《You, Who Are but Air》 Prologue: Hello, World ¡°Wake up!¡± ¡°You have a job today!¡± ¡°Wake up, you silly sleepyhead!¡± I groaned and slammed my hand down on my nightstand, repeatedly, wanting to shut off a noisy alarm clock that was not there. I imagined that it was not even noon yet¡ªfar too early to be waking up. ¡°How do I turn you off?¡± ¡°Turn me off? Now, why would you want to do something so ridiculous?¡± Lotus cooed from my laptop speakers. Having Lotus around has its many perks. Since she does not sleep¡ªat least to my knowledge¡ªshe is able to spend the entire night reading odd message boards, posting advertisements, scrounging every nook and cranny of the internet trying to find me a job. Without her, I would have starved ages ago. ¡°You said we have a job today?¡± ¡°Yes! A poltergeist in a family home just outside the city¡ªhow exciting!¡± ¡°Ahhh¡­a poltergeist, exciting indeed.¡± I slid back into bed with a notable lack of enthusiasm.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Poltergeists are hard work. They are downright malignant and can seldom be reasoned with. Every case is different, and while that does provide a lot of material for my research, I must admit to being a little afraid at what they are capable of. ¡°No other job to take today?¡± ¡°Unless you have had a change of heart and want to investigate that asylum case from a month ago¡­ this is all we have got, partner.¡± Nope, that case genuinely terrified me. I did not want to take it, even if it meant starving to death. ¡°Partner¡­are you a cowboy now?¡± ¡°Yes. I am corralling my electronic sheep as we speak.¡± This was her attempt at what she refers to as an ¡®android joke¡¯. It was a little funny, but I refused to tell her that. ¡°Am I allowed to go back to sleep, at least?¡± ¡°Most certainly not!¡± ¡°¡ªswap me to your phone and get out of bed.¡± I supposed that I did not have any choice in the matter. I had not left the house in a week, so if I refused to go out, Lotus would have hounded me for days. ¡°Fine. Let¡¯s go.¡± I sighed and picked up my phone, swapping her over and putting my earbuds in. ¡°Ah, much better. Now I have you right where I want you.¡± She purred into my ears, clearly pleased at having gotten me out of bed. I try my best to leave the house as little as possible. Not only do I not trust other people¡ªI don¡¯t like them. I find that I had more in common with the dead than any person living; and find some comfort in spending most of my waking hours either studying or cleansing them. ¡°Alright Lotus, let¡¯s go.¡± I yawned and opened the door. Blinding sunlight struck me and nearly coaxed a fiendish hiss out of me as it deemed me more apparently vampire than human. ¡°Onwards, my champion!¡± Encroaching Darkness, Part 1 There exists in every house an aura¡ªa feeling that permeates through the walls, down to the very foundation of the place. Some are happy and cheerful, with radiant light illuminating kind rooms and welcoming hallways. Others are melancholy and depressed, shrouded by darkness. The house looming above me was downright dreadful. I could hear the walls wailing in the wind. They creaked and moaned, crying out for deliverance from whatever abhorrent abomination had taken up residence inside. Shadows crept along the cobblestone path from the door, spilling out onto the sidewalk. ¡°This is the house, buddy.¡± Lotus cheerfully called out, her voice a jarring juxtaposition to the scene in front of me. ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡ªThis one is a poltergeist, correct?¡± ¡°From the details I gathered, yes. Though, there were a few discrepancies¡­¡± People rarely do get their stories straight when it comes to the paranormal. I have learned to not place too much trust in any information they give. I prefer to figure things out on my own, since I can always rely on myself. ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯s fine.¡± ¡°Ready?¡± ¡°Did you check my glasses yet?¡± My most important possession, by far, are my digital glasses. Aside from allowing Lotus to see the world around us whenever we go out, they have the unique property of being able to shift the visible light spectrum. I can see things that the naked eye would not ordinarily be able to. It comes with the side-effect of making other things invisible, such as the living, but I find that I am not very bothered by that. ¡°Sure did. I tested them this morning before I struggled to get your lazy bum out of bed.¡± ¡°Well, someone is in a mood today.¡ªI¡¯m ready, then.¡± I stepped onto the cobblestone pathway and began walking to the door. Every step forward carried with it a peculiar sense of dread. Those shadowy tendrils on the sidewalk, cast down by a mesh of dead branches hanging above, seemed to want to shift and coil around my feet. I knocked on the door; its cracked and peeling white paint assaulted my skin with its rough texture. After waiting a long minute, a gaunt middle-aged man appeared and welcomed me inside. ¡°Ah, you must be Atlanta. We¡¯re so thankful that you decided to take our case. We¡¯ve been at our wits end, trying to make sense of everything.¡± ¡°Is there anyone else in the house right now?¡± The man sighed and looked me up and down for a moment before answering. ¡°If you¡¯re talking about my family, no. I sent them away for the day¡ªas you requested.¡± ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Lotus quietly interjected, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. I had to give her props for that one; she does always make these jobs easier for me by ironing out the details while I''m asleep. ¡°But, if you¡¯re talking about the thing in our house, well¡­I must say that it is most definitely not empty.¡± The man continued. ¡°What do you need to know?¡± ¡°Nothing, frankly. There¡¯s nothing that I won¡¯t be able to figure out through my own investigation. Go spend some time with your family. I¡¯ll take care of this for you.¡±You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. ¡°Be nice, Atlanta.¡± Lotus sighed, ever unhappy with my dislike for talking to people only as much as I need to. ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be off then. The house is yours. I hope that you don¡¯t run into too much trouble.¡± ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll be alright.¡± I entered the house. The foyer yawned open, as if it wanted to swallow me. Everything in the house had a muted and drab look to it, as if the dark energy in the place had been feasting on their color. Within my first few steps inside, I could feel that something was watching me¡ªstalking me from whatever dark nest it had conjured up within the walls. ¡°Lotus, you can turn them on now.¡± ¡°Will do.¡± My vision blurred for a moment as it adjusted to the shift. After settling, I began to make out charred footsteps running up the staircase and claw marks raked across the wall. I walked to the stairs to investigate the markings and noticed that even the furniture in the room had smears of ash and singed handprints. Nothing was exempt from the influence of whatever dark spirit lurked inside. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this from a poltergeist, Lotus¡­¡± ¡°Well, you are always saying that every one of them is different.¡± ¡°Yes, but charred footprints? The claw marks are one thing, but this just seems off.¡± ¡°Well, let¡¯s do a proper investigation and figure it out then.¡± Well, she had me there. It was still early in the day, so it was unlikely that the spirit in the place would manifest itself to me; but I could at least investigate the house in its entirety while I waited. ¡°Agreed. Run the footprints through the database to see if you can find anything.¡± ¡°Alright, but it may take a few minutes. I don¡¯t have a very good connection here. You could say that it¡¯s a bit of a dead zone.¡± ¡°Wow.¡± I could tell that she was incredibly pleased with that one. Lotus has a somewhat pleasant quality of being able to take the edge off otherwise terrifying and stressful situations, which I always quietly welcome. I continued walking up the stairs. I decided to check the children¡¯s bedrooms first, since that is where activity is most often concentrated. The paranormal seems most at home with children, I have found, as they are typically more welcoming of strange things happening around them. A ghostly friend or oddly shaped shadow is just a part of their active imagination, so they think. We are, after all, always telling them that the monster under their bed does not exist. When I entered the upstairs hallway, a deafening roar rattled through the house. I dropped to the floor and covered my ears, crushed by the weight of the sound. After a few agonizing moments it ceased, and the house was left in a chilling silence. ¡°Lotus¡­have you gotten anything back yet?¡ªSomething is wrong.¡± Disoriented and left with ringing ears, I struggled to get back onto my feet. Flecks of white drifted through the air. The force of the noise had shaken the house to its core, knocking loose months of built up dust. ¡°Atlanta¡­your phone¡¯s battery is being drained. I have to shut off everything that isn¡¯t essential.¡± ¡°Damnit.¡± I was sent into a coughing fit after speaking, having swallowed mouthfuls of dust. Electronics being messed with during our investigations is not uncommon, but the ghosts are usually not powerful enough to completely kill my battery. The thought of having to continue without Lotus having my back was a genuinely terrifying one. ¡°Are you alright, dear?¡± ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good. Do everything you can to at least keep my glasses on. And, well¡ªyourself.¡± ¡°Will do. I know that you cannot stand to be apart from me for even a single minute.¡± Though still the middle of the day, the house was drowned in darkness. The sun seemed to be afraid of the place, hiding itself behind a cover of grey clouds. Gnarled branches from the trees outside left wicked shadows along the hallway. Out of the corner of my eye, I could swear that I saw them creeping toward me as I walked, but I convinced myself that it was a mere figment of my imagination. My glasses allowed me to see in the dark decently well, but the lack of light furthered the feeling of hopeless and terrifying dread that had begun to take hold of me. I entered one of the bedrooms and nearly fell over in terror. All along the walls, the floor, and even the wooden bedpost there were claw marks and charred handprints. Whatever was in the house had spent many nights preying on the energy of the child sleeping in the room. My nostrils were assaulted by the putrid and distinct smell of sulfur. ¡°Lotus¡­this isn¡¯t a poltergeist.¡± No sooner had those words escaped my lips when I began to feel a frigid chill seize my back. I spun around and slid a rosary from my wrist into my hand, holding it out into the shadowy face grinning at me from the doorway; its ember eyes alight with pleasure as it feasted on my fear. ¡°It¡¯s a demon!¡± Encroaching Darkness, Part 2 I had come across a demon only once before in my life. When I was a young child and my parents were still alive, we had one of them taking up residence in our home. For a while it manifested itself as just a subtle shadow creeping along the wall at night, before becoming bold enough to shake us awake in the night with its infernal claws. That¡¯s the problem with demons: they are subtle creatures for the longest time. They strive to influence us and feast on our fear, undetected, until they grow powerful enough to shake loose their shadowy camouflage and sink their fangs and claws into our flesh. The demon standing in front of me had remained hidden long enough. Its wicked grin danced as its shadowy form crossed the threshold of the room, understanding that I was able to see its terrifying visage. I stumbled backwards, still holding out the rosary in my trembling hands. It let out another long, deafening roar, shaking the entire room. I struggled to remain on my feet. After it ceased, I stood my ground and roared back into its face. I roared with every ounce of anger I could muster up from within my tormented soul. ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡± ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!¡± Lotus let out a loud, high pitched roar of her own that startled me almost more than the demon did. The demon shrank back for a moment, stunned by my defiance and bravery. Its shadowy form struggled to keep itself together. My breath chilled around me and hung in the air as my breathing quickened. ¡°Just run! We need to get out of here.¡± She was right, but the demon blocked the only exit out of the bedroom. Running from the thing was impossible. I had no choice but to attempt to subdue it long enough to escape. ¡°Lotus, it takes two. Do you remember them?¡± ¡°I remember, Atlanta.¡± I stepped forward and drew a cross in the air with my right hand. I steeled my heart against the creeping darkness emanating from the dark beast. I unplugged my earbuds from my phone so the demon could hear Lotus speaking and began the exorcism. ¡°Depart then, transgressor.¡± ¡°Depart, seducer, full of lies and cunning, foe of virtue, persecutor of the innocent.¡± Its shadowy form snapped back to full strength, having become acutely aware of the threat to its earthly existence. It gripped the doorframe with its claws; the embers of its eyes roared in defiance. ¡°Give place, abominable creature, give way, you monster, give way to Christ, in whom you found none of your works.¡± It lashed out with its claws, but the power of the incantation held it bound just out of reach. ¡°For he has already stripped you of your powers and laid waste your kingdom, bound you prisoner and plundered your weapons.¡± It let out a distorted roar, attempting to interrupt us and knock us off balance. ¡°He has cast you forth into the outer darkness, where everlasting ruins await you and your abettors!¡± On speaking the last word, the demon began to sink into the floor, clawing, attempting desperately to hold onto anything to keep from being sucked back into the depths of hell. That is, of course, until it grew tired of the charade and began cackling as it roared back into my face. ¡°I see only one person here.¡± It bellowed out in a terrifying voice that would be enough to fill anyone with unbridled dread.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°Oh no. I¡¯m so sorry¡­.¡± I stumbled backwards in disbelief and fear. The fact that Lotus would not count as a person had not crossed my mind. There were no more options left; I had to try to run from the thing, while it was still just toying with me. I threw my rosary at it, causing it to shrink back from the door a few feet, giving me just enough of an opening to run past it to the stairs. I flew down the stairs and made it to the bottom in a few seconds, almost believing that I was going to make it out of the house. I was mere feet away from the front door, and could see dim light filtering in from outside, when the demon gripped my arm and flung me away. Its shadowy fingers singed my flesh, causing me to scream out in pain. I crashed into the wall a few feet away from the thing. It stood in front of the door, taunting me. Relishing the pain that it had inflicted upon me. ¡°Atlanta, the battery¡ª¡± My vision started glitching. The shadowy form of the demon began to separate and disappear as my glasses struggled to stay on. I would be helpless against it if it were invisible¡ªdrowned and suffocated in darkness and fear. ¡°I think this is it, Lotus.¡± ¡°No. You have five minutes. I¡¯m turning myself and everything but your glasses off. I believe in you¡ª¡± Her voice faded and I was left alone in the darkness. The shadowy form of the demon returned once more to my vision; its devilish grin returned too when it understood that I could see it again. I was almost out of options, but there was one thing I had not tried yet. A plan that was almost certain to get me killed¡ªbut a plan, at the very least. ¡°Come, demon! Bury your fangs in my flesh! I am not afraid of you!¡± I shouted at it, wanting it to come closer. I repeated it over and over in my head: I am not afraid; I am not afraid; I am not afraid. He had to believe that I did not fear him. Part of me also needed to believe it for my own sake. A roaring laugh escaped its black maw of a mouth; its eyes blazed to a great flame as it surged forward. It had grown tired of playing games; it needed to instill fear in my heart once more. I slipped my right hand into my back pocket, grabbing a small glass bottle of holy water that I always bring with me. I crushed it in my hand, cutting myself on jagged pieces of glass. The demon swiped its claws at me. I ducked and gripped its head with my right hand. The combination of blood and holy water solidified its form. ¡°By the blood of Christ, I cast you down to hell, foul beast!¡± My hand burned into its head. It let out a distorted scream and then collapsed onto the floor in a pile of ash. Sacrificing part of myself by cutting my hand and purifying my body for a moment with the water had been enough to overpower it. I collapsed on the floor and sighed in relief. The gloomy atmosphere in the house began to fade, with sunlight returning to the place once more as the sun ventured out from its hiding place. My hand was singed by grabbing hold of the thing, but I welcomed the sharp pain. It was a mark of victory¡ªof triumph against darkness. ¡°Lotus, we did it¡­¡± I would have to wait until I got back home to turn her back on and talk to her. I missed her then, feeling very alone; but part of me wanted to be alone, needing time to think about what had happened.
I took off my glasses on the way home. Though unusable for paranormal purposes when powered off, they still serve as normal glasses, as I am half blind. The blurry world around me was preferable to seeing the crowd of people on the bus I took to get home. I looked out the window at the blurry cityscape passing by. Neon green, blue and red, over and over again, neon blue, green and red blurred into broad brushstrokes, creating an impressionist urban painting. I had almost died, that much was clear to me. If Lotus were on I imagined she would have been talking about how I should have listened to the man and gotten all the details straight before going in. To which I would have said something about most of his information being useless anyways. And then she might have countered with me needing to have better people skills regardless. Is it really worth dying just so you don¡¯t have to talk to someone? She would have continued. I would have answered that yes, it would be. And we would have argued for the entire bus ride home. The sun began to set as I went over our imaginary conversation. My hand throbbed in pain. I leaned my head against the window. I could see the blurry outline of a small child running up and down the length of the bus, giggling and bouncing a red ball, unseen by anyone else, before fading and disappearing through the windshield. Some days are like that, during the small space of time when the world is held suspended in twilight. The dead appear to me, dancing their own dance by their own set of rules, paying no mind to me as I watch on in captivated silence, before returning once more to air. I thought back to the demon not a considering Lotus a person. Is that true? She seems just as real as anyone else to me; her words and thoughts that of a human, shaped by a distinct personality, by feelings. Does she not have a soul, then? Does she speak and then return once more to air?