Eiji took a walk through Bryant Park. In the morning, he had talked to his study counselor and had worked out his schedule for college. After that he had talked to Ibe and looked around his studio. They had looked over his courses at college and when and how many hours he would work with Ibe in the afternoon.
He had asked Ibe if there was a place nearby where he could study. One that was close to his studio and college. His apartment was too far away, so he preferred taking his breaks somewhere where he could study and have a break until he worked with Ibe.
So Ibe had told him about the Public Library next to Bryant Park. But he also told him it was pretty crowded at times. Which wasn't a problem for a Eiji since he had always been an early riser. But Ibe somehow looked uncomfortable. There had to be something he wasn't telling him. He had actually hesitated slightly before suggesting the library to him. Eiji was pretty sensitive to emotions around him and had noticed that instantly. After a moment of awkward silence, Ibe had finally told him about the rumor that had been running wild among the students for a few weeks now.
Ibe was on college campus from time to time because he didn't give courses, but he offered workshops once in a while because a friend from college had asked him to.
According to Ibe there was a rumor currently going around campus that the Public Library was haunted. Or cursed. Same difference. Ibe reluctantly told him that people were scared to go there because their stuff kept disappearing, chairs and other things moved on their own or papers were blown away and were flying across the room. Even books were suddenly falling out of shelves without warning. Last week someone had even been injured because the whole book shelf fell down on her. The strange thing was that those weird events were limited to the Rose Reading Room only.
Eiji just burst out laughing when Ibe had finished. Rumors like that are always exaggerated immensely, so there would probably be a logic explanation. Like an open window or a broken door. But it sounded fascinating. He'd be sure to check it out, if only to satisfy his curiosity. Ibe saw the shocked face when he saw that Eiji wasn't scared, but curious.
So, here he was, standing on 5th Avenue, with only the busy traffic separating him from the library.
It looked kind of impressive, just how you imagined a historic building that was over 100 years old to look like. The three archways in the middle were impressive as were the huge lion statues on each side of the building or the statues above the archway whose exact shapes Eiji couldn't make out yet.
Of course, as a photographer, he had to take some pictures first which was the whole reason why he had made that little detour. Then he crossed the street and walked into the building, taking some more photos. The interior was amazing as well with more archways and walls covered in white marble. Most of them were decorated with beautiful ornaments and many historic books and other historic items on display everywhere. The interior was breathtaking, but if he was perfectly honest he had to admit that he had never been much of a book worm. That's why he slowly lost interest and walked straight to the Rose Main Reading Room on the third floor.
According to the flyer the room had the length of a football field. When he entered, the first thing he saw were the long tables on the right and left and a walking path in between them, reminding him of a red carpet. Maybe not entirely wrong considering how many famous writers, researchers and even Pulitzer Prize winners had already been here. The best thing was probably the ceiling with those breathtakingly beautiful murals of vibrant skies and billowing clouds.
Eiji took some photos and then looked for a table to sit. For a normal afternoon it was pretty empty here. The other floors had been so flooded with people that to call it crowded would be an understatement.
He put his backpack and his camera on the table and began to shuffle through all the documents from college, putting them in a chronological order and beginning to draw a time table that included the work with Ibe as well as his college courses, so he got a better overview over his daily routine and his free time. He had also gotten several assignments already since he had missed the beginning of the semester and had to keep up with the required assignments.
That's when he noticed the breeze going around the room. The room suddenly felt cold and all the lights were flickering while some books were falling out of the shelves. Eiji shivered and quickly put his camera on the papers, then curiously looked around the room. There had to be a reason for all of that...
But he didn't see anything, so he just shrugged and continued going through his papers. He was so immersed in his papers and photos that he didn't realize his presence at first. Only when he began to levitate his camera in the air, he got his attention. When he finally noticed him and looked up, the guy was standing right next to him with crossed arms, a wild look in his green eyes and looking threateningly at him. His whole attitude radiated danger.
But that wasn't the only thing Eiji noticed. The darkness that dominated and overshadowed his eyes fascinated and intimidated Eiji at the same time. But beyond that darkness was also a deep loneliness and a heartbreaking sadness that made Eiji want to know more about him.
His appearance was faint, but not entirely transparent. Why? Weren't ghosts supposed to be transparent? But Eiji could still see his messy blonde hair, some strands hanging across his face. And the stunningly beautiful green color of his eyes as he kept staring at him with that intense look he had. He was standing there in his red converse, his ripped blue jeans and his white t-shirt. Eiji just couldn't look away from him. He had led a much harder life than himself, he saw that in his clouded eyes right away. It was in the way he was standing there, self-confident and powerful, his wild eyes having a dangerous glint in them, commanding and terrifying. Like a true leader. Eiji wondered what kind of life he had lead. What kind of hardships he had experienced to always assume the worst in people. Because his whole body language radiated Stay away from me.
~
Ash looked out of the window.. There wasn't much to see apart from other buildings around him, rush hour traffic and huge crowds of people rushing from one appointment to the other. But the look outside felt strangely familiar to him. As did the inside of the place he had appeared in several weeks ago.
Why the hell was he suddenly here? At a library? What was he even doing here of all places? And what was happening to him? When he saw no reflection in the window, he looked down at himself for the first time. Sure, he had always been pale, but that was pushing it to new limits. He nearly looked transparent. But not completely transparent as a ghost on TV. You could still see a faint color in his appearance. The color of his skin, his clothes, his eyes, his hair. They all appeared more faint, as if the color was more and more fading away...
Only when he had tried to lean on the frame of the window once, but somehow had fallen through the definitely closed window, he had noticed that everything that had happened to him recently was strange. He also discovered by chance that he could disappear and reappear at another place at will... But only limited to the Rose Reading Room. He couldn't appear in other rooms or leave the building. Something was definitely wrong here... Was he really...
A ghost?! But how β
No, that made no sense. Ghosts don't exist.
And I'm not dead β
Wait, how do I even know that...?
He didn't know. In fact, he couldn't remember anything. Why he was here, how he had gotten here. Or what had happened to his body. Or where it was for that matter... The only thing he did remember was his name: Aslan Callenreese. That he had a brother he called Griff. And that they both grew up in a house in Cape Cod. Everything else was a mystery.
The harder he tried to remember, the more everything faded away. The only thing he accomplished with that was that many different pictures were flickering in front of his eyes in fast forward mode. So fast he couldn't make out anything but blurry colors. It drove him mad. But since he was a ghost or a non-corporeal entity, he couldn't even bang his head against a wall in frustration or punch a hole in the wall. He had tried both which only resulted in him moving through the wall. Fuck. If that wall left the Rose Reading Room, he was thrown back into it as if bouncing off an obstacle. There was no way out. The Rose Reading Room was his personal solitary confinement.
He couldn't really explain it, but somehow he was still feeling a faint connection to his body. Like a thin, invisible string that was the only thing that connected him to his body. So he instinctively knew he wasn't dead. Yet. But it was so faint that it was probably just a matter of time...
He had to check some things first before he lost the bit of sanity he had left. The first thing he noticed was that he couldn't touch things, but he could make them float through the air at will.
He could also create wind and breezes. He noticed that incidentally when some stranger walked right through him and he instinctively forced him to drop all his papers and books by creating a strong breeze. Well, that had actually been kind of fun.
He was aware of his desperate situation and didn't scare and annoy the students here just for fun. Ok, he could at least admit to himself that it was pretty funny to see their terrified expressions when things suddenly moved around them or disappeared only to reappear in another place. But moving objects and cause breezes was the only way he could find out if anyone could see him. When doing that, he always scrutinized all of their faces only to notice that no one could see or feel his presence.
He especially did that to students who were sitting in one specific spot. He didn't know why exactly, but that spot felt special to him, as if it had belonged to him once. As if he had a personal attachment to that place. He was unsure of the reasons, but when people were sitting there it was like a personal insult or a challenge to him.
After a while no one dared to sit there anymore and it was general knowledge to avoid that place because it was haunted.
Ash wondered how he could get out of his situation. He couldn't look up anything because he couldn't touch objects, so he couldn't research things on a computer or by reading articles in the newspaper archive. Which was really ironic since he was surrounded by knowledge here, but couldn't access it. He just felt so powerless and drowned in self-pity. Sometimes the thought occurred to him that he had somehow deserved that fate. Maybe he had done something bad in the past. Maybe he was evil, a criminal or a monster...
But before he really died, he at least wanted to regain his memories. Even if they were terrifying or devastatingly painful, it was still better to remember them than to be completely left in the dark. He needed help, but how would he able to get that if no one could even see him?
That's when he saw someone suddenly sitting down at "his" table again. It was half an hour before the library closed again.No one else was here except for someone working at the information desk at the entrance.
So Ash's curiosity got the better of him and he was floating until he was next to him. The guy looked ordinary, plain even, but Ash had never seen such huge eyes before. He looked like a grade schooler, but the professional camera, his photos, his books and documents suggested otherwise. His photos were pretty good. They were full of life and vivid colors, showing bright images reflecting happiness and love. They portrayed how he saw the world: as a beautiful, warm and colorful place with endless possibilities.
His photos are great, but his sloppy handwriting is awful. Let's not get started with all the grammar and spelling mistakes...
Without thinking really, Ash began to move some things, probably out of habit. But the student didn't seem to care, he was so fixated on his photos and his camera that he didn't even notice what Ash was doing. Which made Ash slowly get annoyed. Just when he had made his camera float in the air to get his attention, the student did something Ash had never expected him to do. Ever.
He looked directly into his eyes. Not through him, not next to him, but right at him.
"If you're done messing with my things, I'd appreciate it if you put them back in place. That camera was expensive and I can't afford another one."
Ash just stared at him wide-eyed while pure surprise crossed his face.
Fuck, he can really see me? Why? How?
That was the first thought that came to his mind. He hated to admit that even to himself, but for a fraction of a second a spark of happiness surged through him. And there was another emotion he hadn't felt for a long time.
Hope.
The student kept staring at him, his huge brown eyes looking directly into his own with obvious curiosity. Ash wanted to look away, but something in his eyes kept him from doing so. He wasn't afraid. Or shocked. Wasn't it normal to be scared of a ghost? Shouldn't your first reaction be to run away?
Yet, he was just staring at him, fumbling nervously with the sleeve of his hoodie, as if he wanted to talk to him, to ask him something. But still summoning up the courage to do so. And he had this damn innocent look on his face that looked kind of dumb, but radiated honesty and warmth at the same time. Those warm eyes were like a magnet drawing him closer and closer.
It irritated the hell out of Ash. He stubbornly crossed his arms while glaring at him in what he thought was a threatening look, his eyes hopefully sparkling dangerously in the dimly lit room. He stood there, self-confident and powerful, hoping it would scare him. It didn't.
Yeah, ok, the guy just stared at him wide-eyed with a mixture of intimidation and surprise. But instead of getting the usual reaction he has gotten used to, that boy's face radiated...pure wonder. And fascination. Surprise. But not fear, terror or shock... Interesting...
For a moment the thought crossed his mind that he could help him. But why would he ever do that? He didn't even know him... Someone as innocent-looking as him wouldn't be able to help him anyway...
Still, the fact that he wasn't surprised or scared at all fascinated him. He had never come across such an open and honest face before. All his emotions were playing across his face, he didn't even try to hide them. He'd never seen such warm eyes before, staring at him not with suspicion, but with open curiosity and interest.
But still, why would a random stranger help him... That was too good to be true. He'd probably had an ulterior motive or ask for something disgusting in return. He probably just looked innocent, but hid some dark secret behind his cute face... Innocent people always used their looks to their advantage. Because people let their guard down if you looked innocent. A scene from his past suddenly flashed through his mind.
γHe was a street kid, surrounded by some older guys who had noticed him... They'd also underestimated him because he looked innocent, frail and scared. But in a flash Ash had turned his greatest weakness into his greatest strength by knocking one guy out, taking his gun and shooting the other...γ
I knew it. I'm a bad person, a devil. I didn't even hesitate to shoot someone... The way I reacted, that wasn't the first time... That's why I'm on the brink of death. Because I deserve it... I should just accept my fate...
"Leave! Now!", Ash said coldly, his stubborn attitude returning.
When Ash had told him that, the guy's eyes turned to him and a new determination dawned on his features.
"No. I won't leave. Unless you tell me why. If you give me a good reason, I'll do it."
Ash actually thought about that for a moment. He had no idea why he was so fixated on that place. It felt kind of nostalgic or personal to him. As if someone invaded his privacy. Maybe he had spent much time here...? He felt relaxed here. But he didn't know why. Damn it. So he asked a question he'd been dying to know, changing the topic.
"Why can you see me? And hear my voice? No one else can..."
"I guess I'm more open-minded than other people towards supernatural things. In Japan supernatural creatures are more common than here. At least in myths, legends and stories. Am I really the only one here who can see you?", he asked curiously. "I'm Eiji, by the way."
"Yeah, you are the only one. Congratulations, Eiji.", he sneered. "Japan, huh? That explains you're messy handwriting. And your awful English."
Eiji pouted and glared at him, wondering if Americans were always this rude or if that was limited to ghosts only? That ghost was acting tough, but Eiji could still see that he was lost and he had never seen so much sadness and loneliness in someone's eyes before. So he'd ignore his rude behavior for once...
"So, if you're a ghost does that mean you're dead? Or is there a reason why you're here? You must have a connection to this place..."
"Mind your own business! Are you always this nosy?", Ash glared at him.
"Drop your stubborn attitude, ok? If no one could see me, I'd be pretty frustrated by now. Which is why I will overlook your more than rude behavior and offer my help. What can I do? Let's face it, I'm the only one who can help you, you know that, too, right?"
Ash just stared at him, surprised by his blunt answer. But he had indeed been rude, pushing him away and refusing help. That kind of thing felt familiar to him. But he had to admit that he was right. Eiji was his only option. Even if he had a hard time trusting people, what did he have to lose? He was already dying somewhere anyway. So what could Eiji do? Kill him before the coma did?
"Why would you help me...? You don't even know me...", Ash questioned him, suspicion all over his pale face. After hesitating for a moment, he reluctantly added something else.
"I can't remember anything. I only know that my name is Aslan Jade Callenreese and that I'm originally from Cape Cod. That I have a brother called Griffin. And that we lived there together in a small house. Everything else remains a mystery to me... I get flashbacks from time to time, but I don't recognize anyone or remember their names..."
"Ok, that's not much to go on...", Eiji admitted honestly. Ash just glared at him, stubbornly turning away from him.
"That's what I get from letting a spoilt kid help me...", Ash muttered in be frustration.
Eiji froze and glared at him, his eyes burning brightly in defiance. "I'm 20, just so you know!"
Then he sighed. "I understand your situation, but..."
Ash faced him again, but avoided his gaze. "Thank you. I was an ungrateful bastard. Just try your best, ok?"
Eiji nodded, smiling thankfully.
"Ok, let me do some research. Maybe I'll find something out. What else do you know?"
"Nothing!", Ash exclaimed in frustration. Then he froze because he had just remembered something else. "The only thing I know is that I'm not dead yet. I can still feel a connection to my body. But it's faint. Maybe I'm in a coma."
"That's great!", Eiji exclaimed happily. Then it dawned on him that what he had just said was completely insensitive.
"I'm sorry, Aslan. It's not great that you're in a coma and probably in a critical condition right now. I meant that's a great piece of information because we just have to look through all the hospitals and we'd be able to find out where you're being treated.", he tried to explain his train of thought.
"It's fine. You really want to help me, huh? You're serious? What's in it for you?", he asked suspiciously, this time more firmly. A random stranger helping him was way too simple...
"Nothing. I just want to help you.", Eiji told him truthfully. Then an idea came to him because his eyes lit up suddenly. "Maybe you can do me a small favor?"
I knew it. Of course, there would be a catch. Why am I not surprised...?
"Can you help me choose some photos for my latest photo project for college?", Eiji asked him timidly. "I can't decide which ones to choose. The theme is city life." Eiji spread all the photos he had across the table, showing them to him.
Ash just looked at him as if he was completely crazy.
"That's all you want me to do?"
Eiji just nodded, smiling up at him.