Box Set - Chapter 10

            ‘Wait, Elle!’

I sprint to catch up with her. She’s gone rushing ahead again as if she knows where she’s going.

‘Yes, sorry, destination’s important isn’t it,’ she says. ‘I just wanted a dramatic exit.’

‘I was thinking, I know someone who might be able to help. Can you see the waves like I can?’

‘Oh, right,’ she realises. ‘You were building to that weren’t you.’

She closes her eyes and touches her thumb and forefingers together like she’s meditating.

‘It’s like an echo,’ she says. ‘It goes all the way from the Hotel Fontana. He went the other way.’

I’m relieved it’s not just me.

‘So what are you thinking?’ she asks.

‘There’s this guy I know, back home,’ I say. ‘My best friend…well my friend, Graham.’

‘What is he? Some kind of, super-scientist?’ she says, excited.

‘Well, he’s a scientist, well, he’s good at science…well, he could be if he concentrated.’

She raises her eyebrows at me. ‘You’re not instilling me with confidence, science boy.’

‘His dad’s rich, and he has all the equipment he wants,’ I say. ‘They want him to go places, university, master’s, Ph.D, the works. If I can bring some of it here, I might be able to work out what the Starbright Man’s up to.’

‘Slight problem, Easton,’ Elle says. ‘I hate to point it out to you, but we’re dead. Graham, I’m assuming isn’t.’

‘No,’ I reply. ‘I admit, the plan has some flaws.’

‘I’d call it slightly more than a flaw,’ she says. ‘More a big whopping hole. But it sounds fun. I’m in.’

She looks at me, expecting me to make a move.

‘Do you have a plan? she asks. ‘Or is that my department as ‘sidekick’.’ She frames the word with air quotes.

‘You’re not going to let that go are you,’ I say.

‘Nope.’

‘I didn’t think so.’ I pause. ‘I do have one idea,’ I say. ‘But it’s risky.’

‘How risky?’

‘Well, if the legends are true, we could get ourselves into some trouble.’

‘Trouble’s my middle name,’ she says. ‘Actually, it’s Lucy.’

‘Have you ever transported with someone before?’

She shakes her head. ‘This’ll be the first time,’ she looks at her shoes a second. ‘Actually, I’ve never transported at all. I’ve heard people talking about it. You find people, clusters of spirits around places. But I’ve been walking, hitching rides on planes, that sort of thing. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it.’

‘What scares you about it?’ I ask. I’m suddenly worried that she’ll take offence to me saying so.

‘Just, I spent so long worrying about the afterlife,’ she says. ‘I’ve never believed in God, but I did start to wonder, and a small part of me hoped that there might be someone waiting for me with a big snowy white beard. When I found out that life goes on like this…I can never describe how happy it made me. The fact that I can visit my parents and all my friends and see them live their lives – it’s a gift that doesn’t deserve squandering. I guess I’m scared I might lose myself. I’ve heard stories.’

I think of falling through the Edge, and feeling the fear of falling forever grip me. ‘It can be scary, but if you know where you’re going, then there’s nothing to worry about. And if you have someone guiding you, it’s even easier.’

‘Ah, now that’s the trick, isn’t it,’ she says, holding up a finger. ‘That requires me putting a great deal of trust into a stranger.’

‘I’m not, quite a stranger, I’m science boy,’ I say with a smile. ‘I’m not going to force you to go with me. But you pretty much admitted yourself that you want to solve this mystery. An adventure shared halves nothing.’

She considers it. ‘That’s quite a nice quote,’ she says. ‘I’ll have to remember that one.’

She’s still hesitant. It’s a new side of Elle, but I can understand her reaction. Life is more precious to her. The simple function of being alive was stolen from me in a second. That’s just unlucky. Elle’s life was taken over by a bunch of cells that didn’t belong, and decided to kill the rest of her. Her life was taken from her before she’d even died.

‘I’ll keep you safe, I promise,’I say. I hold out my hand.

‘You’d better do,’ she warns. ‘After this is done, I’ll help you find your Penny.’ She smiles. ‘Science boy needs his science girl.’

‘She was never science girl,’ I say. ‘More novel-woman, or the amazing journal keeper.’

‘You read comics don’t you,’ she says, taking my hand. ‘Geek.’

‘And proud,’ I say, closing my eyes.

It’s so easy to step into the Edge now, like it’s there already and I’m just opening my eyes to its existence.

Elle lets out a sharp gasp beside me as we’re pulled into the darkness.

We’re barely inside the Edge before we step out again. Elle pants like she’s just been out for a run.

‘Wow,’ she says. ‘That was uncomfortable. Masturbating from age 12, you dirty boy.’

‘H-how did you know that, you didn’t see…?’

‘No,’ she says, grinning, ‘but it’s nice to know.’

My cheeks heat up several degrees.

‘Did you see anything at all?’ I ask, looking at my shoes.

‘Just flashes,’ she says. ‘I saw a lot of a girl with dark hair. Penny I assume?’

I nod. ‘Nice catch,’ she compliments. ‘It’s strange, your memories are like pages, and pictures, like comics. It’s quite an experience.’

‘I only see darkness when I’m in there,’ I say.

‘Alright, moody,’ she says. ‘I guess we don’t really know how to view our own unconscious. To other people you’re clearer to see.’

I wonder did Yates see that too, did it unsettle him. Maybe we project some of ourselves onto other people? If he was scared when he was with me, scared enough to regress into his childlike form, then maybe he saw the darkness too, or something worse. Elle seems to have the talent of reading people.

‘I don’t think I’ll be doing that again anytime soon,’ she says after a moment. ‘It makes me feel constricted, like a snake squashing me from every side. I like the freedom I have out here.’ She looks around. ‘So where are we?’

‘Staines Road,’ I say. ‘Near Twickenham. Graham’s lived here all his life. I can imagine he’s here now.’

‘Nice road,’ she says, surveying the big houses on our right and the golf course down the other.

‘Rich family,’ I reply. ‘Graham’s dad’s insistent on him following in his footsteps. If I can make contact with Graham, I can persuade him to come with us and track the man. There are certain ways of measuring waves. If we can find the epicentre, where they originated, we can find where the starbright man will most likely return to.’

‘Smartarse,’ she teases.

‘And proud,’ I retort with a smile.

We begin to walk down the road, side by side. Cars whizz past, unaware that they are in the presence of the paranormal. It’s strange how normal transporting across the world has become. Before dying, a trip to Rome would cost hundreds of pounds. Impossible for a seventeen year old.

Now, stripped of material wealth and possessions, Elle’s right, there’s a freedom to living that no one alive knows the pleasure of.

Graham doesn’t live a long way down the road, so we arrive quite quickly.

‘So we’re breaking and entering,’says Elle, a little disapproving.

I hold up my finger. ‘Well technically nothing’s getting broken so we’re just entering. There’s no crime there.’

‘Nice logic,’ she replies. ‘How are we making contact?’

‘I’ll tell you inside,’ I say. ‘You’re going to like this.’

‘Oo mystery,’ she says. I can think of nothing else in reply so I just stick my tongue out and travel through the door.

Graham spends most of his time in a big room his parents converted for him under the house. I inform Elle of this as she steps through the front door into the spacious hallway.

‘He lives in his parent’s basement?’ she remarks incredulously. ‘Seriously? People actually do that?’

‘You’ll see why,’ I reply. ‘It’s like mecca for nerds.’

‘Great,’ she says, layering sarcasm on her words.

She follows me down the staircase to the right, under the stairs travelling upwards. Graham’s parent’s style, for a pair of highly paid scientists, is very chintzy, with thickly piled carpets, ornaments and doilies scattered everywhere.

As soon as we step down the staircase, the change is instantaneous. Static chintz becomes suave glitz and as I notice every time I come down here, Graham has spent his parent’s money extremely well.

To the left is table football and a crimson pool table, with spots and stripes already set up. On the left is a set of leather sofas facing a huge flatscreen TV with every game console imaginable underneath.

Just under the stairs is, I’m sure, the world’s biggest comic book collection. Graham, though he neglects to admit it, is as big a comic book nut as I am. And his alphabetised collection, spanning from Atlas to The Uncanny Zed calls to me from the white, glossy shelves. Over to the far side is an area of the room which is not used as much as it’s worth: a big island table, set up with beakers and Bunsen burners, along with several complicated looking pieces of scientific equipment even I’d have trouble putting a name to. A lot of it is covered in dust and I itch to go over to it.

Graham, typically, is stretched out on the leather sofa with a bowl of popcorn and a game controller under his thumbs.

‘So how are we going to get his attention?’ asks Elle. ‘I can flash him if you’d like, just for laughs. I doubt he sees much boob.’

I laugh. ‘No I have a much better idea, something much more Graham’s style.’

‘Intrigued as to why boob isn’t his style, but go on,’ she says.

‘Just Graham was always interested in ghosts. More to annoy his parents than anything.’

I walk over to a cabinet over to the left of the TV screen. The sounds of gunfire from Graham’s game drown out all sound in the room. It’s strange to be in the room with my friend and not making contact. It almost feels as though he’s ignoring me.

I reach up to the top of the cabinet, to a pile of old board games with dust caked over them.

‘So you came down here a lot then?’ Penny asks. ‘Before you died?’

‘We had a bit of a falling out,’I say, ‘after I got together with Penny. I was down here all the time before that.’

‘I see,’ she says with a knowing smile. ‘Same old story, spend enough time together to be married, then he gets jealous when you stop paying him attention.’

‘Well – I –‘ I stutter.

‘Say no more, Easton,’ she says, like a policeman who has me dead to rights.

‘We made up,’ I say. ‘It was never the same though.’

I turn back to the board games. ‘We used to read all these stories about ghosts,’ I continue, eager to change the subject. ‘There’s – um – this graphic novel…’

Elle raises her eyebrows in an accusing manner.

‘Alright, comic,’ I confess. ‘Anyway, it’s about ghosts and we used to read it all the time. In the end, we decided to try contacting some spirits for ourselves.’ I point out one particularly dusty box right on the top. ‘This was a couple of years ago now, but it’s still there.’

Elle’s eyes widen. ‘Oh I don’t know Easton,’ she says. ‘Those things are bad. I don’t really consider myself superstitious, but there’s so many bad stories.’

‘But we are the stories,’ I say.‘We can see all the dead people around and there’s nothing that resembles a bad spirit, unless you have something to tell me.’

‘But there’s other ways, we could write something on a piece of paper…’

‘He won’t be off that thing for hours yet,’ I say, nodding at the games console. ‘Come on, Elle.’ I used my best persuasive voice. ‘You can’t solve a mystery without taking a few risks. This will get his attention.’

She relents. ‘Alright,’ she says. ‘But if we get haunted, I swear to God, I’m coming for you.’

I smile. ‘We’ll be fine,’ I say.

Without pausing for a second longer, I reach up to the cabinet ad knock a box from the top of the pile. It is by far the dustiest and lands with a dull thud on the hardwood floor, erupting in a cloud of dust particles.

 Elle gasps. Graham starts in his seat. The game controller goes flying up in the air, anding with a smack on his knee. He cries out in pain dramatically.

 'What do you think you're doing!' Elle hisses as though Graham can hear us.

 'Trust me,' I say, watching Graham with bated breath.

 'No,' Graham whispers in disbelief.

 'I've never actually seen one before,' Elle remarks, walking over.

 The box has sprung open on the floor, a small black tablet with letters from left to right. 'It is a Ouija board right?' she asks crouching down beside it. She seems reluctant to touch it, like it will emit an electric charge at the slightest touch.

 'It never worked for us,' I say. I watch Graham, apparently frozen to his sofa. 'I guess there just weren't any spirits around who fancied a chat.'

 'So you think it will work?'

 'Well all I have to do is move the slider. We can interact, I just have to hope he doesn't run away.'

 Graham stands up.

 'Hello?' he says.

 'Oh please,' Elle scoffs. 'If we could talk to you we'd have done it by now.'

 Graham bends down and removes the tablet from the box, placing the slider on top. He sits cross legged on the floor. I sit the other side.

 'Is anyone there?' he asks.

 'I'm here Graham,' I reply.

 I take a deep breath and place my hands on the slider. I drag it across the smooth surface of the board until it lays over the yes. To Graham it would look as though it's moved of its own volition.

 He gasps and claps his hands to his mouth.

 'Oh my God,' he says. 'Oh my God.'

 'Who is it?' he asks, his voice shaking.

 'Graham always loved annoying his parents by studying ghosts. We used to go to supposed haunted buildings, read old accounts, bring artefacts we found home.'

 I move my hands to the slider. I drag it, slowly across E, then A, then S, spelling my name, suddenly scared how he will react.

 'Easton,' he says.

'How are you here?' he says.

 'Give me a pen and paper,' I say.

 'Yes sir,' she says. 'Couldn't you have done this in the first place?'

 Graham watches the pen and paper float in the air with wide eyes. He looks down and swallows like he's feeling sick.

 I start to write, everything that happened to me after I died. Graham watches the writing, running hands through his hair. It looks like it hasn't been washed in a few days.

 I slide the paper across the floor and he reads it.

 'So this just happens after you die,' he says. 'Everyone?'

 I start to talk like we're alive in the same room together. I quickly realise this is going to be irritating. I need to find out how I can appear to him so we can talk properly.

 I start writing again. 'As far as I know. I've met a few people, one's with my now, Elle. She's nice.'

 'Say hi for me,' says Elle.

 Graham scratches his neck. I can see the glistening of sweat on his brow. On the screen behind us someone from across the internet is chopping his character to pieces with a chainsaw.

 'Seriously, what is the appeal of that?' Elle asks. She starts walking around, examining bits of equipment on the science table, quickly crossing to the wall of comics.

 I begin to write what happened to me with the starbright man. The waves of the music, how there's still a connection between us spirits and the physical world.

 'So you think you're physical in some way, shape or form?' Graham asks, the often hidden science enthusiast fighting to escape him.

 'I think we must be visible on some wavelength,' I write. 'Like how dogs can only see certain colours, we just either have to change the way you see or how I appear so our frequencies match.'

With a flash of memory, I remember exiting the Robin Thacker museum and the dog barking at me. Maybe he could see me, or me in some form.

 'This is insane,' says Graham. 'This is going to make me rich.'

 'Oh charming,' I write.

 He doesn't move. He scratches the back of his neck again.

 'What's wrong?' I write. I say it too because Elle turns around.

 'What's happened?' she asks. 'Seriously, if you two lovebirds stop nattering we can get to business.'

 Graham spits the words out. The come like a waterfall. 'Just I said I'd tell you if I saw you again.' He takes a breath like he was holding it.

 'Tell me what?' I ask.

 Elle sits down beside me, crossing her legs. 'This is going to be juicy,' she says.

 'I never thought I'd have the opportunity,' he says. 'I got away with it I guess.' He looks where he thinks I am. He's actually to the left a bit. 'I've only realised in the last year or so.' He pauses, gathering the courage to say the words. 'I love you, Easton. I've loved you for years.'

I look at my old friend. I don't know what to say. What can I say? First of all I'll have to write it down. And what do you write down?

 I look at Elle who sits wide eyed, a smile on her face like someone's just stripped off and stands doing a funny dance in front of her.

 'Oh but this would be adorable,' she says, clapping her hands. 'I was joking about lovebirds.'

 I open and close my mouth like a confused fish.

 'Don't leave the poor boy hanging, Easton,' she says.

 'What do I say to that?' I say.

 'Tell him the truth,' she replies. 'He deserves that.'

 'I wasn't expecting that, this morning,' I say, pulling the paper towards me.

 'What exactly were you expecting?' Elle asks, interested.

 'That's a good point,' I say, beginning to write.

 Graham looks scared in a different way now, apprehensive with a dash of hope after he dived over the void.

 There's a sudden breeze in the room that hadn't been there before.

 Elle shudders. 'What's that?'

 I look over to the stairs. The door still sits open at the top of the stairs. 'The front door maybe?' I reply.

 It all happens very quickly. Graham looks to his left, back up the stairs too. Obviously it was a universal breeze for the living and the dead.

 'Did you two feel that?' he asks, clearly glad to have a distraction. 'That didn't feel normal.'

 In a second, the wall of comic books appears to implode, the glossy pages sucking in to a point and then erupting in a wall of white light.

 'What the hell is that?' Graham shouts, scurrying across the floor still sitting.

 'He's found us!' I yell.

 Elle grabs my arm. The pool table slides towards the blue light of the man and cracks in half with a tremendous snapping sound. It feels like its blowing a gale inside. The room is filled with a whirlwind of pages of superheroes and bits of equipment. I dive for the table, pulling Elle with me. I snatch the case I know I need which sits at the bottom of a pile under the table top. The rest of the equipment collapses, like dominoes stacked upright and whip past our heads to be devoured by the light.

 'I hope this works,' Elle shouts.

 Without warning, she grabs Graham's arm. He shudders violently like he's having a fit.

 I try to shout but I already feel the pinch of travelling. I see her close her eyes and we fall into the darkness leaving the maelstrom behind.