by Bill Myers
Philip and Krissi had already climbed inside and cranked up the radio nice and loud. It was an oldies station. There was something about the old-time music blasting into the early morning that seemed reassuring. As though it reminded everyone that the world was still turning, that life still went on.
Ryan pulled Becka closer, and she looked into his blue eyes.
Even though strands of jet-black hair hung in them, there was no missing their gentle sparkle — or that killer smile that always made her knees just the slightest bit weak.
“You did okay,” he said, grinning.
“Yeah,” she answered softly. “We both did.” The grin grew. They turned toward his car, a white vintage Mustang. Scott and Darryl stood beside it, stomping off the cold and waiting. “Yes sir,” Scott was saying, “a three-egg omelet and a stack of cakes will do me just fine.”
“And a side of onion rings,” Darryl added.
“Onion rings?”
Becka started to comment, but the words never came. She wasn’t sure if she saw it first or heard it, but an older gray car appeared out of nowhere. It roared over the top of the hill with only its parking lights on.
Becka spun to Julie, who hadn’t quite finished crossing the street. The music from Philip’s car was so loud she didn’t hear the other vehicle.
“Look out!” Becka cried. “Julie, look — ” But Julie didn’t have a chance. By the time she saw the car, it was on top of her.
Everything seemed to go in slow motion.
Julie tried to dodge the car, but the right headlight caught her in the thigh. The impact flipped her into the air until she was sailing over the hood, headfirst. She turned her face, and for the briefest second her eyes connected with Becka’s. They were filled with pain and confusion.
When Julie came down, she missed the hood.
She did not miss the windshield.
Her neck and left shoulder smashed into the passenger’s side with a dull, cracking sound. She tumbled across the roof, rolling once, twice, before being thrown to the pavement with a loud
“Oof!” as the air was forced from her lungs. Then she lay there.
Unconscious. Unmoving.
“Julie!” Becka screamed. “Julie!”
The car never slowed.
**********
By the time the paramedics arrived, Julie had lost too much blood.
Becka had been the first to reach her friend’s side. She was the one who insisted nobody move Julie in case her neck was broken. She was the one who ordered somebody to find a house and call 9-1-1. And she was the one who used her first-aid training to apply pressure to Julie’s open wound and try to stop the blood. But the gash was too deep.
“Stay with me,” she whispered into her friend’s ear. “Don’t go! Stay with me, Jules, stay with me …” Becka was so involved that she didn’t hear the EMS vehicle pull alongside them.
“Please … there’s so much I’ve got to tell you …” She didn’t hear her friends describing the accident to the paramedics.
“Stay with me! Come on now, fight! You wanted me to tell you about God, and I will, but you have to stay with me. Oh, God … do you hear me? Stay with me!” She barely heard the paramedics speaking to her. “Okay, sweetheart, we’ve got her now. We’ll take over.” Becka didn’t move. “Please, Jules, don’t go, don’t go …”
“Let us in there … ,” the voice insisted, but it wasn’t until she felt Ryan’s firm hands around her shoulders and heard his voice that Rebecca finally allowed herself to be pulled away.
“It’s okay, Beck. You’ve done all you can. It’s okay.”
Even then, she wouldn’t leave. Her hands were covered with her friend’s blood, her jeans were stained, and her cheeks smudged — but Becka remained, not caring how she looked, hovering over the scene. She watched as the paramedics took Julie’s fading pulse and read her falling blood pressure. She prayed as they shoved IVs into the collapsing veins, lifted the limp body onto a gurney, carefully slid it into the vehicle, and shut the doors.
The one thing Becka didn’t do was cry. Not a drop. Until the ambulance started to pull away. Then the sobs came. Hard and gut-wrenching. She could feel Ryan take her into his arms. She could hear him fumble for the words. But nothing helped.
“Why didn’t I warn her?” she choked.
“Beck — ”
“She should never have come with us.”
“Becka, you tried — ”
“You, me, Scotty — we’re Chris tians! We can fight this stuff, but — ”
“What are you saying? You don’t believe what happened out here … you’re not saying it’s connected with what happened in the mansion.” It was as much a statement as a question. Ryan was new to all of this, and there was a lot he didn’t understand.
Becka didn’t have an answer. “I don’t know.” She buried her face into his chest. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know …”
**********
It was only a dream. A hallucination.
But it was the most vivid dream Julie had ever experienced.
She was riding in an ambulance looking down at a cute paramedic. He was hunched over some poor soul, working for all he was worth, but the patient wasn’t cooperating.
She’d never been inside an ambulance before so she knew she was having to make up a lot of the stuff she saw. For the most part, she was impressed with her imagination. Everything seemed so real, so lifelike.
“No breathing! No pulse!” the paramedic shouted up to the driver. “I’m starting CPR!”
Her dream-self watched as the paramedic ripped open a blue-and-green shirt. His head and shoulders blocked the victim’s face, but Julie noted with interest that the person’s shirt looked exactly like one she had picked up at an after-Christmas sale.
The paramedic placed his hands on the center of the patient’s chest and began to pump vigorously. A growing curiosity tugged at Julie. She leaned past his shoulders to get a better look at the patient’s face. It was pale. Lifeless …
And it was hers.
Oddly enough, Julie felt no panic. She experienced no fear. If anything, she felt a growing sense of peace. She remembered the speeding car — remembered sailing over the hood and smashing into the windshield — but none of that mattered. She was even losing interest in the paramedic’s attempts at pounding life back into her chest.
Instead, Julie’s attention was drawn to a gentle stirring. A breeze. It was barely noticeable at first, but it grew stronger by the second. It seemed concentrated around her upper arms and shoulders.
And then she saw it.
It wasn’t wind, but a light. It was a light that gently touched and brushed against her shoulders. She turned to watch. Slowly, the light began to take shape until it had formed a person. Or something that looked like a person. Julie could make out a head and long flowing hair. Then a face, then a nose, and a mouth.
The mouth wasn’t smiling. But it wasn’t angry, either.
And, finally, she saw the eyes.
It had been a long time since Julie had seen such tenderness and compassion. But they weren’t weak eyes. They had a strength, a depth, and a love — the deepest love she had ever seen. Julie knew these eyes were true, she knew they could be trusted.
She felt a gentle tugging at her shoulders. The being never said a word, but he was making it clear that it was time for Julie to leave.
She took a final look at her body. Funny, but everything seemed so useless, so pointless. The clothes, the hair, the popu-larity. Weren’t school elections coming up in just a few weeks, and hadn’t she been fretting about whether or not to run for office? Julie almost laughed. None of that mattered now. It just seemed silly and vain.
Yes, it was definitely time to leave.
Julie looked into the creature’s shining face. He nodded and they began to rise.
“Come on, sweetheart. Don’t you quit on me!” the paramedic muttered in concentration. Julie looked back at him. He sounded so worrie
d … but the being was waiting, so she turned to follow.
Chapter 2
They were in a tunnel.
The sides of the tunnel raced past, but Julie barely noticed.
She was too mesmerized by the light at the end — a light that grew brighter every moment. It was the same light that radiated from the being who was escorting her.
But it was much more intense.
It contained every color in the rainbow and then some. Yet at the same time, it was absolutely … pure. That was the word that kept coming to her mind. There was no other way to describe the light. It was simply … pure.
As it struck her face and skin she could feel that purity embracing her, washing over her, seeping inside her. Never in her life had she felt so loved, so cherished. And the closer she drew to the light, the more deeply she felt that love.
Suddenly the walls to the tunnel fell away, and she was surrounded by even more light. Julie had heard stories of people dying, of them going through a tunnel and meeting a light. Like everyone else, she figured the light had to be God. But she didn’t see him. Instead, she saw a city.
This was no ordinary city. It spread below them for miles.
And in place of concrete and steel were crystal and gems. Glowing crystals and gems. The buildings, the streets, the bridges …
everything glowed with the same light she was feeling.
It wasn’t long before she saw the source of the light.
They were approaching a large, grassy knoll, and just on the other side, behind the rise, the light blazed the brightest. Julie couldn’t explain it, but as they drew closer, her eyes began to fill with tears. Not tears of sadness; tears of joy. She knew that the light behind the knoll held the comfort to every sorrow and heartache she’d ever felt. She knew it was the answer to all of her pain and emptiness. She knew that in the presence of that light she would never be lonely again.
She also knew that it wasn’t just light, but a person.
**********
The paramedic was working silently, determination on his face.
He plunged the needle of a syringe into a bottle and drew in a clear liquid. He reached for the Y connection of the IV tubing that led to Julie’s arm and inserted the needle. He injected the drug quickly and steadily.
Pitching the syringe into a bag, he expertly slid his fingers down Julie’s jawline to her throat and checked her pulse.
There was none.
**********
Julie knew that whoever was on the other side of that knoll was the source of all the light, all the power. And all the love. She wanted to be with this person; she had to be with him. It was the most important thing in the world.
She started for the knoll, but to her surprise, her guide stopped her. She looked at him, puzzled. His face still radiated the same strength and kindness, but it was clear he did not want her to approach the knoll.
Julie tried again.
Again, he prevented her.
Her anxiety rose. They were passing the knoll. They were passing the very thing she wanted, the only thing she ever needed.
She tried again, with the same results. Her companion held her back. Fear took hold. Her stomach knotted. And the farther away they traveled from the knoll, the bigger the knot grew. She felt sick — like she was going to throw up. And still they continued moving.
Now different tears burned her eyes as loss and sadness swept over her. Her throat tightened with an unbearable ache of loneli-ness, and then, when the pain was the greatest, she saw it.
A park.
Directly below them.
But it really wasn’t a park; it was more like a garden. A lush, manicured garden. Incredibly beautiful trees towered on every side, shimmering with such vivid color that they made the trees back home seem like shadows. The same was true of the stream that wandered through the garden. Its water was more real somehow than any she had ever seen. She thought it looked like sparkling diamonds as it splashed and swirled.
Julie noticed they were slowing down and dropping gently into the garden. She could see human forms of light standing on the lawn, gazing up at her. They waved, and suddenly she recognized faces: her Aunt Marcy, who had passed away when she was eight; a deceased cousin she had never met but whose picture hung in the hallway of her house; Grandma and Grandpa — looking exactly as they had when they were alive, only a lot stronger and happier.
As her feet touched the lawn she was surrounded by these loved ones and many others. Everybody was excited to see her; everybody wanted to hug her.
“Grandma!” Julie embraced her fiercely. “Is this heaven? Am I in heaven?”
The woman continued smiling, but there was no missing the concern around her eyes. She didn’t speak, yet Julie could hear her voice.
“You don’t belong here, honey. Not yet.”
“But, Grandma …”
“It’s for your own good,” Grandpa interrupted. “You’re not ready, sweetheart. There’s something you must do first. A decision you must make.”
“But — ”
“In good time,” Grandma gave her a warm smile. “In good time.”
**********
The paramedic snapped on a small machine that quickly hummed to life. He grabbed two metal paddles, then squirted gel from a squeeze bottle onto their flat surfaces. Though his actions were precise and steady, his heart pounded.
“Here we go, sweetheart,” he said grimly. He placed the paddles on Julie’s chest, then depressed a small switch on one paddle.
Julie’s body arched as the electricity surged through it, then slumped back down onto the stretcher.
**********
Suddenly Julie felt a tug. Hard and forceful. Suddenly she was being pulled away — and her dream began to feel more like a nightmare.
She cried out in alarm. “Grandma?”
“It’s all right, dear. You must return. You must make your decision.”
She was plucked up into the air, flying backward, away from the group, away from the park.
“Grandma! Grandpa!”
But they quickly shrank in size as she flew away. Soon she couldn’t see them at all. She was flying faster than ever before.
The city blurred as she streaked past. Desperately, she searched for the knoll, the light, but it was nowhere to be seen. She looked for her guide, but he had disappeared. She tried to scream, but she was traveling too fast. Any sound she made was sucked out of her mouth by the roaring wind.
The tunnel closed back around her.
“No.” She squeezed out a gasp. “Please …” Its sides raced past her at terrifying speed.
“No …”
Now she was back over the ambulance, being sucked toward it with tremendous force. She covered her face as she approached the roof, but she felt no impact.
For a split second she saw the paramedic. Then her lifeless body.
Then there was nothing.
**********
“We got her back!” the paramedic yelled to his partner. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from face. It had been close …
too close. He had almost lost her. But he had finally succeeded in starting her heart.
**********
Becka also dreamed.
She dreamed of the gray car racing over the top of the hill.
She dreamed of crying out a warning. And she dreamed of being too late.
It had been twenty-four hours since the accident. The group had followed the ambulance to the hospital and waited all morning and late into the afternoon. But since Julie remained in intensive care and since only her immediate family could visit, there wasn’t much they could do.
The police came and asked a lot of questions. Philip and Ryan were able to identify the car as a gray Escort, but no one got the license number, and oddly enough no one could remember what the driver looked like.
By early evening, Julie’s dad had convinced them to go home and get some sleep. He promised he’d call if there was any news.
But rest didn’t come easily for Becka. Once in bed, she kept tossing and turning. She kept reliving the accident, over and over, in her dreams. Was it her fault? Was there something supernatural she had overlooked in the mansion? Something that came out and attacked Julie on the street? Why hadn’t the car slowed?
Why hadn’t anyone noticed the driver? The questions rolled and tumbled inside her mind.
Each time she dreamed of the accident, she tried to warn Julie, but each time she was too late. She hated it, but there was no way she could help in the dream, and there was no way she could stop the dreaming. Why did it keep returning? Was it guilt? Or was there something she was supposed to see?
By 3:00 a.m. her covers were twisted into a knot, her T-shirt was soaked with sweat — and still she dreamed.
Again the gray car crested the hill. Again in stop-frame slow motion, Becka cried out. Again Julie flew over the hood. But this time as Julie turned her head to see Becka, something changed.
It was no longer Julie.
It was Krissi!
Becka gasped. Now it was the group’s sweet, super-friendly airhead who looked at Becka in pain and confusion.
The dream shifted and started again. This time Becka was standing in the middle of the road. This time she was struck by the car and sent flying over the hood toward the windshield.
Another shift. Krissi was on the road. Krissi was hit. But before the cycle completed, there was another shift. Instead of Krissi flying, it was Becka again. And instead of ending, the dream continued as Becka sailed toward the windshield. She turned to see Julie and Krissi standing off to the side, watching. She looked back to the windshield. It was directly in front of her. She tried to cover her face, but there was no time. Then, a split second before hitting the glass, Becka saw the driver. Stunned disbelief coursed through her. The face looking back at her was … her own.
She hit the windshield hard, felt the pain of impact, felt the glass shattering and wrapping itself around her head. And then she bolted awake.