Return to Mr. Grey And The Spirit From The Sky

Within the physical form of the photograph, a boundary had weakened. It wavered, stretched, and a gap was briefly created. Something emerged at speed, a ripple of possibility which expanded from the photograph and sped through the diner. It took shape and form, became a personality within a time period unmeasurable to human clocks. Its energy was weak, but it was driven by a desire, a hunger which had once been human. A sense of loss and outrage manifested itself, emotions which metamorphosed into deep anger.

It hovered in a place outside of time, and looked at the cluster of bright human souls gathered in the diner. One in particular it identified as an enemy; the one who had taken hold of the photograph and released it shone with a power that hurt to look upon. That human had been caught unawares by the psychic surge from the photo, but the spirit knew if it remained it had little time before his power detected its presence--and it knew it could not resist when it did so. It needed time to gather its resources, to fight back, but at least two allies were close to hand.

From its vantage point, the photograph was a square of blackness as deep as a pit. Shrill voices gibbered and howled from within that darkness, pleading for release, promising much if they could only be freed. Trepidation gripped the spirit; that blackness held old, old terrors--but it also held friends. It reached out, touched the blackness, pushed against the barrier where the gap had been--and again it parted briefly and a spirit was released.

It began to gather shape, and the first spirit reached out again.

But the power within the human was beginning to spread out, as he recovered and took stock of his surroundings on the physical and metaphysical planes. The spirit cried out in frustration, a cry echoed by the one still trapped within the darkness. It drew back and looked at the spirit it had freed. It was still forming, but there was no more time to spare. "Stop! Do that later. We gotta go!"

Borne on unearthly wings, the two dark spirits fled, seeking a safer clime.