The Last of Beautiful

Chapter 5

A million question raced through my mind. How had she known? What were the man and the unicorn? Could the spirit talk be real? What the hell was the beyond? How had she put my grandmother to sleep?

"Lady..." I started before she cut me off."

"Myra, you have to breathe, you will never understand all of this if you don't calm down." I tried to take a deep breath and relax at her command.

"That's better" she said with a smile. "Now lets get on with it, I'm hungry for lunch. Ask away." I started firing question at her left and right, demanding answer.

"What the hell is the beyond? Why do you know so much about me? What are the things in my dream? Evil spirits who mean me harm??" Before I could ask another question, Constance leaned across the table and smacked me right across the face. Hard. I was stunned. I didn't know that to say.

"That's better." She said again with toothy grin. "You ask too many question for me to keep up with. i like you better when you shut up." The shock on my face turned to anger as I started to yell at her. 

" You could have just told me that! No need to slap me like I dropped the F bomb!" Her grin turned to anger too. "That's what's wrong with the youth of today dammit! Can't smack em no more!" I pushed strands of hair out of my face and took a deep breath before looking into her eyes. I almost forgot she was crazy.

"Please," I begged. "I need answers." 

"Alright alright. Lets get to business" She said while trying her long gray hair into a pony tail. "First off, the beyond is a magical plane of energy that spirits can exist on. Good spirits, bad spirits, malevolent spirits, anything." I tried not to be skeptical, but it was hard to take it all in. "What are spirits?"

"I don't know everything dear, only what I've had the privilege to see. Spirits as far as I can tell are past remnants of humans, sometimes animals, and things far worse. Everything in the beyond, no matter how mind blowing tings seem, is composed of energy and in the beyond energy is visible and can cause you harm. It takes a good eye to notice, when you visit again you will see."

 "When I visited again?" I questioned.

"Yes dear, evil is persistent and now that you are able to travel into the beyond, the evil will stop at nothing to pull you there." This was insane, but I was drawn to it. Like moth to a flame, I was drawn to the words from her lips. "But why? Why does it want me?" She laughed sarcastically. " The answer is simple Myra, life. You are vulnerable, the evil in the beyond craves life. It will feed on it until there is nothing left." 

My eyes widened.

"So I'm just condemned to die?!" I shouted.

"That's the thing, in my visions you do not die. You are guarded by a pure spirit bonded with a good one, each time you are pulled there."

"What's the difference between good and pure?" I questioned, trying to ignore grandma snoring away across the table from me.

"A good spirit is simply good, it has good intentions and can still be intact with a physical body, But it can be turned bad. It is not perfect. Whereas a pure spirit is perfect, it is the only thing that can combat evil successfully, and cannot be turned." 

"Oh I see." I said, quite sarcastically."

"Why are they defending me? Can I not defend myself??"

She paused to think before answering me.

" I don't know why they are defending you Myra, truly I don't. When I first caught a glimpse of you travels in the beyond through vision, I tried to help you. But I am not a strong traveller like I once was and I wouldn't have done much. But in theory however, one can combat unwanted spirits with energy. It's directing energy that is the hard part."

This was frustrating, how had she made it so far traveling the beyond if her spirit talk was real?

"How are you alive and well then? What are you doing that keeps them away from you?"

" I perfected my methods when one almost killed me, the third time I ever travelled into the beyond. I learned how to focus on the energy inside of me and direct it at my attackers like I was firing a gun at them . It's all about Focus , and mental clarity. I wouldn't count on it though, it's very difficult. But not impossible, after all we share the game gift. And If I could do it, you can too."

I couldn't believe she was calling this ability a git. It had caused me nothing but trouble. I made a mental note about the self defend part. The next time that shadowy figure got too clos, at least I had something to try.

"Your probably wondering how I put your grandmother to sleep. That one I have to admit I didn't do, I was pulling your leg. I can't put people to sleep."

She giggled like it was the funniest thing in the world. I tried to keep a straight face, but I gave up and laughed with her. When we caught our breath I asked the thing I had been waiting on an answer for since this all started happening.

"Ok, I've waited long enough. What do you know about the mean and the unicorn besides the 'type of spirit they have'?" I said in a mocking tone.

She gave me a straight face that made her wrinkles deeper before answering me.

"The man and the unicorn, are a phenomenon. In all my years of travelling the beyond, I have never seen any spirits bonded. Especially those of a human young man, and that of the last unicorn. They are trapped in the beyond. Something put them there, made them that way. What I do know however, is that each time they help you, their energy dulls."

"What does that mean?" I asked as I learned forward in anticipation. Constance looked at m in genuine shame that she disappointed me as she told me that she didn't know. Just then, a Nasally woman's voice came on the intercom.

"Visiting hours are now over, please say your goodbyes and exit the premises. Visiting hours will resume from 1'o clock pm to 4pm tomorrow, thank you."

She repeated the same thing at least seven times before hanging up. As I got up and brushed myself off, grandma started to stir. Before she could wake up peacefully, Constance socked her in the arm. She awoke with a jolt shouting something about Henry. I pulled grandma in for a quick goodbye hug while shooting Constance a nasty glare.

"Thank you." I whispered to her over grandma shoulder. Constance mouthed a quick 'your welcome' before lining up to go back in the building. I said to grandma goodbye, and left to sit in the parking lot to wait for my mom. My mind was blown, what choice did I have but to believe Constance? She couldn't have been fully crazy, she knew too much about me. About everything. The next thing that finally dawned on me was that evil spirits were after my life.