Chapter 7

She walked over to one of Bruce's many desks, and he followed.

"You might want to sit down," she advised him, "this is a good story." He pulled out one of the chairs there and sat. She did the same.

"Okay, the story of my abilities goes back to before I was born. Now, before I was born, my parents lived in a little town like any other. Well, when they decided to have me, they wanted to move to a better house and neighborhood then the one they were in. That's where this all started.

"While my mother was pregnant with me, they moved here to Gotham. They thought living in a city like Gotham would be good for me; I could go to a good school, go to a good college, and then get a good job. You know, all the stuff parents worry about for their children's future.

"Well, they found a house to move into. It was really old, even 16 years ago it was considered an antique. Well, they loved it and bought it on the spot. What they weren't aware of was that this house was haunted..."

"Haunted?" Bruce broke in, looking a little skeptical. "Isn't that a little farfetched?"

"Just let me finish the story," she said. "The house was haunted, as I said. Now, in most cases of hauntings and ghosts, they don't really care. For the sake of sounding like something from 'Thirteen Ghosts,' there are ghosts around us all the time. Most of them are really peaceful, they go about their own merry little ways and don't bother anything or any body, but in the case of this haunting, this was no ordinary ghost. It was a poltergeist.

"By trade, poltergeists are known for pulling harmful pranks on people, scaring them, making loud noises, possessions and the like. Well, this poltergeist was especially bad. He had been alone in that house for decades, and when my parents started living there, he got really mad to say the least. So, in order to get even, he possessed my mom.

"As he worked his way through my mom's body, he found me, still growing within. He thought it would be a good idea to take control of me until they left the house for good since mothers are really sensitive with their babies. So, he possessed me. But what he wasn't aware of, was that I was a few days from being born. Well, by the time he was aware of what was going on, I was born.

"Now, you would think that he could still get out of me once I was born, but it wasn't like that at all. You see, before your actually born, you and your body are in an extreme form of psychosis. Anything can be accepted by you and it can be just as easily be gotten rid of. But when you're born, that's when you truly begin to live. When you break out of the womb, you break out of psychosis, so whatever was inside you while you were in psychosis, is now barred inside you. Let's say you intercepted Polio while you were in psychosis, it could easily flow out of you. But if it was like me, and you were born before it could flow out, it would stay, it becomes sealed in your life. "

"An old life sealed in a new life..." Bruce whispered as he thought of this concept.

"That's right. So, he was sealed inside of me."

"But you said things flow in and out. Why didn't he flow out when he had the chance?" Bruce asked.

"Because, he had a mind of his own. Polio can't think for itself. It goes from one place to another and can't make the decision to stay or go. But the poltergeist, he wanted to stay. He was sure that it was a foolproof way to get rid of my parents. But, like I said, he didn't think that when and if I was born, he would be sealed within me. Does that make sense?"

Bruce didn't say a word. He was still mulling it over.

"Maybe I should continue... Okay, so, he was sealed in my body. After that, he found out he couldn't completely control me anymore. Since we were sharing a new life, we had to share our new body. True, it was hard in the beginning, but we soon decided it would be easier to work as partners than enemies."

"How do you remember all of this?" Bruce asked suddenly.

"Oh, that's easy. When most people are born, they don't remember a thing until they are at an age to comprehend. That's because they are still recovering from the nine-month psychosis period. But the poltergeist was still in control of me when I was born, and he was still very much aware of what was going on. He retained his consciousness, therefore giving me some."

"I think I'm starting to understand..." Bruce muttered.

"Yeah, but I'm not done yet. As I got older, we, the poltergeist and I, started to become... well, let's just say 'close roomies.' After a while, we decided to have a bit of a trade. Since I was giving him a living, breathing body, he started to let me use some of his powers. That's why I can walk through walls, evade injuries, read people's minds, things like that."

"Ok, another question," Bruce said.

"Shoot," she replied.

"Now, when you gave the example of the Polio virus being stuck within a baby, there are ways to get it out, correct?"

"That's true," she replied.

"Well, are there any ways to get rid of the poltergeist?"

"Well, my mother and father did try exorcism, stuff like that, but the poltergeist was too strong for that. It would have to take someone who really knew his or her ghostly remedies to get him out. But to be honest, I don't want him out."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

"Well..." she explained, "if he were to be taken out, I would probably die."

"Why?" Bruce asked, suddenly shocked.

"Well, since we both understand the Polio example, I'll revert to that. If a kid were to get rid of Polio at an early enough age, he would probably survive because the virus didn't have complete control of his body yet. But if he were to get rid of it at an older age, it would take a while for him to recuperate from it, if not die from the sudden change. This poltergeist has been inside of me for 16 years. If I were to lose him, I would lose a good amount of my brain control and comprehension, my body wouldn't be used to not having powers and the way my body had worked around them, so I would probably be returned to a fetal state if I survived.

"And I wouldn't be the only one to suffer. The poltergeist has been with me for a while too. True, he's pretty powerful, but it's like learning a song and then not singing it for a year, you forget parts of it and it takes you a while to remember. Try remembering it from 16 years past. He would have to start reforming if he didn't just disappear all together. So you see, if we were to be separated, we would both have a high chance of dying, or in the poltergeist's case, disappearing forever."

Bruce nodded as he thought of this concept. This defiantly explained things. "Well, that answers my questions," he said finally. "I guess we better go to dinner. Alfred is probably cooking now. Please, eat with us tonight?" He asked her earnestly. "I'm sure it's a pain eating in bed all the time."

She smiled, "Very true."

As they stood to leave, he looked down at her. "By the way, I have one last question."

"I know," she answered.

Bruce waited for a bit then asked, "Well... what is it?"

"What's what?" She asked.

"Well if you knew what I was going to ask, why didn't you answer?"

She grinned. "Well, I thought maybe you still wanted to say it."

Bruce kind of shrugged and nodded, "Alright, fair enough. What's your name?"

She smiled. "I'm Callie. Nice to meet you."