The Light (Morpheus Road) (40 page)

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a beautiful day. The same kind of day that we had buried Cooper. I looked around to see that the cemetery had returned to normal. There wasn't a bit of damage. It had all been an illusion. Cooper knew that, which was why he didn't want me to run ... or to agree to help Damon. He knew that Damon couldn't hurt me. At least not directly. If I had done something stupid like run out into traffic or drive a boat into a floating plane, that would be different. Once again, Cooper had saved me.

"Man, I thought for sure you were going to take off," came a familiar voice from behind me.

I thought it was another illusion. Or my mind was playing tricks. Or anything other than what I hoped it would be.

"Kinda creepy to be swimming in a cemetery, Ralph," the voice said.

I whipped around to see Cooper standing by the mausoleum. He was barely visible. It was more like seeing a faint echo of Cooper. I stared at my friend's spirit, stunned, unable to speak.

"Close your mouth, you look like a trout," he said.

Cooper's image disappeared, only to appear again a few feet away. I stepped out of the pool and stood across from him.

"I... I don't understand . .. Cooper? What's happening?"

"Very cool, Ralph. That took guts."

"Not really. I trusted you."

"I'm trying my best," he said. "It's hard. I don't have much control."

Every time he spoke, his image disappeared, only to appear somewhere else. It was like the wind was blowing him around.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Well, no. I'm kind of dead, Ralph," he said. "But it's cool in the Black. Sort of."

"What is the Black?"

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Cooper disappeared. I glanced around quickly, desperate to find him.

"Cooper!"

He appeared again on the far side of the memorial garden. "You're in Trouble Town, Ralph."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Who is Damon?" I asked.

Cooper disappeared again and reappeared on the exact opposite side of the garden. "A total foul ball, but you know that. Don't help him. Whatever happens, whatever you see, don't help him."

"What is the poleax?" I asked.

"I don't know for sure, but he wants it bad. It's why he killed me, Ralph. To get to you, to get the poleax."

My head spun. It really was true. This whole thing was about me.

"But why?" I cried. "I ... I don't know anything about a poleax."

Cooper disappeared. This time he reappeared directly in front of me. I took a surprised step back.

"I'm doing what I can to help you. You know that, right?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Keep your head on straight. Don't believe the impossible. Damon can do stuff I can't. He's had a lot more practice than me. But remember, it's all an illusion."

"So what happens if he gets the poleax?" I asked.

"Then it won't be an illusion anymore."

I had no comeback for that. It was too frightening a concept to even imagine.

"I got your back," Cooper said as he winked out, then came back. "Just like always."

"I miss you, Coop."

"Me too. Those things I said? I'm sorry. I was mad."

"I know."

"And tell Sydney I think she's cool for what she's doing."

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"She really cares about you," I said.

Cooper smiled. It didn't matter that he was barely visible. His cocky smile came through. "Of course she does. She's not a total Agnes."

He may have been dead, but he was still Coop. How strange is that?

"Don't be sad for me, Marsh. I'm okay. There's a lot going on. Some of it is pretty sweet. Then again . . ."

"Yeah. Then again." I reached out to Cooper, but he disappeared. As his image faded, I heard him say, "Be cool. I'm around." But it was like whispers on a far-off wind.

I waited a few seconds for him to reappear.

"Coop?" I called out.

There was no answer. I felt like I had lost my best friend for a second time. But he had said he would be around and I believed him. I believed in ghosts. And why not? My best friend happened to be one.

Things had changed so much over the course of one week. My toes had been over the edge of the abyss between life and death and I had no idea why.

The sound of two sharp beeps of a car horn echoed across the cemetery. I ran for the sound without even thinking. I sprinted past the now peaceful mausoleum, up the hill of ancient graves, and beyond the weeping willow tree on top, where I could look down the far side ... to see Sydney's silver Beetle, right where she had parked it. The door opened and Sydney stepped out. I sprinted down the hill, weaving my way through tombstones, and didn't stop until I reached her. If I hadn't been so overcome with emotion, I wouldn't have done what I then did. I grabbed her in a bear hug and held her close. I didn't care that I had crossed a line. I wanted to hold her and know for certain that she was real.

She was definitely real . . . and she hugged back.

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"I thought you were dead," I said.

"I thought so too," she replied.

"What happened?"

"It was that statue. The angel. He closed his wings around me and everything went dark. I must have blacked out or something because the next thing I knew I woke up next to my car."

I held her at arm's length, looking into her beautiful eyes.

"None of it was real," I said.

"Yeah, I got that," she said. "But still, when I was in the dark, I heard a voice. It sounded like Cooper's."

"What did he say?"

Sydney snickered and shook her head. "It's wild what your mind can do when you're under stress. I could have sworn he said: "Keep the tattoo. It's you."

I laughed. "I'll bet that's exactly what he said."

Sydney gave me a curious look. "What happened, Marsh? Was it Gravedigger?"

I took one more look around the cemetery and at the fresh grave where my friend, her brother, was laid to rest. Where his human body was laid to rest.

"Gravedigger is gone. For good. But it's not over, Sydney."

Sydney nodded. "Didn't think so."

"I don't know what's going to happen next, but there's one thing we can rely on."

"What's that?"

"Cooper's going to be there for us. And I think you should keep the tattoo too."

"That's two things," she said with a wink.

"Marsh," I heard someone call.

We both turned quickly to see a guy standing alone on the far side of Cooper's grave. It was Ennis Mobley.

"Now what?" Sydney said, worried.

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"It's okay, he's a friend," I said, though seeing him standing there alone in that cemetery didn't feel right.

"Ennis!" I called out. "What are you doing here?"

He didn't move.

"Is this another illusion?" Sydney asked.

I walked toward him, making a wide circle around Cooper's grave. Ennis kept his eyes on me the whole way. Sydney followed close behind.

"What's the story, Ennis?" I said.
"I
thought you went to Pakistan."

"I had no choice but to return," he said.

I walked right up to my mom's old friend and reached out to touch his arm. I didn't think he was an illusion, but I wanted to be sure. I was relieved to find that he was solid.

"You came back just for the funeral?" I asked. "That's nice, but you didn't even know Cooper."

Ennis scowled. I saw beads of sweat growing on his forehead.

"What's going on, Ennis?"

"Did you break the crucible?" he asked.

Once again, my stomach twisted.

"How did you know about that?" I asked.

"About what?" Sydney asked, confused.

"Tell me," Ennis insisted. "Did you break it?"

My mind raced with a hundred questions and possibilities. None of them made sense.

"I asked you to call me," he said, his voice rising to a shrill whine. "Why didn't you call?"

"I tried," I said. "The call didn't go through."

Ennis's breathing grew quicker.

"What's he talking about, Marsh?" Sydney asked.

"Let's go home, Ennis," I said. "We'll talk with Dad and--"

"Tell me!" Ennis yelled. That wasn't like him. Not one bit. He was definitely on edge.

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"Okay! I broke it," I said quickly. "I threw it against the wall."

Ennis's eyes grew wide as if I had just said the sky was falling.

"Broke," he repeated in a thin whisper as if trying to understand the word. It wasn't what he wanted to hear. He swayed like the news had a physical effect on him. For a second I thought he was going to faint.

I added, "It was full of blood, Ennis. It was all over my wall and then ... it wasn't. What was that thing? How do you know about it?"

"It was your protection," he said, reaching into his pocket. "And this is how I know."

He pulled out. . . another golden ball. Another crucible. It was identical to the one I had smashed.

"This is mine," he said. "Here, take it."

He tried to force it into my hands, but I didn't want it. Things were happening too fast. It was my turn to sweat. I forced myself to focus and think logically. To try and understand. There were connections being drawn that I didn't like.

"What are they, Ennis? Where did they come from and how did that one get in my house?"

"Marsh," he said with tears in his eyes. "The crucible you destroyed . . . the one in your house ... it belonged to your mother."

His words hit me like a punch to the gut.

He said, "When she no longer needed it, it was passed to you. I made a promise to your mother to keep you safe and I will do nothing less. She didn't want you to suffer for her mistakes and neither do I. Please take this one. Without it I cannot guarantee your safety, or the safety of your very soul."

I was beyond fighting. It was like I had entered a dream

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state. I held out my hand and let Ennis place the golden orb in my palm.

"God help you, Marshall Seaver," Ennis said. "And those you love, here and beyond."

With all that had happened the past week, with all I learned that had challenged my understanding of how the world worked, nothing could have prepared me for that. I had come to accept that I was the target of a spirit who was hunting for an ancient weapon. For reasons I didn't understand, he chose me to find it for him. And now, after wondering in frustration for so long why I was at the center of the storm, the truth was more difficult to accept than anything I could have imagined.

It wasn't about me. Or Cooper. Or Gravedigger or any of the people who had been swept up in the mystery. I was being hunted, and haunted . . . because of my mother. My dead mother.

My journey was only beginning, but at least I no longer felt alone. Cooper's spirit was with me. So was Sydney. I had no idea where we were all headed, but I had no doubt about how we would get there.

We were all about to set foot on a supernatural highway known as the Morpheus Road.

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Epilogue

I believe in ghosts.

It's not like I have a choice. After all that's happened over the last week, I pretty much have to come down on the "ghosts are real" side of the debate. To be honest, I never thought about it before. I do now. A lot.

Week? Did I say a week? I think that's how long it's been, but there's no way to know for sure. Time doesn't have much meaning when you're dealing with the supernatural. Though I guess I can't call it supernatural anymore. There's nothing
super
about it. It's just ... natural. I've seen so much and had experiences that I never thought possible. Some of it's okay. Great, even. I mean, the idea that after you die, it doesn't mean that your story is over is pretty cool.

But it's not like what most people think. It's definitely not

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what I thought, not that I thought much about it. Dwelling on death isn't something I planned on doing for another seventy years. At least.

From what I can tell so far, and I'm still trying to figure it all out, your destiny isn't necessarily set in stone after you stop living. There are still choices to be made and paths to choose. That much was made pretty clear to me by a nasty spirit named Damon, among others.

The guy has caused a lot of people grief. I don't even know why. Not exactly, anyway. He's on a mission and it isn't a good one. Like I said, even after death there are choices to be made, and Damon is choosing to cause trouble.

With the living.

I want to ignore him. I wish I could. It's not like I want to be a hero and stop him from whatever vicious quest he's on. That's not me. But he's making that impossible. The guy is trying to get hold of some kind of weapon. If he finds it, things are going to get vicious. If I had a choice, I'd avoid the guy like the plague and let him do whatever he wants. I don't want to have to care, but that's not how it's working out. The thing is, for some reason his plan involves me. And people I care about. The guy has already caused a lot of deaths and he's barely gotten started. I can't let that go, as much as I'd like to.

I can try to stop him. Or not. That's the choice I'm faced with. Like I said, your destiny isn't complete when you die. Your story continues and I think I know where mine is headed. I can't let him continue down the road he's on because he's already caused too much trouble. People died. Lives were changed. That's a reality I can't ignore. After what I saw and experienced, there's one other bit of reality that can't be ignored.

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