Oblivion

by Karolyn Cairns

  ~ ~ ~

  Jace wandered around the party and looked for Matt Lauder. He frowned to see Cameron standing away from the bonfire where most of the kids stood. He was off alone, pacing out in the field behind everybody else.

  He started walking towards him and as he got closer, he realized it wasn’t Cameron, but Matt, wearing Cameron’s jersey and hat. He fumed, knowing Sheriff Wilson was probably watching Matt and not Cameron now.

  Lindsay was on her own, he thought.

  The other ghosts were having a ball, he saw, as he walked back. Sal was with Artie. The pair was dancing with a group of teenage girls near the back of a pickup truck holding several kegs of beer. Sal waved to him to let him know he was all over it. Not one of them wanted to stay behind when it was all over.

  He knew they were all disillusioned by everything they ever knew. They would all make good additions to their group back in Oblivion. They all agreed to say they were there all along, living in their own community, if asked. He knew Raymond wouldn’t buy it, but he’d be glad for the increase in their numbers.

  Jace didn’t know if it was the right thing to do or if it was even allowed. All he knew was that he couldn’t leave them here to wander aimlessly for eternity. They’d helped him this whole time, playing pranks on Cameron until he was sure his former friend was at his wits end. He was on edge now and desperate. He targeted Lindsay for all that rage now, determined to lash out at her before he was sent away.

  Jace looked past the bonfire and saw Lindsay wasn’t standing there anymore and swore under his breath. The hippie and a female ghost walked up then.

  “Where’s Lindsay?” he demanded. Every ghost here was supposed to stay focused on his girlfriend in this confusion.

  “She got dragged over to a car to sign somebody’s yearbook,” the hippie said and rolled his eyes. “This party’s a drag. Nobody even has any good pot. Listen to that horrible music? You call that music? It sounds like screaming.”

  Jace grinned as he heard the loud heavy metal blaring from a van where a sound system was set up. “Just do as I say, okay?”

  The pair wandered away. He went to seek out Lindsay, growing alarmed when he didn’t find her anywhere. He looked for Cameron and he was no longer standing across from the spot where Lindsay was. He knew something went wrong. Wilson was watching Matt right now, not Cameron. Meanwhile Cameron was missing and so was his girl.