Soul World

How I broke the world

Meghan

“Matt, I know what happened, and it was my fault. I broke the world”.

At first, it is hard to make myself talk, but once I get started, the words come quickly. I didn’t realise how much I needed to tell someone what happened. I really hope I am not making a huge mistake trusting Matt. I learned a long time ago not to tell anyone that I can see things others can’t.

Matt’s not smiling anymore as he watches me with a laser-like focus. Listening for my truths.

“I can see things, including the thin spots in the veil between worlds. At first, I thought everyone could see what I could, and my parents, when I was little, would laugh and talk about my vivid imagination. They stopped being amused when they were called to the school to discuss their “disturbed” child” who frightened the other kids.

A dark shadow with a horrible smell was following around a kid from my class. It was the first time I had seen this type of entity, so I asked little Johnny what it was. I didn’t know the kid couldn’t see it. Johnny was so freaked out he ran screaming and crying to the teacher. I got put in the time out corner and told to stop telling stories.

A couple of weeks later, Johnny’s parents contacted the school to complain that Johnny was experiencing night terrors because of that weird little girl. So my parents were called to the school. I had already stopped talking about what I could see, I was only six, but I could see which way the wind blew. Unfortunately, the damage had been done. At best, I was labelled the weird kid and pitied, which I hated, and at worst, I was treated as though I was mentally disturbed and borderline dangerous.  I was feaking six, for god’s sake.  While I stopped talking about what I could see, it took me a long time to learn to hide my other reactions. Particularly to the smells, they were challenging to ignore. The labels stuck, and I was an outcast that no one wanted around their kids.  After all, no one wanted their kids to catch my crazy.

It wasn’t until I was a lot older that I realised I didn’t cause Johnny’s night terrors,  that the darkness was infecting him so it could feed off his terror.

I was so stupid after a lifetime of keeping what I can see secret. About three months ago, I started chatting to Samantha and Sabastian online. They told me they were part of a local ghost hunting group. I felt safe with the anonymity that I thought the internet provided, so I told them about what I can see.  They asked me to come out with them to show them the thin spots. It took around four months of chatting with them before I agreed to meet with them. They said they wanted to do a spell or a  séance or something at the thinning site. Finally, they convinced me by arguing that if they could get proof on tape, I could prove I wasn’t crazy.

While I know I’m not crazy; I sure am a special kind of stupid. I told them the closest thin spot I knew of was in the public library in city hall.  They made it sound so legitimate. They said they got permits and permission from the council. I should have known something was off when they said the only time we could have access was after midnight so we wouldn’t disturb anyone.”

I take a mouthful of water to clear my drying throat and realise with the salty taste of my tears that I am crying quietly while I tell my story.

I am so surprised when Matt asks me if I am okay. I was sure he would be disgusted with me.  I take a deep breath, and my voice cracks as I continue.

“I knew straight away when I entered the back room of the library that I had made a terrible mistake. They were hunters, I could tell immediately because of the vacuum where their aura should be. I tried to run, but Samantha was ready for me. She punched me in the face, and Sabastian grabbed me in a headlock from behind. They must have ripped up the carpet because they tied me to a table in the middle of a circle painted on the cement floor. I don’t remember much after they cut me and started chanting. But I remember the thin veil pulsing no longer like a dirty window but like a living membrane. Spectral hands pushing and stretching the veil. Finally, Sabastian took the knife dipped in my blood and pierced the veil. The small cut becoming a tear as a tsunami of dark souls forced their way through the barrier and flowed out into the world.  Laughing and high fiving, Sabastian and Samantha left, leaving me tied to the table, bleeding.”

Matt looks shocked and horrified as he asks me how I got away, how I survived.

“A woman saved me. I don’t know. Of course, I was pretty out of it by then, having lost a fair amount of blood. I’m not sure what was real and what wasn’t anymore. She untied me and stitched my wounds. I think I was in and out of consciousness for a few days, but she told me before leaving that what was done couldn’t be undone. That the broken world would become something new and that I had to survive until the gathering was complete. I don’t know what any of that means, and when I left the council building, I found the dark souls had possessed most of the population and were killing or enslaving the rest. I ran for my life, and I have been hiding ever since.”

I’m not crying quietly anymore, and I am so grateful when Matt wraps me in his arms and holds me tight.  A port in the storm of my misery, fear and regret.