Chapter 27

  Violent fire instantly filled the air. The explosion plastered the bowed-out walls with the remains of the board members who had been standing around the box. It blew out the windows of the conference room and peppered passersby below with flying glass, screws, blood, and bone. Instantly, Deke was in the vestibule, standing between Gillian and the conference room doors. He saw the large double doors torn from their hinges and they whipped through the spot where he stood. Fire and shrapnel filled the air behind the doors. The doors and shockwave hit Alex and Gillian with such force that Alex was blown out of his shoes. Gillian struck Beta who was thrown to the floor as Gillian tumbled through the fiery air, impacting the cinder block wall with such force that the wall cracked and was pushed outward. One of the doors had partially penetrated the wall and stuck out from the wall at an obscene angle. Deke was left standing where Gillian had been just microseconds before. The vestibule was filled with fire and smoke.

  For many seconds, Kelton stood, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Water sprayed from broken pipes and the fire suppression sprinklers in the ceiling. Scorched acoustic tiles fell from the twisted gridwork in the ceiling. Fluorescent light fixtures swung like jagged metal pendulums tethered to fractured conduits.

  He ran to Gillian. Her twisted and bloody body lay partially concealed beneath the door that had just passed through him. Depths of anguish he had never experienced before welled up from fountains he never knew existed. “No, no, no!” he wailed. He thrashed through the room, swinging his fists at the dangling light fixtures with no effect. He threw himself at the door covering Gillian. He peered through the door. He couldn’t say how he knew, but he knew she was dead. Alex lay dead next to her. An 18-inch fragment of the door was embedded in his chest. Beta lay beneath both of them. She struggled to breathe. There was nothing he could do for any of them. He roared his anger, and grief wordlessly. There were no words to express it. The horror was unspeakable. “Zenek, where is this God now?” he demanded.

  A gentle voice came from across the room. “Deke? When did you get here? I have been looking everywhere for you.”

  Deke was immediately at her side. “Rani! You’re alive!” He tried to throw his arms around her. Although his arms passed through her image like smoke, he felt a powerful connection just by being in contact that somehow was more than an embrace. It felt like communion.

  “Deke! Deke! Of course, I’m alive; what else could I be?” she asked. “ I am so sorry. I was worried that I would never find you again!”

  “Rani, I love you so much, I am so sorry this all happened. Everything that happened, it’s all my fault.”

  “It’s nothing now! I love you, too. I shouldn’t have walked out on you. I am so happy to see you again, I have been so worried.”

  “There’s so much to tell,” Deke said. “I don’t know where to start.” Deke led her to the pile of wreckage where her body lay. “Things have changed. That’s your body over there.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, I’m right here.”

  Deke said, “Yes, I think that means your body is dead.”

  “Well, it’s kind of funny, but that seems only a little inconvenient. I had planned to go to the cabin to look for you this afternoon, and here you are! My afternoon has freed up.”

  Deke laughed despite himself, ”Rani, you are amazing, you are taking it well. Does everyone act like this when they find out they are dead? Is that the normal reaction?”

  “I don’t know! I’ve only died just the once. Oh, Deke! I’m so glad to see you again. You look so good to me! I was afraid you were dead off the side of a road somewhere. Now you’re back with me!

  “I don’t think you understand, sweetheart. Your body is dead.”

  “No, I think I do understand, right now, that doesn’t seem particularly important. It hurt for a second, but everything is ok now. “ She looked at her arms and legs that were partially visible underneath the wet rubble. “ Hunh! That’s interesting. My body is dead, but that body really doesn’t feel like it was me. I feel bad for that person, but I can’t relate to it, it’s not me. I am here, this is me, I am here with you!”

  Alex approached. “Anyone who can keep a cool head in a crisis probably doesn’t understand the situation.” He laughed.

  A new thought occurred to Gillian, she cried out, “Deke, are you dead, too?”

  “No, my body is in the Box. My spirit is running loose.”

  Alex’s said, “You’re finally ready to admit you’ve got a spirit? Seriously though, this is fantastic! Tilly tried to convince us that your reports were fever dreams. That you were losing your mind. Your results couldn’t be replicated in the experiments Beta and I conducted so you had to be crazy! Ha! You weren’t hallucinating! Your body is in the box now, right? And you can see me? Hoo yah! Take that, Tilly!”

  Alex waved at his own body on the floor. “That guy over there is such a disgusting heap. I would probably be heaving my guts out if I saw that while I was in my body. I must be dead, too. Ha! Who woulda guessed that would be such a cool thing to say? And wow! It’s beautiful here! Have you ever seen such colors? And where is that music coming from?”

  Deke wanted to ask Alex about the colors and music, but another group of people appeared around Alex. Alex danced with joy. “Abuelo! Tia Maria! Francisco! I have missed you so much!”

  Alex turned to Kelton, “Dr. Kelton, this is my grandfather Pancho, and my auntie Maria. And this is my little brother, Francisco. I haven’t seen him since his funeral!” Alex turned back to his family, “It is so good to see you, I have missed you all so much! What a great day! Is it always so beautiful here?”

  “You haven’t seen the best part yet!” said Tia Maria.

  Gillian’s father appeared at her side. “Sweetheart! I wasn’t expecting to be able to see you here so soon!”

  Gillian shrieked with excitement, “Baba! I have missed you so much!”

  Dev’s face contorted with grief. “I should never have left you! It was so selfish of me! I’ve been following you around trying to get you to forgive me.”

  Gillian embraced her father, “Oh Baba! It doesn’t matter anymore.”

  Dev shook his head, “It still matters. There is so much damage that I have done to everyone I love, and to everyone they love.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me, now. You are here with me, that is all that matters,” Gillian told her father.

  Deke broke in, “I told you that I had talked with him.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t quite believe you.” Gillian laughed. “I am going to have to reconsider my position! Do you think the faculty counsel might be changing their minds now?”

  Twenty minutes ago, that question would have seemed petty and darker humor than what Gillian was capable of, now standing amid the destroyed walls and furniture and the fire sprinkler system raining down in the smoke-darkened devastation. Now it just seemed like healthy curiosity. Deke himself had been skeptical of everything despite his experience and the visual evidence. Deke turned to look through the falling water and twisted door frames into the conference room. Where there had once been a large window with a view of the quad there were only the tortured widow frames bulging outwards. The heavy conference room table had collapsed to the floor, and Tilly’s crepe-soled shoes could be seen. It reminded Kelton of the wicked Witch of the West’s legs sticking out from under Doroty’s dropped house. He saw the other nine members of the faculty disciplinary council. Some were talking together. Every few seconds additional people would appear. In just a few minutes there was a crowd of laughing , happy people embracing and communing.

  Deke called out to Dean Marcos, “What do you think? Were my reports imaginary? Are you hallucinating?”

  Marcos laughed and called back, “If this is a hallucination, I’m in no hurry for it to stop. Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “I did; it’s all in the lab notes.”

  This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

  “But you never told us about the colors!”

  Kelton wondered if Marcos was hallucinating. “I still don’t see any colors,” he thought.

  Gillian told Deke and her father about everything she had done to track him down. She told them about her drive from Maji’s house. Kelton and Dev smiled at each other. Gillian paused and looked at her father and Deke. “You were there! Weren’t you?”

  A wail of sorrow filled the room. “I’m sorry! I didn’t want this! I changed my mind! I tried to stop the bomb! I pulled the fuse!” A 300-pound version of Chaz emerged from the curling smoke and water that filled the air.

  Kelton heard Jacob’s voice, “Get a load of this guy! So, that’s the way you see yourself, Chazzy? You’re always going to be a fat guy in your head. What a big, fat loser!”

  Chaz contorted with pain. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I took the fuse out of the bomb! This shouldn’t have happened!

  Kelton almost felt sorry for Chaz as conflicting emotions coursed through his mind. “Gillian’s dead, we have lost our child… But I haven’t lost Gillian, she’s here. She will always be here.“ He would never be able to forget the depth of pain and horror of seeing his wife’s dead body, seeing many lives snuffed out in an instant. The wrenching, long moments of despair, of feeling that all was lost. He never could have anticipated this change in perspective. He looked around at the explosion’s aftermath. The devastated rooms were terrible to see, but now he was able to see past the curtain and he was amazed at the entire picture that had opened to his view. He saw happiness and joyous reunion lighting up the smoke, water, and debris-filled room.

  But not everyone was happy. Ivan Blatter launched a profanity-filled tirade at Chaz “You did this? Why would you do this?” What did I ever do to you?” he demanded.” My wife has lost her husband, my kids won’t have a dad! What are you going to do about that! There is nothing you can do to fix that.”

  A few others joined in grasping and swinging their fists at Chaz. ”My daughter was about to quit drinking. She was going to get her husband back. You killed her before she could make things right. Now she has to live with all those regrets.” “ You have no idea what you have done.”

  With each accusation Chaz curled more tightly into a fetal position. Jacob approached Chaz, turned, and faced the angry group of people. “Look at the guy. He’s torn up about this. He can’t even stand up. You gonna kick a guy while he’s down?” He smiled a wicked smile. “Nice work! I like it!” He kicked at Chaz in emphasis.

  Beta walked up to Deke and Gillian. Beta looked dazed and confused “What happened? Are we dead?”

  Alex said, “You look pretty good to me! Some first date, huh?”

  Kelton was sad and happy to see Beta. “It’s been quite a day,” he said.

  Gillian asked, “Why do you and Beta have silver strings floating from your heads?”

  Kelton was startled to see the thread on Beta’s head. “I think that means that you’re not dead yet, Beta.”

  “Are you sure? A few seconds ago, I was pinned under Alex and Gillian, I couldn’t breathe, and everything hurt. Now I’m feeling surprisingly good. No pain, no pressure.”

  “Some people told me that the thread means we are still connected to our bodies,” said Deke.

  Jacob called out, “ You’re hanging by a thread, Beta. You should try jumping on your face…”

  Deke told Beta, “Ignore him. He’s an idiot.”

  A line of firefighters entered the room. One spoke into his radio and the spray of water into the room stopped.

  “This is a mess. I don’t see any structural damage. Check for survivors!”

  “No hope in the conference room. There are only pieces in here.”

  Kelton gestured towards the pile of rubble where Alex, Gillian’s and Beta’s bodies were. “Beta’s over there.”

  The firefighters swept through the room completely unaware of Deke or the crowds of people who had gathered there to greet their family members.

  “There are some bodies here, underneath the door.”

  “These two are gone. They are jelly.” The firefighters quickly lifted the door and debris. They carefully moved Alex’s and Gillian’s bodies from the pile. Beta lay beneath them.

  “We may have a chance with this one!”

  “Get the EMT’s”

  Alex had been watching “Dang, Beta! You’re looking even paler than usual. Man, that’s real Goth! How do you make it look so good?”

  “Really? I can’t believe you just said that,” said Beta, but a smile flitted across their lips.

  Alex replied. “I guess I don’t know how to act. I’ve never been dead before. It’s kinda hard to be serious when I’m feeling so good, and you’re looking better than ever.”

  A beautiful woman appeared by their side. “Mormor!” exclaimed Beta. “You look so young and beautiful!

  The woman replied, “I’m glad I got here. I need to talk with you, sweetheart! Some dreadful things happened here.”

  Beta introduced her grandmother to the group. “This is my grandma. She’s the only person in my whole family that loved me. Oh, Mormor! It is so good to see you.” Beta tried to embrace her.

  The EMT’s had arrived, and they checked her. “This one’s not breathing! There don’t seem to be any serious injuries. Maybe we can get this one back.” They ripped open Beta’s shirt and started CPR. One of them attached electrodes to Beta’s chest and armpit. “She’s in defib!” she said.

  “I think she’s got a chance. Keep it going!” the medic yelled.

  “They have a chance!” Alex corrected.

  Beta laughed at Alex. “Let’s not sweat it right now. But you need to stop peeking.”

  Beta’s Mormor said, “Punkin, you look so beautiful. I am so proud of you. You have done big things. You are going to do remarkable things. But you need to go back. God has a work for you to do. You have a lot to do!”

  “But it feels so good here! What do I have to go back to? Mom and Dad can’t stand to be in the same room with me. I never had a boyfriend before, now I had a boyfriend for like 20 minutes and he died.”

  “I think she means me,” Alex interjected. “You called me your boyfriend!”

  Beta continued, “I don’t want to go back. I want to stay here with you. I want to stay here with Alex.”

  “It will get better. Just trust yourself!” Mormor told Beta.

  Kelton had a thought. “Beta. I’m sorry to interrupt, but if you go back to your body, you may be my only hope. My body is in a new Box I built. It’s in the garage in Gillian’s parents’ cabin at Heaven Lake. The timer is set to turn the box off a year from now.”

  Alex laughed, “A year! Did you get a little sloppy with your settings, Doctor?”

  Deke responded, “Yeah, I needed my team to keep me straight. Beta, I need you to remember this. Go to the cabin. Its address is Avalon Way 17. Turn off the box. It’s in the garage. There’s a key wedged behind the door trim on the hinge side. Can you remember that?”

  “Memory doesn’t seem to be a problem.” Beta said.

  “I’ve got a pulse.” the medic called. “Let’s transport”

  Beta’s body drew a pained breath and the Beta that had been there a few seconds before evaporated. The medics put Beta on the gurney and navigated the destroyed room to the elevator. Mormor followed them out.

  One of the firefighters yelled. “Hey! This foot under the conference table is attached to a body!”

  They lifted the table. Tilly lay on the floor motionless. “This one’s still breathing! Let’s get a gurney over here.”

  “The table must have protected him from the blast. His foot is pretty torn up, but the rest is looking ok.”

  “Get him to the ambulance, fast. The pressure wave probably damaged his internal organs.”

  Jacob called out, “At least he has some internal organs! Unlike some people I might mention.”

  Ivan Blatter shifted his attention from his family to Jacob, “Is that supposed to be funny? You better shut your mouth, pal!”

  Jacob said, “What, too soon? Lighten up, buddy. Nobody gets out of this alive. Or is it everybody? I get so confused sometimes!”

  Kelton tried to ignore the tumult as the families of the dead board members swore and cursed Jacob. “You are not helping!” “You should leave.”

  Jacob jeered at the crowd, “I’d rather be mobbed than ignored, but maybe you really ought to be cursing the guy who made the bomb. Look, there he is!”

  More of the disembodied clustered around Chaz, “I didn’t want to hurt anybody! I tried to stop it!” he wailed again and again.

  Kelton tuned them out and focused on Gillian and Alex. “It looks like you two saved Beta.”

  Gillian spoke up, “And look at that; Tilly’s going to make it out alive. That’s just not right. None of this would have happened if not for him.”

  Alex spoke up, “I gotta say it again. This place is not bad. Maybe too good for the likes of Tilly. Maybe we’re better off without him? I really think I’m gonna like it here.”

  Deke turned to Alex, “That reminds me. You are seeing colors?”

  “Not just colors, colors I’ve never seen before; wild, vibrant, beautiful colors- and what a sound system! Have you ever heard music like that?”

  Deke and Gillian looked at Alex in surprise. “Music?” Gillian asked in disbelief. “Are you hearing harps?”

  “Oh man! You can’t hear that? Yeah, sure, harps and pianos, trombones, trumpets, saxophones, violins drums and guitars! You know what an Aeolian Harp sounds like? It’s all in there! The only thing that’s missing is a theremin. No! There it is! It’s amazing. It feels like it’s lifting me from the floor. I’m walking on the music. It’s a cushion all around me. It’s warm.” Alex noticed the puzzled looks on Deke and Gillian’s faces. “You really can’t hear that, dude?”

  “No,” answered Deke. “All I can hear is you.”

  “That would be a relief,” said Gillian. “The noise in this room is getting unbearable. The volume goes up every time somebody else shows up, and more are showing up every second!”

  Deke told her about how Cohen had shown him how to focus. “It didn’t take me too long to figure it out. You’ll get used to it soon.”

  “That’s funny,” Alex said. “I guess I’m a natural. I can hear what I want to hear. So, what are you seeing?”

  Kelton and Gillian described the horrific surroundings and the dull gray tones they could see.

  “Sure, I see that, too,” said Alex. “But that part feels almost transparent. I can see forever in every direction. What a view! You should see it. It’s amazing.”

  Gillian asked Deke, “Why can’t we see this?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe Alex is hallucinating, for all I know. I’ve had couple of guides who have helped me figure things out.” Deke told her about Cohen, Zenek, Alice and Jacob. “You’ve met Jacob. He’s that vile loudmouth. Cohen has been useful, at least I can get a straight answer out of him, but usually his answers are ‘I don’t know’ or ‘I’m still working on that.’ Zenek has been the most help, but don’t ever expect a straight answer from him. He’s Mister Socratic method. He is most helpful when Alice is with him. They seem to pair up quite a bit. Your father even gave me some insight into what I was seeing and what I could do.”

  Alex interrupted. “Sorry to interrupt. I’m going to go with my family. They say they have a lot to show me. Let’s talk again. Dr. Kelton, it looks like you might be here for quite a while. What am I saying? We’re all going to be here for quite a while. Let’s get back together and compare notes soon!”

  Gillian said, “Please don’t go, Alex. I want to see what you are seeing. Can you help us see it?”

  Alex waved as he walked away from Deke and Gillian. “I don’t know what to tell you. I’m new here, too. Just thinking out loud; maybe you have to believe it to see it?” With that Alex and his family were gone

  Jacob’s voice rang out, egging on the group to torment Chaz.

  “Let’s get out of here, too.” Deke said. “Hang on, this is pretty cool. You are going to like this.”