Spook

Chapter 22
Face-Off

DANNY felt the tingles running down his spine. He knew there were a lot of them looking at the strange void that was him. "Just look for the light and go straight there, dammit!" he muttered.

"You have a bigger problem than these spirits," Danny was startled at the voice that came from the backseat of his car. His heart began to pound in his chest and his breath became fast and shallow.

"Relax, boy. I'm not here to hurt you. I just needed to warn you," said the voice that was so familiar to him.

"G-grandpa?" Danny stuttered as he dared to look at the rearview mirror. "H-how did you get past my shield?"

"You're shield only prevents unfamiliar spirits from seeing you. Besides, I am your grandfather. I have my ways."

"B-but..."

"Hush, boy! There are more important matters now than your questions," his grandpa cut him off.

"Wh-what is it?"

"Your mate is in danger," his grandpa continued. "You need to get to him now!"

Before his grandpa finished the sentence, he felt an intense pain in his chest. "Oh my god... Charlie," he said, visibly alarmed. He quickly got out of his car and sprinted down the road.

He felt his grandpa floating right beside him. "You're never gonna get there in time this way."

"Well, I don't know any other way!" he snapped as he tried to run even faster. But he knew his grandfather was right... he was still more than a mile away from the dorm and he couldn't possibly get to Charlie in time.

"Yes, you do. Take that hideous ring off and use your mind," commanded his grandpa.

Danny stopped running and he immediately took the ring off.

"Good," his grandpa said. "Now use your mind to get to where you need to go."

Danny willed for his body to release his soul. In a split-second he felt himself rising from his body. He saw his grandfather standing beside his body.

"I'll keep your body safe until your friends get here," his grandpa said. "Now go!"

"Thank you," he said as he began to fade.

As Danny materialized in their room, he saw Charlie lying on the floor. Charlie's eyes were open, his face was pale.

Danny immediately realized that Charlie's soul wasn't there anymore... and he only had a very short time to get him back before Charlie's bodily functions would begin to shut down. But he knew that he needed to secure Charlie's body first.

"Tim," he said, telepathically contacting Tim.

Tim was startled when he heard Danny's voice in his mind. He was just coming in to pick up some clothes because he was supposed to spend the night at a haunted house with his Spirit Questor friends. "Danny? Where are you?"

"No time to explain," Danny said. "Please come to our room and look after Charlie's body. I need to get him back."

Tim was already running towards the room before Danny finished what he was saying.

He burst in the room and saw Charlie's body on the floor and Danny's spirit standing over him. "Go!" he said to Danny. Danny mouthed "Thank you" before he began to fade.

Tim checked Charlie's body for signs of life. Charlie's breaths were shallow and his heartbeat was weak. Tim immediately closed Charlie's eyes and tried to lift him up on the bed.

Then, Tim took his cellphone out from his pocket and quickly dialed Joseph's number as he began to search for Danny's body with his mind's eye.

"Hey, wazzup?" Joseph answered.

"Joseph, I need you to look for Danny's body," said Tim.

"Danny's what?"

"I'll explain when you get here. I think it's somewhere near the Quezon Memorial Circle. Now go!" Tim said firmly as he disconnected Joseph.

Joseph had a lot more questions in his mind. "Damn! These people are getting weirder everyday!" He texted Lea to say that he was going to be a little late because he had to pick Danny up.

It was a good thing that he was just near Quezon Memorial Circle and all he needed to do was cross the 10-lane road, like that was the easiest thing in the world. What with all the crazy drivers who were always speeding through this huge elliptical road!

He started walking towards the elliptical road and saw that the cars were bumper to bumper. Farther down the road, he could see the bus that was turned over on its side. He also saw Danny's car not far away. He began to run towards it and found that nobody was inside.

"Where did you go, Danny?" he muttered.

Then, he saw something glimmer farther down the side of the road. He began to walk towards it. As he came closer, he saw that it was like a human-shaped smoke that was standing over somebody lying on the curb.

"Oh shit! Danny!" he began to run towards Danny. He knelt down, grabbed Danny's arm and began to look for a pulse. He found it, but he knew it was faint. He took his phone from his pocket and dialed Tim's number.

"I found Danny," he said. "He's not moving. What happened to him? What should I do? Should I take him to the hospital?"

"Calm down," said Tim. "Danny's okay. Take him here in their room. I'll explain what I know when you get here."

"Okay," said Joseph. "Are you sure I shouldn't take him to the hospital. He really looks out of it."

"You have no idea how 'out of it' he is," Tim said. "But Danny is not in danger."

"It's Charlie I'm worried about," he thought to himself as he disconnected Joseph's call. "Find him quickly, Danny." He said as he looked down at Charlie's empty body.

THE ASTRAL realm was vast. Danny knew that it could take him forever if he had to scour through the whole realm for Charlie. But he also knew that he could use their strong bond to find him. He wasn't worried about the time, though. Time was a totally different concept in this plane. He could spend what would feel like a thousand years here, but would actually be less than a second on earth. But he was worried that the longer Charlie stays here, the less he would remember about his life and the less he would want to go back.

That was why Danny needed to find him fast. He couldn't afford to lose him.

He closed his eyes and began to find Charlie's energy within him. Their connection was so strong that even in the vastness of the astral plane, Danny could feel it drawing him in closer.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in front of their dorm room. He knew this was Charlie's happy place. He opened the door and found another boy in it.

"What are you doing here?" the boy asked. "You're not supposed to be here."

"Spook..." Danny said. "Where's Charlie?"

"My name is James. And his name is Carlos," answered Spook. "And you are not welcome here!" Black smoke began to emanate from Spook's body. It rushed towards Danny and threw him out away from the room. The door closed and locked him out.

He ran back towards the door, but the faster he ran, the farther the door got. He stopped running and concentrated again on Charlie's energy.

"Charlie, can you hear me?" he said. "Charlie, where are you?"

He heard Charlie's laughter from a distance. "Is it time for dessert yet, Danny?" he heard Charlie say.

He looked towards the direction where the voice came from. There was a brilliant light in the distance. He began to run towards it. The light was coming from an open door. He slowly approached it and saw Charlie standing in the middle of a room, the brilliant light emanating from him.

"Hi babe," Charlie said with the most beautiful smile... the smile that was only meant for him. "Come on in."

Danny sighed with relief. But as he stepped towards the doorway, it suddenly closed. When he reached out for the doorknob, he felt strong hands grabbing his shoulders and throwing him away.

"He doesn't want you!" Spook said. His eyes flaming and his whole body covered with black smoke. "Just leave us alone."

"I wouldn't have found him so easily if he didn't want me, James," he said as he picked himself up. "And you can't keep him away from me forever."

"I won't have to," said Spook with an evil grin. "Pretty soon, he won't remember you anymore. He will only remember me and what we had together."

"That's not how it works, James," countered Danny. "Charlie and I have a very strong connection because our souls already knew each other really well even before our hearts and minds started to catch up. He will never forget me. Not in life... not even in death."

The flame in Spook's eyes intensified as he ran towards Danny. "You will not take him away from me! I won't let you!" he screamed as he began to blast Danny with bursts of energy.

Danny tried to dodge Spook's blasts, but one caught him square on the chest and it threw him back a few feet. Then he felt Spook's cold hands clamping down his throat.

"You don't know the kind of love that we had," said Spook. "And you can't possibly know how much I love him. I'd kill for him."

Danny looked into Spook's eyes. "That's where we differ... because I'd die for him," he said as he began to gather energy on his palms and he blasted Spook with it.

Spook screamed in agony as the force of Danny's energy blast sent him flying in a distance. Danny gasped as he got up on his feet. He could see Spook trying to get up as well.

Danny made himself fade and reappear near Spook. "Stop this James," he said.

Spook roared as his eyes burst into flames and his body was covered with black smoke. "You can't take him away from me!" he screamed as he sent the black smoke flying towards Danny.

Danny held up his hand and created a shield from his palm. He could feel the hate and sorrow trying to pierce through his shield. He closed his eyes and recalled the happiness he felt when he kissed Charlie the first time. His hand began to shine brightly, consuming the black smoke that came from Spook.

Then, he remembered what Charlie told him about Spook's initial reaction to the writings in Charlie's closet. He concentrated hard as he tried to summon the writings on the walls of Charlie's closet. The writings began to appear right in front of Spook. It was red and shimmering... it was beginning to bleed as it swiftly smashed into Spook. It sent jolts of electricity as it enveloped Spook's body.

Spook screamed in agony as he fell into the ground writhing in pain. Danny approached him. He waved his hand and made the writings disappear as he looked down on Spook, who was still lying on the ground twitching in agony.

"You had your chance and you blew it," Danny said to Spook. "You already broke his heart once, why would you wanna do it again by keeping him from the one he loves?"

"He doesn't love you as much as he loved me," said Spook as tears began to flow from his eyes.

"Yeah?" countered Danny. "Did he tell you that? Or is that what you're telling yourself to try to rationalize why you wanted to murder him?"

"He would be better off with me. He would be happy here," Spook began to weep.

"He's already happy with me," said Danny. "Let him go, James. If you really love him, you wouldn't drag him into your hell."

The closed door suddenly appeared in front of them. Danny walked towards it and opened it.

Charlie smiled when he saw Danny in the doorway.

"Hey babe," Danny smiled at him, too. "You ready to go home?"

Charlie walked towards him and hugged him tightly. The curves of their bodies matched perfectly with each other.

Spook saw the perfect pairing. He looked at Charlie as he began to stand up. "I just want you to be happy," he said.

"I am," said Charlie. "More than you can imagine."

A blinding light began to engulf Charlie and Danny.

"I love you Carlos," Spook said as the light began to fade, taking Danny and Charlie with it. "I'll always love you."

JOSEPH was relieved when the traffic finally eased up just as soon as he was able to drag Danny's body back to the car. He carried Danny to the passenger's side and he got on the driver's seat. He was relieved to find that the key was still in the ignition. He started the car and quickly drove it back to the dorm.

He was just pulling up in the parking lot when Danny started to come back to life.

"Charlie!" Danny called out when he woke up.

"Relax, dude," Joseph said. "We're already here. I'm sure Charlie's upstairs waiting for you in your room."

Danny bolted out of the car and ran towards the dorm as if his life depended on it. Joseph couldn't do anything but to follow him, still wondering what was going on.

Danny burst into the room and saw Charlie on the bed.

"I picked him up and put him on the bed," said Tim. "I was worried that he'd get a stiff neck or backache when he comes back. I also closed his eyes because it would be dangerous if they dry up."

Joseph was just behind Danny and he also saw the unmoving body of Charlie on the bed.

"What the hell happened to Charlie?" he accused Tim.

"Will you just shut up for a while," retorted Tim. "I told you we'll explain later."

Danny sat down on the side of the bed and held Charlie's hand. "Charlie," he said. "Listen to my voice, babe. This is the way. Come back to me."

Suddenly, Charlie gasped and his eyes flew open. "Danny?" he said as his vision cleared. He saw Danny looking at him with tears in his eyes.

"It's okay, baby," Danny said. "I'm here." He picked him up and hugged him tightly. "We're okay."

"Okay? Of course you're okay. Why wouldn't you be?" Joseph interrupted. All three looked at him.

"Now, could someone please tell me what's going on?" demanded Joseph.

Tim, Danny and Charlie began laughing with relief as Joseph looked totally bewildered.

"Sometimes, I envy your ignorance," said Tim as he laughed some more.