I sunk into a rainbow sea. From above me a cascade of orange, red, green, and blue waves fell on me. My mind ached; my body felt numb. Around me floated red marbles the size of bowling balls circling the colored sea in their own elliptical orbit. When two marbles collide, electricity sparked and an image from my past appeared in my mind. Images of me as a child, playing with Mom and Dad, Apple’s fifth birthday, my first day of school.

I fell from the sea into a large open gap. I fell and kept falling, my body accelerating faster than a speeding bullet. Images flashed through my mind. I saw a green yard covered in daffodils where a pale woman in a black gown sat in a wooden seat sipping from her teacup. “So you can finally see me. It seems we're close to making a deal.” She licked her lips. “I’ve been waiting for you. I can’t wait to see what you’’ wager.” She snickered before waving her hand as I passed right through her.

I next saw a dilapidated metropolis covered in blue flames. From the fire a crimson horned creature the size of a skyscraper emerged. The monster held a spiked club in its clawed hand and its teeth gleamed red. Bodies layered across the creature's lizard feet. The creature roared. “So, this is the brat you sent to beat me, Pandora. Pathetic. Come here so that I may satiate my hunger, you low-level human.” The monster opened its hideous jaw, its spiked tongue extending to meet my face as I closed my eyes and the beast swallowed me.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a closed room large enough to fit an entire circus. Behind me stood a white door with a golden key lodged into the doorknob. I slowly walked towards the door before I felt cold hands around my neck. I jumped, turning around to see a dark-skinned woman draped in a white robe. She spoke in a soft voice that echoed in my mind like a siren. “Don’t go. It’s dangerous.”

“Get off of me,” I said, pushing her arms of me. She took a step back giving me a face of such sorrow and loneliness that I felt bad for pushing her away.

“Stay here child. Stay here and be safe from the dangers that await you. I can protect you.”

“I’m sorry lady, but I have to go.”

“You can’t go,” she cried, black tears falling from her eyes. She ran up and hugged me from behind. Her embrace caused me to nearly freeze over. “You can’t leave. If you go out there, you’ll surely…”

“I have to go,’ I said, reaching behind me to touch the shoulder of the freezing women. My hand went numb at the first contact, but I continued to speak. “I have to get back--back to my family. Where are they? Where am I? This...has to be a dream.”

“A dream,” the woman remarked. Her voice grew so soft that it was barely audible. “Yes, I guess for you it is a dream. I wonder if we...if I were...I suppose it’s not the time now.” The woman released her hold from me. “If you must go, promise me you’ll be safe. Promise me you’ll take advantage of those who genuinely care about you.”

“I promise.”

“Then it is goodbye for now.” She reached her hands out to me, her eyes still filled with black tears. I reached out for her for a final goodbye, but our hands wouldn’t meet. I passed right through her and as the scenery around me faded all I could hear was the echoing voice constantly repeating, “Be careful. Be careful. Be careful.”

***

My eyes opened. I laid in a large bed full of stuffed animals--lions, tigers, bears, oh my. Light beamed on me from the side windows. A table stood in front of the bed and sitting behind it drinking a glass of Dr. Pepper was a dark-skinned woman with a bob haircut. In noticing me awake, she grinned.

“Good morning sleepy head. Are you feeling better?”

“Who are you? Where am I? Where’s Gigi?”

“Yvonne, my house, downstairs.” She smiled. “Did you catch all that?”

“Your name’s Yvonne? Why am I in your house?”

“Technically it’s my parents' house. Gigi and I are dependents, so we don’t pay rent among other things. Gigi’s my sister by the way.”

“Is Gigi okay?”

“You really care for her, don’t you? Even in your dreams you kept murmuring her name.”

“I...what.”

“So cute. She’s pretty attractive, right? I always wondered how she stayed single for so long” She drew closer to me, the sides of her hair brushing against my cheeks. “I want you to know that I’m rooting for you.” She giggled. My cheeks were warm to the touch. Yvonne stepped back. “You ready for breakfast?”

“Breakfast? What time is it?”

“Around 10:00 am.”

“What in the…” There’s no way. Had I been out of it for the entire night. What must my parents be thinking right now? Dad always insisted on me and Apple always being at home before dinner time. He must be furious right now. “I gotta go back home. My Dad and my little sister Naomi must be worried sick about me right now.”

“Don’t worry about it dude.” We already called your parents the night before. We couldn’t explain exactly what happened--family secrets in all that--but they know that you're safe. We convinced them that it was best for you to stay here for now given your injuries. They'll pick you up later this afternoon.”

“How did you know my dad’s number?”

“Gigi checked your phone. You should really have a passcode for your phone, you know. Don’t want people looking into things that you want to keep private.”

“I see.” I was still in a daze. Meeting Barry, finding Gigi at the Burger King Restaurant, the fight with the ghost. Too much for one day. And that dream...something about it was off. The woman in the garden, the red beast, the door with the golden key. For some reason, all those images seemed important. They felt almost too real.

I followed Yvonne out of the room. We walked down a long corridor full of framed images containing Gigi, Yvonne along with a stern-looking man in a dark suit. The floor beneath was a smooth red carpet. We turned left past the hung photo of the stern man holding a rifle into the kitchen area.

One step into the kitchen and my nostrils were attacked with the pleasant aroma of a Michelin Star breakfast. Plated before me on the dining table were the fluffiest pancakes I had ever seen along with bacon, scrambled eggs, and a glass of orange juice. Sitting on the other side of the table, with a cup of coffee in one hand, was Gigi.

“Good morning,” Gigi said. “Let’s chat for a bit.”

The meal tasted even better than it smelled. I stuffed down slices of bacon and was downing my glass of orange juice before Gigi could begin to speak.

“Are you feeling okay?” I nodded my head.

“Good. Did you have any strange dreams?” I nodded. “What did you dream about?”

I explained to her about the rainbow sea, the woman in the black gown, and the dilapidated building with the demonic beast. I avoided talking about the icy woman. For some reason beyond my understanding, I felt like I should keep it to myself.

“So, you have strange dreams just like me. I knew it. So you didn’t have any dreams about your family, about the people you know about me?”

“No. They were all strangers.”

“I see. Tell me, Xavier. How long have you been able to see membrances?”

“Membrances? Is that what you call those ghosts?”

“Yes, I guess you could call them ghosts though it's kind of a misnomer.”

“By the way, Gigi, where’s Barry?” You didn’t hurt him or anything, right?”

“He's fine. I promised you that I would leave him alone. He scampered off after the battle with the lich.”

“Did he at least say thanks? Never mind, that’s good news. I would feel terrible if something happened to the kid, but back to your question. I’ve seen ghosts or membranes or whatever for as long as I can remember.”

“Incredible. Not only can you fully see and talk to them, but you’ve done it with little to no practice. That’s unheard of.”

“I’m guessing it's atypical to see ghosts then. I mean, I kind of knew that before, but even for people like you?”

“Yes, even for people like us,” Gigi responded. “You were quite foolish to jump into the phantom with me. You should have died, yet not only did you survive, you saved me.”

“You're welcome,” I responded. Yvonne nudged my shoulder. “Thanks for saving my younger sister. I owe you one.” She took a sip of her coffee before continuing. “It's rare to see such bravery even from people who knew about membranes, but you went out there not knowing a single thing. Well maybe that means you're just dumb, but I like to imagine that its more of a bravery thing.”

“Xavier, you're an unbelievably valuable person. It took me years of practice just to sense membranes, but you can see them just like regular people. And your face looks so familiar. I know meeting you in my dreams meant something. Meeting you in the real world and seeing what you’ve accomplished so far only has submitted that fact. I know it sounds strange but it’s the truth. I usually don’t believe in destiny, but I don’t think our encounter was by chance.”

“What are you trying to say here? Are you saying we were destined to be together or something?” Yvonne choked on her coffee. Gigi’s eyes narrowed. My face blushed after realizing how my words sounded.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just wondering what…”

“I’m saying, Xavier, that you should join me. Join the Authority of the Lich Defense.” I felt my brain spinning. I had no idea what Gigi was asking.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Sorry, that’s my bad,” Gigi responded, shaking her head. “I need to explain. So much info in so little time--of course you would be confused. But once I explain everything to you, I hope you consider my offer.” She took a long breath before continuing.

“My family is the head of Lich Defense Squad, a group of ghost hunters tasked with controlling the population of membranes entering the mortal realm and eliminating all membranes that threaten society. Membrances form from the memories of people who have died that held deep regret and sadness throughout their life. Membrances should not be confused with people though. They are only the most powerful memories of a once alive person; they exist only to fulfill those final desires before they can rest and ascend to a plane beyond ours. When a membrane is unable to achieve their goal and the guilt and sorrow accumulate to such a point that they can no longer function, they become like that creature we saw at the Burger King. A gaseous monster filled with malice and hatred. A lich.

Lichs endanger the existence of membranes as you can see from Barry. Most importantly however, Liches pose a significant danger to living people. They steal the vitality and joy from others, shortening people’s life spans without them ever being the wiser. Lichs, like the one we fought yesterday, use a type of spiritual smoke to attack their targets. The smoke distances the target from the rest of the world through creating a domain.”

“So, like the library.”

“Yes. That library was the lich's dominion, a place accessible from anyone not in the thick of the creature's smoke. Rumors say that these domains form from the lich’s past memories, but I find it far-fetched. Regardless, for a normal person, being trapped in a lich's dominion is an inescapable death. They’re much stronger in their domain than in the real world, and high level lichs can even manipulate their environment to give them the edge in combat.”

I thought back to my battle with the man with the top hat. “Can the lich’s environment hurt them?”

“From what I understand no. I would seem counterintuitive for a lich’s own attack to hurt it don’t you think. However, so little about the creature's domain is unknown so I wouldn’t say it's impossible. You likely know now how unpredictable lichs are.” I nodded my head.

“They’re a plague on society and a threat unnoticed by all who do not possess the ability to sense them. In that past, lichs have caused the collapse of numerous countries, nations, and empires. Families, wars, and plagues can be partially or directly attributed to lich involvement. Only in recent years have people who share the ability to sense ghosts have worked together to eliminate the threat of these dangerous creatures. In the past only a select few families scattered across West and Central Africa and East and South Asia managed to subdue liches. This resulted in these families growing widely famous in their times. My own family--the Amokachi--grew rich and powerful due to their lich fighting abilities. =But now things are different. For some reason, there has been a large rise in the number of lichs appearing in the world, likely caused by the increase in the global population. That’s why we ghost hunters have to stop them.”

She pulled out her sword pointing the skull hilt towards me. “Lichs can only be defeated by weapons made of corpse parts”

“Corpse parts,” I repeated. So are you saying that the skull is…”

“This skull is the skeletal remains of a young Pharaoh during the Middle Period. The young Pharaoh had a lot of rage inside him as a kid that resulted in his early death. Corpse parts tend to give off the strong emotions left from their previous life.” She sheathed her sword. “Corpse parts are the remains of human bodies that carry a strong spiritual presence. This strong spiritual presence comes from the lingering emotions or regrets of a passed one that managed to last long after their death.

“So you’re saying the only way to kill those things is to become a grave robber.”

“Not exactly. Corpse parts are usually the remains of a previous alive person, yes, but that’s not necessarily the case. Objects that hold a significant emotional connection towards a previous alive person can also serve as corpse parts. Depending on the emotional connection, these artifacts may be even stronger than their body counterparts. Regardless, corpse parts are quite rare, and the number of people who can identify them even less.

“I can tell the sword is special,” I said. “It gives off this burning aura, like being thrown into the sun.”

“You're right,” Gigi responded. “As I said, Lichs are only weak to weapons made of corpse parts whether through physical contact or death spells.”

“Like the fire wave you used to kill the lich at the Burger King.”

“Correct. Spells usually require a long incantation, but that can be overcome with training. I would imagine that you would be a great spell caster. All your other skills beside combat training already surpass mines. That’s why I must ask. We’re the only ones in the entire world who can stop lichs; we have an obligation to save others. And you,” she pointed right at me. “You can be one of us. You can help save the world. Join us and be a hero.”

Silence filled the kitchen. The tension built throughout Gigi’s speech was enough to set the entire house ablaze. I felt the sincerity in her words. Her rationale appeared solid and convincing. Certainly, joining the Authority of the Lich Defense could help many people live longer and happier lives.

“Sorry, but I have to pass.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that,” Gigi said, smiley half-heartedly. “I can’t force you to join us, but do you understand how special you are? You have an obligation to fight these things. There are so few of us, and so many of them. Think about it.”

“I’ve thought about it long enough, Naomi. I’m sorry, but I am not the guy you are looking for. I’m no ghost hunter. I’m no hero or protector of the world or whatever nonsense. I’m just an average joe who can see ghosts. I can’t fight. I can’t defend. I can barely do my school homework.”

“Listen, Xavier. I’m a stickler for school too, but this is far more important. People’s lives are on the line.”

“And still, I can’t do it. I’m not special enough to. Just because I can see ghosts does not mean I’m ready to join your Lich Defense group and start round housing evil ghosts I have a family to care for, grades to improve, and a whole lot of other things that have nothing to do with the supernatural. I hope you can understand.”

“I see. You have so much potential. However, the choice is yours to make. Your parents should be here soon.”

“Honestly, I can’t blame you, Xavier,” Yvonne said. “Still, you would have been quite the useful asset. One in a million, I would say.”

“Thanks for taking care of my Gigi and Yvonne. I deeply appreciate your hospitality.”

“Thank you for saving me, Xavier. I hope our tutoring sessions will not be spoiled due to these recent events.”

“You're unbelievable,” Gigi said. “I can’t believe after all that you’re still worried about school. You should be top of the class if you care about grades so much.”

I saw Dad’s car veer into the mansion's driveway. I heard the siren go off. “Well, I guess it's goodbye for now,” Gigi said. She came up to me and put a small key-shaped object in my hand. I know you won’t be working for us, but it is still dangerous out there especially given your gift. I would feel guilty if I didn’t at least give you some time to defend yourself. Stay safe.”

I clutched the item Gigi gave me. It felt soft, like play-doh. I had no idea how it would protect me, but given everything I have been through, I didn’t doubt the key’s abilities.

“Thank you for everything Gigi.”

“No problem.”

“Good luck out there,” Yvonne said. We may not be work partners, but I still owe you one kid. Whenever you're in danger, just dial me up and I’ll take care of it.

“Wait a minute, I don’t have your phone number.”

“I just put it in there when you were asleep. Oh, is that a bit creepy? I’m sorry.”

“Yes, but thanks anyway. The more people help me the better I suppose. Goodbye guys”

“Goodbye,” the sisters said in unison.