Brighter, a supernatural thriller Read Online Free PDF

asked.
    "Yeah. I'll protect you."
    Mason turned to face her from the front seat, and his face swam—features twisting and writhing. Ramona blinked, trying to force herself to see normally. She was tripping too hard for it to matter. She tried to tell herself to relax, to just ride out the mushrooms. It would all be over in a couple more hours. But right then, all she wanted was for everything to go back to normal.
    "Who am I kidding?" Mason asked. "I don't protect people."
    Ramona took a drag on her cigarette. "You seem depressed."
    Mason considered. "Yeah. I'm depressed. I want to go back up into the sky."
    "And be a star?"
    "Yeah."
    "But falling stars aren't stars. They were never stars. They're just fragments floating about in space. Stars are big balls of gas."
    "Minor issue," Mason said. "Everything is connected. Everything is part of everything else."
    As he spoke, the interior of the car seemed to get a little brighter. "What do you mean?" Ramona asked.
    "Energy can be neither created nor destroyed," Mason said. "So there's a finite amount of energy in the universe. And matter can become energy. So, there's also a finite amount of matter in the universe. It's all just changing form. That's all. Everything is everything else. Or it was at one time. That's how I became a falling star. I think. Or maybe...maybe a long time ago, the universe was different. You've heard about the Big Bang, right? Or how the universe is expanding like a rubber band? Maybe the universe was different, and it exploded into this universe."
    Ramona was tripping hard. Some of what he was saying made sense. Sort of. "How would that explain how you became a star?"
    "Well, let's say that what I said is true. That matter and energy are interchangeable. Humans are just matter, right?"
    "Just matter?"
    "No, exactly. Humans are more than that. Humans are consciousness. They're spirit. But what if that consciousness, that spirit, is tied inextricably to the matter? What if, when a human dies, that...essence breaks up and flits out into the world and reforms with other bits of essence and makes new things? New humans maybe. New trees. New life."
    "Okay. I guess that's kind of plausible."
    "So if the universe exploded before, all that essence would have exploded with it and reformed itself. But what if some of it got trapped? What if some of it didn't break up? What if some spirits got contained whole in some kind of matter? Like a meteor?"
    Ramona laughed. "You're saying that you are a displaced ancient soul from before the dawn of time of this universe?"
    "It's one of my theories. You think it's funny?"
    "No, I like it. It's very poetic. Pure consciousness trapped in meteors. It's quite lovely. But you're Mason. You're not a meteor."
    "I'm not Mason."
    He was delusional. Or else he really was on mushrooms, and he was having a far worse trip than Ramona.
    "Who are you, then?"
    "I don't know. It's been too long. I can't remember. I have these bits of people stuck in my teeth, and I can't remember where they end and I begin. I don't know anymore."
    "Listen. You're Mason. You'll feel better if you just let this whole thing go, and—"
    "I'm not Mason. Mason's dead."
    Dawn, who'd been dating Mason at the time, appeared at the driver's side window of the car and pounded on it. Mason reached back and grabbed Ramona by the shoulders. "Mason's dead," he repeated, intensity burning in his eyes. "I killed him."
    Dawn threw open the door to the car. "Mason, what the fuck are you doing?"
    Ramona laughed and laughed. Until her gut ached. Until the stars stopped falling.
    * * *
    Ramona could still see the police lights, but she'd been out here for a really long time. She got up and began to make her way back through the woods. Maybe something had happened. Ahead of her, she saw someone, streaking through the woods, running fast. Angelica? It looked like…
    "Angelica?" she called.
    The figure halted. "Ramona?"
    But it was a male voice. She moved closer. It was Mason.