This is a classic before my blogging days. Where I never thought I'd ever blog. It was originally released in 2007.
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There she was, standing in front of me. Tonight, on the beach, she seemed as though she wasn't herself. She was looking down, as though embarrassed at what she was going to tell me. "Vera," I said to her and lifted her head up with my right hand, and noticed how cold she felt. "No matter what you say, I won't hate you. We've been together these three years and I'm not about to give you up now."
"I…" She said and stopped. After a few minutes, she looked into my eyes, and a tear came out of her left eye. "I'm dead."
I put my hands on her shoulder and looked down into her face. "You're not dead. I heard there was some excitement with that old weirdo. What was his name…" I closed my eyes to concentrate and opened them back up slowly. "Eric?"
"Yes." Vera said and sighed. "He was a necromancer, one of the finest. He understood death better than even Death itself could. He killed me and enslaved my soul. Without the help of some friends, I would still be under his command."
I shook my head; the salty aroma of the water must be getting to me. "You're not dead!" I yelled fiercely and shook her. "You hear me! You're not dead! You're still alive!" I tried to shake out my doubts; Eric couldn't have been a necromancer. Though I hated him, and thought he was a pervert, I couldn't imagine him resorting to necromancy or messing with my flower. My Vera, the most precious flower of the earth.
I pressed her into me, hoping she could feel my warmth. Hoping this fit of hers would pass. Closing my eyes, I tried to comfort myself, also, and suddenly fell face first into the sand. I picked myself up and blinked the sand out of my eyes. As I got up, I stopped myself. I was inside of Vera. It was as though she was a hologram from some sci-fi movie.
As soon as I recovered, I went to my original position and looked at Vera; which, now meant I looked at and through her. I covered my mouth and coughed. I removed my hand from my mouth, and tried to resume a normal expression, her translucent eyes sparkled with light from a higher plane. "It's okay, Caliban." Vera said and smiled. "It took me awhile to get used to how I am now. I doubt it'll be easy for you."
"It's not easy." I laughed weakly and shook my head. "It's not easy to know you're not you anymore. That you're…I don't know what you are. I can't classify you into any species that I know of."
"Jessica says I should be called a Moojas Ghost, since using Moojas is what allows me to keep to this plane of existence." Vera said and laughed. "But…Moojas?" She let out a sigh. "I don't like Moojas, but that's just the correct term."
"Moojas." I said dryly and looked at her. "Moojas? Some almighty force of the spirit realm; and it's called Moojas?"
Vera laughed, like she had when she was living. "It connected me first by Eric, and it also extended itself to connect me to this plane by using living creatures." She said. "Sort of like when you enter the internet. I just use creature's life forces to connect me to this plane of existence."
"So you're using me to connect you to life?" I asked and put a hand to my head. "Yeah…that makes sense. Total sense. My girlfriend is a ghost! Yes, this all makes sense. I'm sure that if I think about it in some way, it will." I started pacing around and ignored Vera; I was trying to calm myself.
The thought of her not being herself flooded my mind, I could hardly think. How could I be in love with a ghost and why was she still here? Wasn't she supposed to go wherever dead people went? I looked at Vera; she had again taken on her past life's form. "Why are you here?" I asked her. "Shouldn't you be in Heaven? You are dead. You shouldn't be clinging onto life."
Vera looked at me and placed her cold hand on my face; I leaned into her palm and looked into her face. She was my flower, and I was her gardener. Her full lips complimented her starry eyes. "I need to know that you'll be fine when I leave." She told me and I felt like I was dying. "Caliban, I need to know if you can live without me."
* * *
"Don't worry about Harv and Kasey," I told Vera between bites. "I'm sure they didn't see anything. I've met Harv before; you shouldn't take his word seriously. Hopefully, Kasey won't be taken in by Harv's madness."
Vera sighed and looked at my dinner; her face was pained as she looked at my plate and then at her empty space. I put my fork down and also gave a sigh. Suddenly, I wasn't hungry anymore. It was so painful to see Vera not eating while I ate, and to know she should have moved on, but was only staying here because of me. If only there was some food I could offer her. "It's okay, Caliban," Vera said and gave me a weak smile that was supposed to inspire hope in me. It didn't work. "I am fully fed in this form. As for Harv…you will learn to like him. He might be slow, and possibly retarded, but he is a person you should have in battle."
"Everything isn't war." I replied angrily and knew she was just defending a friend, like I would have for her. Jealous of Harv for being involved in a part of Vera's life that I hadn't been? Just thinking of how she hadn't even tried to contact me through that rough time. She should have, no matter the costs. "In normal situations, a report of a necromancer is to be trusted if it's from someone of higher intelligence than Harv."
"Caliban, you know Harv was the first one to hear me in my pains." Vera said.
"No, that's not true, Vera." I replied. "You went out to contact him, you forgot…me. You knew I'd be the first one to come and rescue you."
"You know that's not true!" Vera yelled as only a Moojas Ghost could. Her features seemed to assume an expression more sorrowful than that of the most miserable mortal. "There are just some people who can sense the other realms better than others. Harv is one of those people."
"Yeah, sensing the spirit world better, is he?" I asked angrily. "And I thought you said Jessica was the best person to sense the spirit realm among your little group. Why wasn't she the one to hear your call and rescue you?"
"Because she was dealing with something else and couldn't sense me." She replied quickly. "Do you know how hard it is to sense someone when you can sense so many others? There was an imbalance that was bothering her, and it wasn't until Harv pointed me out that she could sense me."
I got up from the table and then walked to the kitchen to get some dessert. Vera's argument sounded so good that I couldn't find any reason to argue with it. She wasn't dating Harv, if I thought about it clearly, so I didn't have any reason to worry about that. I took out an ice cream carton from the freezer, scooped myself some ice cream, and put the carton back in the freezer, and then went back to the table.
As I took my first bite, Vera sighed. "Future scholar Anna is expecting me to go over to her house tomorrow." She said. "I'm just afraid the necromancer, that Harv sensed, is going to get me. I'm a Moojas Ghost! I'm a valuable item to necromancers. Luckily, he can't also abuse my body."
"Yeah, your other 'friends' took care of that problem." I said and looked down into my ice cream. "How can a friend do that without any thought? I would never do such a disgraceful act. I believe they have crossed the line and are going to go to Hell soon."
"Then I'll be going to Hell also, Caliban." She insisted. "I'm the one who agreed they do that to me. If anyone should be going to Hell, it should be me. I've been to Hell, and it's not a place for you to talk about. You have to have been there to really understand the horrors. The horrors…so many horrors that you can't even imagine; one breath of Hell's foul air is enough to kill any mortal man."
I nodded, trying to hide a fear that was about to take over me. No, my Vera would not go there. She is an angel too perfect to go to Hell. She is my own, and no one else's. Never can someone claim power over her, for she belongs to me. "No, you won't go there. Someone like you could never go there." I replied.
"And do you think my friends should go there?" Vera hissed. "You think that those who helped to free me should get eternal punishment? Those that care for me just as you do?" She shook her head. "Do I love you, hypocrite?"
I walked over to Vera and placed a hand on her shoulder, it turned vaporous and my hand fell down to the chair. I pulled my hand back up and sighed. "No, Vera, I wouldn't want that on any of your friends." With her sadness, I had the feelings for her friends become real. I didn't want her to feel so sad, and if her friends went, she would go too. I couldn't have her go, I needed her. Here. "Your friends chose well, and they haven't used you or abused you. They are good friends."
Vera gave a slight smile. "Yes, they are. I hope you know what the different kinds of Hell are." She said and looked at me. "There is more than one kind of hell. Fire and brimstone is only one kind of hell, there are others that appear to be a bright summer's day. Oh, if only you could recognize Hell and torture. Maybe then I would be free."
"But you're with me!" I replied quickly. "I'm here. How can you be tortured if you're with me? Am I that horrible? That cruel?" My head went down in shame and a tear came to my eye. "Do you know what hell it would be if you left me? I couldn't stand it, I couldn't live."
"It is not that I hate you, nor that I want to forsake your company." She quickly stated. "It's just that I should be moving on, and I fully realize that now. Maybe it was in some vain dream that I thought I could live like this. I belong with the rest of the dead."
"Come on; let's take a little walk outside." I said and took her hand; she had turned her whole body solid. I felt a little sad as we stepped out of the front door and looked up at the stars. They seemed so far away, and felt as if they controlled my destiny.
Vera veered off and we went into the small forest behind my house. The trees weren't spectacular, but they did give my backyard a foreign look. It was as if I was going off into a different world. She finally stopped me in the center of a small clearing; at least that is what I called it. It was a place where the trees stood around in a circle, tiny thin trees, and you could look up into the sky without fear of any distractions.
"Do you see those?" Vera asked and pointed up to the sky. "Those are stars burning for different planets, and some are even outside of our own galaxy. Just like the amount of suns, there are many different planes of existence. Some of which are for the living, and some of which are for the dead. Hell and Heaven are each one plane. But the types of life, and death, extend to all of the planes."
"But only in this plane can I see you." I said sadly and looked into her eyes. "Even if you're in paradise, I'll be here in Hell without you. I might not be in the plane of Hell, but it will be real enough for me."
"Your greed is only for yourself, but I still love you." She said. "And I won't deny that. I will stay here until you tell me I can move on, I still care for you. It needs to be your decision, not mine."
I nodded and felt my breath leave me. "Somehow, I think this will be anything but peaceful, for either of us." I said and looked up at the stars. "I do still love you, but I want you here. I don't want to lose you, or forget you ever lived. I need you here, by me. But, I promise, I will be able to live without you one day." I wondered if what I said was even true anymore.
* * *
There we were, right in front of Anna's house, and a cold wind had started. Turning to my right side, I saw Vera standing in all her glory. The cold wind continued and I could sense the end coming quickly. Whether it would take away me or my Vera, I didn't know. All I knew was that I wanted to make these last few minutes count.
"Vera, you sure you're going to be okay tonight?" I asked. "Even Jessica has now picked something up and says you shouldn't come here until it passes. Something bad will happen if you really want to stay here tonight." I put a hand on her shoulder.
"Whatever is planned for me, I will be ready." Vera said and smiled at me. "It will end happily, but it might not seem that way to either of us. Sometimes happiness can't be found while the good is happening, but we'll see it eventually. I promise, tonight will have a happy ending."
I sighed and we walked to Anna's front door. Her archway made the light dim and the small light above her door cast a foreboding feeling. This was the end. My foot splashed into some water, I continued walking until I saw blood trickling from underneath the door. I picked up my foot and noticed that I had stepped into the blood. I turned and saw that Vera had turned invisible. "Open the door; I'll be right behind you." Vera whispered into my ear and I gulped. The air was tensed for battle.
I opened the door slowly, not wanting for anything to surprise me. Finally, the door opened and a head tumbled out. There was a bright flash of light and I fell backwards. My head slammed to the ground and I felt a burst of heat. Screams of devils erupted from inside my mind, and then Anna's head tumbled over my palm. I yelled as I felt blood splatter onto me and noticed that part of Anna's small intestines was inside my mouth. I stood up and spat it out. The door had been blown inward and there was a clash of metal that could be heard.
"Vera!" I yelled and ran inside, ducking as objects flew past my head. I was blown into a wall and when I recovered enough, I noticed a large shard of glass in my arm. I pulled it out and looked for the enemy. As the blood trickled out, I focused on my goal. I was now close enough to hear words, they were spells uttered by a young boy. The necromancer, most likely.
I saw the necromancer grab onto the air and hiss something that, from where I stood, sounded more like a snake's noise than actual speech. He then turned to me and his face seemed boyish, like it belonged to a boy playing baseball. As though he was supposed to be playing in a mountain lake, doing anything but what he was doing now.
"So, you're Caliban." He said and smiled. "I am James, grandson of Eric the Necromancer. It's good that you'll see the enslavement of your girlfriend." James looked at the glass shard. "And you expect to hurt ME with that? I am no mere apprentice, young sir."
"You are a young boy." I said to him. "I am your senior in age, now let Vera go and I'll let you live!"
"Let me live?" James spat. "You think that you can tell me when I'll die? I am a master of death. I will tell you when you'll die, not the other way around." Suddenly I was grabbed and I turned to see Anna's corpse grabbing me. Her neck held thin tissues of where her head used to be, her skin hardly existed anymore, and she had no more organs inside of her. "This is your end, good-bye."
"No!" I yelled out and I felt my soul being murdered. "NO! VERA!" I yelled and struggled with Anna's corpse, losing the glass shard in the process. Strangely, Anna's corpse was much stronger than me and I couldn't hold out much longer.
"Caliban, there is a significant imbalance now!" Vera yelled and I could feel soul splitting pain in her voice. "Caliban, can you live without me!"
I felt tears go down my face, and blind my vision. I knew that now I had a chance to save Vera, forever. Forever she would be able to be free. Free in Heaven and singing with all the angels. A time of great rejoicing, but I would be here. I would be here. Here dying without her near. Oh, Vera, why? Why do you have to go? But those thoughts of keeping Vera here were selfish; I couldn't endanger her, not now. I must show I was the caring boyfriend that I always talked of being.
"Vera, go!" I yelled. "I…can live…without you! Enjoy eternity! LEAVE ME HERE!" My voice broke and suddenly a loud sound rang through my spirit and I fell down, Anna's corpse had lost all of its power and also fell down. I got up and I saw James dead. I ran to the phone to call the police. Afterwards, I leaned on the counter and cried. I was alive and she was gone, she was in Heaven and was not to be worried about. I had lost and saved Vera at the same time. There would be no one who could replace her, and now I must wander through this hell to be up in Heaven with her. I knew she would wait for me, I just knew.
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