The windows on the top floor of the Balic Building were shattered suddenly by an unknown blast. People outside flinched at the sound and turned to look at what was the cause. Once realization hit, those nearest to the building quickly scattered as glass and ash began to rain down on the street below. The rest stared in complete shock. Sirens filled the city as every department sent every first responder they could.
Rachael arrived half an hour later as the situation was already being contained. Fire trucks surrounded the building as traffic drums and cones restricted an even wider area which the police enforced. People amassed on the perimeter each showing the same distress. Some were already granted a sense of relief to find their friends or their family members safe, being reunited to cheerfully cry and embrace. Others still watched and waited with apprehension hoping to be granted the same as the last of the people were evacuated.
News vans and their crew were setting up wherever was most advantageous to capture scenes of the disaster. Field reporters could be overheard making their speculations. Some said the situation was still undetermined. Others were confident enough to claim a bomb had gone off in the building supported by eyewitnesses. The most distraught of people were those interviewed, weeping on camera as they pleaded for the safety of their loved ones. Mothers cried for their sons and daughters. Spouses pleaded for the safety of their husbands and wives. Children questioned where their fathers and mothers were. A detail became apparent from hearing their many statements. The individuals still unaccounted for were those that worked on the tenth floor.
In time, people stopped trickling out of the front doors, the last being the firemen. Their leaving indicated that the building was cleared. But, by the reaction of those who understood the indication, not everybody had come out. That could only mean casualties. That was when the true emotional breakdowns began.
Among those to never come out was Andy. Rachael honestly did not know how to react. She did not cry or collapse like the rest. Her feelings could have been considered shock because of how little she expressed. Denial was even a consideration because, even as aware as the rest, she was not fully convinced her brother was gone. The difference between her and them was the fact she had a reason to believe so. He did not work on the tenth floor.
Her cellphone began to ring with a charming tone that did not fit the situation. She was slow to answer, never taking her eyes off the building as she brought the device to her ear, and she said nothing to indicate she was there on the line.
“Where are you?” Emily asked through the silence.
Rachael said nothing, definitely in some state of shock.
“You must have felt it, too,” Emily pressed, “so tell me where you’re at already.”
“Emily,” Rachael steadily started to speak. “This is where my brother works. And I didn’t see him come out of the building …”
Emily was aware that Andy worked at the Balic Building and that this was where the incident had happened. She also already considered that something might have happened to him. But, in the oddest way, this was not the time to worry about him. She worried for the one struggling at this moment, “You shouldn’t be alone right now. Where are you?”
“… Everyone is saying the tenth floor exploded,” Rachael continued talking as if not having heard her friend. “Everybody is presumed dead. But no bodies have even been found—”
“God dammit, Rachael!” Emily shouted to break through. “Where are you!?”
Rachael said nothing, brought to a pause by the shouting.
“I don’t know what’s going through your head but there’s no doubt it’s a lot,” Emily calmly spoke. “I’m here. Help me find you, and we can figure out what happened.”
Rachael understood and began to look around for a landmark. But, when about to give her location, she croaked. Something more important had stolen away her focus. So, she said instead, “I’m heading to Andy’s place,” before hanging up abruptly. Then she turned from the scene and ran.
While on the run, shaky hands scrolled through her contacts to find Andy’s cellphone number while she was rushing. But there was no ring and was sent straight to voicemail when she pressed call. That was another bad sign causing her to sprint harder.
The complex was reached in minutes. However, there was no getting inside. That was an oversight that Rachael only realized now that she stood in front of the doors, panting heavily from exhaustion. She would need someone to buzz her in but there was nobody to do so. She considered banging until anyone opened. If that did not work, she would follow someone after they opened the door for themselves.
“Rachael?” Called the cautious voice.
Rachael, broken out from her line of thought, turned around to see “Olivia. You’re here.”
“I had to come back,” Olivia declared. “I saw what happened on the news, and I tried to call Andrew, but it went straight to voicemail. I don’t know where he is …” her posture sunk at the mention of his name and defeat entered her tone. “I don’t know if he’s alright … but he’ll come back home if he is. I’m guessing that’s why you’re here, too.”
Rachael nodded her head.
“Then let’s head in.”
Olivia opened the door with her keycard and the two hurried to the elevator. They said nothing on the ride up. The same silence was there waiting in the condo when they entered. Rachael did not bother looking around since her brother’s absence was apparent. But Olivia still checked to determine the same and worsened her dismay.
Olivia, still optimistic only because she was unaware of the full situation, commented, “Well, maybe he’s helping at the scene. Or … maybe we’ll find him at the hospital.”
“No,” Rachael disputed. “I was at the scene. I didn’t see him come out.”
Olivia gave a disbelieving look.
A Buzz! Startled both of them. But that sound became a new hope. Olivia was quick to get to the door intercom.
However, through the light static spoke Emily, “Let me up.” Feelings were dashed at the sound of her voice.
Olivia pressed the door access button in silence as she hung her head. Rachael approached to offer a reassuring back rub. The action prompted Olivia to straighten her posture, take a deep breath, then turn around.
“You’re handling this really well,” Olivia said, half inspired and half confrontational. “You’re not at all worried about what happened to Andrew?”
“I’m worried for different reasons,” Rachael answered without much explanation.
“What reasons?” Olivia pressed.
“It doesn’t matter right now,” Rachael avoided the topic.
“Doesn’t matter?” Olivia questioned in her offense. “Doesn’t matter? You just told me Andrew is dead!”
“I didn’t say that,” Rachael denied.
“Then what did you mean when you said you didn’t see him come out of the building?” Olivia reiterated.
“I meant exactly that,” Rachael passively remarked.
“You were implying something,” Olivia clarified.
“Yeah, I was,” Rachael did not hide that fact. “But I didn’t say he was dead.”
“What then?” Nothing else would make sense and Olivia kept pushing for an answer. What she got was a reaction.
“He could be dead, alright!” Rachael shouted, now seeming on the verge of tears as she clenched her fists angrily. “But there are worse things than being dead!”
Olivia retracted in surprise when her confrontation was finally challenged. Then she felt like she was about to cry just the same. Both were trying hard to not directly deal with what happened by hoping for something. But that hope was really just denial.
“Sorry for yelling,” Rachael offered, partly returning to her passive state, though, not completely able. Having let out her emotions made putting them back impossible as seen by how her slow, shaky exhales caused her body to tremble.
“No, I’m sorry,” Olivia returned the consideration. “You’re dealing with this differently from me, and I’m just looking for anywhere to place my blame. But—” she was about to ask what was meant by ‘worse things than being dead.’
Both were startled again, this time by a knock. But the intervention helped to fully resolve the situation. This time, Rachael was quick to answer.
Emily was there, grim stricken but not nearly as distraught as the other two.
“Thanks for being here,” Olivia shared her gratitude.
“Right.” Emily nodded her head in a certain worried and impatient manner. “I’m sure you both are having a difficult time …” she was hoping to have this conversation in a one-on-one setting, but that would not be the case, and she spoke openly anyways, “Well, I know you’re worried about your brother, Rachael, but this matter is of extreme importance. Someone left a Gateway open.”
“I know,” Rachael revealed.
“Gateway?” Olivia wondered.
The two other women paused. There was an awkwardness knowing they would be scrutinized. Even so, Rachael explained, “People believe it was a bomb that went off, but actually, a Gateway was never closed. You were into this kind of stuff. You must know that if you ever play with a spirit board you need to end the game or else you leave an opening for anything to come through. But that’s just a small crack compared to leaving an entire freaking Gate open. Hundreds of Otherworldly beings must have flooded the tenth floor of that building. Nobody would have survived. At least not physically. Who knows what happened to their souls?”
“What?” Olivia was shaking her head in disgusted disbelief at the disrespect. “You’re crazy. Yeah, I believed in that stuff when I was a kid. But ghosts aren’t real. And this is serious.”
Rachael was suddenly struck by an idea and demanded Emily to “Call her.”
“Are you serious?” Emily was unsure.
“Just call her,” Rachael pushed. “She’s as attached to him as she is to the rest of us. She’ll know what happened.”
“What is going on!?” Olivia demanded in her confusion and anger. “Who are you talking about now? What’s happening is serious. And there’s something seriously wrong with you two if you’re peddling the occult at a time like this.”
“This is the proof that you need along with a way to find out what happened to Andy,” Rachael explained to Olivia then went back to pressuring Emily. “Now, just call her.”
“Fine. Ligaya,” Emily called out. “Ligaya.”
“What’s she saying?” Olivia softly questions for she was still out of the loop, still angry, but was slowly calming because of confusion and curiosity.
“That must be the Aswang’s name,” Rachael assumed. “Huh. Maybe we say Aswang a few times and that’ll make her appear.”
Emily looked at Rachael with a softly accusing stare. “I’m sure she’s hesitant because you annoyed her.”
Olivia wanted to ask something that would make sense of what the other two women were going on about but felt unable. She was enraptured by this phantasmic talk. That interest was what kept her silent. It was as if she was holding her breath because making even the smallest sound could break the illusion.
“Ligayahhh,” Emily elongated.
A phantom wind seemed to blow through the room, bringing a chill and deepening the shadows. In one corner, away from the windows and lights, the darkness grew into a black spot. From there appeared the Aswang.
Olivia was able to see a figure that had little form. Few details could be made out from the shroud that was like black strands of hair that tangled with the surrounding darkness. But pale grey skin and gown contrasted well enough to barely be seen within the black mass giving shape to the body of a woman. And red eyes were unmistakably seen peering from the shadows. This was the perception of a person who held belief but knew nothing about the mystic.
Rachael and Emily saw far more detail for they had grown familiar with Ligaya over the years.
“What is that?” Olivia questioned.
“You can tell she’s there,” Rachael was impressed. “You definitely have latent magical abilities then. Maybe we could make a full-fledged Witch out of you yet?”
“What do you want?” said Ligaya with a spectrally enchanted voice.
“What?” Rachael was caught off guard by what was said not being understood.
“She’s pretty much asking what you want,” Emily translated, “with a snarky attitude.”
“So, she let you hear her but not me?” Rachael realized.
“Tell her if she wants me to stop bothering her, she needs to stop bothering me first,” said Ligaya with spectral voice again.
“I told you we got to know each other so she trusts me,” Emily answered. “She just doesn’t want you to know what she’s saying because of the way you’ve been treating her these years. So, suddenly I’m trapped playing a game of telephone. Also, she said for you to stop bothering her if you want her to stop bothering you. Do we really have time for this childishness?”
“Is she actually being passive-aggressive?” Rachael took offense.
“That’s what I’m already complaining about,” Emily was more offended. “Though, you’re the one that has treated her like a parasite.”
“Do you want to ask me something?” said Ligaya pointedly.
“She’s wondering what you want again,” Emily translated. “This time, she’s asking in earnest.”
Rachael felt guilty. Partly because of the way she had been treating the Aswang. Yet, because of her many, many experiences, her cynicism toward human spirits was protective caution that she did not feel bad about. Mostly, her shame came from the fact that she was acting antagonistic instead of focusing on what was really important. She needed to make amends to Ligaya else be undeserving of relief, “I’m sorry for the way I’ve treated you. I don’t know if that fixes anything in any way anytime soon, but I need your help. A Gateway was left open, and Andy went missing.” She swallowed back her concern when recalling the situation. “Do you know what happened? Is there a chance he’s alive?”
Ligaya sighed with a mix of annoyance and remorse before answering, “Yes …”
Olivia finally heard a word made by the spirit and was completely surprised. Up until this point, Rachael and Emily only seemed to be bickering with each other, and a few times between their words, there would be a whisper that could not be understood. With this, the perception of Ligaya became clearer.
“… I know what happened,” Ligaya stated, her voice now audible to all in the room. “Andy is alive …”
Relief.
“… but he’s not in this world anymore.”
“Where is he then?” Rachael implored.
“I don’t know,” Ligaya admitted. “My possession was severed when he went through the Gate—”
“What!?” That was a shock to hear.
Unfamiliar Olivia expressed uncertainty toward the outburst and was compelled to ask, “What’s that mean?”
Emily answered, “Passing through the door means Andy is in an Otherworld. There’s an infinite number of them. He could be lost forever.”
“It’s okay,” Rachael assured. “I can open the correct Gateway and bring him back before anything bad happens. I just need to know how the door was opened in the first place.”
Ligaya told, “He opened the Gate himself …”
More shock.
“… but he didn’t know what he was doing,” Ligaya defended with her clarification. “For some reason, he decided to play ‘The Elevator Game’ incorrectly.”
Rachael became silent as she suddenly felt very powerless knowing there was nothing she could do.
“That’s good, right?” Olivia presumed. But looking at Rachael made things uncertain. “You know the game, so you can bring him back, right?”
“‘The Elevator Game’ is unpredictable,” Rachael explained. “All the simple ‘Strange Trip Rituals’ are. Many people go missing or turn up dead when they try them. That’s because they’re not sent to anywhere in particular. They just get thrown into a random Otherworld without an obvious way back. I could do the ritual but the chances of ending up in the same world are … it’s just impossible.”
“There’s no ritual that can just bring him back?” Olivia interrogated.
“Not without knowing exactly where he is,” Rachael explained.
“Then is there a ritual to figure out where that is?” Olivia further interrogated.
Emily interrupted what was expected to be an endless line of questioning, “That’s not how this works.”
However, Rachael went quiet for a moment to think and gave a “Maybe.”