by J. M. Pierce
“It’s okay. Just relax.” Julie put her arms around him and gave him a gentle hug. “We’re not blaming you.”
“No. Of course we’re not,” reaffirmed Enrique.
The three of them sat silent for a moment. The soldier had once more assumed his position at the window.
In a hushed voice, Enrique spoke. “James,” he paused. “I have an idea, but I’m going to need your help. Are you willing?”
James drug his bloodshot eyes up to meet Enrique’s.
“Maybe.”
Chapter 17
The mid-day sun was glaring down upon them as they sat contemplating their next move. Test and Alyssa sat next to each other on the porch steps in a fog; neither of them willing or capable of offering a suggestion.
Test knew that they couldn’t stay. His trust in James was far from absolute, and he knew that the reality was they would have another visitor very soon.
“Alyssa?” asked Test. There was no answer. “Alyssa,” he asked again, this time with a little more force.
Alyssa flinched. “Sorry! Just took a trip to la-la land,” she quipped with embarrassment.
“I’m sure that you’re tired,” replied Test. “You’re forgiven.”
Alyssa replied as her face blushed brightly. “What were you asking?”
“Cliff; I’d like to talk to him. Is he still around?”
Alyssa’s eyes immediately scanned her surroundings. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, angling her head slightly in concentration.
“No, he’s not, which is strange because he’d been telling me that he wanted to talk to you too.”
“Do you know how he works?” Test paused. “That sounds dumb, huh? What I mean is—how was he able to hit me? Why am I able to see and hear him sometimes, and other times he’s, well--a ghost?”
Alyssa giggled. “Because he is--a ghost.”
Slightly annoyed that she could find humor in the situation, Test glared at her. “Come on. You know what I mean.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to laugh,” she replied. She closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, straining to find a logical way to explain things. “Well let me ask you this. When you’re mad, what happens?”
“I lose my temper?” he replied with a smirk.
“Now who’s being the smart ass?” She smiled back playfully. “Seriously though, when you get mad, you begin to glow and then get those pulses going down your arms, right?”
Test nodded.
“When you’ve lost control, the waves coming from your body get stronger, right?”
Test nodded again.
“And what are those pulses made of do you think?”
“Some kind of energy,” he replied, his tone now more serious and intent.
“Spirits use the energy of things around them to materialize. It’s like on those ghost hunting shows on T.V.; sometimes the batteries in their cameras or flashlights suddenly just go dead. Shortly after, something paranormal happens.”
Test listened intently as she continued.
“Basically, when you’re mad, or using your gifts, Cliff, or any other spirit for that matter, can use you as a source of energy.”
Test had heard of this before, but had never put two and two together. It made sense.
“So how was he able to hit me?” he asked.
She looked at him with a bewildered expression and replied. “You were probably putting out enough energy to power all of Saratoga! He could pull enough off of you to basically be alive again!”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously,” she replied.
“So why haven’t I been seeing all sorts of ghosts walking around?” he asked with his arms crossed, rubbing his biceps with the palms of his hands.
Alyssa looked at him with a wrinkled nose, squinting in the sunlight. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but when you get mad, you don’t pay much attention to what’s going on around you.”
Test didn’t like her answer, but knew she was right.
Alyssa continued. “Besides, you probably won’t see the spirits unless they want to be seen.”
“So is that how it works with you?” he asked.
“No, well, not really,” she replied. “Even if I can’t see a spirit, I can still feel them. I can sense if there is someone around.”
Test smiled in nervous excitement. “Is there anyone around now?”
She smiled back at him. “Why, are you scared?”
“No,” replied Test as he puffed his chest.
Alyssa rolled her eyes and nodded her head. “Since you ask; there is someone that’s been hanging around now and then, but I haven’t seen or heard them yet. I think it’s a guy, but I’m not sure. He never gets too close.”
“You sure it’s not Cliff?” asked Test.
“Yes, I’m sure,” she replied as she rolled her eyes. “I’ve been around Cliff enough now that I’d know him a mile away.”
“I wish he was here,” Test spoke unintentionally.
“Well, wishes are meant to come true sometimes, aren’t they?”
Test continued to stare off into the trees. “I haven’t had a wish come true…,” he paused, turning to Alyssa with a grin and placing her hair behind her ear. “Well, I haven’t had a wish come true for a day or so.”
“Good save,” she replied, “but I wasn’t fishing for anything. Cliff is here.”
Test jumped from his seat and scanned around frantically. “Where is he?”
“Settle down, son.”
The words came from Alyssa’s mouth, but instantly Test knew the tone and rhythm. “Where is he?” he asked now in a calmer voice.
“He’s right in front of you,” answered Alyssa.
Test looked straight ahead, but could see nothing. He closed his eyes and forced the fire within him to burn. Slowly and nearly hidden in the sunlight, the familiar red pulses of energy began to flow down his arms. He reached out with his right hand and forced the pulses to grow stronger.
“I’ve missed you, son.”
Test heard Cliff’s voice with his own ears. It was jarring to him after all this time. He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. “Damn,” he replied choking back the tears. “I’ve missed you too, my friend.”
Cliff’s silhouette slowly began to fade into view. He was the Cliff that Test remembered; the old man from the convenience store. Test began to lose focus and the pulses began to fade.
“Whoa, don’t let me go there young man,” said Cliff in a fading voice.
Test instantly reacted and forced the pulses back to their previous intensity. “Why can’t you talk to me; you know, in my head like you used to? Why haven’t I heard from you sooner?”
Cliff let out his typical brash chuckle as he pushed his glasses up on his nose. “I guess sometimes the powers of the living don’t always translate in death.”
Alyssa giggled. “He’s not too sharp today, Cliff. You’ll have to forgive him.”
“This boys got lots of days of not bein’ too sharp. Oh well, at least he was sharp enough to finally hook up with you!” Cliff replied.
Test pulled up his sweats with his free hand and fidgeted uncomfortably. “Are you two done?”
“Oh, quit being so sensitive,” replied Alyssa as she patted him on the leg. She could feel the energy trying to push her hand away.
“Where have you been?” asked Test, suddenly somber.
“I followed James.” Cliff’s demeanor suddenly took a change.
Test looked at Cliff in amazement. He looked just as he remembered him. With a somber smile, he asked, “What happened, Cliff?” He lowered his head. “I’m sorry that I left you. I should have been there for you.”
Test felt Cliff’s touch on his shoulder. “Raise your head up, son. You ain’t got nothin’ to be sorry for. You did what you had to do. Weren’t nothin’ you could’ve done to stop my dyin’; ya hear?”
Test looked up and met Cliff’s smile with one of his own. “I’m glad yo
u’re here.”
Cliff nodded and replied. “Me too; now, what do you…” Stopping mid-sentence, the smile on the old man’s face melted.
“What’s wrong?” asked Test.
Alyssa and Test watched as Cliff’s transparent gaze turned away from them.
“Oh no,” said Alyssa.
Cliff muttered. “What are you doin’ here? What do you want?”
Test looked between the two of them, confused at the questions and sudden fear within the both of them.
Alyssa stood. “I know who’s been hanging around.”
“Who?” asked Test.
Before Alyssa could answer, another figure began to gradually come into view. This figure was larger than Cliff and stood over the old man menacingly. With speed much faster than the eye could see, Test felt a sudden and crushing pain in his jaw that sent him careening backwards onto the porch.
“Rob, no!” screamed Alyssa.
Test’s mind rang numb for a moment. ‘Did she just say Rob?’ he thought to himself. Flat on his back, he lifted his head to see the shadowy image of Rob standing over him. Instantly, Test became enraged.
He quickly threw his right arm forward, shoving a pulse straight through Rob’s silhouette. No sooner than he released the pulse, he received another crushing blow, this time to his ribs.
“What do have to say for your self, Johnston? You little piece of shit! Did you really think you could get away with it, with killing me?”
Test looked into Rob’s eyes and swelled with hate. Again he threw his arm forward, and once more the pulse delivered no affect other than Rob delivering a clean kick to his side. In the distance, he could hear Cliff screaming.
“You got to shut it down! Control it! You can’t beat him tha…”
Cliff’s voice disappeared. Suddenly all was still, and as Test painfully rolled onto his side, he saw Alyssa frozen at the foot of the steps. The pulses of red light continued to flow down his arms, but with decreasing intensity.
“Wh…,” Test coughed. “Where did they go?”
“He took him,” Alyssa answered mournfully. “He took Cliff away.”
Test sat up to scan his surroundings and could see nothing. “Where did…” Test began, but his speech was interrupted by what felt like a truck smashing into his chest. The force of the blow sent him flying through the air, his head colliding violently with the railing on the porch. The light of the afternoon sun began to fade around a single focal point of light. He could no longer see Rob, but before he lost consciousness, he heard him one last time.
“Good night, fucker.”
And then it was dark.
Chapter 18
Enrique turned from James and glared at the soldier standing in the next room. He had the plan set in his mind, but the lone soldier presented a severe complication.
“What are you thinking?” asked James.
Enrique answered with a whisper. “We have to get to the cabin; you and me.”
“How do you propose we do that?” answered James gesturing towards the soldier.
“He looks young, don’t you think?”
James looked to the soldier. He did, in fact, seem to be a young man, perhaps in his mid twenties. “Yeah, I guess. So what?” he replied.
“I’m thinking that maybe he’d like to be a hero.” Enrique took his eyes off of the soldier and looked down to James.
“I’m not following you,” James answered.
“Think about it. Put yourself in his place. Your entire unit is out capturing the most wanted and dangerous being on the planet and you’re stuck guarding the family. That wouldn’t eat at you a little bit?”
“I guess,” answered James. “Maybe?”
“What if you found out that you could catch the fugitive all on your own? Would you jump at the chance to be a hero?” Enrique asked with a raised eyebrow.
James began to nod his head. “We could take him to number three.”
As Enrique turned back towards the soldier, Julie grabbed his arm. “Now wait a minute,” she said tensely. “I’m not gonna have you two go out risking your neck. I won’t have it!” Her tense voice had suddenly boomed in volume.
Enrique watched as the soldier turned to them.
“Is there something wrong?” the soldier asked.
Enrique looked to Julie with a scowl. “Actually sir, we think we may have just figured something out that your superiors don’t know.”
Julie yanked her hand away from Enrique’s arm and plopped into a chair as the soldier walked towards them.
“What is it? I need to notify Agent Dawson,” replied the soldier.
“No, we don’t have time,” replied James. “They may move again.”
The soldier stared at James. “What do you mean, again?” he asked.
“That’s just it. That’s the part that I forgot about. Before I left the boy and Alyssa at site number two, she slipped up and made a comment about number three. I think they’ve moved there. Your guys will hit number two and inadvertently signal them that you’re onto their location. You’ll scare them out of the mountains for good.”
“I’ve got to let Dawson know,” replied the soldier as he picked up his two-way.
Enrique quickly gripped the soldiers arm. “No! There is no time.”
The soldier looked down to Enrique’s hand as it held his forearm. “I suggest you remove your hand or I’ll remove it for you.”
Enrique was quick to release. “I’m sorry. It’s just that…”
“What in the hell are you suggesting sir?” interjected the soldier. “That I just stroll in there myself?”
“No, of course not,” replied Enrique as he glanced to James. “The three of us will go.”
The soldier began to laugh. “How in the hell do you expect the three of us to stop something that an entire army has been incapable of denting?”
“I know the kid. He trusts me,” answered Enrique.
Julie watched her husband nervously. “What are you thinking?”
“I think that James and I can just walk up to the site, and they wouldn’t run.”
The soldier smirked. “What, you’re going to get Davis to just turn himself in?”
“No. I’m going to give him some food that is laced with my back pain medication,” answered Enrique, matter-of-factly. “There isn’t anything for them to eat up there, and they’ve surely got to be hungry.”
The soldier began to show interest. “Where do I come in?” he asked.
“We’ll drive up and park a ways away so that they won’t know we’re coming. We’ll head into the site on foot. You wait at the truck, and when he’s out, I’ll carry him to you. It’ll be easy,” answered Enrique with his hands gesturing wildly. “You’ll be a hero.”
*****
Alyssa watched helplessly as Rob’s hazy form stood over Test’s unconscious body. Without Test’s energy, Rob could no longer hold his solid form and began to fade into the backdrop of the cabin.
He turned away from Test and floated to Alyssa. “Payback’s a bitch, ain’t it Alyssa?”
With tears streaming down her face, she looked coldly into his transparent face. “I don’t know what happened, Rob, but I’m sure that you deserved it.” Her voice was timid and wavering, yet stern and damning at the same time.
Rob began to laugh. “You know, this is kind of all your fault.”
Alyssa squinted and leaned away from him as he continued.
“If you would have just been nice to me and Eric, none of this,” he paused for thought. “Well, most of this would have never happened.”
“What, you mean if I would have slept with you?” Her anger was beginning to grow from within her. “Let me tell you something, you son of a….”
She began to choke. The pressure on her throat was immense and suffocating. She reached her arms out to grab her assailant, but touched nothing but air. Rob was no longer visible, but she could still see him in her mind; smiling devilishly while gritting his teeth in a perver
se sense of pleasure. She placed her hands on her own neck, frantically trying to free herself. She closed her eyes, unwilling to commit to death, but facing it none the less.
Suddenly, she felt herself released and fell limply to the ground. She devoured the air around her, gasping and coughing with each attempt at a breath. She opened her eyes and focused on a shadow standing before her.
“You all right, miss?”
“Cliff?” she asked.
Though his voice was inaudible, Alyssa could hear him all the same.
“That’s a fact. It’s me. You okay?” he asked.
“What happened?”
“I’m not an old man anymore,” he replied with a youthful chuckle. “He ain’t learned the rules yet. He ain’t been on this side long enough.”
The shadowy outline of Cliff began to change and morph into a figure. Alyssa could now see that Cliff had returned to the image of a younger self. He was still a small man, but his physique was a far cry from the spindly old man that Test knew.
“Where did Rob go?” she asked as she slowly picked herself up from the ground.
“Don’t worry ‘bout him,” Cliff replied as he motioned to Test.
“Oh my God!”
Alyssa sprinted to Test’s side. He was unconscious and had a small trickle of blood oozing from a cut on his forehead. She ran her fingers through his hair. “Test?” As her hand reached the top of his head, she felt the moist warmth of blood. “Oh God, Test. Wake up,” she said, gently cupping his face in her hands. Without a reply, she looked over her shoulder to Cliff. “What do I do?”
As soon as the words left her mouth, she saw movement on the road. Two figures were approaching slowly.
“Alyssa!” yelled Enrique.
In a burst of tears, Alyssa jumped to her feet. “Help us! He’s hurt! He’s hurt!” she screamed.
Enrique and James began to run towards her. The sight of James came as somewhat of a shock. The hours that passed since she’d last seen him hadn’t made his appearance any different. In fact, he looked worse.