that it wasn’t her fault because there was nothing she could’ve done to prevent her from driving, even if she had been with her. They both probably would’ve been killed. Ty asked her how long it had been since she had died. She said she’d been there for a few years just trying to find a way to make contact with Rebecca. She said she was having trouble doing that because she didn’t quite know what to do.

  Markus told her that he was showing Ty around and was going to show him some other parts of the dimension, if she wanted to come along. He told her about the encounter Ty had with the demon spirits and she smiled as she asked, “How did that turn out for you Ty?” Ty just laughed and said, “It wasn’t as much fun as I thought it would be.” Holly giggled and fell in behind them as she said, “Sure, I’d love to go with you and get out of here for a change.”

  Ty was thinking that somehow he wanted visit the mangled car that he had been driving, but he wasn’t exactly sure how he was going to do that. He was going to have Markus help him.

  As they stepped out of the front door of the big house, Ty had to take a step back because all the brilliant colors of the outside world were magnified about one thousand percent and there were hundreds of flickering spirits bouncing around from place to place. They were spirits just like the three of them. They reminded Ty of the humming birds that seemed to just sit suspended in mid-air while drinking the colored sugar water from the little containers on his grandmother’s back porch. He was always in awe as he watched them darting from one place to another in almost an instant. They fascinated him at the speed they could maneuver from one spot to another. Now the translucent spirits were doing the same thing, except he could hear their voices, screams and laughter as they instantly darted from place to place. He also heard music, but didn’t know where it was coming from. It was beautiful and he loved it.

  Once he gathered himself he asked Markus if he and Holly wanted to go with him to see his wrecked car. They agreed they were also curious to see what it looked like. Ty wasn’t sure where it might be, but figured it probably was towed to Cecil’s garage, which used to be the place his dad took their cars when they needed to be repaired. That’s also where the police had most wrecked vehicles towed after they had been in a serious accident.

  Ty wasn’t sure how the entire process worked, using your mind to project you where you wanted to be, so he asked Markus if he could help him and take the lead. Markus told him that all he had to do is to think about the wrecking yard and the back of the building where they kept all the wrecked cars and then tell himself that’s where he wanted to be. He said if that’s where you want to be you’ll be there in an instant. Ty was thinking what an interesting way to travel. “Too bad he couldn’t do that when he was still alive.” He did just as Markus instructed and envisioned himself in the wrecking yard. In an instant his spirit was hovering above the spot where his car had been towed. Markus and Holly took his hands and were right along beside him.

  Ty was looking all around the wrecking yard when he finally found his black Ford Mustang against one of the fences. As he hovered above the car, he couldn’t believe the damage it had sustained. When Holly saw it she just said “Wow, no wonder you didn’t survive that impact.” The entire driver’s side was crushed in about midway into the center of the car. The seat where Ty had been sitting wasn’t there any longer. It looked like a mangled piece of metal and leather pushed toward the passenger’s side of the car. Markus said in a low voice almost to himself, “Ouch that sucks. No one could’ve survived that impact.” They stayed for a few minutes and looked all over the car before Ty said, “Ok, let’s get out of here. Let’s go visit Maggie.”

  Markus immediately grabbed Ty by the arm and said, “Wait Dude, we can visit her but she won’t be able to see you or hear you. You have to promise us that you won’t decide to stay there and try to be with her forever.” At first Ty didn’t really understand why Markus was making such a big deal out of it. All he wanted to do was see and talk to Maggie. He didn’t see any problem with that.

  * * *

  Chapter 4 – Trying to Contact Maggie