Week Twenty Five: Unhinged: Wes II

  The ride to the high school was quiet halfway there. Wes never made anyone speak up, especially when he knew something was on their mind. Instead, he played music. Music was always a good way to communicate without direct conversation. Outside of the fact he knew Jane’s little brother was probably still in mourning over his own cousin, Wes was lost in his own thoughts of the night before.

  There was a physical drain that came with the dream last night. Since he decided to become an English Major and take a break from athletics, Wes hadn’t felt this kind of strain in years. His body ached he felt detached from the world. When Hal had leaned in to give him a kiss this morning he almost didn’t feel their touch. This caused an embrace before their departure. Wes knew that he was still physically in the same world but he wanted to make extra sure that this was true.

  Next to him, Jane’s little brother stared off into the distance. The boy didn’t speak much to Wes because he was closer to Wes’s cousin. But the two knew that this would have to be their situation until Jane’s little brother was able to pass his driver’s test. Looking over, the boy glanced at Wes. It seemed that he could tell that Wes was also deep in thought. Laying a hand on the volume on the stereo, the boy grasped Wes’s attention. Meeting eyes, Wes brought himself down to earth.

  “Is the music too loud?” Wes asked gently. He didn’t want to upset his new company.

  It took a moment but but the boy shook his head after turning the music down a few levels. “No. But I wanted to ask you something.” He said, the look in his eyes reflected deep concern.

  “Of course. What is it?” Wes questioned. He could still feel the distortion between where he was physically and mentally where he had been mentally. Noting this in his head for later, he focused on the road. He was on earth. Physically. And mentally. This is how he had to be if he was to get him and Jane’s little brother to school.

  “You don’t talk much…” The boy said, fumbling with his fingers. “It makes me feel like you’re observant but don’t say anything…” He paused, during this Wes glanced over at him before looking back at the road.

  “I have a friend who is hurting….” He sighed. “I want to help her but I don’t know how. Is there any way I can look and see without her telling me?” He asked, the genuine concern washed over Wes as he spoke.

  Taking in the question, Wes nodded. “There are ways. But the most important thing about helping anyone is to know whether or not they want help.” He said, allowing Jane’s cousin to think about the statement before continued. Giving a moment, Wes continued. “Does your friend want help?”

  Only the hum of the background music filled the car as Jane’s little brother thought over the question. It wasn’t long before he sighed and replied, “She said that I couldn’t help her. That I wouldn’t understand it.”

  This, Wes understood. He couldn’t tell Hal everything although he wish he could. Hoping that the situation was nothing like his own, Wes continued. “Did you ask her to explain it anyway?”

  Another pause. The second to last stop light stood in front of them as Jane’s little brother thought long and hard for his friend. Wes could tell that he cared immensely for the girl, and hoped that he could help him even if it was small.

  “She said I wouldn’t remember the conversation but I do.” Jane’s little brother thought more to himself rather than to Wes. “She’s super smart but she can’t stay awake in class. I turn in her paper sometimes…” Jane’s little brother smirked. “The other day the teacher was being rude so I took her to the library and she finished the assignment in five minutes tops…”

  “She then told me that she’d let me in on her secret…” Jane’s little brother paused for a moment.
“But it wasn’t exactly a secret. I haven’t told anyone. But I feel like I can trust you with the secret since we don’t go to school together and you have no reason to tell anyone.”

  “I won’t.” Wes reassured. Now parked where he normally would drop Jane’s little brother off.

  “She said that she knew everything in the library. She’s my age and I wouldn’t doubt that she’s read all the book in our library but I find that hard to believe you know?” A panic arose in Jane’s little brother’s voice. “I’m concerned is all. She spoke to a friend she thought was there but it was only the two of us. Then she passed out. I took her to the nurse's office where she ended up sleeping the rest of the day. Then she got picked up sometime before school ended….”

  “Hm.” This was an interesting situation Jane’s little brother had brought before him. “So your friend seems sleep deprived is what it sounds like.” The ache in Wes’s body pulsed as he said it. “But she sleeps a lot?”

  “Well…” Jane’s little brother sighed. “She sleeps restlessly. She’s fallen asleep in class before and she’ll wake up screaming or gripping her desk. She could be crying… It all makes me feel bad for not knowing how to help her.” He frowned. “Even though we haven’t talked much I see that she’s in pain and I don’t want anyone to be in pain…” He paused then added. “At least, if they are in pain I don’t want them to go through that pain alone.” He smirked, checking the time on the car clock. They had a few more minutes to talk.

  “Which brings me back to my first question.” Wes shrugged. “Do you think she wants help?”

  Jane’s little brother frowned. “She didn’t say she didn’t. She said I couldn’t.”

  “That doesn’t always mean that the help isn’t wanted. She doesn’t believe you could provide her with what she needs in order to help and that’s okay.” Wes smirked.

  “But now that we’ve established that I can help her what do I do?” Jane’s little brother asked, messing with one of the extension ont his backpack.

  “Your friend thinks that you won’t remember the conversation between you two when you speak of whatever it is…” Wes said, again thinking of Hal. “That’s where you start. You get her to talk to you. It won’t fix the situation but it’ll help you understand what she’s going through.”

  Understanding, Jane’s little brother smiled. “You know, your cousin always said you were pretty amazing and I can second that. Thank you for taking me to school since he used to….” A glimpse of remorse flashed through his eyes but was quickly replaced with happiness. “It means a lot that you take the time out of your day to do this.”

  “Your class starts right before mine so I don’t mind.” Wes smirked. “See you after you get out.”

  Waving, Wes took off. It took a few cars to get out of the drop off zone before he could actually head to his own class. As he sat patiently in the line of cars, Wes felt a wave of anxiety and depression. Sucking in a breath he turned to look for the source.

  Heading through the doors of the main entrance trudged a young girl, with a boy beside her. Taking a harder look, Wes could tell that the two were sibling even without looking at the two’s aura. Another wave of depression and pain slammed against Wes’s body. The feeling of distortion resurfaced from earlier. Suddenly, the image that seemed to be murky that night before was clear as crystals. Wes could see everything again. The fragments, her dream from the night before. Had it not been for the car horn that blared for him blocking traffic he might have lost himself in the middle of the parking lot.

  That was her. The girl Jane’s little brother had spoken of. He didn’t know how he knew but it was clear to him. He had to save her not only for his own sake but for Jane’s little brother as well.

Week Twenty Three: Unhinged: Nightmae VI

 Engulfed in an abyss of numbness and silence, she fell. Within her, emotions of the dead-she presumed. During her nightmares she never knew all the details to what asylum of history she’d visit. As she watched the wind flow through her hair, she waited. This in particular nightmare was taking time to make its course. Her first feeling… How cold the wind was as it resisted her fall. Oddly enough, it seemed welcoming.

 Emptiness. Whoever’s life she was experiencing held onto nothing. Literally. No love came to mind as she continued to slip farther and farther into the abyss. There was no memory that made itself known as she continued her journey. The only feelings she could note for this nightmare: Nothingness and the cold physical touch of the air.

 An anxiousness of her own dwelled inside her. Who was this person or species since she had experienced many varieties of memories. What did they do to lead up to this abyss. How did they find it?

 Theories began to surface her mind as a sudden loss of breath left her chest. She could feel her heartbeat throughout her body. The Pressure forced her to focus not on the surrounding darkness but on the ice within her body.

 Trembling she realize this nightmare wasn’t of anyone or anything’s death. This was a rare encounter of her own fears and her first fear: Being Lost.

Lost

I wake to my own screams

The one I love, devoted to me

Losing me, a fear radiant to my vision

Sweat covers my body

I’m a threat to myself

The high mental activity cost yet another night and two days

When I do not wake, where am I?

How does my body not go into shock

During these mental adventures I seek

What I seek, unknown to me

One fact stands

Not only am I lost when my eyes are closed

My open eyes don’t dare to see

The path of the lost is infected

And infested with emptiness

There is nothing left in me

A life of my own I cannot live

Instead, the past lives of others reply in me

What I am

Is a record

Of lost last memories

--

 Fidgeting with a pencil, Wes stared off into space. Hal, sitting across the living room looked up from his textbook to glance at his love. It was obvious that he was lost in thought again. What Wes was lost in, Hal would be intrigued to know, but he knew better than to ask.

 Physically in front of Wes was the TV. However it was off and he had no intention of turning it on. By placing himself in front of the big screen he could step into another world. One he couldn’t describe without words, no matter how hard he tried.

 Juvallian, a cat humanoid known also as a Tabaxi, knew that he’d have another one of these moments. The blank TV screen helped him seem less insane to anyone who didn’t know what he was actually doing. It took a few awkward encounters but he was finally there. He found her, the one close to death. By the way she was acting he could tell that she wasn’t awake like himself. To be ‘aware’ in this world he was in took a lot of concentration.

 From afar Wes took note of the girl. Physical appearance when out of the world were his worst. He was better with emotions and auras (the feeling of a person that surrounded them. However not felt by the person it belonged to)

 Her core (located in the middle of the chest) pulsed a black. Despite this appearance, Wes knew that the black wasn't’ a negative aspect to her detail. What concerned him was the trance she seemed to be in.

 In this world. Wes was never located in the same exact location as the person or thing he was looking for or into. Instead, he could view and observe what he needed to collect to help the person or thing when they passed..

 However, in this girl Wes wasn’t sure but she seemed to be searching. Although where she was searching would only make it harder for herself without guidance. Reaching out to her, Wes gasped as he began to see though her perspective with his vision doubling over her

 Scattered. The girl felt lost. But what she didn’t know was that she was made of many feeds, all trying to display themselves at once. Her actual self believed that it didn’t exist since it hadn’t been to the forefront of her mind since the beginning of living.

 A shudder ran hough Wes’s body this girl was made of shattered mirrors. Finding her peace would consist of directing her true self to her aware self. Through many years of practice Wes could tell the difference between his own deeper self and aware self. However, understanding that concept for anyone else was impossible.

 The girl thought she didn’t exist due to all the noise within her mind. Wes would have to silence it all in order to reach both her deeper self and aware self. He also had to be careful that he didn’t cause any more of an uproar which would be easy to do with all her fragmentionation.

 Taking a moment to breath, Wes took a step back and emerged back into the living room with the TV. Curled up in his lap, Hal snuggled and slept. Gently caressing Hal’s face Wes realized how difficult this save was going to be. He’d have to plan and take action physically if he had hope in saving this one.

Taking Hal in his arms, Wes took him to the bedroom when suddenly he froze. One of the many fragments played in his head. In real time only two seconds passed but in that world it was almost a lifetime.

 Wes held onto Hal for dear life in the physical world. Sighing he managed to make it to the bed where he tucked in Hal and slipped under the covers where he would build his defenses mentally against her fragments. If he wasn’t careful he’d allow the fragmentation happen to himself. Then the situation would only escalate from there.

 Kissing Hal goodnight, Wes closed his eyes to experience a very familiar sense that the girlf labeled ‘nightmare’.

 

Week Fifteen: Unhinged: Wes I

  No words left his lips. Tears fell and sobs were heard at the funeral. To Wes this was normal. He liked to consider himself, optimistic, not heartless. The family around him reacted different to his silent stance. Some glares, some stared, other quietly gave him looks. Overall, he knew that everyone in the family considered him an anchor. Whether that meant, a cold stone statue, or a person that was down to their world that could move on didn’t matter to him. People held onto him physically due to the reassuring embraces that he could present. However, these people didn’t understand how he could not shed a single tear. It wasn’t emotionless to these people, it was emotional strength. Others, thought different.

 At this funeral in particular, Wes was to mourn his cousin’s death. Three bullets to the chest. An investigation was still being held as the family mourned. Holding his boyfriend comfortingly at his waist, Wes assured Hal that everything would be fine and the world would work its magic.

 Despite the faith that Hal had in his boyfriend, he didn’t understand him fully. Wes was able to cry in emotional times but was not able to present these tears to the forefront in front of an emotional event. This is also why he loved him, In Hal’s eyes, Wes was his rock and to Wes, Hal was his outlet.

 After the fourth hour, Wes finally stepped in to assure the last mourner that there would be a resolution. Wes’s cousin’s girlfriend latched onto him as she screamed and yelled in confusion. Why him? What did he ever do? Why wasn’t it me? These were questions were often thoughts of others and to Wes, all he could do was be supportive and waited until she was ready to leave.

 Allowing Jane to fight herself into an emotional slumber, Wes took her car keys and laid her in the back of his car. Handing the keys to Hal, he kissed him and looked deep into his eyes. “Follow me, we’re taking her home.”

 Understanding, Hal took the wheel of his car while Wes walked to Jane’s sports car. This was the last gift his cousin was physically able to provide with her. He knew how much Jane hated and loved the gift. After all, her boyfriend’s death did take place a week after her birthday. Entering the car, Wes buckled his seatbelt and flashed the lights to gain Hal’s attention. Once Hal has positioned himself behind Wes, he rolled forward.

 The music of his Jane’s preference blared. Turning it down to a low hum, Wes sighed as he felt his cousin’s presence. This usually happened after a funeral, considering he was the easiest source to turn to. However, he never spoke first, since the newly detached soul didn’t always understand what was happening.  

 Sometimes, the soul would take a week to respond. But knowing his cousin, he would catch on quickly. Appearing next to Wes, his cousin looked at his hands in disbelief and reached for the seat belt. Hand passing through, his cousin gripped his hand into a fist.

 “It’s one of those days huh…?”” He said to himself then turned to Wes. “Cousin?” He asked in a daze. “Why are you driving my girlfriend’s car?”

 For a moment, Wes didn’t respond. He only did this to allow the spirit to be aware that not everyone could hear them. Staring, his cousin reached over to touch Wes’s face. “Can you..?”

 “Most can’t.” Wes finally said, setting the cruise control. “But I’m not one of those people.” He said, turning to look at his cousin. Knowing that the tux he was wearing wouldn’t have bullets in through his chest.

 “What…?” He asked then looked at the seat belt. “You knew.” He said, looking down at the seat of the car. “How am I not passing through this thing?” He asked.

 “It’s all a matter of perspective.” Wes said, keeping his eyes on the road. “You can pass through what you want and you don’t have to pass through other things. It’s a thing you can do now.”

 “Does that mean.” His cousin’s voice trailed off. Sudden, he was quiet for a good minute.

 “Your died?” Wes asked as his cousin came to.

 “Yea…?” He said in a daze.

 “The best you can do is describe your killer to me, then I can give an anonymous tip to the police and we can maybe bring your killer to justice.

 “No…” His cousin said, surprised that he could cry. “I don’t want to ruin his life.”

 Hearing this, Wes sighed. “Whoever he is, ended yours.” Wes replied. “Many people think it’s their fault. Allow the fault to be the person who actually did it.”

 His cousin shook his head. “If I told you later, would that be okay?”

 “‘Later’ is irrelevant to you now.” Wes pushed. “But whenever you feel you are ready you can come find me.”

 His cousin sat in confusion. “How?”

 “It’s a thing you’ll learn how to do as a spirit. Think of me as a wifi signal tower. You’ll find me.” Wes smirked at his own joke.

 “Casually speaking to your dead cousin doesn’t freak you out?” His cousin asked with a sigh. “I completely understand why you don’t cry at funerals anymore.”

 “That’s irrelevant.” Wes smiled. “Your spirit never dies.” He explained. “But there will always be a time off of this world.”

 “You mean earth?” His cousin questioned.

 “Irrelevant.” Wes smirked.

 “You have to be kidding me.” His cousin said wide eyes. Then began to fluctuate. “What’s happening?”! He exclaimed in fear.

 “You’ll be attached to your grave until you figure out how to go places and such. It’ll take time but you have a lot of that so don’t worry. We’ll speak again, cousin. I promise.”

 Fading out of view, his cousin’s panic vanished. Sighing, Wes turned up the volume of the music and turned on his turning signal. She didn’t live too far from the graveyard which is why he was going to offer her to stay somewhere else or recommend that she stay somewhere else. A change in scene would be the least she could do for herself.