Five Minutes After Midnight

by A. J. Gallant

  “What is your rush?” said Skull. “Don’t worry it’ll be all over soon. Just ten seconds or so. Relax.”

  “Let go of me!”

  Although Anita was a spirit, she was unable to get free. Where was help from the other side when she needed it the most?

  chapter nineteen

  AUNT STELLA WAS DOZING on the couch for about ten minutes after she had finished watching the old thriller The Third Man with Joseph Cotton and Orson Welles. She had stretched out and slipped into slumber. Stella was dreaming in black and white as she was playing the part of a gumshoe in an old movie and thoroughly enjoying it. In her dream, she was in pursuit of an Egyptian man by the name of Abasi; he always wore a red pocket square, the only thing in her dream that was in color.

  The living room was dark as Stella had pulled her thick curtains shut. A small ball of light slipped under the drapes and floated toward her as she began to snore. The illumination transformed into the silhouette of a short woman and suddenly the female became visible although translucent. And though she wasn’t Mother Theresa she did look quite a bit like her, under five feet tall wearing a habit.

  Stella. Stella wake up!

  Stella stirred but remained asleep, now turning her back to the nun. She shook her head at the strangeness of it, this was the first time that she had returned since she had died. The sister kicked her in the butt, and she felt it. Stella turned around puzzled, sure she was dreaming, but when she saw Elizabeth she jumped up. “Did you kick me?”

  I did. Don’t you recognize me?

  “Should I? Wait! Sister Elizabeth?”

  Bingo. There is a portal that has been opened, and I need you to close it. Sleep now, I’ll show you.

  Stella rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “What are you talking about? Another dream?” Stella rolled off the sofa and awoke when she hit the floor remembering the strange dream. Or had it been a visitation? That was the thing about dreams, they were sneaky things, often cryptic in nature, making her wonder how it worked from the other side. Did spirits send a dream that got transformed on the way over? That might explain a lot of her dreams over the years.

  chapter twenty

  DOWN THE STREET FROM THE SPOTTED PIG near the Aria West Village wine bar, a black light was forming, and unlike the proverbial white light that led to heaven, this one was a front to the other place. It appeared to be having trouble forming, but it was growing larger. It was near metal bars where several bicycles were secured. It remained invisible to most people, but a few individuals were able to see it. A thief with canned air was freezing a bike lock; he smashed it and took off with the bike, not understanding what he just saw.

  An old hand with long black fingernails that had skin and other stuff protruding from them emerged from the blackness, feeling around as it if were trying to latch onto something. The dark matter drifted low to the ground, and the hand grabbed the bicycle rack and pulled itself out. It was a black silhouette with red eyes that exited from the blackness, behind it the portal vanished.

  After Aaron had finished making love to Carla, they both jumped in the shower together; he was lathering up her perky little breasts when he heard something that sounded like heavy breathing, but different somehow. Carla didn’t appear to hear anything. He pushed open the curtains but wasn’t able to see anything or anyone. Was that whispered laughter? They had smoked weed, but it had never come with hallucinations before, maybe Aaron had got more than he bargained for with the new dealer? He had been one serious looking dude.

  “Close the curtains the floor is getting wet!”

  “Look, do you see that? The red eyes in the mirror!”

  “Stop trying to scare me you asshole.” She didn’t like it when he acted like that.

  “I’m not.”

  Carla pulled the curtains shut, and suddenly they both got the chills as if Arctic air had pushed through. Aaron had goosebumps and not in a good way. Something strange was happening, and his heart commenced pounding.

  A little over ten minutes later Aaron exited from the washroom and cracked his neck. He went into the fridge and took out a quart of chocolate milk and drank the remainder of it. The set of knives on the cupboard caught his attention, and Aaron examined the biggest serrated knife; Aaron felt its sharpness and appeared to be satisfied. He strolled back into the washroom whistling a happy tune and then began cutting up Carla’s dead body.

  chapter twenty-one

  ANITA’S PUPILS WIDENED AS SHE WAS NOT AT ALL IMPRESSED with these evil things. If she had a heartbeat, it would be racing. Why God was permitting monsters to have free will was beyond her. But she supposed that even the monsters had been human at one time. What was the process of transforming an immoral person into a demon? Was Hitler now a demon? And Idi Amin? Wasn’t he the one that had his wife’s head in his freezer?

  “What is your rush?” said Skull. “Don’t worry it’ll be all over soon. Just ten seconds or so. Relax.”

  “Let go of me!”

  Although Anita was a spirit, she was unable to free herself. It was the oddest thing. If she lost Olivia into the spirit world, helping anyone in the physical world would be just about impossible. Might not even be any point in continuing at all. The struggle definitely felt physical as Tim appeared and commenced fighting the entity. Punches were exchanged, and the idea of two ghosts fighting was surreal.

  Anita had started through the door when she realized that it had her foot and pulled her back but with Tim’s distraction she was able to pull free once again; it felt as if it had dislodged her shoe even though that wasn’t feasible as a being of pure energy didn’t wear footwear. It appeared that the laws of physics didn’t apply after one was dead, at least not in a conventional way.

  Anita finally made it through the door and into the dead guy’s deluxe apartment, and there was no time to waste. She screamed. “Olivia, the killer’s in the closet.”

  Gerald burst through the door as Olivia went for her gun. Several shots were fired, and the explosions left the Detective’s ears ringing. Wielding a weapon felt powerful, but the consequences of it left one helpless. Life and death situations were often played out so fast that whoever shot first often lived to tell what happened.

  “Shit, that was close Olivia!”

  Olivia gasped as she realized what had transpired. Her eyebrows tightened as she looked down at Jim’s dead body, he had taken a single bullet to his heart. She looked at Diallo’s ghost which looked pretty solid. He hadn’t yet realized the gravity of the situation. “Fuck! Diallo, you’re dead!”

  “Almost,” he said. “Who is that?” Jim was staring at his own corpse. “Where did he come from?”

  The killer was also flat on his face in a pool of his own blood.

  “I am so sorry,” said Anita.

  “Where did she come from?” asked Detective Diallo. Now he was able to see Anita. Diallo felt strange and as light as a feather. He had been a big man, and now that gravity wasn’t pulling on him he almost felt like he would float away. What is going on here?

  Olivia bent down and felt for a pulse in his neck, but there wasn’t one.

  A tear slipped down Olivia’s cheek and then another. She had seen more than her fair share of corpses in her life, but this one was personal, and she didn’t have the luxury of pursuing the killer to help with the grief because he was already dead. She would have to tell his wife. The Detective had assumed that the police had thoroughly searched the place; Olivia would never make that mistake again. “Diallo, look at your hand.”

  “What the fuck? I can see through it!” And then it hit him, that he was dead. “No, I can’t be dead. I only have one payment left on the Corvette! If I’m dead how is it that you can see me?”

  “It’s a long story, Jim.”

  Diallo thought about his wife and then shook his head. This had to be a dream, a nightmare. That must be it. But somehow he didn’t think it was. “What do I do now? Where do I go? Hey, I can see a bright light over there. Oh.”

&
nbsp; And just like that Jim Diallo was gone. Olivia didn’t know if she’d ever see him again, but she wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if she did. Death wasn’t quite as harsh to her as it used to be, but still, Diallo was not coming back in his human form. What an awful turn of events. She cried before regaining her composure.

  Anita shook her head at the sight of the two dead bodies.

  chapter twenty-two

  FRED HAD WALKED THROUGH the Bethesda Terrace and Fountain area in Central Park and then doubled back. The fountain was impressive at twenty-six feet high with a width of ninety-six feet. The Angel of the Waters fountain is known by many with its eight-foot bronze angel that carries a lily in one hand and the other hand prepared for a blessing.

  Fred sat on the edge of the fountain and watched as people strolled by going about their business. He had been tailing Aaron but lost him. Some kind of flying insect accosted him several times, and as Fred swatted at it the bug departed. He was feeling a little out of sorts though nothing serious, a slight headache.

  This was the last effort he was going to make to kill him because the police were after Aaron for murdering his girlfriend, and he thought it likely that he would run into the law if he continued his pursuit. Aaron was liable to spend the rest of his life in prison. Besides, he supposed that he couldn’t kill everyone that called him names even though he’d very much like to murder all of them.

  So, you’re really not going to kill him?

  “Keep your voice down.”

  A blond woman that was sitting near him slid further away, and now Amanda was keeping an eye on him as she wasn’t sure if he was dangerous or just weird. She moved even further from the homely fellow as he continued to swat at something that she wasn’t able to see.

  Two young boys were chasing one another around and making a nuisance of themselves, at least he thought so. There was no damn reason for all that screaming. This wasn’t the schoolyard after all. One boy with the blue t-shirt ran right in front of Fred twice, and the second time he stuck his foot out and tripped him. The child fell and immediately got up as if it hadn’t happened and continued to run.

  He’s an annoying little bastard.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” Fred didn’t know why he had to remember all the bad things that had happened to him over the years, like when his father had kicked him so hard in the ass that it sent him flying into the side of the car. Or when he broke his finger for not eating all his dinner.

  It surprised Fred when Aaron came and sat down beside him. “You?”

  “Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” said the thing that used to be Aaron. “I was going to kill you, but then I thought, well, you’re out killing people so why not let you have at it? But if you continue to pursue me then I can guarantee that your head is going to come off.”

  Fred slowly turned and was able to see fire in his eyes, literally. What manner of trick was this?

  I believe he’s some kind of monster. I didn’t think they were real.

  “Must be some sort of gimmick.”

  “I am not Aaron anymore.”

  And just like that it vanished, leaving Fred wondering if he had even been there at all? If the encounter was genuine and not a figment, he saw no point to it. If he were a demon, why threaten him? In any case, whatever it was, human or not, was off the list. Maybe there had been something untoward in that Tequila? Difficult to say these days, half the world was nuts now.

  Your big toe is quite sore, isn’t it?

  “So?”

  So? Stop ripping your toenails off.

  “I know, I know.” The kid ran in front of him again, bumping into him this time. And now Fred was thinking about giving him a good swift kick in the ass if he repeated it.

  Don’t do it. The cops will be all over you. But maybe you could follow them home and hit their car or something. It would just be put off as an accident.

  “At the very least I’d know where they lived.”

  Aw yeah, give you something to do.

  The two boys ran by once again but this time didn’t come too close to Fred. The mother was busy with her nose stuck into a Dean Koontz novel. He would have liked to give her a slap in the back of the head.

  Suddenly the demon was back, and although he looked like he normally did no one could see him as such. His face was inexplicably blurred to everyone except for Fred. “I’ve changed my mind.” He pulled a Glock 26 and fired five bullets, killing Fred. Screams of horror erupted as it vanished.

  chapter twenty-three

  JIM DIALLO’S FUNERAL WAS DARK AND DISMAL in the moderate rain watching the coffin being lowered into the ground. Life was too short even if one lived to be eighty never mind it ending like this. In a way, the detective was experiencing a form of shock, knowing it was true but still having a hard time believing that it actually happened. Eventually, she would come to grips with it.

  Olivia looked for his spirit but didn’t see him, and although she hadn’t spent all that much time with him lately, she already missed him. Life was funny like that. She was definitely going to miss that deep voice and sense of humor. Some people walked around thinking that when they retired, they were going to do lots of traveling, lay out in a hammock for hours on end, not thinking that life might throw an eighteen-wheeler in their path and that death might come much sooner than anticipated.

  There was a lot of people in attendance, law enforcement officers from all over, and plenty of friends and family. Chalk one up for the bad guys Olivia was thinking. Why did evil always appear to have it so much easier than the good guys? Maybe because they just didn’t give a shit about anyone or anything? Except themselves of course.

  There was a dark spirit just beyond the cemetery, and Olivia wondered if it was the same one that had tried to stop Anita from warning her. What she really needed was a gun that could shoot evil things; she doubted that one existed but in this chaotic world who could say for sure. If nefarious spirits were going to be after her how the hell was she supposed to handle that? Maybe I should ask Aunt Stella to move in with me? I do have a spare room, but there would certainly be privacy issues. I guess it's not a good idea.

  Olivia zoned out on her way home and wasn’t sure what to think about anything anymore. And that fella that had murdered his girlfriend was the same one in the artist’s rendering so that was a strange twist. Life was turning out to be a maze. If the serial killer got him, it would turn out to be justice she supposed. Why would heaven be trying to save bad guys? Someone up there needed to write a guide for the living attempting to battle the dead.

  Was that woman on the sidewalk trying to flag her down? Was that Emma?

  “I decided to come back and try to help,” Emma said from the back seat, having managed to place herself in the car.

  The Detective shouted. “You fucking ghosts should wear a cowbell or something. I’m sorry.” So much for her never coming back. “I’m not gonna make old bones that’s for sure. This is just not something that a person can get used to at all.”

  Emma felt Anita’s presence approaching. “I’m new to this being dead thing. I wasn’t even sure if I could get in the car.”

  And then abruptly Anita was in the back seat beside Emma. “Hello, Olivia.”

  “Just what I need, a car full of ghosts.”

  “I was shown some stuff Olivia, and it’s all dark. But at least we have some help coming.” Anita was referring to the baby, but she wasn’t supposed to say anything just yet. There remained a fair chance that the Detective would abandon all this and just run off to live somewhere else. And so far, most of this stuff was centered in New York. There was a point of no return that they were all working hard to avoid.

  Emma remembered something. “Diallo told me to say, Hi Olivia. He said he’s going to be jumping into this stuff too, but it could be awhile. He’s working through things.”

  “Poor Diallo. It could have just as well have been me, and we’d all be in the back seat of his car.” Olivia played
the scene over in her head when he was shot. It was not something that she would ever forget. “So, what’s our next move?”

  “I’m waiting for instructions from up above,” said Anita.

  Emma merely shrugged.

  chapter twenty-four

  ANITA AND TIM WERE SAILING THE INDIAN OCEAN on a small yacht as dolphins danced in front of them. They passed a family of five in a small boat, the parents having two girls and a boy, making them both wonder how they had died, and how they would grow up in heaven. The clan waved happily and the gesture returned as they were heading in opposite directions.

  Tim pointed at a great white shark that had commenced circling the boat, and there was a thump as it hit and then moved off. In life, it had been a scary beast but here they just smiled and ignored it. The smell of the sea air was lovely. Several zebra finches flew past, blue, green, black, yellow coloration and each one a beauty. The couple was headed for an island that was complete with a large picnic basket, two medium rare steaks and a 1865 bottle of red wine, Chateau Lafite. And no matter their time of arrival the wine would be cold and the food hot.

  A zebra finch landed on Anita’s left shoulder and chirped at her, she stroked it several times and then watched as it flew off. She was enjoying herself and her thoughts briefly went to Olivia as she wondered how the battle was proceeding. The Detective had more things to worry about there than Anita did in heaven.

  The heart-shaped island came into view in the distance with fronds swaying in the moderate breeze on the palm trees. And if they looked hard enough they could see the large yellow picnic basket awaiting their arrival, with blue towels on the white sand. Two red-bellied Macaws were eating palm tree fruit. Tim took Anita’s face in his hands and kissed her. Heaven was even more heavenly now that he was with Anita. He made a dock appear which was where they would tie the boat. The smell of the steak made them both hungry, and though it would be satisfying there was no need for food anymore, no need of money, no greed for material things. Back on Earth it was about survival in many ways, and Anita wondered if people would ever learn to get along.