Somewhere Else

Chapter 17: Brecker and Winter

“Tell me again what happened.”

She wasn’t sure why he needed to be reminded of it when it only happened a few hours ago, but she also knew death could be a very confusing time. So she indulged him.

“Daddy was reading me a story and I was telling him how you always read in a squeaky voice for the penguin. He didn’t say anything to me though. Then, I was telling him how you always let me turn the pages as well. When I started reading along he got really frustrated. He started asking questions about you and Mommy. I told him we were family and that you weren’t going anywhere.”

There was never such a feeling of guilt like he had right then. Not only had he not saved the girl like he should have, but the prime reason behind her death was because Jane lived with him. Still, he had to know what else happened, or rather, what she imagined happened.

“I was resting in bed for a while. It was too early to go to bed and I was too excited about my new toys. Daddy didn’t even let me take any of them to bed. I didn’t want to sleep so I just rested. Not long after he left, I heard him in the hallways. I think he was talking to himself. He kept saying we were going somewhere far away.”

That much was true. James had taken her so far away no one would ever be able to find her again. Except for him it seems. He knew deep down this was a terrible hallucination, which was helping him cope with a tragic event, but it felt so damn real.

“I could smell gas like when we used to go put it in the car, but not by my room. Just on him really. He told me we were going to play a game. I saw him with matches, like you sometimes use. I told him I couldn’t play with lighters or matches or fire.” She paused to take a deep breath. “I wished you were there. I closed my eyes and wished harder than I ever wished when blowing out my candles and you came. You came and carried me out and then went back in and didn’t come out again.”

At least he got to play hero in someone’s imagination. It sure wasn’t his. As she continued to cry against him, he held her close and tried to figure out why she’d told him such a different story. He wondered if her spirit was trapped and she didn’t realize she had passed away in the fire. If she was really there, Jane would be able to hear and would come to see for sure.

“You fell so real to me.”

“That’s because I am real baby.”

Winter pulled back to look up at him. Her green eyes were so clear, yet full of confusion as he looked down at her. She almost seemed to grasp what he was saying. If this was anything like the movies, he could expect her to fade into the nothingness where she came from.

“How did it happen here?”

He thought it was a strange that she thought of it in a way that they were only different version of the same story, but decided to indulge her nonetheless. He recapped how she went to her dad’s, how the police contacted her mom, and about how she was the one who passed away.

“Yeah, he croaked in mine too. Somewhere else though. He’s still alive.”

Brecker couldn’t help but be a little confused. His only solace in this was that James too had perished. Now she was telling him that he might be walking around evading punishment for what he had done? If he’d lived here, which was inevitable due to not acting when he should have, but James was alive even after what he did. And assuming he understood any of this, there was a new question in mind.

“Somewhere else, did you live too? Other than… here.”

As soon as he asked he wondered if he didn’t sound crazy to her. After all, in the girl’s mind she was alive and well.

A softer reply came from her then. Maybe she did understand what he was asking, even if he didn’t quite grasp it yet. “Yes.”

The lack of clarification assured him that it was a grim existence. Was this idea his mind’s way of coping? Would he really be happier if she’d lived only to be severely disfigured and unable to carry on a normal life? Absolutely not. He was far from that shallow.

At the sound of his door creaking open, he tensed. If Jane could see Winter, she was absolutely going to have a mental breakdown. There would be no happiness, not at first, and he didn’t know how he’d explain anything so that she could understand. Hell, he didn’t even understand.

A second later, she appeared. Her eyes red from tears. Her grief turned to anger quickly, and he lurched forward when he heard her words.

“What are you doing in here? I told you to stay out!”

Glancing around the room, he reassured himself that he’d not moved in the time that he was losing his mind. Imagining Winter was with him, he started to respond but got cut off by the girl.

“I’m sorry Mommy. I just… I just miss him.”

Astounded by Jane’s reaction to seeing her daughter, he was completely oblivious to the fact that they were talking about him.

“I told you, I didn’t want you messing anything up! Get out! Get out right now!”

She looked right at him, but knew better than to disobey her mother. Scampering from the bed to elsewhere in the apartment, he was left alone with Jane. A witness to a complete breakdown of the person he loved most and he couldn’t even help her.

After they went to bed, he emerged from his room and quietly slipped in to where Winter’s room, where she was sitting at the edge of her bed. He stroked through her hair as he whispered. “It’s unfair to think you know any more about this than I do, but what’s going on?”

Winter looked, delighted that he was still around, overjoyed that they shared a secret. “Your grief must have allowed you to slip through from one place to another. Just like you saw me where I no longer exist, now you see me where you no longer exist.”

He wasn’t sure he completely understood, but he wanted to share her enthusiasm and wanted this more than anything. When he feel asleep, he slipped back to where he’d come from. He awoke with a startle, feeling all around for her. Hysterics would do him no good, and he wouldn’t be of any use to Jane like that either. Only a bittersweet dream to remember.

A month after the tragic events he was trying to focus on his life once more. He saw less of Jane these days. They each submerged themselves in their work. There was a dinner in Munich he was preparing for. Jane would be going with him, and so he was hoping to plan a romantic interlude for them. Seeing as how Valentines Day would be coming up around the same time.

In fact, he was doing everything he could to keep his mind off of what happened. That dream had especially creeped him out. He couldn’t shake it entirely. What if there was some truth to it? When he’d been in high school Jane had particular interests. She used to collect rocks. Each of them had a different meaning it seemed. Those, along with a crystal, were thrown and she could supposedly tell parts of the future.

One day he indulged her and allowed her to toss them on his behalf. When they all aligned, she had a puzzled look on her face. She gathered them up and put them in her hand. Tossing them to the carpet, they once again laughed. The strangest thing came from her then.

“You’re one of the six.”

Of course, he thought it was a gimmick. She was so convinced that he didn’t bother asking for further explanation. They rarely talked about it after that day. He was fine with that because her crazy babble made him a little uncomfortable. However, he never forgot what she said. Sometimes, when he met other people he really connected with, the imagined they were one of the six.

She was shifting through several different pieces of paper. In a series of four, only the last one totaled up. He’d passed through again. This was the world in which he died, because he wasn’t there to do it, and had never left instructions otherwise the rent had gone unpaid.

“Charlie. Charlie. How did you ever afford this?”

She certainly couldn’t, not as a waitress. All she wanted was to keep him in her life. She wasn’t sure she could handle more change. She’d have to move. What would she do with his stuff? All she’d wanted was to keep his room perfect, the way it’d been.

The edge of his sight flickered and he again saw the broken ribbon of film. Transfixed by this discovery, he slipped through this one as well. Instead of being back in his realm, his apartment was in darkness.

A chill ran through his body, and he felt frozen in place. What a stupid thing to do! What if he’d slipped into a realm of death or torture or worse? As these thoughts streamed through his mind, he caught sight of something. An escape? A cold hand wrapped around his forearm. Dark eyes and fangs appeared from a dark face. “Now I have you Charlie, and believe me, this time I’m not letting you go.”

From out of the darkness came a sliver of silver. Frozen still, by the realm and the debilitating grip on his arm, he could only watch what was occurring. The darkness was shed and he could see the man in front of him. Aged as he was, he had to be at least seventy. The strength of a thirty year old was kept secret in his limbs. He was no match for the light that came after him though. Teetering in front of him, he imagined it to be the equivalent of a brutal punch. Whatever had happened as the grip on his arm was released he began to fall. He fumbled on forever.

Sleep. That was what had started everything in the first place. A dream he couldn’t shake haunted him every time he closed his eyes. Because of this, he was suffering sleep deprivation. Floating between being conscious and still dreaming. He continued to tell himself how foolish he was being. The fumble surely put him on the floor. He needed to get up. Get up, he told himself. Get up!

Against his shoulder, he felt warmth. His eyelids were still too heavy to open. A gentle shake caused the coldness to chip. Another sent a crack skating through an exterior shell. A voice so clear and wonderful caused it to start a cascade down his body. Silently, the chunks of frozen water collided with the ground and shattered. They shattered and spilled and quietly spread and he could breath once more.

The ice in his lashes that kept his eyes sealed shut was melted away. Soft streams of water glided down his face, looking like tears of gratitude. Her lips had kissed away a barrier he would have never been able to defeat on his own. Before him stood a woman of exceptional beauty and radiance. She seemed to sparkle before him. Perfectly dazzling, but perhaps it was just the leftover moisture in his eyes that made her glimmer.

“Charlie.”

Her voice sounded like far away chimes. So soothing and relaxing, but commanding all at once. He couldn’t tune her out, but she made him want to sleep. He wanted to drift off to the sound of her voice. The warm touch of her hand against his cool, damp face brought him back and helped to refocus his attention.

“I thought I lost you for a second there Charlie. We can’t have that. You’re far too important to keep in this realm.”

At this point his comprehension skills weren’t what they could be. The words that he did catch sounded foreign. There was a thick haze surrounding him, a fog of ice left behind. A faint smile came over his lips. If she wanted to keep talking, that was fine by him. She sounded nice.

“All right. All right. Rest first and then we’ll talk.”

Hours, days, weeks possibly passed before he opened his eyes again. His surroundings were so dark, unlike how he’d keep them willingly. A cloth rested on his forehead, offering him such warmth. There was a peaceful silence handing over him. There seemed to be no urgency here and he was grateful for that, especially after the ordeal he went through.

“That’s much better. Now I think I might actually have your attention. You have to be more careful passing through the realms Charlie. If you miss a window you’re all the easier to track. Without any surroundings, laws of physics, and nature, you’re altogether vulnerable. Now, promise me that you’ll be more careful.”

“I promise.”

In all actuality, he had no idea what he was promising. He had little idea how to move around in the first place, so he wasn’t sure how to be more careful. Since he’d promised though, he knew he’d have to find out sooner or later, if only to keep his word.

“Congratulations, by the way.”

“Pardon?”

The woman sitting at his side still looked radiant, though her voice was no longer as whimsical as it’d once been. Long blonde hair did seem to shimmer, despite the lack of light this place had to offer. The expression on her face captured him entirely.

“You found all six faster than anyone ever expected you to. Honestly, we expected you’d need at least one more generation to lay the groundwork.” She paused for a moment to glance away before continuing. “I’ve only recently learned of everything myself, but I’m amazed by what you’ve done.”

Drawing in a deep breath of air through his nose, all of what she said nearly went over his head. Then faint recognition came to mind as though she’d unlocked a door of knowledge. He knew that he’d been on a quest to bring six different people together. Right now, he couldn’t remember why it’d been important, but a feeling of accomplishment washed over him. If he could remember that much, surely the rest would come in time.

“Are you one of them?”

A hint of pink touched her cheeks and he felt a smile dominating his _expression. That really brought out the natural light in her eyes and her youthful innocence. She was truly an enigmatic creature to him.

“No. Never so lucky. I am here to assist you. Though that was purely coincidental. As soon as you feel up to it, your lessons will begin.”

Pressing the palms of his hands to the spread of his bed, he slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes. A few minutes were dedicated to animating and testing his body. As each muscle stretched, he tried to figure out how long he’d been down. There was an energy beneath begging to be released.

“I’m ready now.”

“I had a feeling you’d say that.”