Exaltation (Insight #11)(47)

He reached for her hand and nodded for her to gaze down at the street. There was a carriage ride rolling by. The tour guide was telling old stories about fires and past owners of the homes. Even explaining the colorful broken glass bottles that were cemented above the fences as old fashioned security measures. Old fashioned or not, Raven knew she would still not climb over it on her most daring day.

“Fall back in your thoughts. Like meditating, but feel the air, feel the energy,” Jamison told her.

As she did she heard more than one carriage. She heard tons of horses moving through the streets. The streets became crowded. They were all wearing old-fashioned attire. The air was thick with fog and smoke. When Raven looked closer she could see wounds on some of the people. Raven tried to tell herself it was costumes but knew better.

“You are all the way in now.”

“How did I get in?” Raven asked with wide eyes.

“You are a powerful soul, Raven. You told yourself to enter. You moved across the line. Slid behind the curtain, if you will.”

“Are those people real live dead people?”

One nod.

“I don’t get why they’re here. Do I walk through them daily?”

“In a vague sense. Most can’t see you when you’re not in the Veil. Those that you are seeing now are comforted by you being here. They manifested this. It will look different as we move through it. One second it will look like the Quarter, the next New York, and so on.” He went to turn to go into the house and Raven stopped him.

“Can we climb down?”

He shot her a perplexed expression.

“Dad, it was one thing to assume there are spirits in the house you live in and an entirely different thing to know without a doubt there is. I would like to take a shower or change my clothes without having to worry about Casper getting a few kicks.”

He slid the ladder down without a moment’s hesitation. He had never once allowed Raven to fear anything. He always watched over her. Which might be why Raven tended not to freak out and accepted things with an odd ease.

Once they were on the streets they moved through the people as if it were an ordinary day in the Quarter.

“Okay, you’re solid here so you can’t manifest anything but you can move in any direction and that direction will take you deeper.”

“Just walk?”

“No. Emery told me to use this analogy. Pretend you’re sliding through images on your camera. What you see changes but you’re staying still. Or if you want to zoom in on the image—the same image is before you, but you’re moving around on that image. But you have to give the image a command. Like north, east, west, up down.”

“Do I want to know where south leads?” Raven quipped.

“Out.”

“Good to know.”

“Move us,” Jamison said with a slight smile.

He had his hand on her back and Raven thought east then down just for the fun of it. The Quarter vanished. She was now in a war zone. She could see bloody people all around her. The sky was full of crows waiting to feast, bellowing war cries could be heard in every direction. “Daddy!”

“Move again,” he said calmly.

Raven thought north and up. The scene changed. Normal. At least Raven thought it was. It was a town that could not decide if it wanted to be modern or historic.

“You all right?” Jamison asked as he moved his hand across her shoulder.

“Were—were those people in pain?”

“No. Most of the time they carry their marks of death to remind them of that life.”

“No one here has those marks,” Raven said, as she caught her breath.

“They may have decided they like it here. Some do. It’s a middle field. Just like any place in the world, there are good neighborhoods and bad ones. If you ever had to hide I think staying near the Quarter would be enough. I just wanted you to see this and understand it if you ever had to move further in.”

“Can I get lost? I mean will you be able to find me in here? Or when I pop out will I be where I started or somewhere else? What if I can’t get my eyes to see the curtain to get into the Veil because I’m scared?” Raven had a million more questions but she had to breathe.

“I feel like you will always be able to see the curtain. And I will always find you, little one.”

Inward sigh.

Raven was not known for having a long attention span and apparently the Veil did not hinder her virtue, or curse, depending how you saw it. She heard music, a guitar.

Raven took a step toward it and as she did she felt a wave of electrical energy come over her. Her entire body was humming. She felt like she was waking up from a thick, languid dream. Like she was coming home. She had to get closer. Needed to get closer.

Right as she started to move toward a wicked cool looking house her father clasped her elbow.

“Raven. Focus. Any more questions?”

“Can I find the dead musician? Oh. My. God. Is Elvis in here?”

If there was one thing Raven could do it was make her father laugh. She loved doing that. But right then she was doing it so she could slowly edge toward that sensation she was feeling. It made everything move slower yet intensified everything. She had butterflies for the first time in her life and she had no idea why. Yearning, it was so rich that it almost hurt.

“All right let’s practice getting out. Think of home.”