~ ~ ~
Jace was relieved when the mountain that pinned him to the wall moved away. He turned and saw the mountain was a man of medium build, black, and grinning at him outrageously. He wore black military-style gear and boots and carried a number of weapons at his waist. Merrick was his name. It was obvious Merrick was his ticket home.
“Why can’t I call my girlfriend?” he demanded when the Deadheads were gone from the walkway.
“You don’t give up. Get it through your thick country-cracker head, you’re dead! I’m sorry, but you are. We don’t get any live ones here too often,” Merrick explained and shrugged.
Jace looked sick to hear it, wishing this was some nightmare he would wake from. Yes, that’s what this was. He was unconscious and all of this wasn’t real. Soon, he would wake from this and all would be back as it was.
“Listen, I got a little brother and sister who count on me,” Jace began. “I need to make a call and make sure somebody’s looking after them until I get home.”
Merrick rolled his eyes. “Look, I know this is all a lot for you to take in. I deal with you guys all the time. I’m telling you the truth. You’re dead. This is a halfway house between the upstairs and downstairs we all know about. What ya need to do is figure out why you’re here. That’ll help. You can’t remember anything at all?”
“No, I gave a buddy a ride to his girl’s house. The last thing I remember is him—” Jace broke off then, recalling Cameron asked him to stop so he could take a piss on the side of the road. He saw himself pulling off and Cam got out. After that, he couldn’t seem to remember anything.
“Nice friend ya got there. Chances are he’s the one who whacked ya.”
“Will you quit saying that?” Jace snapped. “Cam and I been friends since the fifth grade. He didn’t kill me!”
“Somebody did or you’d remember it,” Merrick said knowingly. “That’s the thing about getting murdered. Something happens to keep you from seeing it. Don’t know why. Best thing to do is just wait for enough pieces to come back to put it together. This guy was the last one with you. Hate to say it but he’s the dude who whacked ya.”
“Cam has no reason to kill me! I’m his best friend!”
“Sometimes people just kill for fun. I know it ain’t right, but there it is. This kid might have just wanted to know what it felt like, or he just hated your guts and you didn’t know it.”
Jace refused to believe Cameron killed him while he waited for him to relieve himself on the side of the road. It made no sense. He and Cam had differences recently, but it was all resolved. Or was it?
He thought of the circumstances and stiffened. He felt a rush of fear and anger, and dread. He recalled Cam begging him to run him out to Marnie’s, even knowing he had a half-hour before Dougie was done with his counseling.
“Why can’t I remember it?”
“The mind protects itself from the truth. Trust me you wouldn’t want to see what he did to you. Look at all the blood all over you. He messed you up good.”
Jace refused to accept it despite the insidious feeling Merrick spoke the truth. The horror of it made him stumble slightly and he felt lightheaded. The thought he would never see Lindsay again filled him with sorrow. Then there was Sara and Dougie. What would become of them now?
“Easy, I know this is too much for you to handle right now, but you gotta get a grip,” Merrick said and looked watchful as he looked at the alley opening. “My place is on the other side of town. We gotta get you out of here. You’re a sitting duck for Deadheads. I’ll help you as much as I can to get by down here, but the rest is up to you.”
“Do you have a phone?” Jace asked again and Merrick swore under his breath.
“Kid, you need to take my advice and accept my word for it. You’re straight up, no comin’ back from it, dead!”
Merrick gestured for him to follow him and Jace had no choice but to go, still unwilling to believe this wasn’t all just a dream. They walked through the dark grim city, avoiding the occasional other presences Merrick seemed to see and hear before him.
They walked a couple miles and came to a warehouse. Merrick punched in a code on a keypad and a buzzer went off. The garage door opened and he stepped inside. Jace followed and Merrick punched a button along the wall and the door shut. He flipped a switch and lights went on inside the warehouse.
Jace looked around at the sight of old cars, new cars, and work benches and swallowed hard to see all the weapons hanging there. It looked like a military arsenal within. Merrick gestured for him to follow him upstairs. They took the steel stairs up to the second level. Merrick opened a door and stood aside, letting Jace inside.
The lights came on and it looked like a pretty normal apartment within. Merrick led him to a room and opened the door. Inside was a bed and little else.
“I reserve this room for Newbies. Sorry, but you’re my fourth one this week. I didn’t have time to change the sheets. You can use a shower and get you some new duds. When you’re cleaned up; we can talk some more,” Merrick told him, his brown eyes meeting his solemnly. “I’m sorry, kid. It’s a tough break. But you’ll find once you accept it, things will go better for you.”
Jace didn’t know what to say. Merrick shut the door and left him. He went inside a private bathroom and saw only a walk-in shower there and a sink; no toilet. He was confused over it, but shrugged and disrobed. He tossed all the bloody clothes in pile and started the shower. When the water was hot enough, he got in, sighing under the spray.
Once he was clean, he wrapped a towel around his waist and stepped out of the room. In a closet hung gear like Merrick’s. He leafed through them and found a set his size. He dressed and was relieved to find a pair of boots that fit him on the closet floor. Once dressed, he stepped out into the hall, looking for Merrick.
“I’m out here, kid,” he called and Jace followed the voice. He walked through the living room where a couple of tables and couches were. He stepped out onto a fire escape. Merrick lounged in a chair, kicking back, smoking a cigarette. Jace shook his head when he offered him one. Merrick gestured to a chair and he sat, looking out over the dark, gothic city with a grim expression.
“What time is it?”
“It’s past noon,” Merrick said and grinned. “Ain’t no sunshine when you gone. This is it.”
Jace looked distraught as he sat in the lawn chair. “What’s up with no toilet?”
“You don’t have to do that anymore, kid. That’s a human thing. Down here we eat, we drink, and we do all kinds of things ain’t fit for your wet-behind-the-ears, but we don’t do that.”
Jace wondered why he didn’t feel the urge associated with going to the bathroom. He reasoned he would see this nightmare through. He looked out over the city.
“How long have you been here?”
Merrick shrugged. “I can tell you what year I died. Don’t know what day it is or the year right now. Time ain’t like that here.”
“It’s March, 2011 in the…real…you know.”
“Then, I been dead going on forty years now, I reckon.”
“How did it happen?” Jace asked, his eyes meeting Merrick’s and seeing a flicker of pain in the black man’s gaze.
“I messed with the wrong dude, like you did, kid.”
Jace looked irritated. “You keep saying Cam killed me. He was my best friend. He wouldn’t do that.”
“You’re dead and he was the only one there. Maybe you don’t want to accept it.”
“This can’t be real,” Jace said again and shook his head. “I can’t believe what you tell me.”
Merrick shrugged, undeterred. “You don’t sleep any more either. You’ll figure it out soon enough. Down here we got rules though. You best learn them or you’re going to wind up some Deadhead’s play toy.”
“What are the rules?” Jace asked in a tense voice.
“Number one: stay away from the Deadheads. They ain’t your friends. They’re twice our number and growing down h
ere. They think this world belongs to them. Number two: learn to use the skills you got to survive down here. When you’re ready, I’ll teach you what I know. Number three: and this is the most important one of all. Don’t try to contact the living.”
“I have to call my girlfriend! She needs to know I’m ok.”
“Kid, I don’t know how to get through to ya. You’re dead now.”
Jace remained stubborn. “How do I know this isn’t some weird dream I’m going to wake up from?”
Merrick chuckled and pulled a wicked knife from his waistband. Before Jace knew what he was about the man stabbed the knife through his hand, penetrating through his flesh to the chair.
“You feel that, kid? That’s pain! You still feel it because your soul is still here, not passed on yet. But you don’t bleed no more. Look if you don’t believe me.”
Jace howled as the knife stabbing through his hand sent a burning pain up his arm, assuring him it was very real. He didn’t bleed though. Merrick pulled out the knife and Jace held up his hand and saw the wound close before his eyes. His eyes widened in fear.
“No, this isn’t happening.”
“What’s your name, kid?”
“It’s Jace, Jace Turner.”
“Welcome to Oblivion, Jace Turner.”
Oblivion Page 13