Page 16 of My Master
“—but it was just enough,” Katheryn finished the sentence for him and continued talking, occasionally gesturing with her hands here and there, doing some weird flicking movements with her fingers, making Esmeralda wonder if she was like her mother at all when she spoke. “We spirits don’t have reign over ourselves. We do what we’re told, are sent where we need to go, doing tasks that are assigned to us by the Otherworld bosses.”
“And it seems that the three of us…” Ignacio gestured to his wife then to Damien, who was still bound to the chair, looking uncomfortable. “Were chosen for the task of helping you.”
“Help us with what?” Esmeralda had a nagging feeling in her brain, though she wasn’t sure why. Maybe she was nervous as to what they would say. Maybe they were assigned to help Antonio overcome his problems, or assigned to give her courage to tell him that she was pregnant with his child. It seemed a little extreme for such small matters, though, and she doubted that that was it.
Katheryn and Ignacio shared a look that Ezzy couldn’t quite make out what it meant, when she cast a quick glance at Antonio and saw the confusion in his black eyes, she could tell that he didn’t know either.
“Look,” Ignacio sighed, leaning forward. “As spirits, there are things that we are entitled to say and things that we are entitled to do. Unfortunately, we can’t give away too much information to you without exposing the Otherworld, so all of this is going to sound somewhat confusing.”
Damien snorted, and chimed into their conversation. “You fools are not progressing in this conversation, to say the least. You both are used to detailed descriptions of every phenomenon that tends to occur in your small lives, I, however, am not, so allow me to explain it to them.”
He turned his head to Esmeralda and Antonio and began to explain. “I’ll start from the beginning, so that we may all end up on the same page. What they’re saying is that, yes, there is something after death and that something is called the Otherworld, or the Spirit World. Obviously, it is a place where spirits reside, and that’s all we can say regarding that subject.
“Spirits are usually assigned jobs, small tasks, here and there. They’re not silly little things that mortals do, such as ‘check the mail’ or ‘walk the dog.’ The Otherworld is more complex than that. We do worldly tasks, things that—if possible—could change the course of time and history.
“Every task that a spirit is assigned has importance, as Katheryn said, everything has significance. We don’t just go into the dreams of the living at their beck and call, if we appear in their dreams, it is because the Otherworld wanted it to be that way. In a way, we’re guides, and we guide the living through a certain journey, or task, without directlyhelpingthem—that’s against the rules—and the three of us…” He gestured with his chin at Ezzy’s parents. “…were assigned to guide you through a task, or deed, if you will.”
So, spirits didn’t have a will of their own, Ezzy thought a little sadly. What an afterlife that must be, wandering around,guidingpeople throughout life in order to make history the way the Otherworld wanted it. She shuddered and looked at her parents. They didn’t seem at all bothered by this, so Esmeralda didn’t know if she should be either.
“Okay, I get it, so you’re here and you’re supposed to help us…with what, exactly?” Antonio was leaning forward now, curiosity practically waltzing out of his eyes. Strangely, he reminded Esmeralda of a kitten.
Katheryn and Ignacio shared a look again. “The problem is—”
“—that we can’t tell you much—” Ignacio said.
“—without giving too much away,” Katheryn finished.
Damien sighed from his seat. “You know,” he commented, “this ‘finishing each other’s sentences’ bullshit is starting to get on my nerves. Kindly release my bonds so that I may leave.”
They all scowled at him, but it was Ignacio who said, “You are a part of this, just like all of us.”
Damien rolled his eyes. “Yes, yes, the fate of the world depends on all of us, blah, blah, whatever, but it’d be a kind gesture, on your part, if you could hurry this meeting along. I find this chair is rather uncomfortable.” As if to prove a point, he wriggled around in his chair, looking slightly comical.
Esmeralda thought she had never seen Damien this animated. Death seemed to have fared better with him than life ever did.
“Fate of the world?” Esmeralda asked, refocusing on the conversation at hand. “Is something going to happen to the world?” She immediately thought of the Blood Drug, and Rogues, set loose in the city, wreaking havoc. She suppressed a shudder.
Ignacio sighed and looked down at his opened palms. Ezzy noticed they were shaking. Then, slowly, Ignacio looked up, his yellow eyes glowing. “Yes,” he whispered. “And the fate of the world seems to revolve around your friend, Isis.”
Esmeralda remembered when Damien had kidnapped her and she woke up, only to be threatened by him. He had basically told her she belonged to him and that he’d change her into a vampire, unwillingly.
She remembered how she had felt back then, as if she were falling into a darkness that had swallowed her whole. It pressed hotly around her, scorching her skin, filling heat into her nostrils, making it hard for her to gasp for a breath. As if, somehow, her lungs had closed some sort of door, locking it, not daring to let the air come in, and then she was choking, gasping.
That’s how she felt at that moment; it was hard for her to catch her breath, as if her internal organs had shut down and refused to work because of what she had just heard. She shook her head, wanting to open her mouth and speak, to ask questions, but no sound came out, only a small puff of an exhale.
“What do you mean, ‘Isis’?” Antonio’s black eyes flashed red in fury and confusion.
“All we can tell you,” Katheryn drawled out in a way that would make one think that she was talking to a wounded puppy, so as not to frighten it or make it angry. “Is that somethingbigis coming, we don’t even know what it is. All we know is that Isis is at the center of it, and you guys need to help her.”
“We also don’t have much time in Dreamland,” Ignacio stated, standing up, pulling Katheryn with him. “Just remember: find Isis, help her, and all that which you seek will fall into place.” As he said his last words of advice, something peculiar happened. His voice drained out, sounding more like a distant echo, than if he was standing only a foot away from them. His body became transparent, and flashed a couple of times, like a light bulb being turned on and off various times.
“Good luck,” Katheryn said. And then, they disappeared.
Ezzy and Antonio stood up and turned to look at Damien. His body was flashing as well, but he didn’t disappear. Esmeralda’s eyebrows shot up to her forehead and she wondered if Damien had a glitch.
“I cannot leave here unless you unbind me, brother,” he growled in frustration.
Esmeralda saw Antonio hesitate and she knew his fear. Her mom and dad were able to come into physical contact with him, who’s to say that once they freed Damien he wouldn’t attack?
