Another excerpt in the adventures of Avery and Jamie, this takes place after a special Valentine's Day investigation goes wrong in a haunted house. Jamie, fearing for his friend's life, brings Avery to seek professional help, as he's stuck in a silent trance and won't talk.

***

It felt so real.

He still felt her touch, her presence, her breath down his neck. Her voice ringing in his ears like a little bell, soft and beckoning, curious and hypnotic. Her words lingered, racing in his mind as if he had just heard them, repeating over and over, haunting him.

"I'll come back."

Their minds connected, their thoughts were one and the same, the rush brought them both to the highest levels of ecstasy ever imagined, as their hearts beat as one. The thrill and the pleasure was almost unbearable, but it made him smile.

"Why are you here today, Avery?"

The sound shook him back to life, as he took in his surroundings. The bland, beige walls full of diplomas, posters about addiction, notes from patients, the belated Valentine's Day chocolates rotting away on a desk: he hated this place, yet here he was, on Jamie's orders.

I don't want to be here. But he's waiting outside: he'll know if I left too soon. He'll know. He closed his eyes. But I don't care.

Once more Avery left his body, reminiscing, recalling the sweet sensation of her and how welcoming she was, how prepared she was. How much she wanted to be with him too, and her wails of happiness as their bodies entwined, joined, and fused together. Her moans of excitement as he felt her, every inch of her, sliding into every single tiny space of his mind and body.

"Avery, Jamie tells me you were possessed. Is that true? Do you remember that?" interrupts the voice again as Avery cringed, hearing his least favorite word.

Possession, he thought, grumbling.

"It wasn't like that," he snorted, refusing to look at the woman sitting in front of him. She dares interrupt my happy thoughts? My memories of the one I love? Who is this person?

She was nothing like her. This lady, jotting on her notepad, stern eyes glaring at Avery: she didn't understand. She's no paranormal expert, she's a shrink. A glorified, certified doctor. She'd never get it. There's no point trying to explain.

"Then what was it like? Tell me. I only want to help," spoke the doctor, her tone serious.

Avery snorted again. No you don't, he thought. You want to cleanse me. Hypnotize me into forgetting. You want me to think she never existed, never made contact with me. I won't let that happen.

Her voice resonated in the confines of his mind, never fading, as if she were still with him. In him.

"I love you, Avery. Do you love me?"

The sound gave him chills, made him smile, and scared him all at once. Oh dear, how would others receive this? How would they feel about him loving a spirit? Someone living in another dimension, on another plane, someone dead? Someone without a real body, without a physical outline, lacking warmth and substance? Would they criticize him? Would they accept their love? Would they push him to be institutionalized?

"Jamie is worried about you. I'm worried about you. You haven't spoken since Valentine's Day, and he fears some residual energy lies in you since your investigation ended. I need to find out more, Avery. What's on your mind? What do I need to know in order to help you?"

SHE'S on my mind. And you can't help me, because she's dead. And Jamie... Avery grumbled, though he quickly realized it sounded more like a devilish growl. Jamie banished her. He made her leave my body. He sent her... away. Sent her far away. To another place, not in this world. He took her from me.

Avery stood up, his blood boiling. "Jamie..."

The woman glanced between Avery and the door. "Did you want Jamie to come in here? Will he be able to help us?" she questioned, her legs bending, preparing to stand up.

Avery sat back down, defeated. If Jamie comes in here, I'll hurt him. He banished her. I can't let him get away with that. "No," he muttered, his voice barely audible.

His breathing was hoarse, choppy, out of rhythm. All he wanted was to feel her again, deep within him, no matter how forbidden and weird it may seem. No, no one would understand. No one would see her like I do. So close, so clear, so real. She WAS me, and I didn't want her to leave. Jamie robbed me of that.

He felt his eyes burn - not from tears, but actual fire. The rage, the torture, the horrific brutality of losing her so quickly brought him to his knees, heaving, his heart throbbing. I can't... I can't live without her. Where did you send her, Jamie?

"Where... where is she?" he whispered, unable to speak louder.

The woman blinked. "I'm sorry, who? She? Are you referring to the one who possessed you, Avery?" she asked, writing on her paper, never taking her eyes off Avery.

He hunched over the floor, his body moving up and down, trying to catch his breath. "I... love her," he grumbled, his voice deeper and darker than he meant it to be. "She's gone," he added, feeling his temples ache, his muscles tense up and his bones close to breaking.

Again, the image returned to his brain, engulfing him. He was back in the house, in the dark, lying on the bed in the master bedroom. Jamie was nowhere to be seen - not that Avery cared, since he had her. She brushed her misty hands against his skin, humming lightly, her shimmering hair flowing in the light breeze she created.

"Avery, let me in. Let me be with you."

Avery's body was numb, frozen, vulnerable to her strange yet inviting touch. Even if he hadn't been stuck, he would've allowed her to enter him: she was much too perfect to be denied. Too mysterious. Too forbidden.

A spirit, a beautiful, lovely woman, inside me and inside every thought, able to find every pleasure censor, tickle every corner of my mind with happy thoughts, exciting ideas, and send me into a world I never wanted to leave: her world. And now...

Avery's eyes re-adjusted to the room where the psychiatrist stared at him in awe. Her pen dropped to the ground, and her face was stuck in surprise.

"Love? Avery, you were possessed. The spirit... it made you believe you loved it, to take over your body and make you do as it pleased. I need to cleanse you: clearly, there are still remnants," insisted the doctor, retrieving her pen from the ground and breathing in deeply.

Avery miraculously found his motor skills again, and his heartbeat accelerated, but it was controlled. He pushed himself up, his eyes shooting daggers at the woman.

"No," he snarled, sounding like an enraged beast.

The woman lifted herself from her chair, and threw her notepad across the room. "Avery, sit down. Stop this. You're hallucinating. This thing, this woman that you think you love... it's a spirit. A dangerous one. Likely a succubus of some kind. I need to extract any remaining traces of it, now," she screeched, backing away from Avery with fear in her eyes.

Avery smiled, unable to stop. "No," he repeated, her angelic voice singing over and over in his head.

Soon, my love, soon, he thought, in a trance.

"Avery... you can't love a spirit. You're under a spell, possessed, she's convinced you of something unreal!" continued the therapist, now up against the door, panting heavily.

Avery cracked his knuckles. "I said no," he hissed, slowly approaching the woman.

I have to be with her. I have to find her. Jamie... Jamie knows where she is. Jamie will tell me where she is or... I'll banish him, just as he banished her.

The doctor trembled, her hand on the doorknob, shaking, her eyes watery and red.

"I won't hurt you. Just get out of my way. I need to see Jamie," said Avery, his voice unrecognizable.

A small part of him screamed, pleaded to calm down, return to his seat and relax.

But I love her. She's mine and I am hers. We bonded. Our souls are joined as one. I have to be with her, now.

Her face full of courage, the doctor shook her head. "N-n-no, Avery. I'm going to count to five, and y-y-you'll return to your chair. You'll go into a d-d-deep, sleep-like state," she said, taking a strange clock device from her pocket. It wavered back and forth, its gentle ticking matching Avery's racing heart.

Avery's resolve didn't weaken. He continued to walk forward, shortening the gap between him and those separating him from his love. I'll be with her soon. I'll find a way to bring her back. Not from the dead, but from heaven, or hell, or wherever it is Jamie sent her.

"One... two..."

Her lips traced his, her see-through eyes pouring in, as she prepared to make the final jump into Avery's body, linking them together forever. Her smile, everlasting, so intent and excited, joyful to share the moment with Avery.

"Three... four..."

She plunged, the cool, crisp sensation flowing through Avery's body as slowly, her limbs were his, her mind was his. She was him.

He shivered, his legs numb and wobbly. Am I back in the house? Is she entering me again? His vision was blurry, and he was stuck in the moment, stuck in his memories.

"Five!"

The therapist snapped her fingers, and the strange clock ticked, chimed loudly, deafening him. He fell to the ground instantly, covering his ears.

The woman spoke, as if chanting, but he couldn't hear her: he was lost, asleep, comatose.

It all happened in reverse: the connection, the words whispered, the promises of forever, the sweet, lingering caresses, the tingling, heartbeat-skipping whispers, all faded as the last traces of her exited his body, following her soul wherever it disappeared to.

Banished. Gone.

The therapist sighed, falling to her knees. Avery heaved, his face covered in tears, shivering and sweaty. He glanced at the woman in the office, at a loss for words.

"What... what happened?" he stuttered, his voice trembling.

The woman laughed nervously. "You were possessed, Avery. I'm a psychic psychiatrist, and I hypnotized you to rid you of your possessor. I think you're fine now," she spoke softly, standing back up.

He had no idea what happened. He forgot the words uttered, the time spent in the master bedroom of the haunted house, and the entire session with the therapist, up until she released him from the possession. Avery Boomer was back to normal, and though he knew he had been taken over by a spirit, he'd never remember the details of the experience.

The poor soul, the spirit, the woman who possessed him, wandered aimlessly in a dark house, surrounded by bright, bubbling white mists, all whispering inaudible sentences and babbling on in confusion. She was lost, and so were they, stuck in the darkness without a purpose, without knowing what came next.

Her only thoughts were of the man whose heart beat for her, whose voice called for her in the dark, who begged her to stay with him forever. The man who came to her house on Valentine's Day, full of simple intentions, and who made her fall madly in love with just one look.

"Avery," she whispered, suddenly feeling a strange pull toward an electric, shockingly blinding yellow light.

A raspy, female voice surprised her, speaking in her ear, as if addressing only her. "No, sweet girl. It's time for you to move on. It's time to pass through the Ghost Portal."