I remembered getting flashbacks of the first time I met the three ghosts. I was absolutely livid. Nothing prepared me for that. I never knew I was gonna meet dead people who were walking and talking and interacting with me.
As we made it to the earth dimension, I felt myself get dizzy. I didn't know why, but I didn't want to ask Celine about it either. I felt weird about it.
"Hey, Sam?" I asked as we walked through the dizzying portals.
"Mm?" Samantha mumbled through a cigar.
"Are you sure...Camilla's dead?"
"Of course, Devon. Why wouldn't she be? You shot her. She dissolved into nothing but dust in the wind. She is nothing now, monsieur. Don't worry about it, alright?"
"O-Okay." I stuttered as she patted my head.
"Devon...is this all just a dream?" Celine asked me.
"I...I don't know. I'm not too sure. It all feels so real."
"That's because it is. Without us, Celine wouldn't be walking with you right now. She'd still be in the clutches of that...that monster." Samantha said with a grumble in her voice.
"So it's all real? The blood, the guts, the severed hands?"
"Of course, love. You feel things, yes? You can touch, taste, smell, hear, and see?"
"Yeah. Surprisingly."
"You smelled the bug shit, the blood, whatever was in those jars?"
"Mm-hmm."
"Then it is real. Dreams are something most people have no control over, but you and Celine are special. Lucid dreaming is a power some people have, but to actually enter a lucid dream physically is spectacular."
"Oh...so I'll wake up and still have this cut and probably smell like garbage?"
Samantha nodded, chuckling. "Yes. You'll have to take a very long shower to get rid of the rotting body smell, no?"
"Probably. God, this is all so weird...I can feel and shit like that..." I muttered, trailing off into my thoughts.
Celine frowned, and sighed. "I...didn't feel anything...I felt nothing when that bitch took advantage of me. I don't understand."
"You must've been so unconscious that your mind shut your body down. You felt nothing, nothing at all?"
"Nothing. Not a single thing. I don't even feel harmed in the least. I feel normal."
"Huh. Are you okay, though?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, Devon. I just wanna rest."
"Celine, we've both been in a coma for four days now. Doesn't that bother you?"
"Not really, no. I don't really feel much. All I know is that, if she did do something to me that I didn't want, I would've been under some spell or something. That must be why I feel nothing."
I frowned, and shoved my hands into my pockets as we walked in silence for the next few moments. To be honest, I never really felt anything while I was in the bedroom when I had passed out. I don't think anything happened anyways, but I did feel bad for Camilla...in a way, of course. She was reflecting her trauma onto others. No one deserves to be used like that, not even a succubus.
We made it to the present-day dimension. My phone immediately buzzed in my pocket as the reception started to come back. We were close to home.
I heard a very strange sound. Someone female, sobbing quietly in a silent room with only the steady beeps of a heart monitor.
I peeked into the dimension, and saw me, lying in a hospital bed, unconscious, with my mother by my side, who was a mess from crying, clutching my hand tightly. The blank white room made me uneasy.
Lying beside me was Celine, who was also hooked up to a heart monitor.
"Oh my god." Celine whimpered, stepping back.
"You guys ready to go?" Samantha asked.
"Not yet. I need you to take a video with me, Sam."
"Oh. Sure."
I pulled out my phone and recorded a video of all three of us. Samantha did tricks with her severed hands, having them crawl onto my shoulders and head. I chuckled as Celine's eyes widened at the sentient hands.
"That's great!" I laughed, stopping the recording. "Thanks, Sam."
"No problem. Why did you record a video?"
"I wanna see if you'll show up on camera so I can show my mom. She wouldn't believe me if I just told her flat-out."
"Alright. My physical form will probably show up. It is difficult to know."
"Sweet! So, uh...will I ever see you guys again?"
Samantha smiled softly, pulling Celine and I into a tight hug. "I'll be sure to ask the folks if we can visit you someday. Collin probably wouldn't be in favour of that, but I'll try to convince him. Until then, tell your mother I said bonjour. I bet she is a very kind woman, seeing as she raised a kind boy."
"Aw, thanks, Sam. C'mon, Celine. Seeya later, huh, Sam?"
Samantha nodded. "Sure, Devon. I'll let Collin and Mabelle know. Until then, au revoir..."
I remembered quite literally crawling into my physical body. I saw my mom's eyes widen as the heart monitor began to pick up. She rushed to get the nurse, I suppose.
As soon as I regained my sense of hearing, I began to shimmy my arms and legs to regain my sense of movement again. I broke free of the coma paralysis, breathing heavily as my mom and the nurses crowded around me in awe.
"Devon! Devon, can you hear me?!" She exclaimed.
I groaned and looked over at Celine, who had also waken up from the coma, and was being assisted by nurses as well.
My voice croaked, and I regained control of my vocal chords. "M-mom..."
"Oh my god! You're okay!" Mom exclaimed, hugging me tightly.
"M-mom...I need...water..."
"Okay, baby! I'll get you some water, hang on!"
Nonsensical babble came from my mom between sobs and laughter, between sheer joy and happiness. She was never this happy.
She retrieved the water bottle for me and put on my glasses for me. My vision cleared as I looked up at her and smiled. "Thanks, mom."
"Devon, you've been out for four days! I thought you were dead!"
"D-Devon..." I heard Celine mutter. My vision with my glasses made her easier to see; she had a small bruise on her cheek. I'm not sure how the nurses would explain that. I looked over and smiled at her, knowing that she was okay.
I looked down at my arm, and I was extremely ecstatic to see that the cut I had gotten from the spirit realm was still there, welted up and still red.
"Mom...my phone...I need to show you something..." I muttered as I took a sip of my water.
My mom nodded, and handed me my phone. I quickly looked at the gallery. Oh boy. The sheer joy on my face was unimaginable.
She gave me a confused glance and cocked her head to the side. "What is it?"
"Look at this video, mom. It's from today."
"Today? But—"
"Just look!"
My mom nodded and played the video. A disturbed look spread across her face as she watched it.
"Devon...this is no time for special effects videos..."
"Mom! It's real!"
"Real? You think anyone could just detach their hands like that? Who is this woman?"
"Her name is Samantha. Samantha D'Vonne. She was a French mob boss in the 50s."
"The Fifties? Devon, this is nonsense."
"It's true, Ms. Jacobs. She's...really cool." Celine said, looking over at my mom.
"What are you two talking about?!"
"Mom...look at the cut on my arm. Look at the bruises and stuff. Where do you think we got them?" I asked her, sitting up and sighing.
"I...dunno."
"Yeah. Mom...I wasn't in a coma. I was lucid dreaming. You know those reenactments that were happening on the news lately? Samantha is one of those ghosts. She was the French lady that got her hands cut off."
"W-what?"
"And then there's Collin and Mabelle. Collin was the guy who jumped off the Empire State building. Mabelle was the slave lady that had her throat slit. Don't you understand, mom? This is real. It's...not special effects. Just look at my gallery..."
I looked down at my hands, which were callused, and my fingernails, filled with questionable substances. My mom scrolled through my gallery, each time getting more disturbed by the photos of my ghost friends.
"Devon...this isn't real. There has to be some explaination as to—"
"No! There's no other explaination, mom!" I said, louder than expected. "They're real, mom...the ghosts, they...they're super cool friends of mine now. I don't think I've ever had friends this cool."
My mom looked down at her feet, tears rolling down her cheeks. "These friends of yours...did they make you happy?"
"Yeah. They did. I felt really safe around them. Even if they are dead."
She looked at me in disbelief. "How can I meet these friends of yours?"
"We'll have to go home first. I'll tell you all about them, mom. And about what happened..."