P2P WIKI
Entry: “Out-of-body experience”
[Last edited by Maytrix]
An out-of-body experience occurs when a person feels their soul, essence, or spirit has stepped out of their body. In extreme cases, some claim to actually see their physical body from this outside point of view. Out-of-body experiences are often induced by trauma and can occcur simultaneously with near-death experiences.
THE shelf rocked back against the wall as I slid to the floor. One bottle fell, then another, both smashing on the black tile. I tried to scramble to my feet, but the shelf tilted forward precariously, raining down more glass bottles and sharp metal instruments. A heavy cylinder hit my head, and bright spots danced in front of my eyes. I grabbed at the shelf again, this time to steady myself, but missed and landed hard on my hands and knees. Shards of glass sliced my palms, but I ignored the pain and got to my feet.
The Thing stood right in front of the portal. It smiled.
“Five seconds.”
But the voice didn’t come from either of us. It was distant, almost like it was coming from an intercom. The portal started to flicker, and the Thing turned to step inside.
I’d never reach it in time. Without thinking, I grabbed the Elapse from around my neck and hurled it at the Thing. It smacked into the back of its head, and the Thing stumbled. I lunged across the room and seized its hair and pulled.
“Five seconds.”
The Thing screamed, struggling to turn and face me with its head bent backward. I saw the Elapse on the floor just before the Thing stomped on it with a sickening crunch. A fresh wave of anger coursed through me, and using all my remaining strength, I shoved the Thing away from the portal as hard as I could. Then, ignoring its shrieks of anger, I threw myself inside.
I felt its fingers graze my ankle and tug desperately before I slipped out of its grasp. The screams quickly faded to nothing.
The light was even more intense this time. I crossed both arms over my eyes, wincing at the stings from the cuts on my hands.
“Just five seconds.”
“What . . .” I mumbled, and the grogginess of my own voice startled me. I needed to stop running before I crashed into something. Except . . . except I wasn’t running. I was lying down. On . . . nothing.
I was floating.
The light dimmed, and I lowered my arms. I was looking down at room 313, back to normal now with white floors and blue-green wallpaper instead of black and red. The corner was just a regular corner, no sign of a portal or anything unusual.
And Oscar was there, kneeling on the floor next to someone. Someone unconscious.
Me.
Panic seized me. Had the Thing somehow made it out of the portal? That’s not me! I tried to yell, but I couldn’t make a sound. Then I noticed blood on the girl’s hands, and I relaxed. The Thing hadn’t made it out. It was me on the floor.
That’s a weird thing to feel relieved about, said a voice in my head. You do look kind of dead. And it’s not a good sign that you’re up here watching yourself, is it?
That’s true, I agreed. I should go back down there.
As soon as I had the thought, everything went dark. I felt heavy, all of a sudden, like my bones had turned to concrete.
“I don’t know what happened, I left her alone for just five seconds!”
Oscar’s panicked voice was suddenly very close. I realized my eyes were closed, and struggled to open them. His face swam in my vision, his worried expression quickly changing to relieved when I focused on him.
“She’s awake!”
Another face was there, and another . . . too many. Dad, Grandma, the whole crew. No cameras, at least not pointed at me—both hung limp at Jess’s and Mi Jin’s sides. Everyone seemed to be talking at once, hands feeling my forehead, pulling me up into a sitting position, bracing my back when I slumped over.
“What happened?”
“Is that blood?”
“Her hands—Mi Jin, get the first aid kit!”
“Did you fall?”
“Did you hit your head?”
I blinked slowly, trying to get my thoughts in order. “No, I didn’t . . . I’m fine, I just . . .”
“Okay!” Grandma said loudly, and everyone else fell silent. “Let’s give her a little space, shall we?” She helped me up and led me over to the bed, sitting down next to me as Lidia handed her the first aid kid. “Where on earth did these cuts come from?”
“Glass,” I mumbled. “Some bottles fell off the shelf.”
Grandma glanced at the shelf, where the jars and instruments still sat undisturbed. “Mmhmm,” was all she said. Then she smiled up at Jess. “Mind if I sit here with my granddaughter for a bit? The rest of you really should get down to the cafeteria and find Lidia.”
She said it kindly, but there was no hint of a question in her voice. Jess hedged for a moment, tapping her fingers on the side of her camera.
“Yeah, of course. You sure you’re okay, Kat?”
I nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Jess smiled, then headed back out into the hall. The rest of the crew followed, although Oscar looked pretty reluctant to leave. Dad stayed by the bed, watching as Grandma opened a tube of antibiotic cream.
“You should get down there, too, Jack,” she said without looking up. “She’ll be fine.”
“I’m okay,” I added, doing my best to sound normal despite the grogginess that still lingered. “Totally fine. It’s just a few scratches. I was taking a few photos when the light went out, and I tripped and fell.”
Dad sighed, and I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. I was lying again, and he knew it. I had to stop doing this. I was only making things worse.
“Actually, that’s not true.” My heart pounded faster, but I forced myself to say it. “The truth is . . . the doppelganger we saw on the bridge was here. It’s not a doppelganger, though, not exactly. It’s an artificial ghost I made. Like Brunilda Cano. But it’s like a version of me that . . . that Mom would like better. It ripped up your contract and left those messages on Mom’s Facebook, all of that stuff. And tonight, when you guys left the room, I stayed just to take a few photos, and it . . . attacked me.”
“Attacked you?”
“The portal in the corner,” I said hurriedly, wanting to get this over with, fully aware of how ridiculous it sounded. “It opened, and I went in, and that’s when it pushed me into the shelf—the other shelf, in the other room 313. It was trying to come back here, to replace me.”
My breaths were coming quick and short now. I chanced a peek at Dad’s face, then Grandma’s. Dad’s brow was furrowed, but Grandma looked perfectly serene. Neither looked ready to lock me up, so that was something.
“The reason I didn’t tell you any of this before is that I figured you’d think I was crazy,” I finished. “But it’s the truth.”
“Kat, honey . . .” Dad sat down on my other side, the bed creaking beneath the weight of all three of us. “I would never think that. I’m glad you’re finally being honest with me.”
I looked up at him in surprise. “You believe me?”
He started to respond, then pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “I can tell when you’re lying,” he said finally. “And you’re not. But I’ll admit, everything you just said is kind of . . .”
“True,” Grandma finished. Dad and I both looked at her in surprise. “Well, Jack, look at these cuts on her hands. Do you see any glass, anything in this room that could’ve done this to her? And, KitKat, you said you were taking photos, but I can’t help noticing you don’t seem to have your camera.”
My heart twisted as the image of the broken Elapse lying on the black tiled floor surfaced in my mind. “I lost it,” I whispered. “It’s in the other room 313.”
Dad stood and walked slowly around the room, peering under the bed and around the sides of the shelf. Then he sat next to me again, his face a bit pale.
Grandma chuckled. “Well, I’m sorry,” she said when Dad gave her a funny look. “But you are the host of a ghost-hunters show whose motto is Believe. So . . . can’t you?”
“I . . . well . . . yes, of course I can,” Dad said, shaking his head. “But I’m just trying to . . .” He turned to me. “Kat, I thought I didn’t understand what was going on with you over the last few weeks. But it seems like maybe I haven’t understood what you’ve been going through over the last few years. And that’s what really scares me.”
“I’m sorry.” Tears welled up in my eyes, and I brushed them away. “I thought I could fix this by myself. I thought if I told you what was going on, you’d think you were right about putting me in danger.”
Dad opened his mouth, but I cut him off. “And yeah, okay, so I did get hurt tonight. But the Thing has been real to me since I was like eight. It’s always haunted me, even back in Chelsea. What happened just now has nothing to do with the show, I swear. It . . . it was going to happen no matter what. I had to face it.”
I was breathing heavily by now, and Grandma put a supportive hand on my back. Dad rubbed his forehead wearily, looking from me to the corner.
“So this . . . thing,” he said finally. “You said it’s a different version of yourself that your . . . your mother would prefer over you?” His voice broke a little.
“Yeah.” I smiled tightly. “It’s hard to explain.”
“I’m listening.”
“But Jess is probably waiting for you,” I said. “They’re filming, you should—”
“Kat,” Dad interrupted gently. “They can film without me for a few minutes. Tell me everything.”
So I took a deep, shaky breath.
And I started from the beginning.