Free Redefined by Jamie Magee Page A

“Whatever dimension you are in, I can roam.”
    “Call me crazy, but if you were looking for a quote-un-quote queen of the veil, would she not be in the veil where you have been?”
    He ignored me as a thought obviously kicked into place. “What did you mean before – that you know how to help souls move on?”
    “I’m haunted. All of my friends are. We hear whispers and then call them into place, show them love, and allow them to move on.”
    “Not supernatural beings, though?”
    “I don’t know what you are calling ‘supernatural.’”
    “Meaning you, people like you, people that have defined powers and extended life patterns.”
    “No. The souls I help are damned.”
    “A little shocked that they are dead?” he asked, raising one eyebrow as if he were trying to get me to remember something.
    “You could say that. In general, they lived bad lives, and they need to be reminded that they were not bad.”
    “Right. What emotion do you feel when you help them? What lingers in your soul?”
    “It doesn’t get easier, if that is what you are asking.”
    “Little shocking - seizes your soul as you decide to either fear it or take hold of the adrenaline and ride the wave.”
    “You could say that.”
    He let out a deep sigh as his eyes looked over me in the protective way that only a big brother could.
    “I may not clearly know my life plan, but my advice to you: figure out how to master shock.”
    “Why?” I breathed because that direction sounded all too familiar.
    “So you can recognize and guide others through it.”
    I cringed as I thought of my time in Pompeii, how I failed so badly at guiding those souls through the shock of that explosion. We did not ride out the adrenaline. We submitted to fear and cowered away.
    “It will take some time. You’re being tested, but fret not; I’m here now.”
    “I thought I was supposed to help you find a queen of the veil? Why would she not be in the veil?”
    “Not that simple. You see, there are seven, seven that are to bring balance in their own way. The queen of the veil is light, pure light - and last I knew she was at home with you. I doubt Dad would have put the cart before the horse. She must be here if he left you here.”
    “What would I have to do with it? ”
    He smirked and mocked a bow. “I suppose we will see. The more I talk to you, the more I remember - and breaking out of here will help me gain even more. I don’t know where we are. Honestly, we could just be the search and rescue at this point.”
    “What? You don’t remember what your cause is?”
    “The Selected live on for eons, and from time to time we feel an urge to penetrate The Fall. We don’t know why until we pass it. In that span of light and power, we are told what we are to do and why. My issue -- I landed here and lost that reason, and now apparently my baby sista is here to rescue me…among other things.”
    “You said seven?”
    “That’s right.”
    I pulled the envelope out of my back pocket and handed it to him. He glanced down at my name.
    “Charlie.”
    “That’s me.”
    He pursed his lips.
    “What?”
    “A ghost named Charlie has been lingering around me for almost twenty years. Saw him as a good friend - that is, until a few hours ago when he turned into my father.”
    “He has a way of not pushing himself on you.”
    “You have no idea,” he muttered as he opened the envelope.
    “Nothing is on them.”
    “Unwritten stories, sweetheart. Words will come as those that live them make steps to claim their rights. They are intact, though, so no one is truly failing at this point.”
    I could not disagree more.
    “Mom left a box, too...well, a block of wood.” I pointed to the crest he had moved from the fire. “It has that crest on it.”
    “Awesome,” he breathed. “Anything for the likes of me?”
    “I don’t know, man. I’m going to figure out how to get them back. I think a demon is holding them hostage or something.”
    “No,” he said,