26th November 2019

NOAH

I sat still upon my chair, unable to fathom what was even going on here.

Fergus Smith continued to complain, now talking about youngsters like us and how we had no respect for the elderly. He chastised Sam for eating like a pig (when he'd barely touched his food) and Renee for being too quiet. He was about to comment on my messy hair when I sent him a glare that was enough to shut him up.

I didn't understand how Johannes could take up the form of another human. Did he possess an old man's body every time he wanted to visit Phyllis?

But why?

And on top of everything, he seemed to enjoy criticising himself very much.

"I'm telling you, Philly," He coughed. "That Johannes is soon going to meet his doom. Nutters like him should've been sucked into the Pit long ago!"

"Johannes has escaped the Pit, multiple times," I challenged, giving so-called Fergus a steely look. "He's stronger than it."

"Of course, you'd say that. Look at this boy, Philly! He's been brainwashed already!" Fergus guffawed.

"If you hate Johannes this much, then why do you want to even talk about him?" I questioned him again. "He's hardly a pleasant dinner table conversation."

Fergus blinked at me.

Then he roared like a lion.

"The insolence!" He stood up, looking affronted. "The audacity! How dare you speak to the elderly like that, boy!"

All this while, I'd been doubtful of Fergus being Johannes, but the way he'd delivered that one statement was enough proof.

"Fergie, calm down," Phyllis started cautiously.

He threw me another fake look of anger, before retreating into his chair.

Once dinner ended, Renee dragged me to the side, away from everyone else.

"Did you have to pick up a fight with him?" She asked, exasperated. "He's Phyllis's friend, and we should treat him-"

"He's Johannes," I told her plainly.

Renee's mouth fell open.

"I don't know how, but he's here, cosying up to Phyllis and I'm not leaving until I figure out the end of this mystery," I told her firmly.

Clover was still sleeping in the living room when we found her. I wondered how long she'd be asleep, and if Mike was planning on staying with her forever. Sam bid farewell right then, telling us that his mom might be looking for him.

Technically, I should've headed home too, but Johannes was here, now sipping on the drink Phyllis had concocted for his so-called headaches.

"That's much better, Philly," He grinned at her. "You're the best."

Phyllis smiled, sitting down on the couch next to him. He took her hand in his, almost as if they were a couple.

"Are you two... Is this..." Renee ventured cautiously.

"Yes, Renee dear," Phyllis gave her a knowing smile. "Fergus is the boyfriend I've told you about."

They were together?!

Renee looked as disturbed as I'd felt. I didn't have anything against Phyllis dating someone, but the fact that it was Johannes made it all the more frightening.

Especially when he was already running behind Miss Claire.

I felt sick to the stomach. Johannes was using someone as sweet as Phyllis for who knew what. And I wondered if I could do anything to bring the truth to light.

But, would Phyllis even believe me against the boyfriend she'd loved?

Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Well, I'm going to call Johannes, and tell him that I'm going to be late," I announced to the room, as I picked up my phone. Fergus's eyes widened, shaking his head silently, but I ignored him.

Right as my finger hovered over the icon, Fergus jumped out of the couch, saying that he felt quite nauseous and that he needed to use Phyllis's washroom. As he dashed away, I followed him, knowing that I needed an explanation more than anything.

Fergus made very realistic retching sounds, but I burst into the washroom anyway, before locking it behind me.

"Noah!" His voice sounded pitiful. "I can explain."

"Well, if you don't, I'm telling Phyllis who you really are," I threatened in a low voice.

"It's complicated!" He wailed, throwing his hands up in the air. "You cannot understand when you're demanding answers out of me in the lavatory!"

"Well, that's not my problem," I narrowed my eyes. "Either an explanation or I'm revealing the truth."

"She's my love!" He blurted out. "My one true love!"

"Bullshit!" I snapped. "If you loved her, then why are you pretending to be someone else?"

"It's complicated," He repeated like a broken record. "Augustus cannot know that I'm still in contact with her! He was the one who separated us!"

"That doesn't answer my question," I said impatiently. "Why haven't you told Phyllis?"

"Because she hates Johannes," He pouted.

We could hear Phyllis's slow footsteps heading toward us.

"You're disgusting," I spat out. "First Claire, and now-"

"Fergus? Do you need anything?" She called out.

"I'm okay, Philly!" He called out. "Noah here is taking good care of me!"

Phyllis soon walked away, leaving us alone again.

"Flattering me isn't going to work," I said in a low voice.

"I might as well try," He shrugged casually.

"What do you want from Phyllis?" I demanded. "She's the nicest person I've ever met and-"

"I love her!" Johannes repeated. "It's simply love, Noah Stark. Just the way you love Renee!"

"You're too evil for love," I retorted.

"And you are too angry to understand!" He replied, exasperated. "I've known her for nearly thirty years, even when her husband was alive."

"And yet you date her-"

"Which was a recent development," He snapped. "And I think it's quite generous on my part that I've told you all this!"

Then Johannes did the strangest gesture with his hand, like a wave and a clap.

"It isn't-" My words fell short, as I felt an invisible hand clamp over my mouth.

"I've got no choice but to bind your mouth," He told me, his nasty smile returning. "You can talk, but you will be prevented from revealing the truth."

"That's pathetic, using magic against me," I blurted out.

"You leave me no choice, Noah," He said in that little voice oozing with sadness. "It's a pity that ISA stopped teaching spells long ago... It really renders one defenceless..."

And then he walked away jauntily, and I followed him, hating the fact that he'd won this round.

Seemed like it was time to learn spells.

*****

While Johannes and I had disappeared, Renee took the time to tell Phyllis about the Tree of Life and how it could restore her from her severed state. Phyllis was intrigued and she questioned Fergus about it almost immediately.

"Fergus, have you heard of the Tree of Life?" She questioned him.

"Oh yes, Philly!" He looked excited as the topic came up. "The Arbor Vitae is one of the most powerful things in existence!"

"I was wondering if it could unsever me?" Renee spoke up nervously.

"It can reverse your state of being severed, if that's what you mean," He told her.

"Yes, yes, that's exactly what I said," Renee grinned at him. Maybe she'd forgotten that he was Johannes.

"Where is the Tree of life?" I asked.

"Everywhere and nowhere," Johannes answered. "It can only be accessed through your heart."

"So it's not a physical place?"

"No, it is. Once you truly feel its energy, you will directly be teleported to the Arbor Vitae," He explained.

"How can I feel its presence?" Renee asked him.

Johannes pulled out a piece of paper and a notepad. He began to jot down the instructions, all while giving Renee the precise instructions.

I stared at him in disbelief. I couldn't understand why he was being so helpful to Ren. Did he do it for Phyllis?

Or did he really care about her being severed?

Or was he simply acting out of the goodness of his heart?

"Are those the correct instructions?" I raised an eyebrow.

"Why wouldn't they be?" He frowned at me. "Are you suggesting that I'm a liar, boy?"

"Do you really want me to answer to that?" I asked him, raising my eyebrows.

"Why don't you try?" He gave me a malicious smile.

I opened my mouth, but the invisible hand clamped over it. I couldn't make a sound, and all I managed was to send him a glare that went unnoticed by Phyllis.

"Thank you, Mr Fergus Smith," Renee gave him a grateful smile. "Your help has been invaluable."

"You are a sweet girl," He beamed at Renee. "It would help if you taught your boyfriend some manners!"

I 'hmphed' loudly.

"I'll try to visit later this week," He said, now retrieving his coat. "I better go home, Philly, I think my son should be worried."

"Oh of course," Phyllis helped him put on his coat.

"I'm leaving too," I stood up. It would be easier to interrogate Johannes on the way home.

Renee usually stayed back at Clover's place, and it was likely that she would be doing so today. As she gave me a parting hug, I felt her whisper, "Be safe."

I gave her a nod, before giving her the faintest of kisses on her cheek. Only as I drew back, did I see Johannes doing the same to Phyllis.

Maybe he did love her.

Maybe he wasn't as evil as I'd made him out to be.

But I kept my thoughts to myself, knowing that trusting Johannes was one of the most dangerous things in the world.

*****

"Whose human body is this?" I asked Johannes as we fell into a pace.

Our apartment was relatively close to Clover's house, a fifteen-minute walk away. The only reason we'd taken a cab before was that Cloves was asleep.

"Mine," Johannes answered, sounding like I'd asked the stupidest question in the world.

"I didn't make this," I narrowed my eyes.

"That's because I did," He snapped. "Back in 1990, when I'd visited the Earthly Realm. I'd created a Realm for myself, eager to share my spiritual knowledge among humans."

"Was it when you'd published all those books, with the MBTN publishers?" I questioned.

"Exactly," He answered. "That's when I met Phyllis."

He turned right, in the direction opposite to that of our apartment. It led to the biggest hospital in town, and I wondered why he was going there.

"It was love at first sight," He drawled. "Phyllis was immediately attracted to my charisma."

"I have a hard time believing that," I frowned at him.

"Noah Stark, I do have a way with women," He grinned. "Are you jealous that you don't?"

"I think you've put them under a love spell," I realised suddenly. "Both Phyllis and Miss Claire are too smart... There's no way in real life that they'd fall for you!"

"They're not smart enough," He smiled. "If they were, they would've escaped the spell long ago!"

I gasped. "So you did lure them under a spell?!"

"A man must do what he needs to survive, Noah Stark," He said nobly.

"You know what, Johannes? You're just pathetic," I told him. "Imagine being so devoid of love that you need to put women under a spell-"

"I do not use them in a way a man uses a woman... I was merely pulling your leg about sleeping with Claire, it is highly unlikely," He muttered quickly.

"Still, you're using them," I frowned at him. "If it isn't selfish and pathetic, then what is it?"

"You're right," He sighed. "It is indeed pathetic. But I'm a pathetic man."

Eww. He sounded like he was proud of that.

"So, the story you'd told me about the ISA separating you from your love... Was that fake?" I asked. I remembered him saying something like that when we'd first arrived at the Earthly Realm.

Johannes nodded, looking teary-eyed for some reason.

We reached the hospital, when he snapped his fingers, making the two of us invisible. He led me into the elevator, and we reached the fourth floor.

"Where are we going?" I asked in a hushed whisper.

"My hospital ward," He replied softly.

I noticed that we were in the permanent hospital wards, where patients with serious conditions stayed. At the very end, there was a ward that was locked, belonging to a patient named Jeffrey Johannes.

He unlocked the door, before entering inside, and donning his hospital robes. I turned towards the bed to see the middle-aged body I'd created for Johannes, attached to a ventilator.

"I need to switch bodies," He told me. "Hold me if I fall, Noah."

I obliged, catching onto him the minute his Spirit left his body. A few minutes later, my fake dad, Theodore Jameson opened his eyes, before detaching the ventilator off him.

"Bring him here," He told me. "He's a frail man."

We placed the body of the old man on the bed, attaching the ventilator. I stared at him, wondering what Phyllis would say at the sight of this.

"He's a brain dead patient," Johannes explained as we looked at the old man, Fergus Smith. "A body without a soul. He's been bedridden for thirty years now, kept alive by the money his books earned him every year."

"And once in a blue moon, he visits his girlfriend," I added.

A smile rose at the corner of Johannes's mouth.

"I suppose he does," He smirked. "Who would've known."

I stared at the body of the man who now resembled a corpse. Who would've guessed that he was walking and talking barely minutes ago?

Who would've known?

*****

(A/N: Ahhh! I don't know why, but I really like this chapter!
I hope you're all okay. Thanks a lot for sticking through this book this far!)