Ephemeral creatures, p.15
Ephemeral Creatures, page 15
Screw that—I have a right to be selfish too. I miss Kev. I just don’t want him to be hurt again when this ends. Her own pain, she would just have to bear.
A plangency suddenly rippled through the Between Space, startling her. She couldn’t really describe the sensation, almost like a tolling bell bereft of sound, sending a palpable resonance through the surrounding medium. Since she’d gained awareness, this was the second time she felt such a disruption, either due to her growing strength, or perhaps because she’d simply become more attuned to the currents filling this limbo. The disturbances might have been going on for a long while without her knowledge. Whatever caused such a phenomenon, she knew instinctively couldn’t be anything good.
After a few moments of indecision, Lidia focused on the source of the disturbance. With a thought, she left her hideaway behind and was standing upon the endless plain of her ashen purgatory. She wasn’t alone—others had followed the call too. She could feel them lurking on the fringes, lured as she was to the source of the disturbance, much like a freezing hiker lost in the woods at night, drawn to the warmth of a blazing campfire.
The Others didn’t exactly scare her, as she knew instinctively the dead could do no harm to one another, but they creeped her out nonetheless. Some tacit code seemed to exist among the dead, to shun one another. Or perhaps they lacked any interest, unthinking revenants simply going about their interminable existence. She didn’t like to consider that they were the same as her, held back from passing on for reasons not understood. She tried to avoid considering the awful possibility that she might never move on either, instead remaining trapped for an eternity and gradually fading away until she completely lost the quintessence that made her who she was.
Most of the restless dead emanated crushing sorrow, confusion, and longing for that which had been left behind. But others caused a shiver to run down her spine—a metaphorical shiver, at any rate. They were the malevolent dead, those who despised the living. Fortunately, the hateful ones seemed few in number.
The landscape shifted subtly as she homed in until she could pinpoint the source of the disturbance. An ambiguous form lay huddled on the ground, hazy and rapidly dwindling like a sugar cube in a cup of hot coffee. It radiated distress and terror like a beacon in the night.
That person is alive! Not a lost soul but a living woman in the flesh. The realization struck her like a club across the back of the head. How can the living be here? Beside the woman lay three other vague forms, but they’d already perished, naught but husks remaining. As she watched, the deceased crumpled to ash.
The first of the Others approached the living woman. The spirit had the appearance of a young, feral child—a creature of singular hunger. It circled the dying woman a moment as a cautious jackal might before it pounced. The dead child latched onto the woman and began to ravenously drain her dwindling vitality. Two more Others struck in quick succession, and in moments, a small pack of the restless dead was clinging to the woman, gorging themselves like starving hogs at the trough.
Lidia turned away in disgust—not only at the devouring, which turned her stomach, but also at the desire she felt mirrored inside, a longing to recapture a bit of warmth and vitality for herself.
Soon, the once-living woman had been thoroughly depleted and left an empty husk like the others, her dim candle in the night snuffed out. Once the woman’s life was quenched, Lidia lost sense of her. Will she now join us haunting this Between Space, unable to move on and find any eternal peace? Or has her soul been destroyed, rendered unto oblivion? She quietly mourned the woman, imagining a daughter whose parents would never hear from her again, perhaps a wife or mother who would never come home to her waiting family.
Lidia fled back to her hideaway, where she lay down on her bed and wrapped her arms around herself. “I won’t let myself succumb to that awful hunger. I want to move on… Why can’t I? What is my purpose?”
With no answer forthcoming, she sighed, feeling very small and alone. She both hated and feared that small bit of awakened hunger inside, which she hadn’t known was there.
Needing both a reprieve from the cold emptiness of the Between Space, as well as the comfort of another, she focused her will and pushed through the veil. Passing through had become almost second nature to her, although she still was unable to stay for long periods of time. But she was working to increase her stamina, with the goal of watching a certain movie trilogy with Kevin.
After her awakening, Lidia had tried her best to comfort Kevin during his loneliness, but this time, she was the one in need of companionship.
***
Lacking any decent radio station signals out in the boonies northwest of Phoenix, Kevin plugged Lidia’s refurbished iPod into the Saturn’s aftermarket stereo. He wanted to get an MP3 player of his own eventually, once he had the disposable income. The need for food and gas, and possibly a motel room, made penny-pinching a necessity. And he’d spent the money to get the iPod battery replaced, so he figured he might as well use the device. Lidia had filled it to the max with her music, so he would’ve had to delete some of her songs in order to add his own, but even the thought of that felt like sacrilege.
He’d informed Officer Ward prior to taking his road trip, and she’d approved it as long as he didn’t leave the state. And he would be required to report in once he returned. He really hoped she wouldn’t show up at his door again at the ass crack of dawn with another whiz quiz.
Kevin set Lidia’s iPod to shuffle, and it pulled up Joy Division’s doleful “New Dawn Fades.” He took a drink from his bottle of water and spotted a jackrabbit bolting across the road a few hundred yards ahead. From the other direction, a steady stream of cars passed, heading back home from Las Vegas, he supposed. People with money to blow on their vicarious getaways were having to return to their mundane lives.
The song faded out, and the stereo’s lights dimmed momentarily. At first, Kevin thought it was going to crap out on him entirely, but then Dave Matthews’s voice filled the car, singing “The Space Between.” He turned the volume up, for the song had been one of Lidia’s favorites. Just listening made him feel close to her.
“Brings back memories,” Lidia said suddenly.
“Jesus!” Kevin jerked the wheel and nearly sent the Saturn careening off the shoulder and into the desert, nearly a replay of that fateful night.
“Nope, just me. Sorry to disappoint.” Lidia sat in the passenger seat, looking much more tangible than she had just a month past. The stronger she grew, the more her ghastly injuries faded as she was able to modify her appearance to a degree, or so he assumed. Yet for whatever reason, in the real world she was always the eighties Lidia.
Kevin took a long, even breath as his pulse rate returned to normal. “I know you’re a ghost and all, but try not to scare me like that, Lid.”
“Sorry. Remember the concert?”
Kevin smiled fondly at the memory. “How could I forget? It was your twentieth birthday.” Just a few months before the accident.
Lidia’s eyes had a faraway look, her hands clasped in her lap. “You snuck up on me at Costco and surprised me with the tickets.”
Kevin remembered well. Lidia had been stressed at the time, having taken a gap year after graduating high school in order to work full time to help her mother pay off their remaining medical bills. The family fundraiser had helped quite a bit, and they were trying hard to eliminate the rest of the debt.
“It started off a shitty day,” Lidia continued, smiling wistfully as she stared out the window at the desert passing by. “I got yelled at by the supervisor on duty that morning… Debbie, her name was. What a bitch. The whole day, I had nothing but crabby customers complaining. I’d already written the day off as a loss. But then, while I’m on the home stretch toward the end of that crappy shift, busy straightening clothes in the ladies’ section, someone sneaks up behind me and covers my eyes. ‘Guess who?’ you asked.”
“You were hoping it was Debbie, right?”
Lidia laughed, and the sound tore at his heart. “I was so glad to see you. And it wasn’t only because my best friend had dropped in to cheer me up at the perfect moment, which would have been enough. But to top it off, you had scored those DMB tickets!”
Kevin grinned at the memory. “Yep, they changed it to an all-ages show at the last minute, so I had to scramble to get the tickets. It worked out perfectly for your birthday. Wasn’t on February twenty-second, but same week is close enough, I figured.”
“That concert was the best day of my entire life, Kev.” The look she gave him brought a lump to his throat. “I mean that.”
“I just wish we had more time so we could make more good memories like that.” He fought to hold back a tear or two.
Lidia smiled again. “There will be. I predict many good days ahead of us still. We’ve got a whole trilogy to watch, right?”
“Sure do. Say, when are you going to visit my dreams again?”
As much as he enjoyed Lidia’s presence in the material world, he preferred spending time with a real, tangible version of his friend in the dreamscape. In his dreams, they could make the most of their precious shared time, leaving behind the real world and all its accompanying pain and disappointment.
“Oh? Is the cute and whimsical Lidia Knight on your mind of late?” She favored him with a teasing smile.
“She’s taken up residence there, it seems,” he said in all honesty.
“Good answer.” She winked. “Then dream of me you shall.” She reached over to put a hand on his arm, a natural gesture of affection, but she’d evidently forgotten for a moment what she’d become. Her hand passed through his arm, and she jerked it away. “Oops, sorry.”
“No problem.” He couldn’t repress a shudder from her icy touch. When he glanced at his arm, it had a pale mark on it and felt like he’d held an ice pack to his skin for a minute or so.
The iPod switched to the Gary Jules version of “Mad World,” which had gained its fame from Donnie Darko. Kevin felt another chill as the memories associated with that movie threatened to come rushing back—the awful discovery when he’d returned the DVD to find Lidia near death in her bathtub. And the song wasn’t the only thing giving him a chill—he could actually see his breath in the car’s confines. He turned the AC down a few notches because Lidia functioned as her own very effective AC unit when she was present.
Lidia looked crestfallen. “I was feeling lonely and wanted to see you. Honestly, I saw something before that freaked me out a little.” She went on to relate her story about a living woman who’d appeared in the Between Space, only to be quickly devoured by spirits trapped there.
“Damn, that’s freaky. How could those people have gotten there?”
“I think it’s him. The Nazgul.” She shuddered. “I thought I sensed something else for a moment before I went to investigate. His presence, maybe. He’s more than an ordinary man… like a spirit walker or something.”
Kevin didn’t know what to say to that. He didn’t doubt her, for in truth, the horizons of his belief about what was possible had expanded greatly since Lidia’s return. What he did know was that he needed to do something about her killer. And he was hoping Chad and maybe Tara would want to get involved once they heard his story. But even if they turned him away, he was determined to go it alone.
He cleared his throat. “Um, so I don’t know how this is gonna go with Chad, let alone Tara—”
“You’ll make it happen, Kev. Just be true to yourself. Give Chad this message if he doesn’t believe you…”
Kevin listened, and his eyes went wide at what she told him. “Seriously? He actually…?” He trailed off because she was gone again. Damn, I really did ruin Chad’s life.
Before his thoughts could venture down that dark path, the iPod switched over to ELO’s cheery “Don’t Bring Me Down,” almost as if the thing had a mind of its own. Or Lidia was sending him a message.
He smiled ruefully and couldn’t help tapping on the wheel to the music as the miles rolled by.
-19-
Kevin drove slowly up a long dirt driveway ending at a single-wide trailer perched atop a barren ridge. Sparse, hilly desert stretched as far as the eye could see, dotted by trailers and RVs parked on spacious lots. Satellite dishes were a common sight, as were Beware of Dog and No Trespassing signs—also Confederate and NRA flags. One property featured a prominent sign picturing an assault rifle with the proclamation “Warning: I Don’t Call 911.”
Chad’s place had an American flag flying but other than that only a small Private Property placard at the end of the driveway. His trailer had seen better days. It looked faded and tired, a dull bone hue that might have once been a yellow or light beige prior to years of brutal sun bleaching. The door opened onto a small deck with a lawn chair. Kevin recognized the same nineties-era Dodge truck Chad used to drive back in high school, which looked even worse for wear than the trailer.
A large German shepherd lay on the deck, watching intently.
Hope he’s friendly. Kevin put the Saturn in park and cautiously got out. The dog rose to its feet but made no move to approach. It didn’t look vicious or unfriendly, merely watchful.
“Hello?” Kevin called, not wanting to approach the door with the dog standing guard there. “Chad?”
The moment stretched a long time, the dust kicked up from his car carried away on a breeze. The flag rippled. Faint music was playing inside the trailer. Kevin tried to avoid meeting the dog’s eyes, for he’d heard that animals were more liable to sense a challenge and attack if one did so.
The music shut off, and the trailer’s screen door opened with a squeal. Chad stepped out on the patio, leaning on a crutch and holding a pistol. He stood there a long moment, staring at Kevin. Even having glimpsed Chad briefly through Lidia’s palantir, Kevin barely recognized his old friend. His burly, once-fit frame had gone to fat, probably tipping the scale at nearly three hundred pounds. His dark hair had grown long, and a scruffy beard covered his cheeks. He wore a wife-beater and shorts, his right leg missing below the knee.
Chad didn’t look at all pleased to see Kevin, but at least he was holding the gun unthreateningly.
Kevin held up a hand in greeting. “Chad? Hey, man… it’s me, Kevin. Your uh… parents gave me your address. I would’ve called, but nobody had your number.”
“Kevin Bradley,” Chad finally said. “Takes some balls to show up here.”
“Yeah, sorry to just drop in like this. If you’re busy, I can come back la—”
Chad barked a bitter laugh. “Busy? Yeah, I’m real fucking busy.”
“Oh, okay.” Kevin didn’t know what to say. This was a bad idea, coming here.
“For the longest time, I was so pissed at you, man. Thought I hated your guts even.” Chad coughed then spat off the side of the deck.
“Look, Chad, I’m so sorry. Never got the chance to apologize or anything…”
Chad scowled. “Don’t bother. Lidia’s the one you should really be apologizing to, but guess you can’t do that, can you?”
Well, actually… Kevin cleared his throat nervously. “If you don’t want to see me, I understand. But your parents are worried about you, man. At least give them a call and let them know you’re alive or something. But if you’ll just give me a few minutes, there’s something I want to tell you.”
Chad grunted. “Like I said, I was pissed. After a while, I realized it could have been me behind the wheel just as easily. All of us were drunk that night, and shit happens, right?” He turned away. “Might as well come in.”
Kevin approached slowly, still keeping a wary eye on the dog, who wasn’t acting hostile but wasn’t exactly friendly either.
“Oh, this is Gunner. Be nice, boy.” Chad patted the dog on the neck then went inside.
“Hey, Gunner,” Kevin said as he stepped onto the deck.
Gunner tilted his head, tongue lolling out of his mouth. He sniffed Kevin’s leg intently as he passed.
“Make yourself at home,” Chad said. “Beer?”
“I would, but I quit. Subject to random piss tests by my parole officer.”
“Soda or something?”
“Sure.”
Chad went into the kitchen and returned with two cans, a Dr Pepper and a Pabst Blue Ribbon. He handed Kevin the soda then plopped his bulk into a worn recliner that groaned in complaint. The revolver went on the end table.
Kevin sat on the sagging couch. He couldn’t help noticing Chad’s prosthetic standing beside the end table.
“Damn thing chafes like a mother, especially when it’s hot and I start sweating.” Chad popped his beer open and took a long gulp.
Kevin was surprised PBR was still around. He didn’t think he’d ever tried it before in his limited underage drinking experience. Imports and microbrews were the big thing ten years earlier. He opened his Dr Pepper and sighed appreciatively after a long drink.
Gunner’s toenails clicked on the yellowing linoleum as he went into the kitchen and slopped loudly from his water bowl.
“PBR made a comeback,” Chad said, obviously divining Kevin’s thoughts. “The hipsters like it. That’s what Stacy says, anyway. I just got it ’cause it was on sale and it tastes all right.”
“Stacy?”
“Friend at the store where I work part-time. Carefree Used Books, Music, and More… the More being mostly videos.” He gestured to a stack of DVDs on the TV console. “Nobody wants DVDs anymore. It’s either Blu-rays or streaming. Mostly streaming. Pretty much the same deal with CDs. Internet is shit out here, though, so streaming is out for me.”
Gunner came over to Kevin and drenched his pant leg with slobber. His tail wagged slightly as he looked up at Kevin expectantly.
“He likes you,” Chad said with a half smile.
Kevin scratched around the dog’s ears. After a moment, Gunner sat and leaned against the couch, head resting on Kevin’s knee to best take advantage of the attention.
