by Travis McBee
He ambled into his bathroom and did the things that need to be done after getting out of bed, and while in there the memories of the night before began to leak in like water through a crack in a dam. By the time he reemerged from the bathroom the dam had been completely shattered and he was drowning in the flood of misery that the torrent brought. He leaned against the door frame that separated his private bath from his bedroom and hung his head. He tried to inhale the flood of misery that was drowning him so that he could get it over with quickly, but he discovered that even though he felt as if his world was crashing down a single tear would not form in his eyes. I’m too sad to cry.
He gave up on his pity party and went to the dresser and dug out a ratty t-shirt and a pair of torn up jeans. He didn’t have time to be sorry for himself; the phone call had been Mike telling him about something in the Outback, he had been too out of it with his mind still half emerged in sleep to fully gather what his friend had been saying. He had been dead asleep when the chorus of melancholy tones that the cell phone company called a ring tone filled his room. He had jerked awake in a riot of confusion and terror before he managed to first figure out what that noise was and then remember how to operate his cell phone. Mike’s inappropriately excited voice had jarred him even more irreparably towards consciousness even though he hadn’t understood most of what he was saying.
He was awake and had nothing better to do and no argument to make against going, so he headed out of his house and towards MAW’s burger shack. By the time he arrived the walk had shaken every last tendril of sleepiness from his body. Mike was sitting on one of the concrete blocks that stood in front of parking spaces. He glanced up as Will approached hearing the soft shuffle of gravel made my Will’s sneakers.
“What took you so long,” He grumbled as he lifted himself to his feet, “I’ve been here forever.”
Will frowned at his best friend as he walked over to him.
“You called and woke me up,” he replied with a hint of menace in his voice, “I should be the one complaining.”
Mike opened his mouth to retaliate then saw the gleam in Will’s eyes that told him his best friend was not in the best of moods.
“Come on man, you’ll want to see this,” Mike said calmly pretending the previous exchange hadn’t happened.
Mike led him to the outskirts of town to the place the kids called the outback. It was several acres of swampy lowlands that formed around the red creek and usually flood during heavy rain, thus preventing any attempts to develop the land. It had been called the outback for as long as anybody could remember and during the summer it was inundated with kids playing in the vast stretches of woods or swimming in the shallow ponds that would form around the creek. With winter fast approaching, however there was no one that ventured down there to tempt the ice-cold waters so Will’s and Mike’s expedition became a lonesome affair as soon as they made their way out of town.
“Where are we going?” Will complained aloud as he pushed a vine of thorns away from him after they scored his skin with a series of angry scratches.
“Just follow me, it’s not far now,” Mike replied fighting off his own pain inflicting vine.
They walked deeper and deeper into the outback along trails that had become overgrown in a remarkably short period of time. Before school had resumed that fall the trail they now struggled down was a bustling highway of bikes and dirty tennis shoes, but now it was nearly impossible to even see where the trail led through the undergrowth that wound its way across, over, and around the path.
“Why are we doing this Mike,” Will growled angrily as he was cut once again by angry red thorns.
“Don’t wor-… “ Mike began.
“I will too worry!” Will interrupted him, rage spewing forth from his mouth in angry flecks of saliva.
He stopped in his tracks and assumed the manner that clearly telegraphed that he wasn’t moving until he got some answers.
“Now what’s going on?” He asked with his hands resting on his hips and his brow curled into an angry stare.
“Okay, okay,” Mike sighed then backtracked to where Will had finally stood his ground, “Last night after the game I was really upset so I came out here to cool off,” he paused and looked around and chose an old pine tree to lean against, “I was walking around getting torn up by thorns and getting even more ticked off when I stumbled upon something weird across the trail a little ways up,”
Will glanced into his eyes searching for a sign that this was a joke, there was none.
“What do you mean, ‘Something weird’,” he inquired in a much more pleasant tone than he had yet to use that day.
Mike sighed and shook his head to one side, “I don’t know exactly man, It was like something crashed in there. There’s all kinds of torn up trees and bushes making a kinda trail, I didn’t follow it cause it was too dark.” He shrugged as he finished talking.
Will glanced at him searching for something in his friend. Mike wasn’t the type of guy that had the skill to spin a complicated web of lies, but he did love a good joke. Will decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and waved his hands forward as if sweeping the air away from him.
“Well let’s go see what you’re talking about then,” he mumbled.
Mike slapped him on the shoulder before continuing down the trail. Will stood for a moment staring at his retreating back before sighing and following him once more. The briars began their assault as soon as he continued and within moments he felt his bare arms crying out in agony as more and more skin was removed. He grumbled under his breath but continued on for his friend if nothing else. Within minutes Mike had come to a stop next to a towering oak and Will felt foolish for losing his temper when the journey had been nearly over. He walked up and stood next to his friend and took in a sharp breath of air when he saw what had transfixed Mike.
They had walked to the beginning of a long scar that trashed its way through the woods. Bushes, trees, and those hateful little briars lay scattered away from a long streak that began where he stood and stretched deep into the outback, farther than he could see. Will felt his jaw slacken and his mouth drooped as he tried to take in what he was seeing.
“Wha- what could have caused this?” He stammered his question out to Mike who was leaning against the kingly oak with a mild grin of triumph adorning his face
“I told you it was pretty wicked didn’t I?” Mike seemed to disregard the question at first instead deciding to defend his decision to bring Will along.
“Yeah, yeah it’s crazy,” Will told him hastily, “But what on Earth happened?”
He stared around at the gash that shot a perfectly straight path in front of him. He turned around and found himself staring at a veritable wall of vegetation that was unblemished except for the tips of the trees missing at varying heights forming a diagonal line to the heavens. Whatever it was it came out of the sky and landed here.
“Dude I don’t know,” Mike laughed at him seeming much more at ease with the situation than Will could imagine feeling, “This is all I’ve seen. Want to check it out more?”
Will kept looking around at the clean line of destruction and the undisturbed life surrounding it. He nodded his head simply and walked along the path of dirt and debris towards something he wasn’t entirely sure he was prepared for.
The walk itself was a relatively short one, after only a hundred yards they came upon the small body of water known as the lagoon. It wasn’t especially large, maybe a hundred feet across at best and Will knew first hand that it was never more than twenty feet deep. The skidding path of destruction went straight into the lagoon and did not reappear on the other side. Mike and Will walked around the small aquifer several times before choosing a fallen log to rest on that overlooked the path of destruction’s abrupt end.
“So what do you think?” Mike asked him without glancing up from the disturbed dirt
“I think whatever it was is resting at the bottom of the lagoon,” Will replied casuall
y, “Why don’t you swim down there and see?”
Mike let a bark of a laugh out, “You first bucko! It’s probably colder than an ice cube in Antarctica,”
Will nodded, “Yeah man I think we should go into town and tell-,”
He broke off and stared into the thickets on the far side of the lagoon. He had caught a brief glimpse of something, something black with an accent of red, blood red.
“What’s up Will?” Mike asked looking up at him to see why he had stopped talking. He followed his gaze across the lagoon, “What are you looking at?”
He scanned the trees and didn’t see anything at first. Mike had very sharp eyes and used them to become a rather accomplished hunter. He could easily spot things that seemed nearly invisible to most people. He was about to turn back to Will to question him again when he spotted a black shape that glided smoothly from the cover of a wide pine tree to the shadow of an even wider oak.
“Hey, who’s there?” He shouted across the still waters. His challenge went unanswered except for an echoing response as it bounced off of the wall of trees on the other side and doubled back.
“Will man, I think I saw somebody.” Mike whispered covertly.
“You did.” Will replied simply pointing across the lagoon.
Mike turned and stared back at the spot and saw a man emerging from the cover of the oak tree. He had short, strict, black hair and was dressed in a suit that looked extremely expensive. Under the suit he wore a cloud white shirt and a red tie, a tie as red as fresh blood. Mike stared into the man’s eyes, eyes of the boring brown that somehow managed to show a keen intelligence even from the distance he was observing them.
“Who is that?” Mike wondered aloud staring at the man without fear.
“Run Mike.” Will said softly, “Run! That guy’s been following me!”
Will grabbed Mike’s arm and drug him backwards along the scar that made a natural pathway. Mike resisted at first and then fear kicked in and with the fear a supercharging dose of adrenalin. His feet went from a sluggish stumble to a clean run after a few seconds and he followed Will up the path. Will was incredibly fast and before long Mike could barely see his best friend but he could hear him crashing through the leaves and twigs that had settled back on the deep gouge in the Earth since whatever had created had smashed its way through. He couldn’t hear a thing behind him but he wasn’t about to look for fear of falling.
He was running as fast as he could go and almost ran into Will who had stopped at the edge of the scar in the Earth. Will was looking around like a cornered sheep unsure of where to go next. It was a novel thing to see Will confused, he was the natural born leader and to see him panicked into a state of confusion both amused and frightened Mike terribly. He stood by Will for only a second and thought he heard the sounds of pursuit closing in on them. He didn’t know who that man was but he had terrified Will and in Mike’s mind that was more than enough reason to run. He grabbed Will’s arms and led him straight through the woods without bothering to slow down to avoid the thorns that searched out his skin to score as many little scratches and tears as possible.
Will’s mind had gone numb and when he reached the barrier of undamaged trees he stared blankly at them unable to even fathom what to do next until Mike appeared at his side and dragged him forward straight through the wall of foliage. Once the decision had been made for him Will’s animalistic instinct took over. Psychologists always talk about the fight or flight response and in that moment Will believed it, he also knew he wasn’t a fighter so he ran and ran. His body had become a bloody sketchpad of cuts but he didn’t feel it, he didn’t feel anything. His legs kept pushing him forward and his arms covered his face to keep the thorns out of his eyes. His ears strained for sounds behind him yet all he heard was Mike running just as hard as he was, and so he ran and it was with his eyes covered by his arms shielding his face and his ears straining behind him for sounds that were not there that he fell into the gutter with a dull thud.
Mike saw Will disappear ahead of him and with his mind unclouded by phobia like fear he managed to stop before suffering a similar fate. He glanced down in the long ditch that ran alongside of old route nine and saw his friend lying in a thick bed of leaves, of which he was attempting to roll out with little success. Mike would have laughed at his friend’s clumsiness if his entire body hadn’t been aching with cuts and exhaustion.
He rotated on his feet and stared into the dusk like gloom of the outback. The trees waved in a slight breeze and he could hear a variety of creatures reemerging from where they had taken refuge from the thundering stampede that had been the two teenagers.
Will managed to stagger to his feet in a hail of flailing limbs and muttered curses. The panic that had flooded his body seemed to have abated as Mike looked in his eyes, fear was still there but now it sat under the clever silver that Mike knew so well.
“Is he following us?” Will gasped out bending over and resting his hands on his knees
“Don’t think so,” Mike jumped down into the ditch next to his friend, “So who was that?”
“Don’t know but he’s been following me around for days,” Will replied straightening up as he regained an adequate amount of oxygen, “I first saw him on Friday, he followed me home from school, and then I saw him again at the game last night,” he added suddenly remembering spotting the man.
Mike raised his eyebrows in thought, “What do you mean follow you home from school? Did he walk up to the door with you?”
“No, he was walking along the opposite side of the street from me and when I turned onto Main Street he crossed over and followed me on the opposite side of that too,” Will paused and took another of big gulp of air, “So I freaked out and started running away from him. Didn’t see him after that till the game.”
Mike looked at his friend and this time managed to let out a short laugh in spite of his skin already become stiff from the innumerable scratches, “So a man walks along Main Street, the busiest street in town, and then turns up at the biggest game in the county this weekend and you flip out and think he’s stalking you?” Mike punctuated his sarcasm with another burst of laughter
Will frowned at his best friend, not out of anger but out of sudden embarrassment. Why didn’t I think of that? He bit his bottom lip as he thought around the situation. It could have been a coincident but…
“What about today then? Why did he show up here?”
“Hmm, I don’t know bud,” Sarcasm dripped ominously from every word, “Maybe because it looks like a plane crashed and then just disappeared?”
Will stood looking at his friend with a face devoid of emotion but inside his head was churning. What Mike said made perfect sense and it could have all been a coincidence but Will couldn’t shake the feeling that The Stranger was following him. He decided that it was more likely that Mike was right even though in his heart he didn’t believe it.
“Ha-ha, yeah. I guess you’re right,” He said with a smile spreading across his face
Mike slapped his hand amiably onto his back and started to laugh his infectious laugh. Within moments the laugh had spread and Will found himself laughing alongside him, they continued to walk all the way into town and were laughing as they parted ways to go back to their respective houses to change out of their dirt and blood ridden clothes.
* * *
Will and Mike reunited later that day at Lee’s Karts and Arcade. It was the local hangout spot for teenagers since it featured cheap food, video games, and teeth rattling rides on old go karts. It was a large building that had been a warehouse before an entrepreneurial graduate student named Sam Lee bought it and transformed it into the best hang out spot in Pleasant Valley. The main building was packed with video games and pool tables on one side and even a three lane bowling alley tucked away against a far wall. The other half of the old warehouse was the restaurant that would serve up greasy pizzas and even greasier hamburgers. The parking lot that had once been able to handle hundreds of cars ha
d been transformed into a cheap race track with barriers made up of old tires. The go karts that sputtered and limped their way around the track were some of the first to ever be made and they were older than most of the adults in town. If the truth was told about Lee’s, it was that most people considered it a complete dump, but to the youth of Pleasant Valley, it was their place and that’s all that mattered to them.
Will and Mike had ordered a pizza and were sitting at one of the wire picnic tables with peeling red paint that made up the dining room of the restaurant. They were joined by Joseph William and Steven Morgan, who were both on the football team, about midway through the pizza. Joseph and Steven ordered another and they all sat around enjoying it and talking about a variety of subjects eventually the topic of discussion wound its way to what Will had feared it would, the game.
“Don’t worry about it Will,” Joseph tried to encourage him, “You can beat out Daniel in camp this summer, the guys a moron there’s no way he can beat you out,”
Steven nodded his head in agreement, “Yeapf han, guhsides, coah hin los tha game na oohh,”
“Dude seriously, swallow and try that again,” Mike laughed at him
Steven gulped down the mouthful of food that had impeded his speech and sent a stream of soda chasing after it,
“I said, yeah man, besides Coach Hinge lost the game not you,” he said again after swallowing the soda.
Mike nodded his head eagerly, “Well thankfully we are done with that man,”
“Amen!” chorused the other three boys simultaneously and clicked their plastic cups together in a heartfelt toast.
A gust of wind blew through the group as the door behind Will opened and two new patrons entered. Will didn’t bother to glance around at first but he saw the eyes of Steven and Mike who were sitting on the other side of the table. Both pairs of eyes glanced up at the opening of the door and both eyes narrowed in anger then opened wider with surprise. Will chuckled at their identical response to the unknown stimulus and decided to turn around and inspect the newcomers. It was a turn he wished he had never made the second he saw who had entered.