TAG Part 10 – The End

I was gone, just like that.  Painless, though.  In fact, it was more than simply pain free, it was more than numb.  It was…vibrational, purifying.  It was thrilling.  It was an ending, and it was an awakening.  It was a death, and it was a birth.

When I say gone, perhaps that is too restrictive in language.  Because how could I be gone when I am here?  So let me clarify.  I, Allison Walker, as I had always known myself to be was gone.  Is gone, forever. I am now someone new, something new.  Ally ended, and I began.  And even that doesn’t fully explain it. I didn’t really begin as much as transformed, and took over a role… One that has existed since before time.  Earth and human time, that is.

Let me explain as best I can in a way that you can understand.  

That day in the shop, when I was on the floor… I can still see it in my mind’s eye as it happened. There I was, on the floor…. He took my hand.  I felt a rush of peace and the pulse of an ancient power that is too hard to articulate.  I saw him, I saw Des, and then I closed my eyes.  That was the last thing that I, Ally Waller ever saw.  When I opened my eyes again, I still saw them, still there…. But I was not seeing them through my own eyes anymore.

I watched the boy release my hand.  He knelt down beside me, he sweetly kissed my forehead. I watched him walk away for a second time, and just as mysteriously as the first time on that day that seems so long ago, I watched him get smaller and smaller, until he disappeared.  It felt like a dream, but it was no dream.  It was surreal, yet I was fully aware that while it was fantastic, it was very real. 

So I do not mean to be arrogant when I stated earlier that I had to explain it in a way that you can understand.  These experiences have no human words, no existing comparison to which you can relate.  You are, after all, only human.

While I am no longer Ally, I still have some of her in me.  I have many of her memories, although they fade away very quickly.  I have some of her emotions, but they feel more like a whisper of a feeling that I once had.  Not a strong emotion, simply a shadowy reminder of it.   It is pleasant, and allows me to remember the feeling without having a strong attachment to it.  Almost as if I am reading about Ally in a book.

I still have the soul of Ally to some degree.  I still here her favorite music in my head from time to time.  Often, when I am doing my new job I hear a very specific song, one of her favorite classic rock songs and it makes me smile.  Not because of what I have to do, but because there is a certain poetic irony to it all.  In a weird way, Ally created the soundtrack to my new existence through her life and her pleasures. 

So not to be overly dramatic, but… “Please allow me to introduce myself”.  Did you hear it?  Did you hear the Rolling Stones in your head?  OK, first off, I am not the devil.  Yet the song suits me.  I have been around longer than I even know.  Since the first life existed in the universe.  I am eternal. However, I have only had this job, this everlasting existence, for a small window of time.  I am told that I won’t have it forever, nor will I know when I am about to be retired.  I am told that there are processes that I do not need to concern myself with.  I just do my job, and enjoy this weird new world.  My job, sounds so plebeian, so bourgeoisie.  Yet I am the one person who strikes fear into the hearts of most humans.  You pray I stay away.  You beg me to not do my job, and you curse me when I do it. 

You see, I am Death.  I am known as the Grim Reaper, The Angel of Death, Shinigami, Thanatos, The Sandman, Mot, Yama, Santa Muerte and more.  I come at the end of a life, and transport the dying person to the afterlife.   Every day, I whisk souls through the light, and to the nexus of life.

Part of why I am sharing this with you, is that I want you to know death is not the end… I want you to not fear it.  Just as you were born, you will die… and you will be born again, and die again.  Humans fear this process because they cannot know what happens once they cross that line.  And that is the human experience.  So I am here to tell you… it is nothing to fear.  Your soul has existed for all of eternity, and will always exist.  Even I cannot kill a soul.  All I really do is transport humans out of their failing vessel, and into the magnificent universe.  Where I bring you cannot be described in your language because it simply lacks the nuance and structure to full explain it.  I can only say it is like a blanket of love.  A peaceful energy, a euphoric experience, a calming sense of joy.  A sense of understanding and knowledge as cannot be imagined. 

Which is why my job is well, actually enjoyable, which might be hard to imagine.  The Grim Reaper digs her job?  Yeah, pretty much.  I still get to experience some of the earthly pleasures that Ally enjoyed.  She is with me, and together we are having a unique experience in this vast universe.  We learn things, we grow.  I am never given all the information, just what it is that I need to know to do my job.  There is an immense cosmic pool of knowledge beyond me, and from time to time, I get shown a tiny sliver of it.

The boy who changed my life in an instant, he had been death for more time than can be remembered.  I am told that someone came to him in the same way, leading to his terror and confusion, just as I had felt.  Then he transitioned and spent his existence carrying people through.  Then his time was up, and it was my turn.  I will do my job, and someday it will be someone else’s turn… Who knows, maybe you will be next?

It defies logic, I know.  But that’s the way it has always been… or so I’m told.

TAG Part 9

“He,” I slowly repeated, “He told you.”  The words came out slowly as if my face was frozen, and more like a statement than a question.

“Yes,” came her reply, and nothing else.

More silence as I absorbed what this could mean.  Millions of neurons seemed to be crashing into each other in my brain as random and crazy thoughts flew.  “How?”, “Who the hell is he!”, “Why?”… “He wanted me to come here, I was brought here by him.  I was brought here by him?”   All these thoughts, plus a thousand others, whisking through my brain like eggs being beaten.  And the feelings.  The fear, the worry, the anxiety.  The feeling of loss of control, the feeling of hopelessness.  The longing for my life back and the almost paralyzing fear that it is gone forever.

What was happening to me?  I had a great life, I was happy.  I had friends, I had a good career.  I was motivated, I was inspired.  I was active.  I enjoyed life.  Now, I was wearing gloves so I didn’t accidentally kill anyone.   It was like some cosmic magician pulled the table cloth out from under the plate, and I was the plate that falls shattering on the floor.   I wondered what it could all possibly mean.  Then I had an even more terrifying thought – what if there was no meaning?  What if it was all just some random bad luck situation, and there was no answer.  If there is no answer, then there is no…no cure. 

I have no idea how long I sat there, staring into space and contemplating my new world.  It seemed like only a moment, but I knew it was longer than that because when I came back to the moment, Desdemona was gone. 

I stood up, and slowly moved towards the door back to the shop. As I did, something caught my eye.  There appeared to be something tucked behind the picture frame with photo of the boy.  I moved closer and saw yes, there was a little piece of paper tucked behind it.  I moved over and lifted the frame, and then pulled out from the back a folded piece of yellowing paper.  I almost knew what it would read before my eyes saw it.  In an ancient looking handwriting, almost a gothic script, was my name.  Allison Walker.  And nothing else. 

As I stood there staring at the paper, I heard some commotion and talking in the shop.  Des must have gotten a customer while I was in my mini-trance.  I put the photo and the paper on the desk, and went into the shop.  I expected to see a tourist perusing the potions and angels, but stopped in my tracks when I saw… I saw him. It was him.  The boy, the little boy with the dead eyes.  Des and the boy were deep in conversation and didn’t notice me.  There was a third person there too, an older man who was wearing all black.  A priest maybe?  I couldn’t be sure. 

All of these weeks, I had no clue what had happened.  And now, there he was.  Right in front me.  I could have all the answers I wanted to my myriad of questions:  Who are you?  What did you do to me?  Why are you here now?  How did you know I would be here?  But instead of facing him and getting the answers, I was suddenly terrified.  I had the feeling of being trapped.  The blood in my veins ran ice cold.  I felt as if I might faint.  Suddenly, I needed to escape.  I didn’t know why, but I knew I had to run again.  I knew I was in terrible danger.  I quietly stepped back into the office, and scanned the room for an exit.  There was no door, but there was a tiny window.  Unfortunately, it looked too small for me to fit through.  I had to go back out into the shop.  I knew there had to be a back door emergency exit somewhere.  I just had to be quiet and not let them see me. 

I peeked back out, and they were still talking, in a hushed little circle.  They were very focused on the conversation, and it looked as though I had a chance.  I ducked, and slowly and quietly moved towards the back of the shop.  I saw the door.  It had an alarm sign on it, but I figured once I pulled it and it rang, I would be gone.   They could not catch me.  I walked to the door.  My palms were sweaty.  My head was tingling.  I put my hand on the door latch, and went to pull it.  But my arm wouldn’t move.  Like an out of body experience, my arm seemed disembodied from the rest of me.  I wanted to leave, desperately wanted to flee.  But I was frozen.  Like a soldier in a mine field, there was a threat in every direction.  Stay and face the doom in that shop.  Leave, and never understand what is happening. 

At that dizzying moment, I let my hand release the door latch.  I knew.  I suddenly knew.  I could not leave.  I had to face him.  I felt it, in my gut.  I had to stay and I had to hear the story.  But as I turned to walk back towards them, the odd out of body experience broadened.  I could no longer keep my body standing.  I was weak, and slid down the wall and folded to the floor.  I exhaled loudly as I hit the floor, and that is when they all saw me.  They came running… perhaps they thought I was trying to escape.  But I wasn’t.  I knew now who I was and why I was there.  I knew in my soul that my life as I had known it was gone forever.  What happened next was just a formality.

As they approached me, they seemed very calm.  They did not seem to be the same threat to me that I had perceived only moments earlier.  Instead, they seemed to be more like shepherds to guide me, to bring me to where I needed to be.  To make my soul whole. 

There was no going back.  There was only going forward.

They got to where I was sitting.  The boy with the dead eyes was in front of me, so close I could touch him.  I could not move though, and the only thing I could do was stare at him.  Gaze into his black, soulless eyes.  There was such a power in those eyes, a compelling and controlling energy as nothing I had ever imagined.  He was a young boy, but he seemed to be a thousand years old.  He had an ancient presence about him that was undefinable.  All this time, all I wanted was this moment.  But now that it was here, all I could do was sit and stare.  My eyes started to well up with tears.  I wasn’t crying, yet tears flooded down my cheeks.  In one instant, I both knew my future and at the same time, felt like a child entering the universe for the very first time.

He held his pale arm out to me, and offered me his hand.  Des stood close by, clutching the pendant around her neck.  She wore an expression of peace and hope. 

He finally spoke to me.

“Are you ready?” was all he asked.

“Yes,” was all I replied. 

Then, I took his hand and I was gone.

END TAG PART 9

TAG - Part 8

She saw the anxiety in my eyes.  I could not have hidden it even if I had tried. 

“I think I should go,” I said, and started to stand.

“Allison”, she said calmly.  “Please try to relax, and I know that is hard.  Just give me 5 minutes and then you can go – but I think after that, you will want to stay.”  Her bright blue eyes were piercing and captivating. 

“Five minutes,” I agreed.  “But how do you know him?” I asked as I pointed to the photo of the little boy who had changed my life in an instant and then disappeared.

“First things first,” she said in a soothing voice and with a smile.  There was indeed something comforting about her, I could not deny that.  “My name is Des.  Short for Desdemona – my mom was a big Shakespeare buff.  Des Valentine.  Nice to meet you.”  She extended her hand, and I reluctantly, I shook it with my gloved hand. 

“OK, so now that we know each other, let’s get to it.  Allison, I have been running this store for 7 years.  Look around.  It is not busy – it rarely is.  Oh I get walk ins, I sell books and chotchkies over the internet.  I get by.  But my real reason for being here is to help people like you.  People who have had something weird happen to them, something scary or paranormal.  Something they can’t understand, much less explain.”  She paused, stood up and got herself a diet coke,  sat back down, and continued.

“What’s weird is that people who need me never ever know they do.  They just randomly stumble upon me, wander into my shop.  Or so they think”, she said with a wry smile on her face.  “The thing is, none of it is random.  We are all connected, each and every one of us.  Some of us see those connections and some of us don’t.  Me, I see them most of the time.  Not always, but when I do, it’s very visual.  When I say see, I mean it literally.  I see these shiny sort of shimmery lines.  Hard to explain, but it is how I know when something – or someone – is coming.”

She stopped and looked at me quizzically.  It felt like she was studying me, almost seeing me for the first time.  She looked at my face, my hair, and then finally my eyes.  Her gaze was so intense it felt like she was staring into my soul.  It should have been uncomfortable, yet it was not. 

“Any questions so far?”

I shook my head. 

“Then I will keep going.  So ok.”

She went on for another five or ten minutes.  She told me about her “gift” and how she discovered it.  She thinks she got it when she was little and had fallen from the steps in her front yard, hitting her head on a rock.  She had been declared DOA, then had suddenly awoken having seen things that she lacked the language skills to describe at the time.  As she talked, she sat most of the time, but occasionally stood up and talked as if she wasn’t telling her story only to me as she gazed at the ceiling.

She continued, describing situation after situation where people came to her in troubled and afraid, and how she had helped them.  How sometimes it the fix was fast, but sometimes it took a long time.  She told me of a woman who came in sad because she had lost her cat – and then with the guidance of Des, found it within a week.  She spoke of the many people who lose things of little monetary value, but tremendous sentimental value – and of how happy they are when they find these items.  Lost children were the most emotionally challenging to deal with, she told me.  It sounded ludicrous, yet I was fully intrigued and found her compelling and believable.  I wanted to know more, so I sat there, eyes wide and leaning in. 

Ten minutes had past, but I sat glued to my seat.  Then another ten, and another.  More diet cokes were opened and finished.  I asked her questions and she answered everything without hesitation.  She spoke of everything from ghosts and hauntings to missing cash stockpiled in old money bags buried under porches. 

Then, the conversation stared to slow down and it seemed like there was nothing left to hear.  Silence filled the small room.  I felt a sense of waiting, as though a decision needed to be made – but by who, Des or me? 

“So everyone, every person who comes here for help,” I began, “You are saying they never walk in saying ‘Oh, Desdemona, thank goodness I found you, I need you to help me find my dead grandfathers buried fortune’, but instead just think they are here to do a little shopping?”

“Mostly, yes,” she explained. “I mean there have been one or two exceptions… But in general, they honestly don’t know they need me.  They just follow the string to me, and never even see the string,” she said as she looked at me.  “Did you see the string?”

I closed my eyes and tried to imagine a magical string as she had described.  A mystical connection, glowing or silvery or glittery.  But nothing.  Again I shook my head as I opened my eyes.

“No, I just got off the bus and happened to look up and see your sign.”

She smiled, that gentle and comforting smile.  “That’s what they all say.  But it is never random, Allison.  I always know when they are coming,” she whispered as if sharing with me the secrets of the universe.  “Sometimes it is a dream, sometimes a voice in my head,” she continued, “Sometimes the message is clear and strong, but other times it is like a whisper from another room.  And sometimes….”

“Sometimes?” I repeated, wondering if she was pausing for dramatic effect.  It was working.

“Sometimes it is a message from someone I don’t know, a voice from somewhere…else.”

She seemed worried at that last one.  As if it had not always been a good message or had not always come from a good place.  Then there was silence for a solid minute. 

“So how did you know I was coming?” I asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

She pointed to the photo of the boy and said.  “He told me.”

Again, those icy fingers wrapped themselves around my shoulders, as I shuddered.

END TAG PART 8

TAG - Part 7

The hairs on my arms rose in an instant, and I felt a chill run through my body.  In one dizzying moment, I felt as if the air rushed out of my lungs and as though time stood still.  I immediately knew where I was and that I was supposed to be there.  I knew her.  I had never met her, but I knew in my gut that she was very significant, and in some way, key to my whole nightmare.  I wanted to move, to step closer to her…but icy hands held my feet down.  I could not walk, I could not move.  I could only slowly turn towards her, and raised my eyes to meet her gaze.  

Based on the creepiness of the shop and how unusual I felt, I half expected her to look demonic.  At a minimum, I expected her to look as I would imagine a modern Wiccan woman, with long, flowing, black clothes and lots of crystal necklaces.  But no, there was nothing witchy or even slightly bohemian about her.  In fact, she looked as though she had been plucked from an Iowa corn field and dropped erroneously in this downtown, hipster shop.  Her bright blue eyes and blonde hair that she wore in a high, cheerleaderish ponytail threw me.  Her slight frame and slender body was not draped in a cloak, but instead in stylish jeggings, boots and a bright yellow tank top.  She seemed to be about my age. She looked like no one I knew, yet I could not shake the feeling that I knew her, and knew her very well.

She came over to me quickly, and offered me a warm hug.  I stepped back, knowing that I was now cursed, and she could not make contact with me at all.  I bumped into a display, knocking things off the shelves and onto the floor.  

“No!”, I shouted as I pulled away instinctively.  “Don’t come near me.  For your own safety.”  She stopped trying to hug me, but still stayed close and faced me.  She looked right into my eyes.

“Allison, I know why you are here.  And don’t worry.  I am safe around you.  I am protected.”  On cue, she pulled a long chain from around her neck that had been hidden under her tank top.  From it dangled a tiny, clear bobble pendant which appeared to contain dirt.  

My eyes went from the pendant back to her eyes.  Her cool, calm, cornflower blue eyes that looked like clear skies.  My eyes must have held the anxieties and fears within me, and they clearly betrayed my feelings to her because when she looked into them, her expression changed.  What at first was a bright confidence became a sadness and what also looked like worry.  Against my will, she took my hand.  As I watched, I realized she was safe anyway – I had forgotten about the protective gloves I was wearing.

“Allison, it is alright.  It is going to be alright”.  Her tone was soothing.  I believed her.  I let her take my gloved hand, and lead me to the back of the shop.  Behind the register was a small room that she apparently used as an office. It held a few shelves, boxes of inventory, a small desk, a chair and a small futon couch.  It was decorated with brightly colored beads, angel charms, and what appeared to be Buddhist-type sayings in frames, which read things like “To awaken, sit calmly and breathe” and “The mind contains all possibilities”.  She gestured to the couch.  I sat down. 

“Can I get you anything?”  She moved to a mini-fridge that was under the boxes, and opened it to explore the contents.  “I have Red Bull, Diet Coke, and…. Let’s see… a close to being expired yogurt.” 

“I half expected you to offer me some weird herbal tea or something”, I joked.  Luckily she laughed back. 

“I know.  This shop has a certain stereotypical vibe, right?”  She smiled at me.  I smiled back and noticed I had stared to relax a bit.  “Um, Diet Coke please?”  She handed me the soda, and sat next to me on the futon.

It was then I noticed it.  In that one moment, it felt like my heart stopped, and icy hands were wrapped around my neck, strangling me.  I could not breathe, regardless of what the Buddhist sign said.  Because there, on the small desk, in a small frame, was a photo of the small boy who had changed my world when he said, “Tag”.

TAG Part 6

TAG Part 6

I drove.  Just drove as fast and far as I could.  I knew it was dangerous.  I knew it was foolish.  But I also knew that I had to get out of that hospital.  I could not stay a prisoner there forever. 

I imagined that poor man with the flowers rushing back to his car only to find it gone.  I did feel bad for him, but I also knew I would return it.  In fact, I realized that I didn’t have much time to use the car.  The owner probably called the police right away.  The police likely arrived and did a preliminary investigation to make sure that the guy hadn’t simply forgotten where he had parked.  That gave me less than 30 minutes, which meant I had to think logically and quickly. 

OK – first step, get far away.  Step 2, do not drive home, that is the first place they will look for me.  Also, they may track my phone, so turn it off for now.  Step 3, ditch car and find a new mode of transportation.  That sounds easier said than done.  Think, Ally…. Think!   I took a deep breath.  Then it hit me.  Thomas.  Thomas can help me.

I drove the car to the furthest point that I could think of that was opposite of Thomas’s house.  I dropped it in a public parking lot at the airport.  I wrote a note using a pen and a napkin I found in the car, “I am really sorry!” and left it on the car seat.  I scoured the car for loose change and was able to scrounge up 2 scrunched up singles, a half a roll of quarters, and 4.63 in assorted change.  11.63 cents wouldn’t get me far.  But for 3.75 I could take the bus that would take me within walking distance to Thomas.  At least I had part one of a plan.  I added to the note, “PS I owe you $11.63”.

Before I could get on the bus, I needed a little preparation.  I ran into the airport and snuck into the convenience store.  It was very crowded, so I was able to go in and out very quickly.  I am not usually a criminal mastermind, but I did watch a lot of TV and read a lot of John Grisham novels.  I figure they key was speed, not being obvious, and acting like you own the place.  I can’t even believe I did this, but I walked over to the clearance winter section of hats and gloves.  I grabbed a hat and put it on, covering my hair and eyebrows.  I wrapped a scarf around my neck.  I put knit gloves on my hands.  I had to be sure I was covering myself to avoid being identified, but more importantly – I had to avoid any physical contact with any person at all.  Gosh, I really felt like Rogue from the X-Men.  I ripped the tags off and stuffed them in my pocket.  I walked out of the store and into the stream of people in the airport main terminal.  And just like that, I was lost in the crowd.  No one noticed me at all. 

I left the airport and hopped on the cross town bus.  I paid with exact change.  I didn’t want to draw any attention to myself.  I sat down and leaned my head against the glass window.  As the bus pulled away, I felt myself starting to relax, to feel sleepy.  I must have nodded off, because I awoke suddenly with a jolt.  A realization popped in my head.  I couldn’t go to Thomas.  I couldn’t put him at risk.  And I realized where I had to go.  I had to go to the place where I saw the boy.  That is my only option.  I had to go home and follow him.  But how do you follow a ghost?  How?  With instinct, that’s how.  I will go where my inner voice tells me to go.  I will follow my instincts.  They have gotten me out of that prison of a hospital. 

I got off the bus at the next stop, and looked around to get my bearings.  I wasn’t familiar with this part of the city – but I knew it was closer to my house than I expected, so that was good news.  I headed south, walking briskly.  Again, my goal was to blend in.  Be invisible.

I looked up at an intersection, when a flashing neon sign caught my eye: “Gypsy Fortune Teller – Open 24 Hrs”.   Gypsies… Fortune tellers… all scam artists as far as I was concerned.  Yet, against my intellect, I headed right for it.  I walked with an intention with which I was unfamiliar – as though I knew all along that this was where I was heading.  Almost autopilot, like morning commuters heading to their jobs when they get off the train.  No thought required, just a direct path.  I walked in, very relieved that they were in fact open.  It smelled of vanilla incense and spices.  As I shut the door behind me, I heard the bells on them indicating a person had come in. 

I walked further into the small, crowed shop, looking at the oddities on the walls and shelves.  Jars of potions in various colors.  Candles in various stages of burn.  Spell books.  Photos on the walls of so many interesting looking things, people in odd dress, ceremonies taking place.  I was so absorbed that I almost forgot why I was there.  I continued walking around and examining the fascinating room.  More creepy items, some for sale, some not.    A lot of statues… angels smiling, angels crying.  Witches.  Cats.   A statue of a dragon with wings.  Wait, was it a dragon?  Maybe a demon of some sort?  Glowing eyes, sure seemed evil.  And it seemed like he was looking right at me.

I was deep in thought when I heard her enter the room.  And that is how my heart skipped a beat as she said, “Finally.  You are here, Allison.  I have been waiting for you.”

TAG Part 5

2 weeks.  It had been 2 weeks since I had been brought to the hospital, and they had yet to release me.  I was fine, I had no symptoms at all.  My lab work had all come back fine, and there was no trace of anything. Yet, they were still very concerned about me.  They refused to lift the quarantine, which I thought was illegal.  How could they, I had repeatedly asked, keep a healthy woman under quarantine for so long without due cause?

They had responded that 4 unexplained deaths was indeed due cause, and until they found out why everyone who came in contact with me died I would have to stay.  Apparently, the 2 people who were in critical condition had also died.  Now I wasn’t saying that was good, nor was I happy about it.  But 2 weeks and no other incidents, that’s too long.  But Dr. Howell had been quick to explain that there had been no other incidents because I had not been in contact with anyone else. 

“So put me in contact!“ I had protested. 

“With whom?” he had responded.  And to that, I had no answer.

Over the past few days, I had gotten very itchy.  There was nothing for me to do, although they had allowed me my cell phone, thank god!  And I had access to a computer, so I could go online and at least be a part of the world, albeit virtually.  I filled my days with social media, games, and reading.  I had always been a voracious reader, and loved the classics.  I tried to view this time as a vacation, and begin to re-pour through some books that I hadn’t read in a while. Anna Karenina was first, and I immediately got lost in the language, the beautiful and painful world of Anna.  Then I moved onto the Bronte sisters and Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, and Agnes Grey… again, lost in the pastoral settings and romantic prose, and in the hypnotic language, making me feel the wanting, the yearning.  I did get lost.  Then I would be jolted back to the cold, grim reality of my new world when a nurse dressed like a storm trooper came in to ignore me and check my vitals. I was locked in a clinical room, antiseptic, cold and most troubling of all, with no real human contact.  I was eating, but I was starving. 

One day, I was reading when I noticed a large ant climbing up my window sill.  It was pretty big for an ant, and I was surprised that he had gotten into what appeared to be a hermetically sealed room.  I suddenly got an idea.  If I could touch this little creature and it didn’t die, maybe I would be able to prove to Dr. Howell that I had no further issues, that I was now just fine!  I rose, and walked over to the window.  Slowly, I reached out to the ant, and placed my index finger on him.  He was still.  Very still.  He was dead, almost immediately.  Maybe I crushed him, I reasoned.  Shit, no.  This was weird, and very bad.  What the hell? 

They were going to keep me here forever, I thought to myself.  What are they even doing?  What could they possibly be studying about me?  They will never figure it out, because they have no clue.  Even I have no clue.  Wait – yes, I have a clue.  That little boy, that day, “tag”.  That was the start of all of this, that little, cold-eyed boy.  Why hadn’t I connected him to this sooner?  I should tell the doctor!

No, I reasoned.  If I told anyone that a little boy rang my doorbell, said “tag” implying that I am now “it”, and then disappeared into thin air all that would be accomplished is that I would be placed on a 24-hour lockdown with a Thorazine drip.  No, I would have to figure this out on my own.  I could tell no one. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a car pull up to what appeared to be a side entrance to this hospital.  I had never been at this hospital before now, and did not know the layout.  I saw a man jump out of the car with a bouquet of flowers, and leave the car running while he ran inside.  Impulsively, I made a decision – and maybe a terrible mistake.  I grabbed my shoes and my cell phone, and pushed up the window and looked out.  2 floors.  Without thought or logic, I jumped.  It was a much longer jump than I expected, and even though I was in solid physical condition, it really hurt to land.  I rose slowly to assess if I had injured myself, but I thought I was ok.  I mean as ok as I could be at this point.  I looked around and saw no one.  I bolted to the car, got behind the wheel and drove as fast as I could.  I escaped! 

But what would I do now?  What could I do?  If I went home, I would likely have a SWAT team there shortly to ensure I was recaptured and this time, put under a very secure lock down.  I realized there was only one thing I could do, only one thing I had to do – I had to find him.  I had to find the boy.  But how?

TAG Part 4

Later, I awoke more calmly.  I was very groggy, moving as though there was lead in my veins instead of blood.  My head was pounding, and I had a thirst such as I had never felt.  Opening my eyes hurt.  I was clearly medicated, which slowed me down greatly, and took the edge off whatever pain I had been feeling.  However, it did very little for the anxiety that crept over me as I began to become more and more aware of my surroundings. 

I was in a small hospital room, and I was alone.  No nurse, doctor or other patient was in sight.  I was attached to a monitor and an IV.  And I ached from head to toe.  Weird, that cat attack couldn’t have caused this much pain.  I replayed the events of the day in my bleary brain:  Woke up to a weird little boy tagging me and disappearing.  I had a huge and ugly spider under my car door handle.  I had been savagely attacked by a stray cat.   OK, the spider thing, that was unusual – I had seen that before… but it was still weird. Yet, not nearly as bizarre as the other two.  And now I was here, bringing my super-weird count to 4.  What a day.  And yet, I know that it was not over.  The weirdness was just beginning, I knew this.  I had no idea how I knew that, but I did.  It was like a cloud had been blocking the sunlight, and was now slowly moving out of the way.  The bright sunlight of awareness was gradually coming to me at what felt like a glacial pace.  There was something in that sunlight that I did not want to see, and still I was going to see it.   I sensed it danger.  Something in the depth of my stomach turned at this awareness.  Soon, the light would be fully ablaze, and I would be forced to stare into until my retinas burned at the sight of it.   And this awareness was something the medication dripping into my body from the IV could not dull. 

At that moment, a young man walked into the room.   He seemed nervous, hesitant.  And oddly, he wore a surgical mask.  Was I contagious?  Was that it?  Am I just feverish and hallucinating from eating some bad mushroom or something?  That would explain so much.  None of the weird happenings would have actually happened; it would have all be figments of my twisted imagination. 

“Miss Walker?  How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice muffled through the mask. 

“Thirsty.” I replied, my voice croakish.  “And achy”, I added.

He took some notes on his clipboard.  He kept a safe distance.

“Umm, why are you wearing a mask?” I asked.

“Miss Walker, I am Dr. Howell.  I’m sorry for the confusion, and for the mask.  We need to take all precautions.  Now that you are awake, is there someone you would like us to call?” he asked, again from a safe distance.

“No.”  There was no one.  I was alone in this city.  Except for Thomas of course.  Thomas!  Oh crap, I have to call Thomas!  He will be freaking out, I missed my important meeting! 

“Where is my cell phone?” I asked.  “I have to call my business partner”.

“Not yet, Miss Walker.  You need your rest.  But give me his name and number, and I will call him directly.” 

So formal.  So very cold.  What was happening here?

“Doctor, what’s going on?  What is happening?” I asked.

“Miss Walker...”

“Ally.” I interrupted.

“Ally.  OK.  Ally, we suspect that you may have a virus of some sort.  We are keeping you under quarantine until we can confirm if you have something, and if you are contagious.  It is a necessary precaution.  I am sorry”.

“What?  I am not sick, that’s crazy!  I am here because I was attacked by a stray cat.  If anything, that damn cat might have had rabies, but even so, I had all my vaccinations for a trip out of the country last year.  And –“

“Ally,” he interrupted, “yes.  You were attacked by a cat.  We understand that.  But that can’t explain the symptoms that people are getting when they are around you.” 

He paused, seemingly searching for the right words.

“Ally, you were brought in here 2 days ago.  Since that time, 4 people who came in direct contact with you got very sick within minutes.  VERY sick.  High fever, flu-like symptoms.  This includes the 2 EMT drivers and 2 members of the ER team.”  He stopped, and he looked past me.  He did not want to make eye contact. 

He continued, “Ally, 2 of them are in critical condition.  And 2 of them… 2 of them died”.