Closer: Bay City Paranormal Investigation, Book 4

said something was in him that caused the portal to open. Well, not in so many words, exactly, but that was the gist.”
“What do you think he meant was in him? Just the ability to open a portal?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t think he’s sure either, honestly, but it seemed to me like he literally meant something was inside him that didn’t belong there. It doesn’t make much sense, but that’s what he said. Maybe he was still confused from the seizure.”
“Maybe.” Dean rubbed his chin. “We’re going to have to talk with Bo some more later, after he recovers from the anesthesia. He’s not one to jump to unsupported conclusions, so there must be something specific that’s making him think he’s…” Dean snapped his fingers, as if he could summon the right word out of thin air. “Possessed. Infected. Whatever. The point is, even if he was confused, I bet there’s something in particular that’s making him believe something abnormal is inside him.”
“It’s all connected somehow,” Sam muttered, half to himself. “The portal, Bo’s seizure, the weird way he’s been acting lately. Maybe whatever Bo thinks is in him is the common denominator.” He rubbed a hand across his face. “I wish I’d had more time to talk to him.”
Dean gave him a searching look. “You said some of what he told you did make sense. What else did he say?”
Hunching his shoulders, Sam traced the rim of his coffee mug with one finger. “He’s afraid of another portal opening here.”
“What do you mean, ‘here’? You mean at the fort?”
“No. Here, as in here at the hospital.”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up. “What makes him think that?”
“All the electronics. No matter how well shielded they are, they produce an electromagnetic field. Bo’s afraid that field could create favorable conditions for a portal to form.” Sam took a sip of his cooling coffee. “We don’t know what it is about Bo that caused the portal to open at the fort, if that really is what happened. What if that unknown factor plus the electromagnetism here is enough to make another one open?”
A visible shudder ran through Dean’s body. “God, what a fucking nightmare.” He raked his damp, tangled hair out of his eyes. “What do you think, Sam? Is it possible?”
Having had time to calm down and think about it, Sam had his answer ready. “I think it’s possible, theoretically speaking, but I also think it’s pretty unlikely. If there’s really something inside Bo that made the portal open, he must’ve acquired it before tonight. If that’s the case, and if all you need to open a portal is that unknown factor plus an electromagnetic field, what happened tonight would’ve happened before. In fact, the damn things would’ve been popping up all around us for days. I think there must be other conditions that have to be present for a portal to form.”
“Like a certain level of EMF? Or a certain type? Because natural and artificial fields do have different characteristics.”
“Either or both of those, yeah. I mean, the background EMF from a houseful of electronic gadgets is usually higher than most natural fields, so I’m thinking probably a strong natural rather than artificial field would be necessary.”
“Yeah, that makes sense.” Dean lifted his cup and took a long swallow of coffee. His expression was thoughtful. “Of course, there might also be a particular catalyst we’re unaware of. Something that activates the X factor and sets off a chain reaction leading to a portal.”
Sighing, Sam shook his head. “God, there’re so many unknowns here it’s impossible to form any sort of real hypothesis.”
“You said it.” Dean yawned. “I think we should stop speculating about this whole thing until we can talk to Bo. Knowing him, he already has a testable theory.”
Sam had to laugh, because it was true. Bo’s mind was so quick and agile it was scary. He could think through any problem and arrive at a logic-based conclusion in a fraction of the time it took most people. When his ideas started flowing, Sam had trouble keeping up.
They finished their coffee in silence, then went back to the ER waiting room. While Dean napped with his legs curled in the chair and his head resting on the wall, Sam sat awake and watchful, his psychic senses wide open. Most likely he was right, and there was little to no danger of a portal opening, but there was no point in taking chances.
He ignored the inner voice telling him that if