Into the Void

by Amanda Frame

  He leaned forward and placed his hands on top of mine. In spite of the crazy turn this evening was taking, his touch was comforting. His wrinkly hands were still damp from the condensation. He sighed.

  “Anna. I need you to understand something. You. Are. Not. Crazy.” He stared deep into my eyes, and I could see truth and wisdom in his. I felt an immense weight lifted off my shoulders, and somehow I knew I could believe everything he was telling me. I let out a tearless, short sob.

  “Really?”

  “Really.” He smiled, but then it melted. “And I will absolutely help you but…I’m sorry, but…I need your help in return.”

  Again, confusion. My eyebrows knit together. “You? Need my help?”

  “Yes. I’m afraid I might be dying.”

  CHAPTER 17

  JOHN

  They took me to the hospital the day I “fell down the stairs,” where the emergency room doctor diagnosed me with a concussion. I was sent home and just told to rest, and then life went on.

  The ringing in my ears continued, and when it was particularly strong, I would have another episode. I didn’t make the mistake of walking so much as a foot when it happened, though. I had learned my lesson. I began to think of this place I would go as the Void, because it felt so unbearably empty, except for the occasional times I would see the ghostly people fade in and out. But the emptiness was welcome because it meant the emaciated monster from the bank that plagued my nightmares wasn’t there.

  I distracted myself as best I could. I put more effort into my schoolwork and joined the wrestling team, asked out the pretty girl named Courtney who was in homeroom with me. My life was good; I was happy, despite the occasional trips into the Void. I had accepted it. Months went by and the end of my senior year of high school was approaching.

  My dad asked me to cut the grass on a hot day, the hottest so far this year, as the beginning of summer was creeping up. I was taking a break with a cool glass of lemonade, sitting on the front steps with sweat sticking my white t-shirt to my body.

  I stared absently as I sipped from my glass.

  I heard some muffled yelling and saw Mrs. Campbell storm out the front door of the house next to mine and sit on the front stoop, hanging her head in her hands. It looked like she was crying. I tried to keep staring forward while watching the drama from my peripheral vision, acting like I hadn’t noticed. Her husband threw open the door a minute later, grabbed her arm and yanked her to her feet. I couldn’t make out their argument through the rush of cars driving by. I strained my ears but it didn’t help.

  I snapped my gaze away from the confrontation when I saw Mr. Campbell glance my way and pretended I had been zoning out, staring at the street light on the corner two blocks away. It turned yellow just as a car sped past my house, doing at least twice the speed limit. The car slammed on its breaks just in time to stop at the red light. The squeal of the tires hurt my ears and I cringed.

  I sighed resignedly as the car faded and the air pressed on my skin, the Void sucking away all the vibrancy around me. The cars were gone, trees died, houses crumbled. The fact that this no longer bothered me was disturbing.

  But something was different. This didn’t feel the same as it usually did and my heart skipped. Something caught the corner of my eye, and I turned back toward the Campbells’ house and jumped to my feet.

  Mr. and Mrs. Campbell were still there, misty white forms almost blending with the dirty stucco behind them.

  It was the creature lurking behind her bushes in painstaking detail that made the bile rise in my throat. Hyperventilating, I stared at the monster, so reminiscent of a giant praying mantis. It crept on two insect-like legs and had huge reflective eyes, swirling colors like an oil slick on a pond. Hairy mandibles chomped with a wet clicking noise while gooey saliva fell in large globs on the ground.

  It inched its way closer to Mrs. Campbell while I crept backward, trying to put as much distance between it and myself as possible, but I tripped over the front step, windmilling my arms to try to keep my balance. It didn’t work. I stumbled into the shrubs, breaking some dry twigs in the process.

  The insect creature turned toward me, drawn by the sound. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. I scrambled out of the bush as fast as I could. It began creeping toward me. It seemed to sense my panic and picked up speed.

  I finally got upright and ran, darting for the street. Unfortunately there were no cars in this place to slow the creature down. In my adrenaline-fueled terror, I barely noticed that it was becoming more and more difficult to move my limbs. A moment later I was free. The feeling of running through water snapped away and I stumbled forward, the hindrance gone. I kept sprinting.

  Sparing a second to look back, the mantis had lost interest and was skittering back toward Mrs. Campbell’s ghostly figure.

  When the thing reached her, it jabbed the pointed end of one of its arms, for it had several, into Mrs. Campbell’s side. She jerked and paused for a fraction of a second, then went back to her silent yelling.

  I slowed and crouched behind a tree in the yard across the street, watching, transfixed. A deep, almost black crimson began flowing down the creature’s dark green shimmery flesh until its whole body was the color of dried blood. In under a minute the transformation was complete and it dislodged its arm from Mrs. Campbell as she faded into nothingness. It stalked away, having completely lost interested in me. I lost sight of it as it skittered behind the house.

  My heart rate slowed and I wiped sweat off my brow.

  Then, I noticed it.

  My body. Lying in the middle of the road. Fuck! I jogged over to it, slowing my pace as I got closer. I could feel the pulling sensation getting stronger and it compelled me to reach out to it. It was so unbelievably creepy, staring at myself lying on the asphalt.

  I reached slowly toward it, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath. Okay, I can do this. I have to do this.

  Just as I was about to make contact with the body, it flew off the ground, rolled in midair, and landed about twenty feet away.

  I was shocked, my fingers still poised over an arm that was no longer there. What the hell?

  I ran toward it but slowed in horror before I made it all the way there. Its head was bashed open, bloody goo that could only be brain matter was splattered on the road. An arm was twisted behind its back, the elbow bent at an impossible angle. Legs were sprawled in opposite directions, one clearly dislocated at the hip with a shard of bone poking through one calf. A lone sandal had landed flat on the sole a few yards away, toe pointed toward the bloody mess, as though an invisible one-legged person stood there, observing the horror.

  I don’t know how long I stood there staring with my jaw dropped. A few seconds? Minutes? I couldn’t look away. Then realization hit me.

  I had been hit by a car. One that was on the other side. One I couldn’t see.

  And I was dead.

  CHAPTER 18

  ANNA

  “You’re dying? Like, from cancer or something?”

  “No, not from cancer.”

  “Then what?” He lifted his hands off mine and the sudden lack of warmth was disappointing, even though the rest of me was sweltering. I could feel a bead of sweat roll down my temple.

  “It’s very hard to explain right now. First I want you to tell me what happened. Everything you can remember.”

  My shoulders tensed. I didn’t want to do this. But somehow I knew he had answers and I could trust him. When he had told me I wasn’t crazy and that this was real, I actually believed him.

  “Okay,” I rested my head in my hands for a second to try to unscramble the thoughts in my mind. My hands were damp with sweat when I looked up. “It started shortly after my car accident. It started with these weird…sensations? Or maybe visions, I guess. Things around me disappear and kind of look blurry. Or maybe not blurry, but dull? Gah, it’s hard to describe. It sounds so stupid when I say it out loud.” He nodded reassuringly.

  “But then there was this other t
ime with this guy at school. The guy, Brian, bumped into me in the hallway. You’d think he’d watch out and make sure not to bump into the girl who’s wearing a sling, ’cause damn, it hurt. But anyway, all the students disappeared and everything except for him was kind of…washed out, and he looked…” I paused, trying to find a good description. “Like a skeleton. But with skin, and still wearing his clothes. But I could tell I was the only one seeing it.”

  John nodded. “And is that when you saw the…it?” He was obviously referring to the monster thing he claimed I let out. Guilt fluttered in my belly at the reminder.

  “No. Not that time. It was the next time, a few days later. I was following him to try and see if it would happen again.”

  “What? You wanted to make it happen? Why the hell would you want that?”

  I thought back and suddenly felt so stupid. “Honestly, I don’t know. My friend Becca convinced me and I was so desperate to prove to myself I wasn’t going nuts that it felt like a good idea. Obviously it wasn’t.” My face flushed in embarrassment.

  “So. You intentionally tried to cross over and you told someone about it? I guess we have more damage control to do than I thought. How did you do it?” He made the motion of running his fingers through his hair, but they just slid over his mostly bald head.

  “I have no idea. I didn’t do it intentionally. I didn’t do anything, unless you consider breaking my toe something. See?” I showed him my flip-flopped foot, and carefully removed my homemade splint made from a popsicle stick. My nail was totally black and the surrounding flesh was bruised and swollen.

  “Ouch. It happened when you injured your foot?”

  “Yeah. Is that relevant? What do you mean ‘crossed over’? I am going somewhere else?”

  “Yes. I call it the Void.”

  My stomach lurched. I am going somewhere else? No. There was still a good chance this guy was full of shit. “Why do you call it that?”

  “It is devoid of many things.” He gave me a slight grin.

  I squinted and shook my head. “What does that even mean? What is it…” I jumped as my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out and checked the screen. A text from my mom. How is it going? You’ve been there almost an hour. Really? Wow. It’s not just when you’re having fun that time flies. “Sorry, give me just a sec.” I texted back, its fine we are having lemonade he is nice. “My mom is wondering why I’ve been here so long. I bet she’s wondering if you drugged me and cut me up into little pieces.” I looked at him accusingly.

  “Well, that was morbid. Sorry again, though.” He shrugged apologetically.

  “My mom watches a lot of TV, I’m not even kidding that she’s probably worried about that. I shouldn’t stay much longer.”

  “When you get home, tell her you’ve offered to help me go through the boxes in my attic. That way she’ll be okay with you coming over here often,” he suggested.

  “Often?”

  “Well, yes. There’s a lot more I need to explain to you, and I don’t think we have much time.”

  I shivered despite the heat. “Before you die?”

  “That, and before the leech does more damage than it already has.”

  CHAPTER 19

  ANNA

  I trudged, bewildered, across Mr. Marshall’s—John’s—lawn toward the front door of my house. He had refused to explain to me how he thought the Leech, as he had called it, had gotten “out,” and what damage it was going to do. He said my mom would start to get suspicious and it would be a long conversation.

  I opened the door with a shaky hand. This was a lot to take in. And even though it seemed absurd beyond belief that I was putting my trust in someone who had just drugged me, I felt a kind of connection to John and knew he could help me. Or, well, now it seemed more like I’d be helping him. He was dying? I felt a pang of sympathy. How in the hell was I supposed to do anything about that?

  As I stepped into the blessedly air-conditioned foyer, I leaned against the door frame for a moment, closing my eyes and taking a deep, calming breath. Okay, I could do this. I could pretend like everything was normal, like I wasn’t on the verge of a hysterical mental breakdown.

  “Anna?”

  I jumped at the sound of my own name. A perfect start to pretending my fragile understanding of reality wasn’t just shattered into a million pieces.

  My mom furrowed her eyebrows and tilted her head slightly like a concerned puppy. “How did it go?” she asked.

  I cleared my throat. “Not bad,” I said, trying to control my voice. Did I normally sound like a strangled Chihuahua? “I…uh, told him…or, well, he asked me, if I could help him go through his attic. As like, an apology, to make up for flaking on him so many times.” I scratched the back of my head and then forced my arm back down by my side, aware that it was one of my tells when I was lying.

  “Oh.” My mom looked a bit confused. “Do you have time for that? What about homework and your college applications?”

  I walked past her towards the kitchen, and pulled open the fridge, peering inside. I wasn’t hungry; I just needed to do something. I pulled out a soda and popped the tab, taking a fizzy sip before answering. I had forgotten about the college applications and was trying to come up with a response. We had already agreed I would take a year off after graduation to make some money and figure out what the hell I wanted to do with my life. My stomach did a somersault at the thought of how clueless I was about my future.

  “Homework is really dying down since it’s the end of the year.” That was sort of true. “And I’m not going back to cross-country so I’ll have time after school. He’s a nice man. I feel bad about slacking.”

  My mom gave a firm nod of approval. “Well good. I’m glad.”

  “Is Dad home?” I asked, changing the subject and taking another swig.

  “No, it’s only…” She pulled out her phone to check the time. “3:58. Maybe in an hour and a half or so.”

  “Mom…” I started.

  “What is it, sweetie?” she asked.

  “Can I have a hug?” I felt like a lost little girl.

  “Aw, of course, honey.” She sounded touched. “Everything okay?”

  She wrapped me up in her arms and I mumbled into her shoulder, “Yeah. You know, just…everything.” She squeezed a bit harder, thinking that she knew the cause of the stress I had been under. But she didn’t know that half of it. And there was no chance in hell I was going to tell her.

  CHAPTER 20

  ANNA

  I tried to walk at a normal pace down John’s driveway toward his front door. My adrenaline was pumping, washing away my exhaustion.

  I rapped my knuckles on the door, propping the screen open with my foot. He answered a moment later, his nearly bald, age-spotted head appearing from behind the door. He grinned, accentuating the wrinkles around his mouth and eyes.

  “Come on in.” He stepped aside and gestured for me to walk past.

  “Hi. Thanks,” I said, making my way inside. Walking through the living room, I noticed several bookshelves. One was filled with an entire encyclopedia set, along with some pretty hefty history books and several volumes on mythology. Toward the bottom, I saw what looked like a few textbooks. I could make out one with a yellow sticker that said “used” on it, obscuring the title “Algebra” on the spine. I wanted to explore his house and see what other random items he had tucked away.

  I made my way to the same barstool I had sat in the day before and took a seat.

  “I’ve gone over what we talked about yesterday and written down a ton of questions.”

  John sighed, “You really just get down to business, huh?”

  “What? You said you had answers.” I tapped my foot impatiently but gave him a wide grin.

  “Okay, shoot.”

  “What exactly is the ‘Void’?” I air quoted and he chuckled at the gesture.

  “From what I have gathered, it is a mirror of our own plane, but more…washed-out. Dimmer. Some things can only
exist in one plane or the other and some in both.”

  That definitely brought up more questions than it answered. He must have seen my perplexed expression because he continued, “I call it the Void because it’s…empty. Lacking substance and details. It feels like a deserted movie set rather than real life.”

  “But it wasn’t empty the last time I was there. It was boatloads of scary.”

  “Yes, because you were near someone getting leeched.”

  “I don’t get it.” I shook my head, confused. He sighed and took another pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and grabbed two glasses from the cabinet.

  “Oh, no way. Seriously?”

  He looked puzzled for a moment, then laughed, “It’s just lemonade this time.” He sighed at my incredulous stare. “Fine.” He downed half the glass. “See?”

  “Okay. But I’m waiting to make sure you don’t start confessing your deepest secrets. Like how you used to lead a double life and have a second family out there.” His eyes fell to the floor and he looked sad for a moment. “I…I’m sorry, I was just kidding.”

  He gave me a small, sad smile. “It’s okay. I just wish…never mind.”

  I glanced at the mantle above the gas fireplace, where pictures of his daughter and wife sat. They looked happy, normal.

  I tried to smooth the awkwardness by getting back on track. “Why can I see it? Or go there, or whatever. Am I human?”

  He laughed. “Of course you’re human. What else would you be?”

  I shrugged sheepishly.

  “I’m not sure what makes us different, but I think the potential isn’t that uncommon,” he added.