The Guardian of Threshold (12 page)

“I don’t know how to explain it, but I feel that this is something that I’m meant to do, almost like it’s my dest—” I paused, reconsidering my word choice.

“Destiny,” completed Carla.

“Yes, that’s the only word I can think of,” I said, even though I detested that word. I’d stopped believing in destiny after my mother’s accident.

“Guys, we should get back to the library. We still have lots of research to do,” I said, getting up to pay the bill because I didn’t feel like waiting for Margaret to bring the check and return with the change.

On the way back to the library, Carla kept rubbing her arm and shoulder on mine as we walked side-by-side, sending jolts of electricity coursing through my body. They weren’t much different from the ones I experienced during my astral projection.

***

As we walked back to the library, big snow clumps started to fall heavily from the sky, quickly turning the sidewalk snow into slippery mush.

It was unbelievable that the weather could have changed so much in the past half-hour.

Jonas and Carla were still trying to decide what movie to watch that night while I walked quietly beside Carla. Not even her arm rubbing against mine could divert my attention from something she’d said during lunch: “Threshold is where we came from and where we’ll all ultimately go to when we die, or so it’s believed by various religions and philosophical doctrines throughout history.”

I’d given up on religion a long time ago, but it brought me comfort knowing that various religions believed that we all go the astral realm when we die.

I was brought back to reality when Jonas ran in front of me and stomped on a puddle of slush, sending it flying all over, including onto the bottom of my jeans, which got all smudged.

As we approached the library, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d opened a door that couldn’t be closed. Not that I wanted it to close.

Jonas and I raced to the computer room. We both wanted the library’s newest addition—a top-of-the-line Intel Quad-Core processing workhorse—but it didn’t matter because in the end, all that processing power would go to waste. All we would be doing was browsing the web, checking our emails, and visiting the occasional music and social networking site. These days, a toaster could handle that job just as well.

“God, thanks for making me a girl,” Carla said when she caught up to us.

Again Carla sat at the computer facing Jonas and me, while Jonas settled for the computer next to mine.

I guess our talk during lunch had spiked Jonas’s curiosity because when I peeked at his computer screen, he seemed to be actually reading articles about astral travel, more specifically about astral sex, which apparently was so far-fetched that the library’s Internet blocking software failed to flag it as inappropriate.

“Look who’s doing actual research for a change,” I said sarcastically.

“I don’t know, man, this stuff is really out there. I mean, have you heard us talk lately? Other realms, astral realm, guardian…” said Jonas, frowning.

“You forgot to mention ghosts, spirits, and devilish creatures,” added Carla.

“Trust me, I know how it sounds, but like it or not, things are happening,” I said.

“I want to trust you, mate, but it’s hard,” said Jonas.

“Why don’t you try to astral travel too? In fact, why don’t you both try?” I said.

“No way!” said Jonas, looking shocked.

Almost at the same time, Carla replied, “Sure, I’ll try almost anything once.”

“What? Are you serious? Are you actually going to try this?” asked Jonas. “What if that… thing chases you too?”

“Then I’m sure that I’ll figure out a way to get rid of him,” replied Carla.

“Jonas is right, it may be dangerous,” I said trying to discourage Carla. The last thing I wanted was to put Carla in any kind of danger.

“Oh well, you didn’t listen to me. So now I don’t have to listen to you. Besides, I’ve already made my decision,” said Carla. Once she said that, the decision was set in stone. She was determined, much like myself. It was one of the things I loved about her.

Jonas was the complete opposite. I could get him to change his mind as many times as I wanted to. All I had to do was to show him a new point of view, and his opinions would shift quicker than the wind.

“I guess I’ll try it as well. After all, who’s going to protect you guys when you get into trouble?” said Jonas.

“And who says that we’re going to get into trouble?”

“Mark, I’ve known you long enough to know that it’s only a matter of time,” said Jonas, laughing.

“I second that. As a matter of fact, you already did,” said Carla.

“Well, it’s settled then, we’ll try to astral travel tonight,” I said. “After all, we stand a much better chance of defeating the Guardian of Threshold together.”

From that point on, Jonas seemed to take our research more seriously. He even kept his jokes to a minimum, which rarely happened.

***

The weather outside continued to get worse. It got dark much sooner than normal due to the low and overcharged clouds surrounding Stoneham.

Around 3:10 p.m., I started to get tired. There was something about watching the snowflakes drifting to the ground that seemed to relax me.

I was sitting back on my chair with my feet up on the windowsill, watching the sky get darker by the minute as the winter night loomed. Although it was dark, none of us felt like getting up to flip the light switch on.

I just sat there relaxed, alternating between reading the astral projection book and watching the snow outside. Suddenly, I felt as if the back of the chair gave away, and I fell. My first thought was that Jonas had pulled my chair back, but then I realized that I hadn’t fallen. I was once again floating freely. Everything was covered by a faint, dark green tinge. To my right, I saw Jonas focused on his computer screen, while Carla had immersed herself in a book. They were both so busy that they didn’t seem to notice me.

That’s when it occurred to me that I must have fallen asleep and astral projected. To make sure, I decided to take a look at my own body. My body was still there, peacefully dozing with the astral projection book resting on top of my chest.

When my peripheral vision caught a glimpse of the big window, I jumped back in shock. Standing outside the window was Phasma. He wore a dark hood that completely covered his face, as though he was trying to protect himself from the little daylight still left.

As soon as he saw me, he charged through the glass, pushing me straight into the wall just like before. It hurt when I first hit the wall, but soon the pain gave way to fear.

I screamed for help, but my friends didn’t pay any attention. Apparently, they couldn’t hear me. I was all alone.

“What do you want from me?” I screamed as he stood there.

“Your dreams, your desires, your hopes and wishes,” he replied.

“Leave me alone!” I screamed and then turned around and ran toward the library hall, zigzagging through the bookshelves in a futile attempt to delay him.

I ran past people and noticed that many seemed to have a certain energy emanating from them. They all had auras of different colors; some were dark green, others dark blue, while others were dark purple or different shades of grey. Regardless of their auras, they all had shadowy creatures following them wherever they went. Yet they didn’t seem to notice. It was almost as if they were one.

After reaching a dead end, I stopped to catch my breath. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a chance. As soon as I looked behind me, I saw Phasma flying straight through the library’s bookshelves. He stopped just a few yards away from me. Then he slowly walked toward me, passing through anyone who stood in the way.

I was still debating if I should continue to run or face him when I heard a female voice say, “STOP!”

I couldn’t quite make out where it was coming from, but it seemed it was coming from all around.

Suddenly, Mrs. Barnes materialized in front of me. Her skin shone a soft, light-blue color and her hair floated in midair as if she was underwater. A powerful yet comforting energy emanated from her, an energy that seemed to stop Phasma dead in his tracks.

“Get back, Phasma,” said Mrs. Barnes.

He didn’t obey, but he didn’t charge either. He stayed still as if considering his options.

“This is your last warning!” said Mrs. Barnes as books started to rattle in place. Some even floated off their shelves as if getting ready to be thrown at Phasma. They all emanated a bright and powerful glow.

“This isn’t over. I’ll be back,” said Phasma, then he slowly turned around and vanished into the ground.

I had many questions for Mrs. Barnes, but I felt as if a giant magnet was pulling me. I tried in vain to hold on to something. I was immediately pulled back into my body at great speed, passing through bookshelves, walls, people, and whatever else stood between my physical body and me.

I opened my eyes, startled to find Jonas shaking me so hard that the astral projection book I had been holding fell onto the ground, landing with a loud thud.

“Sorry, mate, you were snoozing,” said Jonas.

“Not to mention snoring loudly,” added Carla, to my embarrassment.

“It happened again,” I said. “He was… here.” I looked all around to make sure he was gone. “He was right there,” I said, pointing toward the window. “He pushed me against that wall. My back still hurts.”

“The way you were sitting, no wonder your back hurts,” said Jonas.

“No, it’s from when he pushed me,” I insisted.

“Come on, let’s see it,” said Jonas. “Something like that is bound to leave a mark.”

I lifted the back of my shirt so Jonas could check, but I didn’t think he would find anything.

“Holy cow! That’s huge,” said Jonas.

“What is it?” said Carla as she got up.

“Wow, it
is
huge,” confirmed Carla as she lightly touched my back. Her hands and skin were like an instant anesthetic.

“I want to see it… can someone please take a picture?” I asked.

“One second,” said Jonas, reaching for his phone.

“Here, see, it’s not that bad,” said Jonas, not sounding very reassuring.

Jonas handed me his phone, and I was shocked at what I saw: my shoulder blade was covered with different shades of purple, and my back was swollen.

“No wonder this thing hurts like hell,” I said. The pain actually appeared to be increasing in intensity.

“How did this happen?” asked Carla.

“I told you, Phasma pushed me from here to that wall over there and I banged my back on the wall. Yesterday he hurt my shoulder,” I explained.

“Are you all right? Do you want to go to the hospital?” asked Carla.

“Nah, I’m fine, just a bit sore,” I replied.

“Those are some nasty bruises,” Jonas added.

“I don’t understand, the book said that astral travel is completely safe.”

“Not safe at all, at least not for you, I would say by the looks of it,” said Jonas.

“Everything I read on the subject so far says that nothing in the astral realm affects the physical realm,” said Carla, looking confused. “Something else must be going on here.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going, you’re being haunted by a ghost,” said Jonas, scared.

“Ah, look who is saying ghost now,” said Carla.

“I already told you a ghost is mean while a spirit isn’t,” said Jonas.

We continued the rest of our research in silence.

At precisely 5:45 p.m., Jane Olstein walked into the computer room to announce that the library would be closing in less than fifteen minutes and to suggest that we should wrap up everything as quickly as possible. If you asked me, I would have said that Jane was too scared to stay at the library a minute longer than she had to.

Because the afternoon flew by, we were all scrambling to print as much reading material as we could.

“I’ll be right back,” said Carla, getting up and heading toward the library hall.

“Where are you going?” asked Jonas.

“I’ll be right back,” Carla replied, not looking back.

“I wonder where she’s going,” said Jonas, getting off his chair.

“I don’t know, probably to the restroom,” I said, shrugging.

Ten minutes passed before Carla returned to the computer room carrying a thick, old book with her.

“What’s that?” asked Jonas.

“It’s a book.”

“I know that. What kind?” replied Jonas.

“
The Art and Practice of Astral Travel
,” Carla responded softly.

“Not you too,” said Jonas, cringing.

“If I’m going to try this, I want to make sure that I’m at least a bit prepared for what I may encounter,” replied Carla as she threw some paper scraps in the trash.

“Guys, the snow is getting really thick out there, maybe we should go,” I suggested.

“Wow, that’s got to be way over six inches of snow already,” said Jonas, also looking through the window.

“Just give me a few seconds, I have to email myself something,” said Carla as she sat back at her computer.

“Hurry up, I’m getting hungry,” said Jonas.

“Why, are you afraid of Mrs. Barnes’s ghost?” I asked to mess with him.

“I’m not afraid. I’m just tired, we’ve been here all day,” said Jonas.

“I’ve seen her, you know?” I said.

“First of all, she’s a spirit and not a ghost, and second of all, I’m not scared of anything,” said Jonas, trying to sound braver than he actually was—at least his reputation and track record showed otherwise.

“Thanks, my dear, how kind of you to defend us spirits,” said Mrs. Barnes as she floated out of the wall, gliding gently toward us just a few inches above the ground.

“Ah… uh… no problem,” said Jonas, stuttering. He looked like someone who had seen a ghost, but at least he was able to talk, which was an improvement over the previous night.

“Ah… did I forget to tell you that Mrs. Barnes recommended me this book?” said Carla, smiling and apparently enjoying the panicked look on Jonas’s face.

“So you know each other?” I asked, puzzled.

“We just met outside when I went to find a book about the astral realm. Mrs. Barnes was very helpful,” said Carla, still smiling.