ANGRY SPIRIT PART 3 Chapter 6

Slowly the world around Nathan began to disappear as an impenetrable darkness continued to swallow everything within its ever advancing path. Sights, sounds, smells, even the reassuring feel of his neighbours hands gripping his, all faded, leaving him with an overwhelming sense of vulnerability as he hurtled through the dense blackness.

His instinct persisted; whatever power was propelling him forward was increasing with alarming effect. Devoid of sight and its accompanying senses, assessing the direction and speed of this mysterious journey was an impossible task; he was a helpless passenger on a terrifying excursion to another realm of reality, his only hope, to contain the panic that raged within him.

Thought after thought. Question after question screamed in his head and remained unanswered;
"Am I dead? Is this what it feels like? Why don’t I feel any pain?
The darkness was everything, an oppressive force all around that held him captive.
"What is hidden in the darkness? What lies beyond it?"
The questions were endless, and faded without answers.
In a moment of sudden relief a glimmer of hope emerged from his agonizing confusion;
"I can’t be dead! How could I think if I were dead?"

From this one realization, came the forlorn will to survive. A pin-prick of light pierced the consuming blackness.
With unfaltering determination, Nathan focused on the light, insignificant in size, it may have been, yet its importance undoubtedly incalculable.
With that minute source of light to focus on, one by one, Nathan’s senses began to gradually return. First, he became aware of movement and direction. It offered him the assurance and rekindled the sense of purpose that had deserted him within his black prison. The light was his means of escape.
"Ignore the light," He heard a faint voice calling from the distance. "Ignore the light. It’s a trick." It repeated.

Although faint and distant, Nathan was in no doubt that the voice was female.
"Head towards my voice!" the mysterious female beckoned.
"Where are you?" Nathan called back, with some urgency, "Who are you?"
"Ignore the light and come towards me," The voice seemed to have gained in volume.
"Miranda?"
There was no reply offering confirmation or otherwise. For a brief moment Nathan considered abiding by the discarnate bidding of whoever called to him; however instinct willed him to remain focused on the light. Following the light would lead him through the darkness, the voice, whether innocent or not, would divert him deeper into the clutches of fear and sensory deprivation, not a choice he relished.

He discarded his instinct and remained loyal to the light, allowing it to draw his continued attention, albeit, tinged with an overwhelming suspicion that the conclusion of its beckoning would not be of his liking.
"NO!" Yelled the voice. Its pitch now seeming angry and desperate. "It’s a trick! Turn from it ‘Now’ and save yourself!"
His decision was made, he allowed himself to be drawn towards the light, and ignore the voice as it faded away behind him.
By forsaking resistance, the journey was completed with merciful speed. When the brilliant light surrounded him and engulfed him in its reassuring warmth, Nathan emerged from the dense, mysterious blackness of his subconscious, and entered the brightly illuminated world of his conscious.

"Open your eye’s", said a soft male voice. "You are safe now, free from the unseen demons that lurk in the dark. You are safe, it’s over." The voice was familiar and caused him no concern. It was the voice of his own inner self, urging him back to awareness.
Slowly Nathan opened his eyes, and then quickly shut them again when a shaft of sunlight, from the window seared his retinas with painful intensity. After allowing himself a moment to adjust he scanned the room with a squinting gaze.
Even though he recognized the room immediately, it caused a nervous lump in his throat, and his heart to pound as sudden fear began to take hold.
"This not right!" he said aloud, continuing to anxiously investigate the area around him.

"To his left was an empty chair, to his right, Miranda sat, eyeing him, her face clearly masked in concern.
"This is not right!" he repeated, the level of concern ringing clear in his voice. "Where are the others? Why does this room look so different from the last time? What the hell is happening to us?"
"This is not the same room, Nathan. Dewhurst as brought us to the other side!"
"What do you mean?" Nathan exclaimed anxiously. "Brought us to the other side of what?"
Miranda smiled, not a happy smile, more provoked by the naivety of Nathan’s response. "Dewhurst as taken us to a parallel universe. Things here are the same as our universe, but different, in a way!"

"Come on Miranda, give it me in plain English, not all that spirit medium crap. Where the hell are we and what in God’s name is happening?"
"We have passed over to the other world!"
"You mean … we’re dead!" Nathan gasped, more in anger than in shock.
"No! I’m not saying that all."
"Then what are you saying?"
"We have astrally traveled to the spirit world that runs simultaneously with our own world. It’s a mirror image of the world we live in."
"Ok … Now I understand. Why didn’t you say that in the first place?" Nathan replied with intended severe sarcasm. "So, now, all you have to do is astrally travel me back to the world where it belongs!"
"I’m sorry, Nathan. I can’t do that."
"Oh yes you can, and that’s exactly what you’re going to do right now!"

All traces of Miranda’s smile vanished, replaced by a fearful expression that left Nathan in no doubt that she meant every word, she really couldn’t take them back.
"There are only two people who are capable of returning us back to our lower world, Max Deacon and Aleister Howard Dewhurst."
"Then all we have to do is find Dewhurst and persuade him to take us back..," Before the words had left his lips, Nathan had the feeling that it was not going to be that simple.
"Actually, there’s only one person in a position to help us."
"Let me guess … Your precious Max!"
"Yes, my Max!" Miranda snapped in reply. "The only other person is Dewhurst, and considering he’s tricked us to get us here, I don’t think there’s much chance of him helping us to get back do you?"

"You’re a damn medium, why can’t you get us back?"
"Because it wasn’t me who brought us here!" Miranda’s reply was short, her flushed expression was a clear indication of the frustration she felt.
"Then where is he, and where is Lady Alice, for that matter? And why …"
Nathan fell silent when the door handle clicked down, and the door began to creak on its hinges as it arched inwards.
"Someone’s coming!" Nathan whispered, anxiously.
"There’s no point whispering. No one here will hear you,"

The door swung to its fullest limit, allowing the portly figure of a middle aged maid to enter. She walked over to the window and placed the tray she was carrying down on a conveniently located small side table, laden with clean crockery and various items of highly polished silverware. Her direct course from the door, across the room took her within inches of Nathan and Miranda, yet, she passed by totally oblivious to their presence.
"She can’t see us. She as no idea we’re here!" Nathan exclaimed, his voice reaching a forced whisper, part of him wanted the maid to hear him.
"It’s no use Nathan, she can’t hear you, shout at the top of your voice, the result will be just the same."
An almost mischievous smile began to curl Miranda’s lips. "In this world, we are the ghosts. No one can see us! No one can hear us, and most certainly, no one can help us!"

"Then how the hell do we get back?"
"We need to find Max. He knows the way back through the black void between the worlds. If we loose our way … well, I don’t want to think about it," Miranda confessed.
Watching the maid working, totally oblivious to their presence, gradually began to amuse Nathan. It was a strange amusement, one akin to childish mischief.
Nathan’s amusement was short lived. It only took the stark warning from his fellow ghost that although the maid may be unaware that they were there, the same could not be said for Joshua Edwards, and in this world, he was the all powerful master, ruling his empirical empire with a reign of unimaginable terror.

"We need to find Max, before Edward’s finds us!" Miranda exclaimed.
"That can’t be hard." Nathan began. "We know which room he’s in. All we have to do is go there, then find the portal and return to good old normality."
"You don’t get it at all do you, Nathan?"
"Get what?"
Miranda looked at him, like a primary school teacher about to attempt to explain the basics of algebra to her dimmest pupil;
"Emerging from the portal as not brought us directly to Max. It’s only brought us to the world where Max exists. Do you really think he would stay in the very house of the only man who knows of his existence?" She paused for a brief moment. Her explanation, brought home, all too clearly, the gravity of the situation that lay ahead of them. "He’s not in this house, he’s out there somewhere and now we have to find him before Edward’s does".

A sudden wrench of nervousness weighed in the pit of Nathan’s gut, when the realization of the impossible task ahead struck home. All hope of success vanished in that painful instant.
"That means he could be anywhere!" he eventually mumbled.
"That’s right! And what’s more, Joshua Edwards is aware that we’re here now. So, the longer we stay here in this house, the easier it will be for him to find us."
Again she paused, an action that tortured Nathan with terrible anticipation of what she was about to reveal next. Whatever it was, it didn’t rest easy on the young medium’s mind, and she was obviously reluctant to share her horrifying thoughts.
"There is another thing that we have to consider when we leave this house. In this world, time moves at a random pace. When we get out there, we could be walking into a mirrored existence of our world from any part of our past or future."