The Girl Who Wasn't There

by Nick Clausen

  It’s easier than he thought. Soon he’s in the scullery. He opens the front door and looks out, afraid of what he will see.

  Over by the gate, the wendigo is standing, facing away from the house. It’s staring after Regan’s car, which is speeding backwards out the driveway. Rebecca is running after it.

  They got away!

  Andy can hardly believe it, and he is filled with wild excitement.

  But he quickly finds out that it’s not over, as the wendigo turns and strides to the garage.

  It’s going to follow them.

  Andy feels a pang of panic. He looks out the driveway, and he can still see Regan’s car, which has now picked up Rebecca—it hasn’t gotten much farther away, though, because it can’t go very fast in reverse. The wendigo will quickly catch up with them in its van.

  Andy knows what he must do. He steps out the door and crosses the courtyard. He reaches the garage and hears the driver-side door slam shut. Andy grabs the handle to the backdoor and opens it just as the van starts up its engine with a roar. He’s about to climb up as it shoots backwards, almost running him over for the second time, but he manages to jump up and land inside the van, the door slamming behind him, but the sound is drowned out as the van backs out onto the crunching gravel. It stops, turns and shoots forward, almost sending Andy sprawling in the dark. He grabs for something to hold onto as the nausea comes rolling up his throat. He forces it back down and makes an effort to see the inside of the van

  The only thing visible is a square somewhere above him: a small opening, Andy realizes, separating the cabin from the back. There’s a hatch to close it, but right now, the hatch is open, and daylight is streaming in.

  Andy crawls towards the light as the van speeds up, the gravel rumbling underneath. They’re probably already headed up the road.

  Andy manages to get up by supporting himself against the wall, and he looks through the opening. He sees Regan’s car still backing away as fast as it can, but the van is gaining on it fast. Rebecca is sitting in the passenger seat.

  Andy looks down and sees the arms and hands of the wendigo clutching the wheel.

  What do I do? Think! In a minute it will catch up with Regan’s car, and it’s probably going to ram it off the road. I need to do something!

  Andy looks for something, anything he can use. Then he remembers the boxcutter and goes to his pocket. The blade shines in the darkness as he pushes it out.

  A new sound reaches him, a hoarse mumbling, and he realizes the wendigo is talking to itself, uttering curses. The van is still gaining speed.

  It no longer wants Rebecca, Andy realizes with icy clarity. It’s going to kill them both.

  In less than ten seconds, the van will smash into Regan’s car, sending it off the road, maybe even causing it to flip over. The van is double the size, and it’s going really fast now, almost flying along the gravel road, stones banging against the undercarriage like gunshots.

  Andy reaches the boxcutter through the opening followed by his entire arm.

  The wendigo doesn’t notice; it’s leaning forward now, the bald head visible to Andy. It’s mumbling louder to itself as it stares at Regan’s car only a few seconds away now.

  Andy screams and slashes at the head of Ambroos van de Goor.

  * * *

  Rebecca stares at the van coming closer way too fast. The closer it gets, the faster it seems to be going.

  Soon she can make out the creature behind the dark windshield. The tall, thin, pale figure is hunched over the steering wheel, and she can almost feel the hate emanating from the black eyes fixed on her.

  Next to her, Regan gives off another choked scream; it sounds like a mixture of pain, fear and crying. She’s leaning sideways, her eyes darting back and forth between the front and back window, the bad arm presses against her chest, and Rebecca only now notices the piece of white bone protruding through the sleeve at the place where the arm bends.

  “We won’t make it,” Regan says, almost crying now. “It’s going to hit us! Buckle up, Rebecca!”

  “What about you?”

  “There’s no time!”

  But Rebecca has already leaned over and reached across Regan’s shoulder, grabbing the seatbelt and pulling it over. Once Regan is secured, Rebecca buckles up too.

  Then she looks out the front window again, and now the view is almost blocked by the van as it’s about to collide with them within the next few seconds, and—

  Rebecca is just about to close her eyes and prepare for the crash, when she sees a face inside the van, right next to the creature.

  It makes no sense.

  It’s Andy.

  * * *

  In the split second before the blade reaches its target, the wendigo snaps its head around and stares right at him. Instead of slashing open the back of its head, the boxcutter cuts along the jawline, opening a thin, dark gash.

  The wendigo screams out and lunges sideways, hitting the wheel and causing it to spin violently. The tires jerk to the side way too sharply, and the van goes flying. Andy is thrown up into the ceiling, then to the side, and then he’s lying flat on his back.

  Everything becomes quiet. The world sways for a moment, before coming to a stop.

  * * *

  “Holy hell,” Regan whispers and slows down the car as she stares out at the tipped-over van lying halfway in the ditch. “He drove off the road …”

  “It was Andy,” Rebecca hears herself saying. She unbuckles, opens the door and jumps out.

  “Rebecca! Wait! Come back!”

  Rebecca isn’t listening. She runs to the van, jumps across the ditch and looks in through the windshield. Behind the wheel is the creature, bunched up in an awkward position. Its face is visible, and Rebecca can tell its eyes are closed, a dark gash running down its jaw and another bleeding on its forehead. But Andy isn’t in there.

  She runs to the back and grabs the handle. The door resists for a moment, then opens. Andy is lying right inside. He rolls to his side, looking up at her, blinking with obvious effort. His expression is hazy, like someone just waking up.

  “What … what happened?” he croaks.

  “You crashed,” Rebecca says simply, taking him by the arm. “Come on, Andy. Quickly. I don’t think it’s dead.”

  That last part seems to strike a chord with Andy, and he suddenly looks more coherent. He lets her help him out, but gives off a cry as he tries to stand.

  “My knee,” he winces. “It’s hurting really bad …”

  “I’ll help you,” Rebecca says, placing Andy’s arm across her shoulders, supporting him as best she can, as Andy jumps across the ditch on one leg and heads for Regan’s car.

  “Oh, my head,” Andy suddenly moans, stopping and bending over. He wretches and throws up onto the gravel road. It’s mostly just spit.

  Rebecca hates stopping. They’re only halfway between the van and Regan’s car. She looks to the latter and sees Regan behind the wheel talking on her phone. Then she looks back and sees the van’s driver’s door swing open.

  “Andy,” she says, starting to pull him along. “We need to keep moving—it’s coming!”

  Andy is still throwing up, but he limps on ahead. They reach the car, and Rebecca opens the back door to help in Andy, who has finally stopped puking.

  “Hurry up!” Regan calls, and for a moment Rebecca thinks she’s talking to them, then realizes she’s still on the phone. She ends the call and gasps aloud. “Rebecca, look out!”

  Rebecca is just about to get in, when she turns her head and sees the creature.

  It’s standing in the middle of the road. Staring right at her.

  Regan shouts something.

  Rebecca throws herself into the car.

  Regan guns it and the car lurches backwards.

  Rebecca stares out at the creature, expecting it to run after them—but to her surprise, it doesn’t move an inch; it just stands there, staring after the car.

  “I think it finally gave up,” Reg
an says, once she realizes the creature isn’t taking up pursuit. She slows down only a little. “Thank God. Are you okay, Andy?”

  “I think so,” Andy mutters, but Rebecca can hear him moan and hold his head in his hands as though it’s throbbing. “Thank you for coming to save us, Regan.”

  “I’m sorry I didn’t come earlier, but I didn’t figure it out until yesterday, and I … oh, my arm!”

  “You need to get to the hospital,” Rebecca says. “You both do.”

  At that moment, they reach the highway. Regan turns onto the asphalt, stops, and uses her good arm to put the car in drive.

  Rebecca looks back up the driveway, and can still see the creature standing there; now it’s only a thin, grey line next to the tipped-over van.

  Just as they begin to roll down the road, Rebecca sees the blue lights up ahead. “Is that … the police?”

  Andy lifts his head. “The police? Already?”

  “Yeah,” Regan moans, stopping the car again. “They traced my call the first time, so they had already sent someone out when I called them the second time.”

  She leans back her head and closes her eyes.

  Then, Rebecca turns to look at Andy.

  He’s very pale and still looks nauseous. Yet he looks up at her and manages a smile, as he whispers: “We did it. This time, we really did it, Becca.”

  EPILOGUE

  “You ready yet?”

  Rebecca looks at him from the open front door. Doris is pulling at the leash impatiently, eager to get going. The puppy has grown quite a lot since the first time Andy saw it.

  “Hold your horses,” he says, fumbling with his laces. “I can’t get this knot untied—it’s all tangled.”

  “You’re so clumsy,” Rebecca sighs and steps over to him. “Let me do it.”

  She kneels down, shoving his hands aside. With a few brisk movements, she unties the knot and ties his shoe.

  Andy looks at her, smiling. When they first got home, he was afraid the wendigo might have sucked too much life force out of Rebecca for her to ever become herself again. And it seemed like it to begin with; Rebecca was very anxious and restless and would often cry. She also rarely spoke and had trouble sleeping at night due to bad dreams.

  But it’s been nearly two months now, and Rebecca has already changed back to her old, familiar self in most ways: She doesn’t cry anymore, and she talks a lot again. And when Andy tripped in the driveway the other day and fell down, she laughed out loud. Andy didn’t even get mad at her; he was just so happy to hear Rebecca laugh again.

  Now she gets up and says: “There. That wasn’t very hard, was it?”

  “Thank you,” Andy says, smiling at her, his eyes lingering on her face for a moment.

  Rebecca squints. “What are you looking at?”

  “Your glasses.”

  “Don’t tease me.”

  “No, they look good on you.”

  Rebecca crosses her arms, but doesn’t say anything.

  Andy can’t help it, and he goes on: “Remember all the times you called me four-eyes when you got angry with me? Well, now that’s come back to bite you in the butt, missy.”

  Rebecca sighs. “Right, can we get going? Doris is about to pee on the floor.”

  “I’ll just tell Mom we’re going.” Andy goes to peek into the living room. “Mom? We’re leaving now.”

  Mom is reading a book while eating an apple. She stops chewing and sends him an alarmed look; Andy can see the words building up.

  Then Mom thinks better of it, and instead she asks: “You got your phone on you?”

  “Sure do.”

  “Good.” She forces a smile. “Have fun.”

  Andy returns the smile and closes the door to the living room again. Rebecca is not the only one who has changed back to her old self, and it makes Andy happy to see Mom feeling better every day.

  Those first weeks were tough, though; she wouldn’t let either Andy or Rebecca out of sight, even demanding they all sleep in the same room. But after she went to see a therapist, she slowly began to relax. Now and then she can still fall back to the habits of New Mom and become harsh and overprotective, but Andy feels confident she just needs time.

  Dad is also his old self again—in fact, even more so than before. It’s almost like his work doesn’t mean as much to him any longer. He’s cut down on his office hours and spends a lot more time with Andy and Rebecca in the afternoon, which he only rarely did before.

  Even Cindy seems different. She eats home every night and she talks a lot more with Mom and Dad than she used to. She has also forgiven Andy for busting up her scooter. Actually, Andy suspects she might even be glad he did, since she used the money from the insurance to start saving for a car. Also, she has stopped dying her hair.

  Andy follows Rebecca out into the driveway, where a fresh fall breeze and a golden sunshine greet them. Doris runs around, eagerly sniffing everything.

  They walk through town without saying much. It’s a quiet Saturday afternoon. All the cars, cyclists and pedestrians move slow, like none of them are in a hurry to get anywhere, but prefer to simply enjoy what will probably be one of the last warm days this year.

  A car rolls by, and Andy recognizes the girl in the passenger seat. He waves, and Sheila waves back. Then she’s gone.

  “Who was that?” Rebecca says, pushing her glasses up her nose.

  “Just someone from class,” Andy shrugs.

  Sheila has begun smiling at Andy whenever their eyes meet. She even talks to him now and then. Andy is pretty sure she’s grateful to him that Kristy was finally found.

  After the police arrested him, Ambroos van de Goor confessed to kidnapping six girls over the years and killing at least five people. Once the police began digging up his garden, they found plenty of bones—including Sheila’s older sister’s.

  Kristy didn’t drown in the stream in the park like the police had originally reasoned. Her clothes and schoolbag had only ended up there, because Ambroos van de Goor had dumped them after he kidnapped her. In reality, she died in his home two years after he took her. She got appendicitis and he didn’t take her to the hospital.

  Ambroos van de Goor also confessed to being responsible for the death of Lisa Labowski. He kidnapped her six months after he had buried Kristy in his garden. Lisa was kept as a prisoner for four months, but much like Rebecca, she never really stopped trying to escape, and he couldn’t leave her home alone, so whenever he had to go to town, he brought her in the back of the van.

  One day, Lisa managed to pick the lock and open the back door from the inside. But it happened so unexpectedly that she fell out while the van was still driving. A car coming the opposite way struck Lisa before she could get to her feet and killed her instantly. It happened right outside the library.

  Andy can still recall what Lisa had told him.

  “kidnapped”

  “yellow van”

  “blinding sunlight”

  Back then, those fragments didn’t make much sense to him, but now he can fill in the blanks and vividly imagine Lisa in the back of the van, scared and alone in the dark, fumbling with the lock, and when she suddenly got it and the doors swung open, the sunlight streaming in must have felt very intense. Maybe it even blinded her. Maybe that’s why she fell out.

  Unfortunately, no one noticed Lisa falling out of the van, so it was never uncovered how she suddenly appeared in the middle of town after having been gone for four months. And no one apparently read too much into the fact that Lisa’s hair color had changed from auburn to blond; it only confirmed the suspicion many people had that the girl had run away from home in some sort of teenage revelry and didn’t want to get found.

  Andy, of course, figured out the truth: the wendigo had forced Lisa to dye her hair blond just like it did to Rebecca.

  After the final fight with the wendigo, Andy spent a week in the hospital. He suffered a bad concussion, a twisted knee and two broken ribs.

  As soon as he got home, he
went to the library to tell Lisa everything. But once he stood there, holding The Wendigo, Lisa was oddly silent. He tried several other books, but she still didn’t answer, and she hasn’t spoken to him since.

  Although he could sense Lisa was no longer in the library, it still took Andy some time to accept she was gone for good. Gradually, he grew to understand she had only lived in the books on borrowed time to begin with, and that she had now gone on to whatever awaits after death.

  It still strikes him as odd, though, that Lisa would disappear right after Rebecca came back. The explanation could be that she lingered in the books to help Andy find Rebecca and get her own murderer thrown in jail. That would make sense, Andy figured; after all, ghosts probably have a reason for sticking around. Something that hasn’t been resolved. And as soon as it is, they move on.

  But there is also another explanation. One that Andy cares a lot less for.

  Perhaps the ghost of Lisa Labowski was never really there. Perhaps it all took place in his imagination. All the lines, all the conversations he had with her—it could all be make-believe.

  They pass the library, and Andy stops for a moment. It’s Saturday, so Regan won’t be at work, and the turquoise car isn’t parked outside the building.

  In the weeks after the fight, Regan wore her arm in cast, and Andy got to sign it with a marker. He wrote: Thank you, Regan, and Regan teared up. Their friendship has grown even stronger than before. Every time they meet, Regan hugs him, and she even came over for dinner a couple of times. Mom and Dad couldn’t stop thanking her, and Mom bought a huge bouquet of flowers for her.

  Andy didn’t get any flowers, and he guesses that’s only fair. After all, he wasn’t actually the one who freed Rebecca, although he played a vital part. Everyone at school has told him how brave he was, but in the media, it’s Regan getting all the fame.

  Young woman rescues two kidnapped children—risked her own life!

  Andy is okay with Regan taking the glory. To him, the most important thing is that Rebecca is home.