“She throws things like that around occasionally,” Jack said to Ruby, Shoana, and Zoe. “She says she’s not religious but I have my doubts.”
“Come on, Jack, you’ve got to admit it is beautiful.” Catherine gave Jack a smile.
Jack smiled and nodded. “Okay, I concede.”
Zoe initiated a round of soft handclaps from the girls. Ruby clapped as well, but seemed to be trying hard to reconnect with normality. Jack looked at Catherine—the island atmosphere had relaxed his partner.
“Now the moon—it’s huge now, but when it gets higher in the sky it looks smaller.” Catherine said.
“I know what’s coming here,” Zoe said. “It’s all an illusion.”
What are these girls talking about? Catherine and Zoe had connected.
“You want to explain, Zoe, or will I?”
“Whoever is going to explain, keep it in plain English. Please,” Jack said.
“You can, detective.” Zoe waved her arm.
“Tell me if I get it wrong, Zoe,” Catherine said. “The moon is always the same size. We know this. Its changing size is an optical illusion, because the brain adjusts our perception of things, puts things into what it thinks is the right perspective. It gathers data from what else is around—trees, buildings—and then does its calculations.”
“Wow,” Ruby said. “I had no idea. Amazing, isn’t it, the things we take for granted. We don’t challenge or think too much.”
“You can test this theory with a round object like an aspirin or a pea. Hold it at arm’s length when the moon is at the horizon, and again when it’s high in the sky,” Zoe said. “It will confirm the moon is the same size.”
Jack watched Shoana. She was quiet, not interested in joining in on the banter. Maybe she’d lighten up if a witch flew across the face of the moon—or was that ET?
Now, Jack. No need for that.
“Anyone have an aspirin or a pea?” Jack asked.
“Funny man,” Catherine said.
“No seriously. I’m going to test that.” Jack nodded with a smirk.
Zoe dug into her backpack. “I think I’ve got a pea in here.”
Jack raised his eye brows.
Zoe smiled. “Just joking.”
“Funny girl. But I will test it sometime,” Jack turned to his partner. “Hey Cath, come down to the deck with me and get an update from the forensic guys.”
They both descended the steep staircase to the deck. Jack looked back up at the girls. The sunset added a beautiful glow to Ruby’s red hair as it fought with the wind. The other girls had hidden their hair in baseball caps. Ruby was showing Shoana her phone, maybe confirming the size of the moon. Google had all the answers.
“There’s something about that Shoana, Cath. I can’t put my finger on it.”
“I agree.”
“Now, I know you don’t think you’re religious, but I think it’s appropriate to ask you this question.”
Catherine raised her eyebrows and tilted her head to the side.
“Can a person see demons?”
Jack watched Catherine take in the question, process it. He knew she’d take the time to analyse the question before answering. She always did.
“Do you mean a normal functioning person, Jack? Because we know the meth addicts give the impression they’re in communication with such beings on a regular basis.”
“Yes, I mean a normal functioning person. Not influenced by any drug.”
Jack walked over to the side of the barge and peered down on the water and saw a few blue jellyfish swimming just below the surface of the water—survivors, stragglers of the summer months. Jack always found something weird about jellyfish.
He was surprised by Catherine’s matter-of-fact reaction to his question. But perhaps he shouldn’t have been, as they’d been venturing further into the eerie world of darkness more and more of late. It was as though a dark heavy cover was creeping over society—slowly, so as not to awaken the inhabitants and to keep them warm and cosy.
A thought dawned. He was one of those inhabitants of society being covered by the blanket of evil. He’d been too busy out in the battlefield to stop and look at the madness. Too busy working with drug addicts being chased by demons to think about what it might mean. Too busy, too distracted, to realise all the addicts were describing the same thing. Meth and the other drugs were a doorway to something unseen—a realm. Jack didn’t understand. And now he’d met someone who claimed to see this realm. Without drugs.
The jellyfish were gone, unseen, covered by the waters.
Catherine joined him.
“It’s like the moon illusion, Jack. Our mind is powerful and makes the required visual adjustments but what does it stop us from seeing? What does it protect us from?”
He could just make out the blue of a jellyfish coming back to the surface. Jack gave his head a slight shake hoping the pieces zigzagging through his head would form some order.
“This is deep. Why do some people think about such things, like you do? And others don’t. People like me.”
“We’re complex beings, Jack.”
