Babylon, Part Four

30 October 2006

By the time I arrived at the hospital, Dad was gone. Really, truly, gone. Because I had been working on my skill with tracking ghosts, I was able to pick up a faint trace of him in the hallway with something…else. Something powerful. But about two doors down, the trail just ended. Wherever he went beyond that point, and for that matter wherever else the other presence went, was beyond my ability to sense.

The staff were kind and gave me a little bit of time to say goodbye, but it felt hollow knowing that he wasn’t anywhere nearby. Once they took his body away and I had no reason to be in the hospital anymore, I drove to his house and checked around. There was no sign of him there, except the normal traces left just from him living there as long as he did. I drove to Erie to check the neighborhood where he lived with Grandma and Jeremiah back in the 70s, but found no sign of him there at all. As I sat on the shore of Lake Erie and watched the sun rise, I tried to sort out anywhere else he could be.

“What’re you thinking about?” a female voice asked. I turned and saw a blue woman with runes moving around on her body standing with a man in robes that mostly hid what seemed to be armor and a hood that cast his entire face in shadow. They were clearly spirits, and I immediately recognized their mark on the Realm.

“You!” I said, jumping to my feet. “You were with my dad, last night, when he died! Is that what you are, some kind of fancy death?” I looked to the man and waved my hand up and down in his direction. “And, I guess, regular death?”

“We’re not death. We don’t normally collect the dying, but we had something to say to Henry Matteson.”

“Yeah? What was that?”

“We delivered our message to its recipient, and it was not you.” I clenched my fist and felt my teeth begin to grind, then turned around and kicked some sand before I began pacing. “You seem troubled.”

“My fucking dad died last night, and I don’t know if you know this, but the fact that I can’t find his spirit anywhere is kind of a new thing for me!”

“Well, yes, there is that. But there seems to be something else on your mind.” I turned back toward them and threw my arms out.

“Oh yeah?! You picked up on that? You must be psychic or something!”

“Well, he does remember everything most mortals remember,” she said, pointing to the robed man, “but Anchors are…tricky. Either way, you are being very obvious.”

“What’s your deal?” I asked, storming back toward them. “You don’t normally take the dead, but you decided to escort my dad wherever he’s gone to, and then you show up to fuck with me? Is this some kind of game for you?”

“No, John Matteson. It was time for you to meet us. For us to help you stay on track.”

“On track for what?”

“We cannot say.”

“We? He seems like he cannot say anything about anything,” I said, pointing at the man again. I leaned over to look closer at him, but if he had any features at all they were completely consumed by the shadow. “Do you speak?”

“He speaks quite a lot, when he has occasion to.”

“Hm. Do you two have names?”

“We have many.” I groaned and rolled my eyes.

“What should I call you?”

“That is up to you.” My fists shook in front of my face. I lowered my arms, took a few deep breaths, and then looked her in the eyes again.

“Give me something I can use here. He remembers things? Is that his whole shtick?”

“He is the memory, order, and structure of the Metaphysical Realm. I am the flow, life, and chaos of the Metaphysical Realm.”

“You—you two are in charge of the Realm?”

“Something like that.”

“Fine. Fine. King and Queen, how does that work?”

“It works.”

“Good! Queen, what the fuck is going on here?”

“Matteson, you are entering a very dangerous time. The forces arrayed against you are already closing in. Your father is on the Other Side, you will not find him here. And you cannot afford to be distracted by that which you cannot find.”

“And you know all that, huh? Even though dark and broody here can’t remember me?”

“He remembers you. He does not—”

“Remember what I remember, yeah, I got it.” I groaned, then dropped back down to sit in the sand. “This all important to you somehow?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“We cannot say.” I laughed as I pulled out my cigarettes. I lit one, looked out over the water, and took a few drags as King and Queen stood waiting.

“You’re not gonna warn me about these things killing me while you’re at it?” I asked, dryly.

“They aren’t.”

“What?”

“That’s not how you die.” I considered that for a moment, then shrugged and took another drag. “Matteson, please—”

“Get my shit in order, yeah, I heard you. And how do you suggest I do that?”

“You must prepare to face great forces. You must learn to resist a trap laid for you. But you must decide how you do that.” I nodded, then rubbed my eyes against the growing light. When I opened them again, the spirits were gone. I looked around for a bit, then stood and dusted the sand off myself. I walked back to Alpha thinking about their words, and once I reached the car I pulled out my phone and called Rick. He was sure to be asleep, but he was a light sleeper.

“Hello?” he asked, his voice weak and confused.

“Rick, it’s Matteson.”

“Yeah, yeah, what’s up?”

“Devil’s Church. Tonight.” I hung up, took the last drag off my cigarette, and threw it aside before I climbed in and drove away.

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