Into the Void

Giggles escape my lips as Stefan chases me though the street. He morphs into each shadow, along side me always. I can feel his energy, even a glance or two of his true form. He's nothing but a shadow now, embracing his nature as he glides through the street. It's beautiful to watch, I would rather watch this than anything else. It's who Stefan is. I feel his cool touch melt through my arm, I shudder but smile.

I tug on my bow, letting my hair free. I open my arms and let myself scream,"AHOOOOOO!" It's a howl to the moon; to the lone wolves like me. Stefan laughs, mocking my howl soon after.

The cemetery is only two blocks away.I never let my step-father move me away from my mother. Stefan and I visit there often. There is always someone to talk to. I love to take pictures of the Orbs that drift around. They are like large fireflies, but they could send images in my mind. I love them very much. They are like children to me. Most of them are a child's energy. Stefan checks the shadows around us. He dances through each one, his body occupying the whole space. That's where the Shadow People exist. Just their name hits me with anxiety. Even though Stefan is a Shadow Person he is very different.

In Stefan's world there are four rings of Shadow Realms that surround the inner realm that is Summerland.

Summerland is where souls spend their days between reincarnations. To even be reincarnated into another body the soul must be done with their passed life. Summerland isn't like the Christian's belief of Heaven. There, no one is judged. There is no Hell either. Every soul passes through the realm they match too; good or bad. They must get their Karma in check or their next life can he horrific.

The Inner Realm is where the Orbs live. That is the last ring before Summerland. These souls come and go as they wish. Some stay on earth as visiting Orbs or they get reincarnated. It is up to the soul. Usually, the Orbs are the energy of children that died too young and they wish to play more before they leave. Other times they are souls visiting their loved ones. Their energies converge in orbs of light or a bubble. These are harmless, sometimes the pictures they send are bad, but they cannot hurt anyone.

The realm beside the Inner Realm, the Center Realm is where average spirits spend their time. They are the ones with unfinished business. Most are murder victims or accident victims. These are the spirits with issues. The only thing they want to do is complete the life before so they can live in happiness. These spirits, they are called spirits while on Earth, souls while in Summerland, are the ones I help so they can go to the Inner Realm and be free to do as they wish.

The next realm is called Outer Realm. This is where I was told Stefan is from. These aren't bad spirits but they did bad things in their passed lives. Most of the spirits are those who kill themselves. These spirits stay there until they feel they make up for it by being Watchers. Watchers bring new souls to the realm they belong to. Once they fulfill this they can go to the Inner Realm, if they don't have unfinished business. They are mostly Shadows, to hide from Man-kind. It's easier. They do not hurt anyone or anything.

Then there is the inner realm, known as the Shadow World. It's where the bad of the bad stay; the rapist and murderers. They stay because they want to, not because they have too.Not a lot of people believe in Summerland and these spirits fear of burning. So they stay in a place where many call Purgatory. It's the realm between the human world and the Outer Realm. These Shadow People can kill other spirits by taking their energies. Without them, the souls are lost forever. They drink them, like Psychic Vampires. These Shadow People can take over another body, but only if they are strong enough.

That's why Stefan always checks the shadows for me. A good friend of mine, Annabelle, told me everything. She died thee years ago and she still refuses to leave. She thinks of me as her granddaughter. Stefan doesn't speak to me about his side of the world. He would rather for me not know anything. So, Annabelle is my link to the two worlds.

We finally get to the cemetery gates. Stefan walks through them, laughing as I squeeze my thin body through the fence's bars.

"If you don't lay off the fudge bars you won't be able to do that anymore." Stefan teases me. He follows close by, going through the shadows. I see a few Orbs wondering through the graves. Their childlike clumsiness is obvious as they bump into each other.

I open my hand, palm up. A little one floats down to my hand. "Hi little guy." I whisper, now holding it with both hands. The little Orb sends an image of a playful boy into my mind. It's him, just by the feeling of the auras it's easy to tell. Each person has their own feeling of an aura. He shows me a time he had with his puppy. It made a tear rise in my eye. The poor little guy. The Orb stops and quickly shoots away.

I follow the familiar path to my mother's grave. She lies next to my father under an old tree. My father died when I was three, due to a form of lung cancer. After my mom died, I had to live with her new husband. I did not have any family left, and my step-father loved my mother enough to take care of me after her death.

I really miss my mother. She was everything to me. I drop to my knees at her grave, then stick my fingers in the dirt around it. Stefan appears and he points his finger away. He is going to leave me alone with her for a little while. I smile and let myself calm down in front of the grave.

The night she died, I can't remember much. Stefan says because it was so traumatic. The one thing I remember is Stefan's face. I let the tears flow as I try to block the memory. I keep hearing her say, "I love you Aimee." It runs through my head every day. Trying to get my mind off the memory I pull some weeds from her grave and clean up my father's too. I hope they are in Summerland together. Or maybe reincarnated together again.

It's strange to know some child could have my mother's soul inside them.

After a few minutes Stefan is still gone. I think he is playing with the children Orbs. I still sit infront of the grave, watching Orbs come and go, leaving pretty pictures in my mind for me. One came along to the grave. It's energy is glowing bright and it looks so beautiful. I took my camera off my neck and aimed it for the Orb. I stayed still and kept clicking the button as it passed by me. The Orb's pictures fell to the ground in order.

Suddenly the Orb disappears.

It confuses me, so I look down at the pictures. Behind each orb is a dark figure; a Shadow Person starts to appear. It's glowing red eyes pierce me as it opens it mouth and swallows the Orb. It's energy is gone, and the only thing left was a bit of dust.

I scream as It hovered over me. The energy was so strong it made me sick. I want to throw up, and I felt terrible for the little Orb. The Shadow Person stares at me, just stying still. With a flick of his energy he could take mine instantly. Or he could leave. My fear was so deeply implanted I was stiff.

It flicks at me.