Between Time

by Bond, Carolyn

  “The whole reason life expectancy has increased over the last 100 years is because there are more of us now. They,” he nodded Ben’s way again, “think it’s because of hand washing and seat belts!” He chuckled to himself. “The population on both sides is exploding.”

  “So this is normal?” asked Ben incredulously. “They just come at them and trick them? You saw what happened? They teased her into leaning out over the water. They let her see them. That isn’t fair. Now she is all confused and thinks she’s crazy. Allen is worried she’s crazy. None of it makes sense to them. How can the dark souls get away with that?”

  “True, they stepped across the line, but they do that. Usually the living chalk it up to ‘lack of oxygen’ or fatigue. They rationalize what they don’t understand. It’s very convenient,” said Jacob. He looked around the room in a sweep to scan for disturbances. A shadow was creeping along the edge of the room building in size. He eyed it and then got up. Walking over to the edge of the wall, he said, “She’ll be okay. She has a very pure heart with little malice. Honestly I am not sure why they are trying so hard. There are easier ones to get.” When he got over to the shadow he stepped on it and it fizzled away.

  Ben had learned that often, just the mere recognition of the dark presences was enough to drive them away. They didn’t like outright battles. They much preferred to sneak up when no one was looking and quietly pull the living souls to them. Some Protectors were lazy or kept disappearing. It was sad because their assigned soul was always left vulnerable and had little chance for making it. A sitting duck is what they were.

  CHAPTER 7 - SEEING WITH NEW EYES

  She’d been having a nightmare about being pulled to the bottom of the sea by a great squid with long tentacles. The large green eye staring at her terrified her. She tried to scream, but under the water, there was no sound. No one heard. She felt terribly alone as the darkness enclosed around her. Thrashing to get loose, she awoke in the dark night and realized the blanket had twisted around her. She relaxed against the pillow under her head. Allen must have covered her and put a pillow under her head. The room was dark, but she could hear his breathing in the bedroom. She tried to shake off the thoughts of the nightmare, but it was all too real and similar to what she’d been through.

  As her eyes focused in the dark, she saw a movement in the corner of the room. Was it a person? Had someone broken in? Panicking, she cried out, “Allen!” Within seconds, he was beside her, stumbling through the dark.

  “Are you okay?” he said checking her over.

  “I thought I saw someone, over there!” she said as she pointed to the opposite corner near the table and chairs. He looked immediately. He didn’t see anything, but got up and went to investigate. He turned on the light. Nothing. He looked back at her with his brows knitted together.

  “There’s no one here. You’re okay. You must have had a nightmare,” he said.

  “I did. It was awful!” she said thinking back and grimacing. He came back and sat down next to her. “I feel all messed up, Allen. I can’t tell what’s real and what isn’t!”

  “It’s okay. The doctor said that is normal after something traumatic. He gave you the meds to help your nerves. Do you want one?” he asked.

  “Sure. Maybe it will help,” she said. He got up and went to the kitchen. She heard him getting her a glass of water, rumpling paper from the pharmacy bag. She looked around the room looking for shadows. She knew something was still wrong. She couldn’t see it, but she knew they weren’t alone. How could she explain that to him?

  He came back in and handed her the pill and then the glass of water. It made him feel better to be able to do something to help her. Maybe the meds would take care of it. This was just something she would need to work through and then she would be okay. He could help her through it.

  She drank the last of the water and shrugged back down against the pillow looking at him. “It’ll just take time,” he said. “It’s like a car accident that freaks you out for a while. No big deal.”

  She wanted to believe him. She really, really wanted that to be true. But it was more than just her head. Well, at least she hoped it was or else she really was losing her mind. Either there really were beings in the shadows or she was nuts. Neither prospect made her feel good. She’d heard once that the difference between normal and crazy people is that normal people know they are messed up, but crazy people think they are ok. It was highly likely she was crazy.

  She started to relax and her eyes couldn’t stay open. She knew it was the meds and she let it take her away into the blissful swirl in her mind. She had a wonderful feeling that none of that mattered and she could fly across fields of spring flowers. She closed her eyes and rested.

  Allen held her close. His heart swelled with concern. He wanted her to be okay. If only he had caught her. He wished he could fix this, but all he could do was stay by her.

  ***

  The next morning they decided to go into town for breakfast. They got dressed and headed to the car. The morning air was crisp and smelled like pine. Marie breathed deeply. The meds were still having their affect. She felt calm. It was like all that fear was far away and someone else’s. As they drove, they didn’t say anything. Allen was feeling very protective and would glance at her. She looked out her window into the trees. The morning light was shining in shafts down to the ground like little spotlights on a stage. Everything seemed so peaceful, but yet, she knew, even with the meds, it was different. She didn’t say anything to Allen. What could she say? There was nothing he could see. Nothing she could put her finger on. It was just a knowledge that there was more around them than she had ever seen.

  They parked, got out and were walking inside. She looked across the street and saw the older couple that had been at the diner the other day. They were going in a shoe shop. The lady had an indignant scowl. Marie wondered what she was thinking. The man was looking down as he walked. He held the door for the lady when they got to the store. The lady walked inside like she was the queen of England.

  Then Marie saw another young woman follow them in, like she was with them. Maybe that was the lady’s daughter. She had never seen her before.

  Allen held the door to the Europa Café open for Marie who was still looking across the street. “Whatcha’ see?” he asked.

  “Oh! Nothing.” Marie said as she nearly ran into him. “Just that lady and her husband who were here yesterday.” She turned and went into the diner. They sat at a booth by the window. They sat silently looking around the diner waiting for the waitress. A lady in her 30s in a ruffled dress with an apron that looked like something Marie would have worn when she was four years old came to the table. Her name badge said, “Peg.”

  “Welcome to the Europa. What can I get you to drink?” she said without even looking at them. She had her pen ready, hovering over the order pad.

  Marie said, “I’ll have coffee with cream and sugar.” Allen said, “I’d like a Dr. Pepper.” The waitress scribbled on the pad and turned on her heel.

  It was Sunday. The diner was pretty busy. Some people were dressed in suits and dresses. They must have been at church earlier. Marie and Allen had slept late and it was nearly 11:00 by now. Marie looked at one family sitting nearby with two small kids. The mom was wearing a pink linen dress with pearls. The kids were in dress clothes with shiny little patent leather shoes. The mom was talking away about what had been said in her Sunday school group.

  Marie had been to church when she was very young. Her parents had dressed her up and she would play with the brick-like blocks with the other kids in the nursery. She never really understood what the point of going was. She knew who Jesus was and his mother Mary and father Joseph. The few times she had sat in big church with her parents, she couldn’t understand what they were talking about. They used big words that no one else ever said. Her family moved and life got hectic. Her parents started sleeping in on the weekends. They never went back. Marie had her own ideas about what religion
was about, but she really didn’t know what she believed. It seemed like a bunch of hocus pocus to her. Maybe aliens had visited earth back when man was still primitive and legends grew that people thought explained the origins of man. Anything was possible.

  One thing was certain, she felt like she had nothing in common with the little family in fresh dress clothes chatting away about “Sunday lessons.” Nothing, except she remembered being little like their little girl all dressed up and eating at a diner after church. She used to look forward to getting chocolate milk with her dinner. She wondered what they learned in “Sunday lessons.” Did they learn to tell the truth or be kind? Maybe they learned about saints who lived long ago. Maybe it was all about history.

  “We need to gather some bark samples for dendrology today. They are due tomorrow,” said Allen. Marie came out of her thoughts and looked at him. She had forgotten all about the assignment. They were going to see about finding some samples during their hike and that hadn’t worked out.

  “Ok,” she said. “Let’s just look around campus when we get back. I am not up for a hike again today!” she laughed. “We just need three each. I need to study for art history, too. I have a test tomorrow.”

  The waitress brought their drinks and took their order for breakfast. Breakfast was Marie’s favorite meal of the day. She got eggs and bacon with hash browns. Allen just got scrambled eggs and toast.

  “Sam and Ellen went to his parents’ house in San Fran for the weekend. I wonder how that is going. He was introducing Ellen to them for the first time,” Allen said. Sam was Allen’s roommate at the beginning of the school year. Sam met Ellen and they started dating hot and heavy and moved into her apartment in Sonora. His family was a bit mafia-like to Marie. Sam never would tell what his parents did for a living and he seemed very urban. He really didn’t fit in with the natural scenery around the college. Marie and Allen really were not sure why he’d chosen to come to Columbia College. Ellen seemed to be a bit of a mismatch with the town, too, so they went well together.

  “Probably getting along great! Bet they have been eating dinner at the steakhouse and hanging out in a mansion. That’s how I would imagine them,” Marie said.

  “He’s a little odd. So is she. But, he does have interesting stories. He went to a private school there. I don’t know what he saw in Columbia College. I wonder if he is kind of hiding out here,” Allen said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t trying to keep a low profile for a while. He told me once that his parents had told his friends that he was going to college back east.”

  “Isn’t is strange how different some people’s lives are?” Marie said. I would feel like such a fish out of water around his family. He seems like a nice enough guy, but I wonder sometimes what he isn’t saying. And then he is never short on cash. He and Ellen are grilling steak and having lobster all the time. The poor “Saf-ay” probably isn’t used to staying stocked on the high end foods!”

  The waitress brought their food. Marie looked at her plate like it was Christmas. Everything looked yummy. She picked up the fork and started in. They ate in silence for several minutes. Marie was absently looking at the window and eating bacon when she noticed the lady, her husband and the other lady leave the shoe store. The lady had a bag on her arm. She must have found the shoes she was looking for. The younger woman leaned into the lady’s ear and whispered something. The lady shrugged it off. The man trudged along behind them. The younger lady would look back at the man and then whispered in the lady’s ear again. The older lady would just look off into the sky. It was really an odd scene. The man seemed to pay no mind to the younger lady like she wasn’t even there.

  “Allen, do you see those three on the sidewalk across the street?” Marie said.

  Allen looked out the window and cocked his head. “I see the man and lady. Did you say three?”

  “Yeah, the man and the lady and then a younger lady with dark hair,” she said.

  “I only see the two,” he said.

  “Hm,” said Marie. Looking at the three people plainly standing next to the car. The man was unlocking the car door. “The younger lady is right there. She is whispering in the older lady’s ear. She is wearing a blue sweater.”

  “Uh, I only see the two.” Allen looked at Marie. “So what about them anyway?”

  Marie looked confused and then remembered what she was going to say. “Well, I just thought it was weird the younger lady kept whispering in the lady’s ear, but…” Marie trailed off thinking if he couldn’t see the younger lady that would make no sense. None of it made sense. How come he couldn’t see the younger lady? She wanted to press it, but she felt really odd about it. She looked back out at the street just as the car pulled away with the three of them. Maybe she was losing her mind.

  Marie looked around the diner. It seemed even more crowded now. Where did all these people come from? She hadn’t noticed them coming in. The booths were packed with four and six people per table. She started feeling dizzy and claustrophobic. She put her hand on her forehead and closed her eyes.

  “Are you okay, Marie?” Allen asked with concern.

  “I don’t feel so good. I need some air!” Marie jumped up and made for the door. She felt like she had to crawl over people. The little bell jingled above the door as she abruptly pushed it open and went out. She leaned against the brick wall outside next to the door panting with her eyes closed. She was afraid to look, afraid to see. Something was off, she knew it.

  Allen watched her go out, not knowing what happened. He quickly left a $10 and a $5 on the table and grabbed their coats. As he turned to head out the door, he nearly slammed into Lydia. He managed to stop the forward momentum just before they made contact. She never moved, appearing to almost welcome him crashing into her.

  “Trouble in paradise, Allen?” She looked up at him from under seductive lids that were more of an invitation than a question.

  “What?” he said baffled.

  “Well, she dashed out of here. I thought maybe there was trouble. Maybe you needed to talk. You’re welcome to join me.” She smiled and gestured to a table where she was clearly the only guest.

  “Uh.” Allen was thrown off by her obviously assertive opportunistic suggestion. “No, Lydia. I’m not interested,” he put a strong emphasis on the last word and didn’t wait for a reply as he strode toward the door, shaking off the unexpected interference.

  A minute later he was by her side with his hands on her arms. “Look at me! Marie! Are you okay?”

  “Yes, it just…” she said as she blinked open her eyes. He looked like home. Maybe she could just look into his eyes and stay in this moment forever and it would all be okay. “It’s just, I’m dizzy and I felt nauseous. I’m okay. Probably just the lack of oxygen yesterday.” She continued to look into his eyes like he was the rope keeping her connected to reality.

  CHAPTER 8 – THE OTHERS

  The next week was a blur for Marie. She tried to concentrate on her classes, but she was constantly distracted by shadows. There were people around that she knew she had never seen before. Some looked like they were foreigners. She had mentioned it a couple times to Allen and he didn’t see them. She stopped asking because he looked at her with such concern. She didn’t want to upset him. One thing she knew by now, she could see people that he couldn’t. She even asked her friend Kay who she’d been riding with on the tram she drove for the school that afternoon. Marie had seen a young man with Kay. He was talking to her and she seemed to be nodding. Kay told her no one had taken the tram that afternoon. She’d made her rounds from the school to the parking lot three times without any passengers. It was a long walk from the parking lot to the buildings and the school had purchased an extended golf cart and hired students to drive it in shifts. It was food money for Kay. Sometimes Marie took her shift if Kay had something going on. If there was bad weather, there would be several passengers, but if the weather was nice, it was easy money to sit and wait at the bus stop sipping coffee.


  Once, Kay and Marie drove it together to have a chance to visit. It was a cold evening and Kay suggested using the lighter to warm her face. That was when Marie figured out how flammable eyebrows are. In a flash of light, she burned off her eyebrows. Not the best idea for keeping warm, but they did laugh until their bellies hurt waving away the smell of burned hair. She was lucky her whole head didn’t catch on fire. It would have if Tom hadn’t intervened, but she had no idea.

  Kay said she had had no passengers that afternoon. There was no young man. Kay had been seeing Jack for two years off and on, so I felt sure she wasn’t seeing someone else, but maybe she was trying to hide a new man. Either that, or it was one of the “others.” That’s what Marie had started calling them. The people she saw that no one else did.

  The others never seemed to hurt anyone. They just were there. They walked with people. They would whisper to people. Sometimes it appeared that the people heard, like when she saw Kay nod while the young man talked. Sometimes they just looked the other way defiantly. Sometimes the people seemed truly not to hear them.

  It made Marie wonder, were there others around her and Allen. She had never seen them. The only thing she ever saw around them was shadows in the corner of her eye. Mostly when she was watching TV or focused on the professor. She would see a shadow along the edge of the floor or behind a chair from the corner of her eye. As soon as she turned her eyes to look, it would disappear. She wondered if that was a residual visual problem from the drowning. That made sense.

  ***

  One afternoon, after classes were done, she and Allen decided to drive to Soulsbyville to look for a shop Kay had mentioned. Kay liked incense and her birthday was coming up. This particular shop was run by a woman who made her own blends of oils and incense sticks. Kay’s comment was that this woman was “Way cool! She had like 50 different blends that she made herself. It’s awesome just to stand there and smell the shop!” Kay, with her natural fiber clothes, straight, unisex haircut, and lack of shaving preference, was a bit of a hippie.