“She’s here, as she is supposed to be. But you are not allowed in,” the guard grunted.
“Please,” I begged. “I have traveled far, and I have very little time. I need to see the person in charge of Delancey’s soul.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” said the guard. The passengers from the ferry filed inside. The guard stood strong, preventing me from entering.
I pleaded with him again. There was no response. I tried to push my way in, and was thrown back several feet by the guard. Only three moons remained. Time was moving quickly. I sat still, out of answers.
The guard was too strong and too unyielding. But I could not turn back and go home, not without Delancey. I thought about my guitar, and wished I had it with me. I would often play the guitar whenever I needed to think. I pictured my guitar in front of me, and suddenly, to my amazement, it appeared. I was starting to understand the impact of the mind in this world.
I strummed a few chords, sad tunes, and continued playing for a few minutes. It was melodic and I played it from my heart. The strings and sounds ached as my heart did. I sang a song of my story, of how my love was taken from me too soon. When I was finished, the guard said that I could go in.
“How…why…what changed?” I asked him.
“Your music was heard by the God of the Underworld. You have been granted permission to enter.”
I entered the monumental doors of Ellis Island. In the past, I’d wondered how the immigrants arriving here must have felt, but now I knew the answer. Intimidated and afraid. The building looked ancient. The red and white colors of brick and concrete appeared faded and worn. Time had taken its toll on the massive stone facade. I walked into the center of Great Hall. The building was deserted.
Gazing at the ceiling, I was amazed by its architecture. The concrete walls were stained, covered with dark colored smoke. I waited in the center of the great hall. Several minutes passed by, and still nothing. I touched the walls. The mysterious smoke engulfed my hand. All I could hear was silence.
From the far corners, a shadowy figure appeared. There were no lights in the building; visibility was provided only by the light from the moons through the dusty windows, high above the floor. The figure came closer. I was startled by its familiarity. It was my grandfather.
“I know why you’ve come, and I’m here to talk you out of it,” he said.
“Grandpa?” I asked happily. I walked closer to him, eager to embrace him. He was bigger and stronger than my grandfather was at the time of his demise.
“I’m not your grandfather, but this form, this image, is how your mind wants to see my energy,” the apparition said. “Your mind is extrapolating; it’s the only way you have to process the energies here. There is nothing in the material world that resembles what we really look like here, in this plane.”
“Where can I find Delancey?” I asked with a lot less happiness in my voice.
“Delancey is no longer yours. She has died, and her soul is here, but you are making a big mistake by coming here,” the apparition said.
“It’s my fault. It wasn’t her time. She was too young,” I said.
“Listen, David, it was her time. No one passes before their time. It wasn’t your fault. Even if you had done everything different, picked her up, brought her to the prom, put her in a bullet proof dress, it was her destiny to pass that night.”
“I don’t believe that. I could have protected her. It should’ve been me and not her. I should’ve stopped Sam!” I cried out.
“It wasn’t your time yet. It could not have been you instead,” he said. “That’s not the way things work.”
“Are you here to stop me?” I asked.
“I wish I could stop you. But that is something that occurs in the physical world, where you belong. No…I’m here to allow you stop yourself. You need permission to bring her back. Someone is waiting for you beyond the Great Hall. If you get permission to take her, which is doubtful, have you considered what she’d be like in the material world?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“She won’t be the same. She won’t be one hundred percent. Her body has already started to decay, her foot is gone, and her soul has already been gone too long. The longer you stay; the same will be true for you.”
“I’d rather have some of her than none of her,” I said.
“David, she could be a zombie for the rest of her life, or even a vegetable.”
“That won’t happen,” I said.
“You’re stubborn but it won’t help you here.”
“Where is Delancey?”
“Before you see Delancey, heed my warnings carefully. I ask you again, not to do this for her sake. You’re better off just being in love with a memory, a memory of a beautiful girl, a memory of your senior year in high school. Don’t bring back something ungodly to the material world.”
“I really just want to see her.” I was obstinate, and annoyed.
The being went back toward the shadows, vanishing from the room. A light emerged from the end of the Great Hall. It slowly headed toward a corridor. I followed the light, up the stairs, and around a stone balcony. The light floated slowly, and when it crossed into the moonlit area, it became Delancey.
She was wearing her white prom dress. She was whole, and angelic, and absolutely beautiful. Chains were attached to her ankles. I quickly ran to her and we embraced. She was happy to see me. Tears filled her eyes.
“How did you get here? Are you …not alive?” she asked.
I explained how I had traveled here and told her to come back with me.
“I can’t just leave and go back with you. I’m no longer part of the material world.”
“You were always out of my league, out of my realm. We were always worlds apart. This is no different. I came here to plead for your soul. I need you back. I can’t go on without you. I love you so much, I’ll do anything. Come back with me,” I said.
“It’s not that easy,” bellowed a deep echoing voice. It thundered throughout Ellis Island, deafening me and filling me with fear. The voice sounded familiar. It was the most frightening voice I had ever heard.
Delancey, squeezing my hand, said that we should go downstairs. We headed to the lower level. Her chains clanged against the stone floors. I kept looking behind, but no one was following. We walked down the concrete stairs and out of the moonlight. I followed her down several flights of stairs, until we were under Ellis Island.
We entered a small room. The darkness made it difficult to see my hands just inches from my body.
“Allow me,” said the same deep voice, echoing, even louder. I shivered as an icy breeze blew into the room.
A small flame lit a candle on my right side, and then a candle on my left side. The room started to illuminate. To my surprise, it appeared that I was inside the principal’s office at Stanton High School.
Two large balls of light moved toward me, and stopped behind the principal’s desk. One of the lights transformed itself into an all too familiar form.
“Eddie Lo?” I thought to myself.
“Not quite…but Eddie Lo for now.” My mind extrapolated the energy into a familiar shape and form. But this was not an ordinary energy. It had a very strong magnetic pull, draining me of my strength and thoughts.
The other ball of light transformed into an image of Christine.
“I’m here to get Delancey back,” I said by telepathy.
“Of course you are,” said Christine. “Why else would you be here?”
“Dead is dead. There is no getting her back,” said Eddie Lo. I did not know why I was interpreting this being as Eddie Lo. A strange accent formed the sounds of their words. All communication was telepathic.
“It’s because I’m the coolest guy you know. Just like Eddie Lo was the coolest guy you knew in the physical universe.” He’d read my thoughts.
“I really need to get her back. There has to be some way. She was taken too soon and I’m certain she shouldn’t be here.”
Eddie Lo took a deep sigh. “No one passes on before their time.”
“David Orpheus, I have wanted to meet face to face for some time. You are a very talented musician, and we enjoy your music here. Music penetrates every layer of the universe, transcending all the planes of existence,” the Christine energy communicated.
She moved slightly, exposing reptilian skin in the place of legs. I glanced at Eddie Lo. Both of their lower bodies were serpentine, like the scaly skin of a large python.
“I know you so well, Orpheus. I have heard your music for so long. I have heard you blame me for everything, and I have heard you say time and time again that you are not afraid of Death. I know of your talents, and how your lack of confidence has held you back. I know about your confusions, and how you second guess pursuing your dreams. Actually, you second guess everything. I know your pain, and your hunger for happiness.” Eddie Lo started to uncoil.
“Delancey was too young. We were just married. We didn’t have any time. I was robbed.” My fear was all consuming. My nervous system went into overdrive. “You cheated me out of a life, out of happiness, just as you did before, when you took my mother.”
“Delancey was your wife, for as long as she was supposed to be. Your mother was your mother for as long as she was supposed to be. Even if you had taken Delancey someplace other than your prom, something else would’ve happened; it was her day. Her name was on my list that day. So was your mother’s, when you were eleven years old. That’s how it works. I only find out who’s coming here the day they are supposed to arrive on the ferry,” said Eddie Lo. His tone was firm, and I barely had enough courage to make any more statements.
“Are you Death?” I asked.
“I’m more of a keeper of souls. But people see me in many different ways.”
“Is this hell?” I asked.
“Hell?” Eddie chuckled. “Hell is back in Brooklyn and where you reside. This is just a waiting area. I make sure that souls are here for as long as they are supposed to be.”
“I don’t follow,” I said.
“Well, some go to heaven, and others get reincarnated. Some leave and visit their old friends and relatives, and others go somewhere else to repent. I have no control over any of that. I just make sure that the souls that are here stay here…hence the chains on your wife.” Eddie Lo grew bigger, and his face and complexion changed slightly. He looked more regal than he had just a few moments before. Christine stood by his side, not speaking.
“What is your name?” I asked.
Eddie Lo was now a towering figure, replete with a golden silk robe and crown to match. The top of his head reached the fifteen foot ceiling. A beard had grown on his face, long and gray. He resembled a middle aged Chinese Emperor. He didn’t answer. Never before had I felt so small and weak. Christine became larger and older as well. She uncoiled, expanding toward the ceiling next to Eddie.
“What can I do to get Delancey back?” I asked.
“That is an interesting question,” said Eddie. “You are in a room with what you most desire, and also that which prevents you from obtaining your desires. I am your opponent, and I cannot be defeated.”
“I would never fight you, what would be the point?”
“If you bring her back, she’ll never be the same. Anyone who is here for more than a day starts to fade,” Christine commented.
“So you are saying that she can come back?” I asked, hearing only that there was a possibility.
“Every now and then it happens. Souls have managed to go back to your world – the material world. You call it earth, we call it Gaia. But they are never exactly the same as when they left Gaia.” Eddie Lo was shimmering in the moonlight. He hovered above Delancey and I.
“How do I get her back?” I asked again.
“Do you know who I am?” he said.
“What should I call you?” I asked.
“If I were you, I wouldn’t call me.” His sinister laugh echoed. “Every time you mention my name, I hear you. If you mention it enough, I show up, and I’m afraid you wouldn’t want me showing up.” He glistened in the moonlight like a thousand diamonds. As terrifying as he was, he was resplendent.
“Some call me Hades, or Pluto, Yama, or Yamraj. Others call me Yima, and even Yan Lo and Enma Dai-O. I’ve been called Anubis, and Osiris. I have a thousand names, every culture, every people that has ever walked the Earth has had a name for me. But I urge you not to call me, not to remember my name. It’s up to me if you leave with her or not, but there is always a price to pay…a great price.” I gulped at the mention of this price.
“He’s the Ruler of the Underworld, THE God of Death,” said Delancey. “David, don’t make any deals that I wouldn’t want you to. I don’t want to go back as a zombie or worse.”
I dropped down to my knees and begged him to let Delancey come back with me. “I can’t go on with her, I have nothing left,” I pleaded with him, choking back tears. The Ruler of the Underworld remained silent for a while. The other figure, the version of Christine, moved adjacent to him, and whispered into his ear.
“I do like the way you play the guitar,” Christine said. “I heard you play Worlds Apart at your graduation. The pain in your voice, the haunting grief that you sang with, I loved it. I truly love your agony; its music to my ears. You have a very bright future in music. The entire world will know who you are. Such God-given talent and now you have what every great artist needs – suffering, torment, and pain. You should thank us, Orpheus.”