Edited: Kuro and Lille
Grey and Emery arrived at the hospital just behind Mr. Alston. Mr. Alston helped Grey get a visitor’s pass and guided him to his son’s room on the 7th floor. The pediatrics ward was full for some odd reason, so Mr. Alston’s youngest son, Jace Alston, was in a ward with mostly adults.
Apparently, with children being the ones who could see spirits the most, they were the ones to be injured more often. The pediatrics section was always full and they were waiting for the new section of the building to be completed, that was why many children filled the adults' section.
As Grey walked through the hallway, he was about to pass by a room but felt the need to stop. The presence was familiar, the feeling of someone he was yearning for.
He looked into the room and saw a man standing by the window, looking into the hall. He couldn’t see the person on the bed, but the spirit by the window was also looking at him as though they recognized each other after a long parting.
The man looked like he was in his mid-twenties, in the middle of his career, but his life was cut short. He had red hair and a bit of freckle on his face, but he had piercing green eyes. A relatively rare combination of colors as red hair and green eyes were recessive genes. He looked handsome and tall, but it was hard to tell as he was floating.
“Grey?” “Mister?” Emery and Mr. Alston said at the same time. Mr. Alston couldn’t hear Emery like Grey could, but he still answered them.
“I just thought I saw someone I knew.” Grey turned away from the man. “Let’s keep going.”
“Ah, as I was saying, Jace is a bit shy when it comes to talking with adults, so I hope that you will be a bit patient with him. Ever since moving into that house, he’s been too terrified to talk with people who are living…”
It was a weird combination of words, but with a world like this, it was no surprise to the adults that there were spirits. They believed their children because there was even a whole government agency that helped these ghosts.
“That’s fine, I won’t rush or yell at him.”
“That’s a relief. Ah, here we are.” Mr. Alston stopped in front of room 709, five rooms away from where he had stopped before. The door was closed, so he knocked on the door and called out, “Honey, it’s me.”
The door clicked open and Mrs. Alston gave a sigh of relief. “I was worried that something happened to you because you took so long.” She was about to let him in but then she saw Grey and stopped.
“This is?”
“Ah, this is Agent Emery from the Spiritual Light Agency. He is a Spiritual Investigator and wants to talk with you and Jace about what we have been experiencing in the house.”
“Oh, thank goodness someone from the agency came. Please, come in.” She was also expecting them and was clearly anxious to let them in.
Grey came inside to find three chairs surrounding a bed. There was a bedside table above the bed as Jace was coloring with his non-dominant hand. He didn’t mind that his coloring was ugly and continued to color despite going out of the lines.
Emery floated inside and looked at the coloring book. “Oh, nice coloring kid.”
“Thanks,” Jace said without looking up.
Emery, who forgot that the kid could hear him, was startled when he got a reply back.
“Hm? Honey, who are you saying thanks to?” Mrs. Alston asked as she sat down on the chair to the right of the bed. There was another seat next to her where Mr. Alston sat.
“Eh?” Jace looked up and saw Emery floating next to Grey, but they looked like the same person so he didn’t know what to say.
Seeing his look, Grey gave a sheepish smile, “I know my friend looks like me, but it’s a long story. Just know we are two different people.”
“Oh… You can see him too?”
“Of course I can. I am a Spiritual Investigator. I help spirits by figuring out why they are still here.”
Grey sat to the left of the bed where the other chair was and smiled. “My name is Emery, what’s your name?” He had System 225 record this conversation so he could show it to Nora later.
“My name is Jace. Nice… to meet you.” He was a little shy so he took his coloring book and used it to cover a part of his face, but his eyes were looking at Grey with curiosity. The kid looked just like his father but a miniature version.
“It’s nice to meet you too, Jace. Is it alright if I ask you some questions about the spirits in your home?”
Jace nodded but didn’t say anything. He was waiting for the question.
“Are there any spirits that you like to play with?”
“Yes, I play with two friends. Ronnie and Vanissa but she likes to be called Van. They like to sit at the swinging bench but we also play tag in the living room when the other kids aren’t there.”
Grey knew he had met Ronnie and Van when he arrived at the house. That made it a lot easier for him.
“What about the other children?”
“They don’t like playing with me. They said if I die, then we can play together.”
That was the first time his parents heard that, looking at him with disbelief. They didn’t say anything though and let Grey do the talking.
“Why do they say you have to die?”
“Because mother, ah, not my real mom, but the mother who lives in the attic. She said that good little kids have to die to be able to stay with her. The kids listen to her so they don’t play with me, but Ronnie and Van are nice and they play with me when the other kids are not looking.”
“Mother? Why do you call her mother?”
“I don’t know. She likes to be called mother and gets mad if you don’t call her mother. She got mad at me for calling my mom, mom. So she punished me by telling me I was a bad boy.”
This mother person seemed very dangerous from the sounds of it.
“How did she punish you?”
“She had some of the kids push me down the stairs. She said… I should’ve died like a good little boy.” He unconsciously gripped onto his arm that he broke as he tumbled down the stairs. He was lucky that nothing else broke.
This was a scary thing to say to an 8-year-old. They might not fully understand it, but they could feel the malicious intent behind those words.
Mrs. Alston wanted to cry but her tears wouldn't fall. She was so shocked that all she could do was hug her husband. She was terrified as to what could’ve happened if she did not hear her son falling down the stairs. What would happen if that “mother” tried to do something else to him because he didn’t die? It was frightening to think about.
“Thank you for answering all of my questions, Jace. I will make sure that Mother doesn’t hurt you, alright? So you rest up and heal well,” Grey softly patted Jace on the head.
“You are good with children,” Emery said quietly enough for only Grey to hear him, “Usually it’s Nora’s job to talk with children because I’m not that good at it.”
Grey, the Host, has adopted many children in his time with God System, plus, he had lived for so many years. If he didn’t know how to take care of children, it would be an embarrassment as a veteran Host. His soul may be weaker, and he may be a little too nice, but he picked up a lot of skills along the way.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Mrs. Alston asked Grey after he was done talking with Jace.
“Yes, can you tell me your experiences in the house?”
“I can’t see spirits, but when I am in that house, it feels like something is trying to drag me out of the house. It’s like I don’t belong in that house. Sometimes, I wake up with bruises and marks that look like someone grabbed my arms and dug their nails into it. My husband doesn’t experience it, but for some reason, I feel like I am being attacked.”
She showed her arms and let Grey take pictures of them for evidence.
“When my husband sleeps with Jace because Jace is too afraid to sleep on his own sometimes, I always wake up with sleep paralysis. It’s always trying to suffocate me with a pillow. I always wake up with a pillow on top of me even though I know I don’t move so much in my sleep.”
Just from looking at Mrs. Alston’s face, he could see that she barely had a restful night of sleep. She had dark circles under her eyes, they were slightly red, and her clothes looked a bit big on her. She didn’t seem to be eating well. She looked exhausted.
Mrs. Alston seemed like she would be pretty if she was well-rested. She had light brown hair and brown eyes, but her facial features looked very defined. She was a beauty, but now, she just looked like she crawled through hell and back.
Digging their nails, trying to make her leave, it seemed like “Mother” was upset at Mrs. Alston who was a Mom. But to suffocate her with a pillow was a sign. He didn’t know for sure, but if it was consistent then it wasn’t a coincidence.
“How many times have you had sleep paralysis?”
“If I remember correctly, it was 6 times.”
“That’s more than enough information. Thank you for telling me, and I hope to get back to you all as soon as possible.” Grey got up signaling that he was going to leave.
Mr. Alston got up as well and reached out his hand for a handshake. He was grateful that Grey took the time to come over. “No, thank you for helping us. We are planning to stay at a nearby hotel for a bit while Jace recovers. If you need anything, please call this number. Also, the key to the house is in the mailbox. We don’t have anything valuable in that house right now, so don’t worry about holding onto the key until it’s all over.” He then handed Grey a business card with his name and phone number on it.
“I will be sure to call if anything comes up.” He accepted the business card and turned around to leave the room but he saw that man peeking into the room. The man he saw earlier in the other room made eye contact with Grey and then quickly ran away as though he was embarrassed he got caught peeking.
“Are you going to go after him?” Emery asked as Grey left the room.
“Yeah, I want to meet him, if you don’t mind,” Grey said in a whisper so that he didn’t look so strange talking to what seemed like nothing for normal people.
“I don’t mind, but you looked like you have been looking for this man for like ever. Do you two know each other?”
“I think we know each other. If I talk with him more, I should be able to see if he really is the person I am looking for.”
Grey arrived at the man’s room and knocked on the door. “Can I come in?”
“You can,” The man in the room said. He tried to act cool so his tone was a bit stiff.
Grey walked in and saw that there was a man sleeping on the bed and the spirit was floating around it. Since the man was breathing, it seemed he was in a coma.
The man on the bed didn’t have any injuries, but he had lost a lot of weight due to muscle atrophy. He had the same physical features of the spirit next to him, but the spirit was much more lively.
“Hello, my name is Grey and the one next to me is Emery, but I’m in Emery’s body right now. It’s nice to meet you.”
“My name is Shamir Holland, it’s nice to meet you both.”
“May I ask what happened to you?” Grey said as he sat down next to the bed. He didn’t rudely touch the man’s hand but he couldn’t help but look over at him with fear and longing.
The man stood next to Grey and reached out to grab his hand, but his hand went through. Seeing that, Grey reached out and grabbed it, and felt the tingle travel up his arm. He knew this man was God System. Well, they didn’t really have to touch hands for him to already know.
“Car accident caused by my uncle who wanted the company my parents handed over to me. Since then, my parents have been managing the company waiting for me to wake up. It’s been a bit over three weeks now.”
There was a pause before he looked over at Grey with a cold smile.
“Don’t worry though, my uncle got arrested for attempted homicide.”
Well, that was a relief at least.
Since it’s only been a few weeks, he should be able to recover if he didn’t damage his brain too much.
Before he could say anything, a couple came into the room and was shocked to see someone in the room.
“Excuse me, who are you, and why are you here?” The man said as he let go of his wife’s hand about to confront Grey with his fists.
“If you say that you are friends with my son then think again as we know all of his friends!” The woman said ready to call the police. Also, her son had like three friends at most, and Grey wasn’t one of them.
“I apologize for coming in here unannounced,” He apologized first with a bow so they could lower down their guard. “My name is Emery, I work with the Spiritual Light Agency, here is my badge.”
He always kept it in his pocket when he went out just in case things like this happened.
They took a look at his badge but they were still a little wary.
“I saw your son standing by the window so I asked what happened to him.”
“Our son? Our son is in a fucking coma!” Mr. Holland yelled, about to grab Grey by the collar.
“Honey, wait! Calm down.”
Grey looked right next to him where Shamir was standing. Shamir was about to fight his dad for losing his cool so quickly, but it showed that his dad cared for him so he looked conflicted.
“Is my son standing here right now? Is he okay?” His mom asked as she looked where Grey was looking.
“Tell my mom and dad that I miss them and love them and I am trying to figure out how to wake up.”
“Shamir said that he misses and loves you both, and he’s trying to figure out how to wake up.”
After hearing Grey say Shamir’s name, they knew the guy in front of them was the real deal. The door plate only had Shamir’s last name on it and the bracelet was under the blanket on the arm furthest from them. The bed looked undisturbed so they knew Shamir was the one who told Grey his name.
“Thank goodness you are okay… We love you too, honey,” Mrs. Holland said as she collapsed on one of the chairs nearby. She was exhausted after the car accident. She came to the hospital every day to take care of her son and hoped that he would wake up soon.
Mr. Holland asked an important question, “How are you able to see him even though he’s not dead?”
“That’s simple, coma patients are different. Their body is alive but due to a traumatic injury, medication, general anesthesia, etc. sometimes their soul leaves their body thinking their body is dead, but then realize they are stuck outside the body because the body is alive. You can tell when a coma patient has truly died if they see the light. Asking them that question is important for health care providers to do, but I guess this hospital didn’t follow the protocol.” He mumbled the last part. He was going to report this hospital to the agency after this trip.
This was one way to help coma patients, but a lot of the time, coma patients are able to wake up on their own. This was why some hospitals didn’t like calling the Spiritual Light Agency. They believed in science and medical technology. There was still a bit of discourse between the Spiritual Light Agency and medical professionals...
Grey couldn’t help but ask, “Shamir, do you see any bright lights that feel like it’s calling you towards it?”
“Nope, I don’t see one.”
“Well, that’s good that you don’t see one. That means that you are alive and are meant to go back into your body.”
“Agent Emery, is there anything that you can do to help our son?”
Grey looked over at Emery to ask him for a little help.
Emery, who was watching this whole time, gave a cough that only Shamir and Grey could hear. “We need to talk to Nora. I wasn’t taught how to guide spirits into their body like this, but she has. She is a Spiritual Guide after all.”
Grey nodded and took out his business card and Nora’s. He keeps both of them on hand just in case he needs Nora’s help and she’s not there. He handed them to Mr. and Mrs. Holland.
“I can’t do much since I am a Spiritual Investigator, but my work partner, Agent Nora, is a Spiritual Guide who specializes in helping spirits go into the light or go back into their bodies.”
“Thank you so much, Agent Emery. We will notify the hospital staff to allow you two to come in and visit Shamir. Also, I apologize for getting mad so quickly. I’ve been on edge ever since the car accident.” He gave a formal bow to apologize.
“It’s no trouble at all, Mr. Holland. You were worried for the safety of your son.” He gave a bow back.
“We really appreciate all that you have done for us. Since this isn’t a request through the agency, how can we repay you?”
“Don’t worry, I was the one who came in unannounced. I will be sure to come as soon as possible.”
Grey said as he looked over at Shamir. He wanted to grab the man’s hand but felt it would be strange since they had just met. “Shamir, I must get going, but I will see you soon.”
Shamir reached out his hands as though he knew what Grey wanted. Grey grabbed them and felt relief that he finally got to see God System, his lover.
“I will see you soon, Grey. I will do what I can to hurry and get better.”
“That’s good. Don’t push yourself too hard, okay? I will come and visit you often.”
Shamir didn’t have all of his memories of Grey, but he knew this man was the one he was searching for his whole life. His sense of yearning grew and grew but for so long he couldn’t find what he was looking for. Now the person was in front of him, he wanted nothing more than to get better, and spend the rest of his life with him.
Mr. and Mrs. Holland couldn’t see Shamir, but they were shocked that Shamir and Grey were getting along so well even though they just met. Was there something they were missing? Was this really their child who didn’t like to get along with anyone but them and his friends? Lovers who? Friends? Well, he had like three at best.
Emery looked over at Grey and couldn’t help but feel happy for them. He didn’t really like anyone at the moment, but if Grey and Shamir were what people called “true love” and “soulmates,” he wouldn’t mind trying it himself.
Mini theatre by kuro_kama:
Jace, after seeing the ghost children: Who are you all?
The ghost children: We are your brother from the other “Mother”.
Lille: Oof, ‘Mother’ is a lil scary. Though, I’m glad that we finally met God System! (⌒▽⌒)
Grandpa Marky: Here's the last chapter for the day! And that's it for my birthday. Didn't really do much. Went to class, therapy, babysat, fed my cat, and that's about it. I don't typically do much for my birthday. One time, my friends and coworkers did get me a cake for my bday and I was eating cake at 8 AM XD quite interesting. Anyway, enough of my rambling. I hope you all are enjoying this arc thus far. I really want to finish this novel by the end of the year. Making that my goal. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve it. Alright, I will update whenever! See you all in the next chapter :D
