Beyond Freedom

Dylan searched frantically for the mysterious spirit girl he had seen run through a wall, though he was told he couldn't do it himself. And he couldn't. An attempt led to a failure, and then disappointment and jealousy. But he was so determined to find her. He desperately wanted someone to talk to. And who knows, maybe she could teach him how to run through walls? After searching the school for hours, he was unable to find her, not even a trace of her. School was close to ending, the last bell only ten minutes from ringing.

Dylan was ready to give up, when suddenly, he was teleported. He saw the walls of the school disappear and replaced with other walls. The room began to grow dark, very dark. Dylan was frightened, and didn't know what was going on. Before long, he was in a large square dark room with several doors on every wall. He was so scared he felt like screaming. He didn't know where he was, or what was going on.

"Where am I?" he asked himself.
"You really don't know?" asked a female voice behind him. "How is that possible?"
Dylan immediately whipped around to see the girl he had been looking for.
"You! Why did you run away before?!" he damanded.
"I was playing tag," she giggled. "But you're not very good are you?"
"Well that's because I can't run through walls like you can!"
"What are you talking about? All ghosts can do it."
"There's no such thing as ghosts."
She laughed.
"What do you think I am...and what you are?!"
"I'm not a ghost, I'm a spirit."
"Oh. Well that sucks for you." she sang.
"Why?"
"You don't have any powers. That sucks," she said in a mocking tone.
"Well...maybe you could teach me."
"Won't work."
"How do you know?"
"Because, you're not a ghost. It won't work," she said equally as mocking.
She was starting to agitate Dylan.
"Where are we?"
"What's your name?" she asked, ignoring his question.
"I'm Dylan."
"Cool. I'm Bella," she said and she held out her hand expecting him to shake it. But he didn't.
"Where are we?" Dylan asked again, too agitated to shake her hand.
"You're not very friendly are you?" she asked, retracting her arm. "If that's the case then I have nothing to say to you."

Without warning, she turned around and ran through the door directly behind her.
"Wait!" Dylan called, now wishing he had just shaken her hand. He then ran through the same door she vanished through, thus beginning yet another game of tag.

On the other side of the door, Dylan was surprised to find himself in a hospital. "What...the?" he asked, wondering how the door had led him there. He heard Bella giggling echoing throughout the place and followed it. Running through the hospital, he tried to avoid crashing into people or objects, since he could not just run through them like she could. Before long, a large crowd formed and Dylan could not avoid them. He bumped hard into an old man. The spiritual shield around him protected him for getting hurt or falling, but the old man plummeted to the ground in extreme confusion of what just happened, Two women nearby helped him up.
"Sorry," Dylan said, though he knew he could not hear him, and continued his pursuit.

Eventually, Bella's laughter faded and Dylan feared she had given him the slip again. Again disappointed, especially by the fact that all of this could have been avoided, Dylan sat down in a hallway to sulk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bella stick her head out of the wall he had his back against.
"Boo!" she said, and giggled as she disappeared. When she realized Dylan wasn't following, she came back out and sat down next to him.
"You really are no fun," she said. "You don't like playing tag, do you?"
"Not when you cheat."
She laughed.
"I used to play tag all the time...when I was alive," Bella said quietly.
Dylan looked over at her.
"Problem is, there's no one to play with...when you're dead."
"I'm sorry," Dylan said.
She stood up and walked around, then walked back to Dylan and smiled at him hard in the face.
"Tell ya what. I'll be your best friend if you play one game of tag with me."
Dylan looked hard into her ghost-like face. It was only then that he realized how cute she looked. Dylan couldn't resist but to smile back.
"Okay. But you can't cheat. No running through walls."
"Very well. I guess cheating isn't much fun anyway."

Before long, they were once again running all through the hospital, both trying to avoid people and objects.
"Tag, you're it!" Dylan exclaimed as he touched Bella.
"Not for long!" she responded.
They ran all around the hospial for hours until they were both bored of it.
"That was so much fun!" Bella exclaimed. "Thank you, Dylan."
"Of course." Dylan said.

They returned through the door that was invisible to human eyes, which brought them back to the dark room of doors.
"Where are we?" Dylan asked again, hoping that this time he would be answered.
"These are the doors," she said with wariness in her voice.
"Doors?"
"The doors that link the ghost world from the real world."
"Really?"
"All ghosts come here. But before long, most ghosts start to become evil. When this happens, they become demons."
"Oh."
Bella looked down and said "That's what happened to all my friends. They were fun at first, but then they became evil....and became demons. Demons are really scary, and I have seen many of them."
"How long have you been dead?"
"About six months," she answered. Dylan could tell by the look on her face that she never wanted him to ask her that. She closed her eyes.
"Are you alright?" Dylan asked.
She opened her eyes again.
"Yeah. How about you?"
"Hmm?"
"When did you die?"
"Oh...about a week ago, I think."
"You think?" Bella asked, her voice strangely menacing.
"Yeah. That's what my mom told me."
"That's not fair, Dylan!" she shouted.
"What isn't?"
"Why did you become a spirit when I became a ghost?! I'd give anything to speak to my mother again. I--"
"Hold on a second! A few hours ago you were just bragging about having powers!" Dylan interrupted.
"Powers aren't everything. I'd give them away to be with my family again without giving it a second thought. I mean, walking through walls? Interacting with things and people? That's what everyone takes advantage of. That's why they become demons."

There was silence for a while. Both of them heard several ghosts passing through the doors.
"I'm becoming a demon," Bella said quietly. "I know why I'm here. I know why I'm a ghost. I know why I haven't passed on."
"Why?"
"A long time ago, I was living a good life with my mom. My dad had been kicked out, and my mom looked after me by herself. But one day....we got separated in a train station. My mom was looking everywhere for me, but a man found me first. He told me he would take me back to my mother. But he lied. He took me to his car and told me he would drive around and try to find her. I had a feeling he was lying to me, but I also had some feeling that I could trust him. Before I knew it, he drove to a faraway place. I screamed, I tried to escape, but he beat me. He told me I was going to die, and he was going to kill me. He took me to his house and he beat me to death. Next thing I knew, I was here."
Dylan was stunned.
"Wow," he said, not knowing what else to say.
"And that's why I'm a ghost. For revenge. I know I'm meant to haunt him. I know I'm meant for revenge. And I will become a demon. The more I think about it, the more I feel myself becoming a demon. I don't want to haunt. I don't want revenge. I just want to be free."

Dylan was at an extreme loss for words. Bella took advantage of his silence.
"Could you free me? Could you save me?" she asked, looking hard into his eyes.
"I...I don't know," Dylan said, regretfully. Bella looked down in disappointment.
"I wish somehow...all ghosts could be free. That these doors didn't exist. That no longer will a mother clutch her children and hold a cross while a demon terroizes them. That no longer will a man be possesed, and lose control of his body while the filth takes over. If these doors were destroyed, never again would there be screams of terror of ghosts."

Dylan was quite impressed at Bella's expansive knowledge despite the fact she was such a young age.

"You're pretty smart," he said. She smiled.
"Thank you."
He then realized something.
"Oh my gosh! I've got to get home! My mom is probably worried sick!" He attempted to run away, but Bella stoped him.
"Dylan...will you promise to play tag with me tomorrow?"
Dylan looked hard at her.
"Yes. Of course I will."
"Good," she smiled. "Thank you."

Dylan smiled as well and then ran to the nearest door, disappearing to the darkness of the room.


TO BE CONTINUED...