Ghosts of Infinity: and Nine More Stories of the Supernatural by Lara Saguisag, April Yap Page A
Authors: Lara Saguisag, April Yap
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formats, stereo system, and punching bag. I had thought that she was into Aero Boxing but then I spotted several hard-to-find videos of great fights including Espinosa and Pacquiao. Barbie must be quite the boxing fan and probably acquired the videos from ebay. As I perused her collection, she called me over to the workstation.
“The file from Salvacion’s disk is mostly about the history of the organization,” she said as she clicked the folder open. “It’s nothing unusual but there’s a list of prominent government and military people in one document. There are hyperlinks on the names but I can’t access them yet.”
“With all the safeguards, Salvacion must be up to no good,” I said softly as I looked at he screen. “And the Prof must have wanted out of it.” I kept the Prof’s strange abilities to myself.
Then Barbie turned to me. “How did he do that?” she asked with her brow furrowed. “Was that white light a new kind of flash grenade?”
I just shook my head. “The Prof was ranting about ghosts and immortals. And then there’s his research on Atlantis and Lemuria. Lemuria was supposed to have been in the Pacific, right?”
Barbie nodded. “Some believe that the Philippines was once part of it. Some say the ancient inhabitants were supposed to be so advanced that they had special powers. Do you think Salvacion’s a Lemurian with hypnotic powers?” Barbie looked at me with a smile.
I shrugged. Barbie looked at the computer screen and spoke again. “Lemuria’s also a term used for an ancient Roman ritual to drive away ghosts. Lemures is the term for ghosts.” She paused, smiled to herself and continued. “That’s where lemurs got their name. They were viewed as ghostly creatures.”
So her talent for amassing obscure knowledge was kicking in. I wondered if she thought that she had a captive listener. “This ritual,” I said. “Does it involve beans?”
Barbie was quiet for a minute. She seemed a bit surprised by my question or maybe she was surprised that I didn’t dismiss her little spiel.
“Let me check it out.” She typed on the keyboard and then nodded. “Yes, in the ritual, black beans were used to appease malignant spirits. It was performed at midnight by the father of the family on the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May.”
“Interesting,” I said and leaned against the desk. “Even though he’s supposed to be single, Dizon was performing the ritual on Friday the 13th when the attempted kidnapping happened. Only the ghosts who tried to take him were actually goons of the Infinite Dream Crusade.” Barbie looked at me quizzically as I continued. “I finally figured out that the 8’s weren’t 8’s but infinity symbols. Now whatever’s there in those links must be pretty incriminating for Salvacion to send his goons. Dizon escaped and Salvacion asked the Bureau to find him. Now either Salvacion’s teachings about dreams messed up the Prof’s mind or Salvacion is an immortal Lemurian involved in some big scam.”
“This Professor Dizon seems to be out of it. I mean, ancient rituals, immortals, ghosts …”
“Ghosts in the mansion,” I whispered. “Is there any mention of mansions in that file?”
“Hold on,” Barbie checked the files again. “The group would sometimes meet in an old mansion in Bulacan.”
“Give me the address. Stay here and try to access those links.”
V
Master of the Sublime
11:50 A . M .
I finally got to the place and hoped I wasn’t too late. Too late for what, I didn’t know. I figured that if the Roman ritual occurred at midnight, then something could happen at noon. I parked my Altis about a block away from the house and proceeded on foot. I didn’t really think something literally out of this world would happen but this Salvacion was something else. Was he immortal? Doubtful, but something about him just didn’t feel right. And one thing I’ve learned in my life is when things go beyond known science, then other forces
“The file from Salvacion’s disk is mostly about the history of the organization,” she said as she clicked the folder open. “It’s nothing unusual but there’s a list of prominent government and military people in one document. There are hyperlinks on the names but I can’t access them yet.”
“With all the safeguards, Salvacion must be up to no good,” I said softly as I looked at he screen. “And the Prof must have wanted out of it.” I kept the Prof’s strange abilities to myself.
Then Barbie turned to me. “How did he do that?” she asked with her brow furrowed. “Was that white light a new kind of flash grenade?”
I just shook my head. “The Prof was ranting about ghosts and immortals. And then there’s his research on Atlantis and Lemuria. Lemuria was supposed to have been in the Pacific, right?”
Barbie nodded. “Some believe that the Philippines was once part of it. Some say the ancient inhabitants were supposed to be so advanced that they had special powers. Do you think Salvacion’s a Lemurian with hypnotic powers?” Barbie looked at me with a smile.
I shrugged. Barbie looked at the computer screen and spoke again. “Lemuria’s also a term used for an ancient Roman ritual to drive away ghosts. Lemures is the term for ghosts.” She paused, smiled to herself and continued. “That’s where lemurs got their name. They were viewed as ghostly creatures.”
So her talent for amassing obscure knowledge was kicking in. I wondered if she thought that she had a captive listener. “This ritual,” I said. “Does it involve beans?”
Barbie was quiet for a minute. She seemed a bit surprised by my question or maybe she was surprised that I didn’t dismiss her little spiel.
“Let me check it out.” She typed on the keyboard and then nodded. “Yes, in the ritual, black beans were used to appease malignant spirits. It was performed at midnight by the father of the family on the 9th, 11th, and 13th of May.”
“Interesting,” I said and leaned against the desk. “Even though he’s supposed to be single, Dizon was performing the ritual on Friday the 13th when the attempted kidnapping happened. Only the ghosts who tried to take him were actually goons of the Infinite Dream Crusade.” Barbie looked at me quizzically as I continued. “I finally figured out that the 8’s weren’t 8’s but infinity symbols. Now whatever’s there in those links must be pretty incriminating for Salvacion to send his goons. Dizon escaped and Salvacion asked the Bureau to find him. Now either Salvacion’s teachings about dreams messed up the Prof’s mind or Salvacion is an immortal Lemurian involved in some big scam.”
“This Professor Dizon seems to be out of it. I mean, ancient rituals, immortals, ghosts …”
“Ghosts in the mansion,” I whispered. “Is there any mention of mansions in that file?”
“Hold on,” Barbie checked the files again. “The group would sometimes meet in an old mansion in Bulacan.”
“Give me the address. Stay here and try to access those links.”
V
Master of the Sublime
11:50 A . M .
I finally got to the place and hoped I wasn’t too late. Too late for what, I didn’t know. I figured that if the Roman ritual occurred at midnight, then something could happen at noon. I parked my Altis about a block away from the house and proceeded on foot. I didn’t really think something literally out of this world would happen but this Salvacion was something else. Was he immortal? Doubtful, but something about him just didn’t feel right. And one thing I’ve learned in my life is when things go beyond known science, then other forces
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