Chapter 2

The next thing I knew I was sitting on the floor of a tree house. I could hear rain hitting the roof, and the sound of thunder occasionally in the distance. I looked down and saw my own body, although I was translucent like I had been as a ghost. Did I get kicked out of the body? If I did, how did I get into a tree house? 

“So, who are you then?” A soft voice said. I looked up and saw a tall woman with antlers, the legs of a fawn, beautiful chestnut skin, and white freckles across her face. 

“Who am I? What are you?” I asked. 

“Give her a minute, it can be disorienting to be new,” the other woman in the room said. She was wearing an elegant gown, and had intricate patterns tattooed all over her body, a nose piercing, eye brow piercing, and several ear piercings.  “I’m Nyx, and this is Rhys. Can I ask your name?” 

“Annabelle, but what is going on? Why am I here?” 

“It’s nice to meet you Annabelle,” Nyx said, and she sat down next to me on the treehouse floor. “I don’t know how much you figured things out, but you’re a new alter for Jessica’s system.”

“I’m not an alter, I’m a ghost. I accidentally possessed this body when you went to that abandoned hospital.” 

“Anne, we all have similar things. They’re called pseudomemories, and they’re not real, it’s just part of how our brain works,” Rhys said. 

“Rhys, be nice or go away,” Nyx said. 

“She riles Avery up like it’s nothing, and I’m supposed to be nice? I don’t know how Singer is going to get him to calm down at this point, and if he can’t, then what are we going to do?” 

“We’re going to let Singer handle it,” Nyx said. “I can’t handle getting Anne caught up with everything and your attitude at the same time, so either calm down or go.” 

Rhys held up her hands and walked over to a corner of the Tree House where she sat down in a large chair with a drink suddenly in her hand. 

“Look, I wasn’t aware that this body had so many people in it, but I had an entire life and afterlife before running into y’all, and I’m sorry that I messed things up, but I promise that I was trying to do my best,” I said. 

“I know, and let’s go ahead and just set aside the ‘I’m a ghost and not a part of this brain’ stuff so that we can move forward,” Nyx said, and paused. I realized a little late that she was waiting for a response from me, so I nodded. 

“So, this is part of our inner world. The front is up that ladder, which is where you were and where Singer is now. You’ll meet him soon, and then there is a ladder down that leads to where everyone else lives when they aren’t near the front.” 

“How many people are there?” 

“With you, now there are thirteen.” 

My mouth must have been hanging open as she started to giggle at my reaction, but that’s just so many people to try and share one body. 

“Don’t worry, the way this brain works is that most of the time it’s me, Rhys and Singer that handle most day to day affairs, and then occasionally one of the others fronts for a while.” 

“So, maybe you could do all of us a favor and just join the rest of them so we can get back to managing our life,” Rhys said. 

“Fuck Rhys, you don’t need to be so rude,” Nyx said. 

“I think I’d like to do some exploring,” I said. I figured it would be good to try and get as much information as possible about what was happening if I was going to be stuck here for a bit, and I have to admit, I wanted to get out of Rhys’ presence. 

“Just stay out of the Forbidden Forest,” Rhys said.

“What is the Forbidden Forest?”

“It’s just bad news, and even talking about it makes it harder for the brain to work,” Nyx said. As we discussed it, for however brief it was, I noticed that the storm outside of the treehouse got worse. 

“Whatever, you got it. I won’t go near there,” I said and walked over to the ladder leading out of the treehouse. 

I steadily went down, and everything seemed to get less distinct, like taking off my glasses and watching everything get blurred around the edges. I could still hear the storm, but it wasn’t raining wherever I was, as if it was just around the tree house. I could feel more than see the Forbidden Forest nearby, and I don’t think I needed any sort of warning to stop me from going there. The darkness definitely seemed to have a presence that could swallow me whole if I approached. 

My more immediate surroundings just seemed to be a bucolic hill, with various small buildings scattered around. There were some interspersed wild flowers and trees but nothing as dense as the Forbidden Forest. 

“Hey, are you the new alter?” Someone shouted in the distance. I could see someone approaching, although it felt more like I could feel their presence than actually see anything. 

“I’m not an actual alter, but I mean, I am new here,” I called back. 

The figure that approached looked like a small child mixed with a dragon. They had bright red scales, and wore a coat that looked like it was meant for someone bigger, and was covered in pockets. 

“It’s going to go easier if you just accept it,” the creature said. “Anyway, I’m Bee, I can help you find a place in the field if you’d like.” 

“I think that would be good, honestly, I’m just trying to get a grasp on what’s happening, and trying to avoid Rhys.” 

“I hear that, she can be really intense, but she does calm down eventually. Or at least, I hope she does.” Bee started walking down the hill, and I followed while still trying to make everything out. 

“You’re gonna give us a headache trying to focus too hard,” Bee said. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The inner world distracts from the real world, and the more we focus on specifics, the harder it gets to focus on the real world, and trying to do both usually causes us pretty intense headaches.” 

“I think I’d rather just go back to my hospital.” 

“Believe me, it’s not too bad once you get used to it, and no one can really leave anyway. I know a few have tried.” 

“Is there anyone else I should be aware of?” 

“Here, let’s go to the house and you can meet everyone,” Bee turned and walked into a large two story house with a wrap-around porch. The green paint was flaked in parts, but everything still looked well cared for. 

I stepped into the house, and everything was so loud so fast. Bee started pointing to everyone, and providing everyone’s names. 

There was a young blonde girl with pigtails sitting on an island between the living room and the kitchen whose name was Susie. In the kitchen there was Derek in red flannel cooking something while joking with a bubbly woman in a light blue sundress named Bella. 

In the living room, there was Matt, a small boy with black shaggy hair coloring, while a man in a three piece suit sat reading next to him. His name was Luman and apparently he was an introject of the main character from the Empty Archives. There was a feminine looking robot that was relaxed on the couch whose name was Juniper, and she never talked. Finally in the corner was a beautiful woman in heels, a full face of makeup and it looked like it must’ve taken hours to get her hair just right, and her name was Kendra. 

“Kendra can also be a bitch, she’s been a persecutor of the system,” Bee whispered to me. 

I counted everyone in the room, and the three above, and remembered to include myself. 

“That’s only twelve people, Nyx said that there were thirteen?” 

“Oh, there’s the Keeper, but we try not to interact with her,” Bee said, while looking straight down at the carpet. 

“Why not?” 

“She lives in the Forbidden Forest, and stops anything from coming out,” Bee said so quietly that I could barely hear them.

I nodded, and took a step into the house before I was swarmed with people.

“Oh my god, she’s so pretty,” Susie said. 

“Why are you transparent?” Bella asked.

“Just let the poor woman be,” Derek called from the kitchen. 

“How do you manage such a wonderful degree of transparency?” Luman asked. 

I noticed that Juniper and Matt had walked further away from me. 

“Like, we need more noise in the system,” Kendra said, “Why don’t you just go get lost in the forest like Keeper.” 

Bella and Susie were still talking, but I couldn’t make out the words, and it felt like everyone was closing in so tight. I felt like I couldn’t move and everything kept going out of focus around me. My stomach started twisting and it felt like my head was in a vice. I needed to get out of there. 

Something snapped, and twisted, and suddenly I was in a dimly lit room that looked like, but not quite the same as my hospital room. It was like I remembered when I was alive, before the building was shut down and condemned. I crawled into the towel cabinet, and curled up just like I used to do when hiding from the nurses. 

What the hell was I going to do? How could all of this have happened?