Between Time

by Bond, Carolyn

  They put on shoes and Allen grabbed his keys and wallet and out they went. The sun was shining low through the trees from the west. The red orange light was brilliant in the crisp mountain sky. By the time they got into town, the light was nearly gone and headlights and street lights were on. The little parking lot next to the Europa was full from the square dancers. Allen looped down Main Street and parallel parked in front of a store two doors down.

  Marie noticed it was a vacuum repair shop. The open sign was still hanging in the door. A dim neon light was on inside. It was going out and blinked in a random pattern. The store owner was sitting on a stool near a work table with vacuum parts laying everywhere. There was another man there. He didn’t look like a protector or a customer. Marie noticed the store owner was counting money. A lot of money. The other man was behind him with his arm around him. He looked like a hungry carnival con trying to convince someone to see a bearded lady. The store owner rolled up the money and put it in his pocket. The other man smiled wide and then, saw Marie looking at him through the window. His expression took on a new look of interest. He seemed surprised that Marie saw him. Darkness filled his expression and he suddenly disappeared.

  Marie was momentarily jolted. What was that? Was it a shadow? But it looked like a person? Not a shadow? And then it looked at her and disappeared! She was bewildered.

  Allen put his arm around her, “Ready?” he said.

  Marie looked at him blankly and said, “Yes.” She glanced back into the vacuum shop as they walked away. The owner was tinkering with a vacuum.

  Allen opened the door to the diner and held it for her. She smiled at him as she went through and he winked back. They found an empty booth near the back. Square dancers were everywhere. Ruffles on ladies’ skirts and men’s shirts with colored stitching made the diner look like live decorations were swirling around the room. Laughter and chatter filled the air. This was what Marie loved most about this diner. She wanted to always remember the feeling when it was busy with life and joy.

  They scooted in their seats and felt relieved to have their own space in the crowd. It would likely be a few minutes before Peg the waitress would get to them. Marie saw her across the diner busily writing an order and not looking at the guests the whole time.

  “So it’ll be a long trip to Kentucky in the Jeep after school is out. It could take us four or five days to get there,” Allen said.

  “Oh, that’ll be an adventure!” Marie said.

  “I was thinking we could map out campgrounds along the way at state and national parks. There really isn’t a rush to get there. We could visit some places and hike a little.”

  “I’d love that. The weather should be nice enough that camping will be fun.” Marie said. Marie thought that getting away from any crowds would be a welcome change. Now that the population of the world seems to have doubled. “I would love to see some of the Rockies. Other than driving through them when I was kid, I have never spent any time there exploring.”

  Peg the waitress finally made it over, working over the gum in her mouth like a grinder. “Welcome to the Europa. What can I getcha?” she said looking at her order pad, pen hovering ready.

  Marie said, “I’d like a Coke.”

  “Dr. Pepper for me,” said Allen. “And we know what we want if it’ll save you a trip.”

  “Sure. What would you like?” Still staring at the pad and scribbling away.

  “Two club sandwiches with fries,” said Allen.

  “Sure thing, kiddos,” said Peg as she turned to go and vanished in the ruffled crowd.

  “So, Allen, you said once that you don’t believe in guardian angels. What do you think happens to us after we die?” Marie decided to throw it out there. They hadn’t talked much about religion. Neither went to church, but they hadn’t talked much about it.

  “Well, who really knows, you know? The only people that really know are dead and they aren’t telling us much about it. So, it’s all just speculation, isn’t it? I like to deal with what I know to be true with my own eyes. I’m not ruling anything out, but I haven’t seen much evidence other than the obvious: when our bodies go, we are done.”

  “Yeah, I get that. But I know a lot of people have seen ghosts. They have lived in houses that had a ghost that lived there. They saw something with their own eyes. There must be something more.” Marie said.

  Allen pursed his lips and his dimple became more pronounced. “I will agree there are some things that are unexplained. Without more evidence, how can we know anything for certain?”

  “So you don’t believe in heaven?” Marie asked.

  “Or hell?” He added.

  “Yeah. I guess they go together.”

  “Well, I can’t say for sure. I guess I’m not convinced or unconvinced. I just rely on what I know to be true with my own eyes.” Said Allen.

  “I suppose that’s fair. I would like to think there is a heaven. I would like to think one day I’ll see my grandma again. I miss her. She believed in heaven.” Marie thought about all the times her grandmother had told her God loved her and sent her little gifts like a cross necklace she kept in her jewelry box.

  The waitress brought their drinks, deposited them on the table on coaster napkins and spun away without a word.

  “Well,” said Marie as she took a draw on the straw in her Coke. “Let’s make a pact. If something happens to one of us, the other will try to contact them. Okay?”

  “Sounds fair, I suppose. Although, you might not want me hanging around when you move on and get a new guy. Three’s a crowd, you know!” He laughed. “I might think it’s a lot of fun to trip him now and then. That’ll be your sign!”

  They both laughed at that thought.

  ***

  Back at the dorm, they curled up in bed together. Allen had his arm around her waist. She liked the feeling of his warm body against her back.

  “I love you, Allen,” she said.

  “I love you, too. Always and forever,” he answered back.

  “Always and forever.”

  ***

  Marie closed her eyes and slipped into bliss. Just before dawn, she awoke to a sound. She thought she’d heard something. Rain started pelting the window and she saw the trees being blown by the wind. Allen mumbled in his sleep and turned over. She ran her fingers through his soft blond hair and fell back to sleep.

  Ben was leaning against the wall by the window. He waited until she fell back asleep and then went into the living room where Jacob was talking to Tom and Henry.

  Henry was talking to them about what he’d heard. “There has been an uptick in activity in this area. The shadows have figured out something is up. We expect them to start poking around to figure out what is going on. We just need to be vigilant. I don’t think they’ll try anything until they know more.”

  “Did Lorenzo give any reason why she is seeing everything?” asked Jacob.

  “He knows, of course, but he didn’t tell us. He is very concerned for her. You know there was another one about 20 years ago that started to see and things didn’t go well.” Henry added.

  Marie was dreaming that she was in a meadow in Yosemite. It was a little meadow near the Yosemite Institute. It was early in the morning and the sun was shining on half the meadow. Dew was on the tall grass and little beetles were crawling up the blades to get a drink. She was sitting inside a sleeping bag having just woke up. The night had been cold. She heard the crunch of grass behind her and twisted around. A young man about twenty in jeans and hoodie was standing there. He came around her and sat cross-legged on the ground.

  “Are you the one that stays with me?” Marie asked.

  His dark curly hair ruffled in the morning breeze. His hazel green eyes gazed lovingly at her. “Yes, I’m Ben. Do you know how much you’re loved?”

  She thought that was an odd thing to say, but replied, “Um, yeah. I mean I know Allen and my parents love me.”

  “Use that love they give you to fight. When the time comes, th
at’s what will save you.” She looked at him quizzically.

  “When what time comes? What’s that supposed to mean?” She tried to ask, but he vanished. She was alone in the meadow. Suddenly, it grew dark, like a cloud passed in front of the sun. She looked around and saw the black smoke-like shadows creeping towards her. She stood up and looked around trying to decide which way to run but it was coming from all sides faster than she would have guessed. Within seconds it was upon her. Long, stick-like arms stretched forward with their bony fingers and claw nails and tried to grasp her. She spun around and jumped back only to find herself enveloped. There was no way out. Blackness was all she could see. She screamed as loud as she could, but in the dorm bedroom, only a whimper was heard. It was just enough to catch Henry’s attention.

  Henry had been talking to the other protectors and stopped abruptly, holding his hand up to quiet the others as he listened. He raced into the bedroom, but it was too late. He could tell that her spirit was gone. Just a shell of a person was left. She was still alive, but without her spirit, her body was in a coma-like state.

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER 11 - ON THE OTHER SIDE

  It was dark and barren. Rocks and boulders were strewn all over the ground. Marie had no idea where she was. It all looked unfamiliar. She was not alone. Shadows were everywhere. There was a slight hissing sound in the air. She sat up and shook her hair out. There was dirt and pebbles encrusted in her hair that fell as she shook. She looked at her clothes and her arms as she sat up and leaned against a large boulder. She had been unconscious, she was sure. She didn’t have any cuts or scrapes, surprisingly, because it looked like she had been drug on the ground. She didn’t have long to ponder where she was. The shadows were coming closer.

  They’d figured out she woke up and started to circle around her and take shape. Without any fear in their own headquarters, they quickly went from smoky shadows to people. People that, in life, Marie would have avoided. A woman with a very hard, very haughty look on her face came forward looking down her nose at Marie until she stood directly in front of her. She stood looking at Marie with her arms crossed and her feet squared, shoulder-width apart.

  “Well, girlie! Welcome to our world, YOUR new world!” she growled while still eyeing Marie without relief. “You don’t look near as amazing,” she said with a mocking tone, “as your reputation would have me think. But first I have some questions for you. How come you can see us?” This last sentence she nearly demanded.

  Marie looked the woman up and down. She seemed to be about 25 with curly dark red hair that wildly fell around her shoulders. She had a dour pinched face and no makeup. Her skin had angry red blemishes on top of freckles. Dark circles were deep under her eyes. Marie thought she looked like she had recently been terribly sick. Terribly sick and very angry about it.

  “I have no idea and WHO are you?” said Marie defiantly.

  The woman laughed and said, “Your worst nightmare. Of course you have no idea who I am. You and your stupid line of self-absorbed blithering idiots! For now, I will tell you that I have a score to settle. Something of mine was taken and someone will need to make up for it. In the meantime, get to know my pals. They’re bored and need some entertainment. ”

  With that that she swept her right arm out to the side to show the others gathering behind her. Marie thought they would all make perfect zombies. They all looked haggard and tired. Pale, colorless faces with dark circles under their eyes. Some looked angry and some just looked sad. On a bad day, Marie looked like a beauty queen compared to this crowd.

  “Where am I?” Marie demanded. “Where is Allen? What do you want with me?”

  The woman smirked, “You don’t need to worry about any of that. None of that matters. Your stupid little life is done now.” She came forward and grabbed Marie by the hair on top of her head and forced Marie’s face up to look into her eyes. “They have moved on and forgotten all about you, just like people like you would do about someone they see as NOTHING!” The hard toned changed to a fake, patronizing croon, “We are your new buddies. We’ll never leave you like they did.”

  “What are you talking about?” Marie was getting more confused by the minute. The woman let go of her and stepped back, clearly done with this conversation.

  “You’re here now. Get used to it.” The woman said and looked Marie up and down with obvious disdain. Then she turned and left. After she left, the others got closed and started picking at her, pulling at her arms and clothes. They didn’t talk but just slightly hissed. They pulled at her hair and touched her face. Marie tried to scream and push them away, but now all she could do was hiss as well. They were tormenting her, but why. She had nothing to offer. It was almost like there was nothing else for them to do. Every so often she would hear words in the hisses, “You’re ugly! You’re so fat! You’re nothing!”

  This went on for what seemed like hours. She cried. She curled up in a ball. She tried to cover her head, but they never ceased. The picking, pulling and hate-filled words continued no matter what. She couldn’t run or even get up. They would trip her and pull her down. In this weird place, there was no time. The sun didn’t come up and the weather didn’t change. They never got hungry, because although she didn’t know it, they didn’t have real bodies. They were just the angry, bitter souls that never had compassion, that were always self-absorbed. They wanted to consume her for the peace she had without having to find peace on their own. Others were just jealous and wanted her to feel the pain and torment they did.

  Marie tried to retreat in her mind to a safe place and ignore the world from her skin outward. She had no way to get away and save herself. She tried to think of things that made her feel at peace. She thought of lying across the bow of her parents’ sailboat staring down into the blue-green depths of ocean as the boat cut through the swells at full sail. The shafts of light moved with her and flecks sparkled in the water. She remembered the up and down swells and the light shining into the water and it relaxed her. She tried to let that thought supersede what was happening around her.

  ***

  Hester needed time to think. She felt exhilarated and was having trouble containing herself. Now that she had Marie in her clutches, she needed to think about the best way to get her revenge. No need to tip all of her hand just yet. She thought about how much she hated that damn Jenny for stealing Tom away. Even though it had been over 200 years, the pain was like yesterday because every day of her miserable existence reflected the immensity of what Jenny did to her, what Tom did to her. She thought about the multiple children and grandchildren she had been able to squash out of existence, causing untold, deliriously satisfying pain for Jenny and Tom. All of this did satisfy her empty, angry heart to some degree, but it never matched the unfairness of her pathetic life. Her life and even her afterlife had been marred and ruined. She’d loved Tom. She waited for him, but he chose Jenny. She had married Leonard, his brother, as a way to stay close to him, hoping Tom would eventually come to his senses. She had made sure she never carried a child to term so that her first born could be his. All this she did and it was for nothing. Her life had been ruined because of Jenny coming along and distracting him.

  Marie was the first one she had been able to snatch from life who yet lived, now under her control. She had always heard from the Dark Shadows that Marie had legendary power to rebuff their efforts to overwhelm her. What was the source of that power? Would she still have that power here, in the other world? Hester thought the best way to finally get her peace of mind was to somehow get Marie to destroy Jenny, her own grandmother many generations removed, and then Hester could finally have Tom all to herself, even if she had to enslave him to do so.

  ***

  Ben was freaking out. “What happened to her?” he asked Henry as he grabbed at Henry’s shirt. Ben’s eyes were wild with terror. He was crying as he talked.

  “Ben! Calm down. We’ll search for her!” Henry said. “Jacob take Ben in the bedroom and search for any dist
ortion residues that might give us a clue.”

  Jacob put his arm around Ben and led him from the living room of the dorm. Tom had an alarmed but controlled look on his face.

  “Henry, I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s obvious they snatched her but how? How did they take her right under our noses? And where? Is she alive? If she is in the middle of their lair, how can we get her? Why did they even try this? It’s very bold. Lorenzo will not be happy at all.”

  “Yeah, all good questions. All I can figure is that when they noticed she could see them, they took it as an invitation that she wanted to join them. Either that or she just intrigued them and they wanted to add her to their collection. Who knows what they think.

  “My guess is that they did take her to their lair. That’s the safest place for them. They have to know we will search for her. At least there they have numbers on their side. We do need to tell Lorenzo immediately.”

  They flashed out to the Gathering and walked across the marble portico. As they approached Lorenzo, he looked up. He already knew. Sadness permeated from his face. A tear fell down his cheek.

  “Lorenzo! Marie has been taken,” Henry said redundantly, his strawberry blond waves blowing in the soft breeze. His usually joyful expression replaced with a look like he was about to cry.

  Lorenzo and Henry embraced and grimaced with the pain of worry for Marie. Lorenzo embraced Tom next and the three paused to think before speaking. Lorenzo had his hands on his hips and studied the floor.

  “I know where she is. They have her in their lair. They are tormenting her. She’ll break before long and become bitter like them. When the anger comes, she’ll fight back and want to destroy them just like they want to destroy her. Then we may never reach her.” lamented Lorenzo. “It’s happened before but we didn’t get there in time. It all depends on her.”