Chapter 4: The Light in the Sky

Being in the heart of his own town normally didn’t bother Desmond so much. At times it could be a little congested, but he felt that was normal for any city. However, being in the same part of that town but while it was empty and lifeless was unsettling.

Every building he passed was cast in the same gray shroud, its windows dark, and with no sign of life anywhere. There wasn’t even any evidence that people had ever lived there to begin with.

It felt eerie to be in a place he recognized and see it so completely empty. The further he went in, the more he was starting to wonder if that white-haired man had been telling him the truth.

That didn’t make sense though. Desmond felt someone who had acted that cold would have left regardless if he had questions. It seemed like the man had wanted to give him a chance, however small that chance was.

Desmond took his time to move from one street to another. He had busied himself with searching each of the buildings for a light or something that might resemble a light. A task that didn’t prove to be too easy as every once in a while, he noticed the sweep of that dark mist again.

Except this time instead of watching and waiting for it to take shape, he would move away from it as fast as he could. Just the thought of those long fingers reaching out to touch him again was enough to send him running.

Desmond had been given one small chance and he didn’t think he’d be given another. Not after the last message he had been left with from the Man from the Mist.

After turning around another corner and having just fled from the latest flood of dark mist, Desmond finally spotted it. Atop a tall building about five blocks away was a single, orange glow of a light. The building itself was something he recognized to be another apartment complex located in the downtown area.

The sight of it was a relief. The light being like a beacon in all the drab emptiness he had been dropped into.

“Hey you!” An echoing female voice called out to him.

The sudden call startled Desmond. It sounded both far away and right next to him, to the point he couldn’t tell where exactly it had come from. He stopped in his pursuit to reach the light and looked around his surroundings.

He didn’t see the source of the voice at first, not until he saw a flash of light in the building just to his right. The light faded out and back into his sight to take the form of a young woman. She leaned out an open doorway and her eyes were on him.

“Yes, you!” she called and beckoned to him.

Desmond hesitated, unsure if he should go to the girl or not. The decision was made for him though when a large cloud of dark mist began to form just feet from where he had stopped. There was something different about this cloud of mist that set it apart from the ones he had been running from since his last encounter. Its mass was greater than the others and he was certain he could see a large figure forming at its center. A figure that was much bigger and darker in comparison to what he had already seen.

“Hurry! Hurry!” the girl urged him again and waved to him to follow her in through the open doorway.

Without feeling like he had any other options, Desmond bolted for the open doorway that he had seen the girl disappear into. As soon as he had passed over the threshold, he turned and slammed the door shut behind him. It wasn’t until after he caught his breath, that he turned to take in his new surroundings.

He recognized the building he had taken cover in to be a small shop. One of many that lined the streets of the innermost parts of town. The inside, of course, was just as dark and drab as the outside had been. The whole interior looked as though the color had been sucked out of it. He felt like he was standing in a black and white television program. Which led to the question, where the girl he had seen had gone to and even where she had come from?

“You’re lucky he didn’t get you,” came the girl’s voice again.

“Who are you? Where are you?” Desmond called. He stepped away from the door and turned around where he stood, looking for the source of the voice.

With another soft flash of light, the same young woman he had seen from the street appeared in front of him. She seemed like any other young lady, except her clothing was indicative of another time era judging by the long skirt she wore and the apron tied around her waist.

If Desmond had to guess, she was probably about ten years older than he was.

There was a calming energy about her while she stood there with her hands on her hips and smiling at him. He wasn’t quite sure what she was, but he could imagine that she was something that belonged to this place. Whatever or wherever The Echo was.

“Sorry about that, the name’s Lydia,” she said with a nod. “You’re not one of us, are you?”

“Sorry? One of you? Honestly, I don’t really understand anything that’s going on,” he admitted.

Lydia circled him and eyed him head to foot. Finally, she returned to where she had been standing in front of him. “Not from The Echo. You’re from the World of the Light.”

“From the what? Can you just tell me what’s going on?” Desmond was starting to get annoyed. It felt like there wasn’t a person he had come across yet that wanted to explain anything.

“I could, but I’m sure you want the whole story and not just what I know. You saw the light outside? There’s someone like you that lives there. I know he can give you all the answers you’re looking for,” Lydia stated.

“Right, so thanks for saving me from whatever was out there. But I’m gonna go ahead and keep heading towards the light I saw,” he replied. The annoyance was obvious in his tone when he spoke.

“Hold it! You can’t just go walking down the main street without knowing what you’re doing!” Lydia spoke as she reappeared in front of him and blocked his path to the door outside. “I can show you the best way to reach the light without having to worry about the creatures from The Dark.”

“And why should I believe you?” Desmond asked.

“Because if you want your answers or even a way back to The World of the Light, you’ll follow me,” she answered. Lydia waved off his concern and faded from his sight once more.

“Fine, but can you at least tell me what you are?” he said in an aggravated sigh. Desmond turned on his heel then, to find that Lydia had reappeared towards the back of the shop.

“I’m a wandering soul. More than your average ghost and not anything like a lost soul,” she explained.

“And that means?” Desmond pressed and took a few steps towards her.

“It means I’m aware and have been aware of my own death, but I haven’t decided to cross over yet. Instead, I wander this city helping out where I can and observing,” Lydia said.

As enlightening as her answer was, it was also very confusing for him. She said that she was a wandering soul, which explained why she was able to fade in and out of sight. It also had him wondering just what kind of place The Echo really was.

This wandering spirit didn’t give him any other option but to follow after her through the empty shop and to a door that led into a back alley. Lydia moved through the back streets as though she had walked them many times before. That wasn’t something unreasonable though, considering her attire had to be centuries old.

There were so many questions he had for whoever it was that belonged to the light in the sky. Desmond just hoped that this mysterious person had all the answers he felt at this point he deserved. Between waking up in this strange place, the appearance of the creatures and now the questions about where he had ended up, there was a lot to go over.

Lydia, as helpful as she had proved to be so far, had refused to answer his questions. The first man he had run into had also refused to answer his questions.

Just who was the Man from the Mist and why was he so cold towards him after their brief encounter? Desmond felt he hadn’t done anything to warrant a death threat or maybe there was something about this world he wasn’t understanding that did warrant such a threat. Getting to that light was the only way he was going to find out.

The more the pair ducked in and out of alleys and cut through empty buildings, the more he was starting to understand why life seems to be drained from the city. There wasn’t anything living left in this place. Everyone he passed had the same kind of appearance as Lydia. They appeared solid, but with a soft glow to their skin. Just like her, they could blink from one place to another. Some of them seemed as lively as she was while others just seemed to drift through their surroundings. Almost as though they didn’t realize where they were.

It was these ghostly figures that had him wondering if that was what Lydia had meant by a lost soul. It was just as it sounded and just as he had always heard about in stories and on television. A lost soul was someone who had died without realizing it or wasn’t able to accept their death. Honestly, Desmond felt a little sorry for these ones because they hardly seemed aware of anything that was going on around them. He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like existing like that.

“We’re here!” Lydia’s voice cut in through his thoughts, startling him.

Desmond blinked and turned his head in the sound of her voice. Sure enough, in front of them was a door to an apartment. It was the only gray door that had a soft orange glow around it. The only real sign of life he had seen since he arrived there. He had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn’t even realized how close they had gotten to their destination.

All that journeying and they hadn’t seen much of those black mists. For that, he was more than grateful that Lydia had insisted on guiding him to where he needed to be. Those things were frightening and the less time he spent around them, the better.

Lydia stepped in front of him. “Wait a second!”

“What?” Desmond asked, confused.

Lydia shook her head. “You can’t just go knocking, you’re not connected yet,” she said.

He felt his brows knit together as more frustration pooled in his stomach. More concepts he didn’t understand and he was certain he wouldn’t get a straight answer. “Connected?” he repeated.

“Yes. He exists in The World of the Light, the place you’re from. But you have to be connected to be able to communicate from The Echo,” she explained.

As expected, Desmond had no idea what she meant. With an aggravated sigh, he folded his arms across his chest. “Well, you do it then,” he stated.

“I’ll let him know you’re here,” Lydia gave him a smile and then turned to face the door before she blinked out of sight.

Desmond was left standing alone in the empty hallway, staring at a door. All of this was really starting to get on his nerves. He didn’t understand why he had to be the one to be put through this.

Just as the thought left his mind, the door in front of him finally creaked open. Desmond unfolded his arms and let them fall back to his side. His frustration started to melt away as he felt the press of anticipation now rising in his chest. He wasn’t at all sure what he was expecting, but with how the only two people he had come across spoke of this person, they seemed like they might be some kind-of all knowing being. It was unnerving to think about.

“You must be Desmond,” came the voice from the other side of the door.