Tiny shattered pieces of what was once fear within turning to more rage and hate as I listen. My body is on fire with it. I let out a loud scream of fortitude and take another step toward Liam. The restraint around my ankles tighten further, cutting into my skin. Warm pools of what I figure can only be more blood collect inside my boots.
“Revenge can be a beautiful thing,” the darkness laughs. “Evie will get what she has come for.”
“No,” I repeat.
“Yes. Liam’s mind is where it was one year ago – his conscious playing out every little detail of that night. That’s why he can’t hear you; his mind isn’t in the here and now.”
Another step. My head now pounds with a familiar pain and my chest becomes heavy as it turns impossible to breathe. Without thinking, I stop and put my hands to my temple, knotting my fingers in my hair. The fiery will inside me still rages out of control, but this pain doesn’t stop me because of the hurt it causes – I stop because of the familiarity it brings. My line of sight becomes blurry and dark around the edges, but I will not stop fighting. The obstruction in my vision heaves my stomach into another fit of nausea and the throbbing in my head makes it nearly impossible to think. Still, I will not give up.
“Liam!” I shout. “Liam fight!”
He doesn’t even flinch to give a hint that he’s heard me.
“Ha. You see?” she taunts. “Now, where was I? Oh yes, explaining to you what’s happening. The two cars you see driving toward one another, are in fact, Liam’s car and Joseph’s car.”
“I figured that out,” I snap.
I’ve managed another step toward Liam, but it’s taking some serious effort on my part now. Not only do I have the wrenching pain of the constraints around my wrists and ankles, but the blinding pain wrapping around my head has completely blurred my vision. The cars are dangerously close. I hear the one meant to be the echo of Joseph’s car picking up speed, now completely in the other lane. I see why there wasn’t time to avoid collision; the curve in the road would cause the oncoming lane to be completely obscured from sight.
“When they collide – in theory – Liam’s conscience will once again experience the impact as if it were really happening. To the average person, his death will look as though he simply went into unconsciousness and then died. Only you, with your ability, will know the truth. Isn’t it lucky for you that you can know the truth?”
The words she speaks ring inside my ears with a humming that causes me to believe my ears may have started bleeding along with everything else. But the pain I feel aside from that, aside from the restraints, isn’t new. It’s a pain I've felt before, so I know it doesn’t come from the darkness jeering at my side. But I can’t allow it to stop me. I have to keep moving forward. I inhale a ragged, burning breath, and seize another step. My feet feel like they weigh a thousand pounds each as I labor one more step. My foot slips inside my boot against the slick puddle of blood that now shares its space.
Headlights flash across me signifying that the car shadowing Liam’s is now rounding the curve in the road. I stumble forward, clenching my skull and gasping for air, watching the car drive around the bend and toward Liam. No, I think. Not like this.
Everything after that seems to happen in slow motion.
Liam stands limply at Evie’s side. She, on his right, her arms outstretched as if holding a steering wheel. She seems to be in trance with him now. Liam is laughing, singing even, very loudly and strumming an air guitar. The flash of Joseph’s headlights sweep across Liam first, and then a second later across Evie. Both of them glance up at the same time to realize what’s to happen. I open my mouth to scream, but no sound will come out. The air stops and chokes its way out of my mouth.
I clutch the purple rock in my hand as tightly as I can and will it to help me. My hand begins to protest with ache as I squeeze it so hard my fingers snap. If the amethyst can help myself with unblocking, then with that should come help from whoever is out there. As I allowed myself to think before – that I was completely alone – I know now that I am not. I feel them all around me. There is help; I just have to reach out to it. Instead of building a dam around my abilities and gifts, I now concentrate on demolishing all the fear I’ve associated with it. Because I realize that’s what I’ve been doing all along. With the fear comes seclusion – seclusion from all things paranormal and unknown. Something I thought was best. But I can’t be afraid any longer and I can no longer convince myself that my gift is a curse. It’s time to accept what it is I can do. And if it means that I can save Liam's life, then I’ll do it over and over again.
Help me, I think. Let the light encase me and bring me strength. If there is someone out there, please help me.
Hot light shoots outward from my hands, causing the darkness that has come uncomfortably close to me to screech in an unbearably high pitched tone and scramble away.
I take another heavy step and a piece of the wall crumbles away inside.
I hold my furiously determined gaze to Liam as I watch his face twist in fear and desperation. He has clear sight of the car now and struggles against his spot on the pavement. As the car comes within mere feet of him, he shoots out both of his arms in front of Evie as if to protect her or push her out of the way.
Another step. Bricks that held solidified fright and doubt shatter away leaving me lighter, freer.
Car tires hit the wet pavement at my feet and splash and skid against the freezing streams of water running down the hill. Brake sounds howl in my ears as the car tries to stop as Evie swerves, sending the car into a sideways trail directly into Joseph’s path. And I know it’s too late. I’m too late.
Every moment with Liam flashes in front of me in an uncanny clear illumination of images behind my wet eyes. No, please no. No, no, no. Just as the two cars are to come into contact with each other, Liam’s aqua eyes meet mine, seeing me for the first time in what seems like a lifetime. Why he can see me now, I don’t know. But in that split second knowing as he’s about to die, we’re both able to share a raw moment of something so powerful and true and pure that I can’t bring words to describe it. We’re able to share our pulling and compelling love for one another in a single look and say our wordless goodbyes at the same time.
I reach out to him as he reaches out toward me and closes his eyes as I do mine.
“No!” I hear the dark being at my side wail. “No! This cannot be!”
As she falters, the confinements holding my ankles and wrists disappear. The light that had been coming from my hands is now all around me. For the first time this night, I feel a sense of kindness and purity surrounding me instead of being engulfed with the dark and evil polluting the night. It isn’t just in my hands now that the light takes hold of; it illuminates from within my entire body. I can feel it warming me from the inside-out. I allow my eyes to open and look to Liam once more, admittedly afraid of what I’ll find, only to see a flash of a man pushing him out of the way of the colliding cars. I gasp as Liam’s body is thrown from the path of his untimely death and drop to my knees in disbelief and overwhelming gratitude.
Evie whirls around in furious anger to face the man responsible for saving Liam and then violently flings herself toward him. I crawl toward Liam as the two cars disappear into thin air, leaving behind the unbearable sounds and shatters of metal on metal warping and bending and twisting against one another. I reach Liam, now laying in an awkward position in the dirt, and scout for the man who unknowingly angered a vengeful and sadistic ghost set out for murder. As Evie comes closer to him, he quickly moves away leaving her grasping for the air in front of her. She rebounds quickly and flies toward him again and again. Each time though, the man steps just out of reach from her claws.
White light is coming from all around, illuminating from behind the snow covered trees beyond and encasing the dark night sky above. Evie lets out a shrill scream and covers her face. The rain that has endlessly continued to pound upon the Hollow Site has ceased. The trees have stopped
their violent dance in the wind and the sky above us has opened up showcasing endless amounts of white stars. I gaze upward for a fleeting moment, feeling truly amazed at what I’m seeing. The air is softer somehow, sending out a delicate airy mist to surround both Liam and I. The mist embraces us with its billowy arms and tightens around us, making a feather-like cocoon protecting us. I realize then that I’ve never felt so safe in all my life.
I don’t shift my gaze away from Liam now as I stroke his face and whisper to him that everything is okay. I can sense that the man who had come to our rescue has made his way over toward us and I don’t understand where he’d come from, but I’m way more grateful to him for saving Liam's life than to ponder where he’d been summoned from. It just proves to me that I was right; they were out there – the ones who could help. They heard me; all I had to do was ask.
I try to catch up in my head and remember that when this mysterious man had pushed Liam from the path of the colliding cars, and as he should have been hit himself, the two cars harmlessly passed through him just as they had passed through Evie. I finally meet the man’s dark eyes and gasp when I realize.
“Joseph,” I whisper. I bring my hand to my mouth in astonishment and try to scurry away backward on my hands and feet.
“Don’t be afraid, Breckin.” Joseph soothes. His voice isn’t what I thought it would be from his appearance. He still dons dark jeans and a tattered flannel shirt that are both soaking wet. His injuries from the night of the accident still look as though they’ve just been inflicted minutes ago, as his forehead bleeds and he holds himself as though his chest has been caved in. He has two black eyes, shoulders that are curving inward, and he appears to be gasping. His tone is calm and smooth though, like a commercial announcer, and much steadier than what I had expected. “I’m not here to harm you.”
“Then why? Why are you here?” I wonder aloud. I realize then that I’d totally forgotten about my duty to him. I was here not only to take care of Evie, but to crossover Joseph as well. After all, he was the original reason I’d come.
I look around, perhaps for a quick way to exit although I’m not sure where to go exactly, and see that the darkness aiding Evie in her evil plan has vanished. She has been left behind, alone and very obviously devastated. Evie is now trying to come at Joseph once more in hopelessness as she lets out another ear piercing wail and charges forward. He turns around at the blurring speed Evie usually does and calmly looks to her, putting up a single hand to stop her.
“You can’t hurt me, Evie.” Joseph says sedately. “Your powers have greatly weakened and I am one in the same. You cannot harm those like you.”
“I’ll bet I can!” she shrieks. Her eyes are black as tar contrasting against her pallid white skin, making her look scarier than she had even before as she thrusts out claws for hands and flies toward Joseph insanely fast. As she comes into contact with him, he does not move away this time as Evie tries with all her will to bring some form of harm to him. She repeatedly claws and thrashes at Joseph’s face and chest, though nothing happens. She could have been scratching at a solid brick wall for all the good it was doing her.
“I've finally embraced the Light, Evie, and with that you can’t bring any harm to me. Evil cannot penetrate here.” Joseph then turns to me. “Thank you, Breckin. It is because of you that I am now able to be at peace.”
I shake my head in confusion. What have I done to help him with any kind of peace? If anything, I’ve only silently been wishing Joseph away all this time with his visits of unyielding pain and blindness. I suddenly become aware that I don’t have any of that pain now. I rub my temple with remembrance of the agony he once caused and clutch at my rain-soaked coat as my breathing remains easy and effortless.
“I don’t understand.” I admit. “How have I helped you?”
“For the longest time I was lost and very confused as I somehow was linked to this boy. I knew that there was an accident and that I’d hurt people that night, but I never realized just what I’d done until seeing his suffering. I never knew that it was my own guilt that fused us together. I understand that now. I’d taken a life and almost taken his as well, and I’ve been unable to forgive myself for that. But Liam feels guilt for that night, too. That is our common bond. That is also what brought me here.
“That night was my lowest point as I had just found out of the death of my only son. We were estranged for reasons I can no longer make any sense of now. I wasn’t paying any attention to the road – I had been weeping – and when I came around the curve I saw that I had gone into the other cars lane. I tried to stop, but the road was too slick; my brakes had no effect. I saw the other car tried swerving, but it was just too late.”
“I grabbed the wheel,” Liam says quietly. “It was my fault.”
“Liam, you can hear him?” I ask warily.
“And see him,” he nods.
“But how…?” I trail off.
“The Hollow Site worked for me as well. I am able to draw power from it, too, so that I can communicate with him.”
Liam lets out a disgusted noise and swallows.
“Omigod, are you okay?” I ask in a panicked voice, now realizing that he’s come-to from his near death experience. “Are you hurt anywhere? Let me see,” I say as I try looking him over.
“I’m fine, Breckin.” He grabs my prodding hands and gets a better look at me. His sharp inhalation causes me to jump. “Breckin! You’re face!” He moves his hands to my wrists and I wince against his touch. For the first time tonight, I allow the pain of my injuries to surface. “My God, your wrists are bleeding. Jesus, and they're blistered.”
“No,” I hear Evie whimper. “It was supposed to work. It should have worked! He’s supposed to be here now with me. He is supposed to be dead! It all played out just as I planned. The two cars… he was brought back to that night in his mind… they crashed…”
“Can you hear Evie?” I whisper, totally ignoring Liam’s concern for me. For some reason I can’t bear for him to hear what she’s saying.
Liam shakes his head, looking undeniably angry. “Please, Breckin, can we go now? I need to get you to a doctor. You’re badly hurt.”
“Her dark powers are very dismal now. The light that surrounds you makes her weak.” Joseph says.
The light that surrounds you. Nan had said something like that to me earlier today and I’d wondered what she meant by it. Only now I can actually see light everywhere around us. This light is different than daylight, but brings the same effect with it as rays of yellow and white light bounce off everything in the distance and in front of us. The ice in the trees glisten like tiny chandeliers, and the snow beyond sparkles and twinkles as if flecks of glitter have been strewn about covering every inch of ground. And there are no shadows cast in any area of this light, radiating a feeling of pureness and good. Light hugs and illuminates everything from within, allowing no darkness to penetrate any nook or cranny.
“You’ve embraced the Sight now, Breckin. And there are people who’d like to help you with it.”
Joseph looks meaningfully to the smooth purple rock I’m still violently clutching in my one hand. I glance down to see my hands glowing with a warm, golden light noting that it’s not as bright as before. It’s a slow and soft shimmer now, but it still brings with it pleasant heat and a sense of peace.
“You mean this rock is what’s helping me?”
“It only made you believe in your abilities. You’ve had the capability all along, you’ve just not believed in yourself enough to open up to what you can do. You don’t need any kind of trinket or talisman to help you, Breckin. You have the power all on your own.”
“So this purple stone is –”
“Just that. A pretty stone.” Joseph smiles.
Liam chuckles at my side.
“What’s so funny?” I demand. I’m having a hard time finding any humor in the current situation.
“That’s Nan for you,” Liam chuckles again. “We’ll have to ask
her about it later. Wonder if she knows it’s just a stone?”
“NO!” Evie screams for a hundredth time. “She said it would work. She promised me!”
Evie is still pacing back and forth in her ghostly fast manner, muttering to herself as if she’s gone mad, pulling at her hair and scratching at her own skin. I get up and walk slowly toward her. My ankles scream in protest as the adrenaline I’d felt earlier to mute the pain is long gone. I definitely know I’m hurt now.
I glance around for the dark menace that had been her pedagog as I don’t fully trust that she has vanished for good, but I don’t see her anywhere in the light that has enveloped us and I can’t imagine there is anywhere for her to hide. There isn’t an inch of space not being consumed with light, so I know the darkness has really gone. I’m just about to take the last step that will stand me next to Evie’s side when I hear Joseph speaking to Liam.
“You can hear me, yes?” he asks Liam.
Liam remains sitting on the dirty ground with his knees pulled up lazily and has put his head into his hands. I wished that I could see his eyes, as they usually give away what he’s thinking even when he has that well-placed expressionless face plastered all across his features. However, from his tensely held hands, I can tell that he’s not at all at ease.
“Yeah. I can hear you.” Liam huffs.
“Will you please listen to me, Liam?” Joseph requests in a cautious tone. “What I have to say is important.”
“No, don’t let him!” Evie interrupts. “Breckin, stop this. He can’t... he can’t listen to Joseph.” She’s feigning desperation now. Asking me for help is clear proof of that. I spin around and glare at her.
“Why shouldn’t I? And why should I listen to you?”
“Because, whatever he says won’t be the truth.” Her voice sounds hopeless and panicked. But I don’t buy it.
“Because you know what the word truth means? No, I think I’d like to hear what he has to say, Evie.”
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