by Shannon Cook
“I'll be a surprise,” Georgina said as she kissed her husband on the cheek. “I just need your card, I just need to get something that goes with your other gift."
Since Luke knew his wife was getting something for him, he gladly handed over his credit card. “Now, please, I need to call the police.”
“Go right ahead,” Georgina said as she ran out the door. As she got outside, Blake was standing by the door.
“Is everything alright?” he asked.
“Perfect!” Georgina responded as she ran past Blake.
Inside the garage, Luke was on the phone with the police reporting his missing bus. A few minutes later, a couple of officers who were nearby pulled into the bus lot.
Luke took them into his office and they searched the security cameras from overnight. The two officers and Luke tirelessly stared at the multiple camera angles on Luke's computer screen for a good hour before they caught something out of the ordinary. The security camera from the main dispatch office door caught flashing headlights coming from behind the garage.
“What is that?” One of the officers asked as she paused the video.
“We parked the bus that went missing behind the repair shop last night,” Luke stated. “Driver complained of electrical issues, they stalled out yesterday afternoon."
They decided to focus on the camera behind the garage. They noticed two ladies boarding this bus. “Do you recognize either one of them?” the male officer asked as he paused the video.
Luke leaned in close to the screen and squinted. “Actually, yes,” he said. “One of them is one of my drivers, Jayme, I think her name is,” Luke wasn't too sure, he never cared to learn who his employees were. He only cared about making a profit!
They continued watching for a few more minutes when they watched the bus speed away! They switched over to the dispatch building's exterior security camera and paused it when the bus's driver's side was in the frame. Luke zoomed in on the still image and all three of them were in disbelief!
“WHAT IS THAT!?” The male officer shouted!
Neither one of them could believe their eyes! They watched two ladies enter the bus, but the person driving the bus was a male! Luke's face lost all color. He recognized that man! His eyes got big in horror! “Hold on a moment,” he told the two officers. He got up from his chair and went out into the break room.
Hanging up, they had a memorial of Casey right by the dispatch window. He carefully pulled it down and took it into the office. “I know who that driver is,” Luke stated, his voice trembling.
“Who is he?” the female officer said. “We'll find him and get him arrested!”
Luke took a deep breath. He placed the picture of Casey down on his desk. “It's Casey,” he said. “I never met him, he was killed in a horrible bus crash in the mountains."
The two officers were shocked! How can this be? They both wondered. This was their first time in their career that they were going to be in search of a ghostly suspect! They didn't know what to do!
Just then, Alma knocked at Luke's office door. “Luke,” Alma yelled through the door.
“Come in Alma,” Luke said. Once Alma was in the office, he filled her in on what was happening. “Bus 340 went missing,” he told her.
“The keys are still here,” Alma said. “How was it stolen without the keys?”
“Watch this,” Luke told her. He went back to the footage of the two ladies approaching the bus. “Recognize these two?” he asked.
“Yes, that's Jayme and her wife Robin,” she replied. “Robin was Casey's daughter.”
“Aright,” Luke said. “Now watch this,” he played the footage of the bus speeding by the dispatch building and paused it. “Who is driving?”
Alma took a close look. When she noticed who was driving that bus, her heart sank! She couldn't believe her eyes! “That's Casey!” she yelled. She had to take a seat, her eyes began to tear up. “It can't be though,” she said softly choking back the tears. “He's dead!”
“What should we do, officers?" Luke asked.
“We'll do some investigating,” the female officer responded.
“Please do what you can,” Alma said with concern. “Yesterday, that bus scared the crap out of Jayme. She didn't tell me why, but now I can see why!” Alma knew Jayme wouldn't go back onto the bus if it was the last thing she did! Someone or something had to have forced her to do so. She also believed that Jayme and Robin may have been taken against their will. “Honestly, who would be willing to be on a bus with a ghost?” she seriously asked everyone.
“You have a point,” the male officer stated in agreement. He looked at his partner and said, “alright, let's get going and get to work!”
They all stood up and shook each other's hands. “Thank you, officers,” Luke said.
The two officers left the bus company and began patrolling the streets, in search of the missing bus.
Meanwhile, on bus 340, they were already a few hundred miles away from the bus company.
“What happened that day?” Robin asked her father.
“I lost my breaks going down the mountain,” Casey replied.
Frank rolled his eyes. “Your father also failed to turn on the wiper blades during a torrential downpour too!” he snapped. “I couldn't see where I was going!”
“They weren't working!” Casey snapped back. “Well, they stopped working for just a moment."
Irwin scoffed, “Just in time for you to miss taking that curve!”
“Shut up, Irwin!” Eva scolded.
Irwin glared at Eva. His ghostly eyes were beginning to glow red. “Is that all you have to say to me now?” he asked. “After all we've been through?”
“Why are you being such a jack-ass?” Eva asked.
Robin and Jayme looked at each other in shock! Robin leaned in close to Jayme and whispered, “I don't trust Irwin,"
“Neither do I,” Casey chimed in.
Irwin's jaw dropped! “Why doesn't anyone trust me?!” He lifted his head and got a smirk on his face. “I'm a doctor!” He stated with confidence!
Laughter came from the middle of the bus. It was Veronica. “Then why did you let us all die then?” she asked. “Some doctor you are!”
“Yeah, Eva,” Irwin said. “Why did you let us all die?”
Eva was appalled! “How dare you!” In a way, she wasn't that surprised that Irwin was pushing the blame on everyone, except himself about the crash. All this time being trapped on the bus, all the victims of the crash were beginning to see Irwin's true colors, and it wasn't pretty!
Back at the police station near the bus company, they put out an alert for all neighboring areas to be on the lookout for bus 340. Multiple patrol cars were dispatched to help with the search. “Attention all officers!” the dispatcher radioed. “Be on the lookout for a stolen vehicle! This is considered to be a hostage situation! The suspect,” she paused for a moment, and read the report in disbelief. The suspect is a male ghost!? None of the officers would believe her! She took a deep breath. “The suspect,” she continued, “is a white male, age…dead…”
One of the officers picked up his CB mic and quickly responded. “What do you mean by dead?!” He panicked!
The dispatcher sighed. “Alright!” she responded. “The suspect is a ghost!”
“That's a good one!” another officer chuckled in response. “You had us going!”
The captain was hearing the whole radio transmission. He picked up his CB mic in his office. “This is the captain speaking,” he said. “This is serious. A bus has been stolen and two ladies could be in danger!”
“Wait,” said the officer who chuckled at the call before, “the suspect is actually… dead?”
“Affirmative,” responded the captain.
All the officers made a sigh of relief in their patrol cars. “Oh good!” another officer responded. “At least now we know when we catch up with the bus there won't be any confrontation.”
“The bus is being driven by a gh
ost!” the male officer who went to the bus company earlier snapped!
One by one the other officers got on the CB and began mocking him. They found it humorous!
The captain tried making a radio call but he couldn't get through because the officers wouldn't stop mocking their fellow officer. He finally managed to get a turn with the radio and he was furious! “He's right!” the captain snapped! “The bus is being driven by a ghost! I saw the footage,” he said.
Now, every officer was on edge! They all looked at their partner in disbelief! They know how to arrest people, but they didn't know how to arrest a ghost! How would you arrest a ghost? They wondered. A few officers that were on patrol at that moment ended up quitting on the spot!
Hours passed and nobody had any luck trying to locate the missing bus. Luke was getting anxious! “How hard can it be to locate a bus?!” he snapped as he paced the floor of his office. Luke was starting to become furious that he hadn't heard anything back from the police yet.
“I'm sure they will find it,” Alma assured her boss.
Just then, Georgina and Myles entered Luke's office. “Hey, darling!” Georgina said cheerfully! “Any news about your bus?”
“I'm glad it's gone,” Myles stated sarcastically. “Maybe next time, buy me a vehicle instead of some stupid bus for your stupid business!”
“Myles!” Georgina snapped at hers and Luke's son.
“Nothing,” Luke sighed. “Except,” he paused for a moment. How was he going to tell his wife who stole the bus? She'd never believe him!
“Except what?” Georgina asked.
Luke didn't know how to explain, so he took the picture of Casey that was still on his desk and showed it to her. “Here's our suspect,” he said.
Georgina looked at the picture. She noticed that had two dates on it, 1958-2018. It was now 2019. “How can a dead person steal a bus?” she asked.
Luke went over to his computer and pulled up the still photo they pulled from the security footage. “Take a look for yourself,” he told her.
Georgina and Myles took a close look at the photo on Luke's computer screen. “I don't believe this,” Georgina responded in shock! There was no doubt that the man driving bus 340 out of the bus yard was the same man pictured in the memorial her husband just showed her. The only reasonable explanation she could come up with was, “Did Casey have a twin brother?”
Alma was the only person in that room that personally knew Casey. She never heard of him mentioning having any siblings. Nor has she ever heard her old boss, Burke, mentioning other children he had. As far as Alma knew, Casey was Burke's only child! “I don't believe so,” Alma replied. “I'll try to get ahold of Burke and find out.”
“The worse part is,” Luke chimed in, “two ladies are being held hostage by that ghost.”
“WHAT!?” Georgina yelled! “Luke! Do something!"
“I did!” Luke said. “I have all authorities around here looking for that bus!”
“Karma bit you hard this time, father,” Myles stated with sarcasm.
Luke glared at Myles. “You are one spoiled little, low-life, no-good little punk!” he snarled pointing a finger in his son's face. “Just for that remark, get yourself a job and buy your own damn vehicle!”
“But father,” Myles said in a pleading way. “I can't get a job if I don't have a vehicle!”
Luke chuckled. “Oh yes, you can!”
“Then I'm using your car!”
“Oh no, you're not!” Luke stated. “You'll walk to your first job! Just like I did when I was ten years younger than you!”
“I'll be in the car!” Myles snapped as he stormed out of his father's office.
Luke took a seat at his desk. “I don't know what else to do,” he said. “Georgina, Alma, you two can go home, I'm just going to sleep here.”
“Why?” Georgina asked. “You need a good night's rest after today!”
“I can't go home, I won't go home!” Luke responded. “I won't be able to rest until that bus is found!”
VIII
Later that evening, Robin and Jayme were getting restless. It had seemed like an eternity since they stepped foot onto that bus to begin this duty! Their legs were getting stiff from all the sitting. “How much further?” Robin asked.
Casey stared straight ahead at the dark highway in front of him. “Just a few more minutes,” he told them. He pressed his ghostly foot down harder on the accelerator and the bus began traveling at a much higher rate of speed.
Robin and Jayme gripped onto their seats as their bodies got forced back! “How fast are you going?!" Jayme panicked!
“I don't know,” Casey responded. “I broke the speedometer needle off!”
“You're going to get a ticket!” Robin snapped!
Casey laughed. “I would love to see someone catch up with me," he responded as he quickly swerved the bus between the traffic.
Up ahead, Robin and Jayme noticed a sharp curve with a steep downgrade on either side! There was no way they were going to make that curve if Casey didn't slow down! They thought. They both began to sweat with fear.
“Hold on!” Casey yelled as he gripped the steering wheel as tightly as he could and drove the bus straight down the steep embankment!
The bus bounced and rattled with every bump they hit! The ground opened up, revealing an enormous crater that Casey drove the bus right into.
Bus 340 plummeted down the deep dark crater at a high rate of speed! “Keep your seat belts on everyone!” Casey demanded.
Irwin looked at Robin and Jayme, then over at Casey. “What if we don't?”
“You'd instantly be smashed against the ceiling,” Casey responded calmly.
Irwin got a sinister smile on his face and snapped his fingers. At that exact moment, Robin and Jayme's seatbelt came unbuckled and they went smashing up against the ceiling! The force of the bus's plunge kept them pressed hard against the ceiling! As Irwin laughed hysterically at them.
“What the fuck!” Eva snapped at Irwin. “Why the hell did you do that?”
Irwin shrugged. He looked at Casey and asked, “Is there any way for them to get down from there?”
“When we land,” Casey got a distraught look on his face! He knew the landing would be excruciatingly painful for his daughter and daughter-in-law, but there was nothing he could do now to prevent them from slamming onto the hard floor below them. “They will smash into the floor,” he cringed.
Robin and Jayme closed their eyes tightly and waited nervously for the hard landing. The bus continued to plummet for the next five minutes! Until the bus slammed down in front of an old run downed farmhouse, causing Robin and Jayme to fall from the ceiling and land face-first on the floor below! Robin ended up landing on top of Jayme.
“Thanks for breaking my fall,” Robin stated painfully as slowly got to her feet and back to her seat.
Jayme rolled over to her back. “Don't mention it,” she grunted to her wife. She grabbed the edge of the seat that was next to her and struggled to get up.
A ghostly hand reached over and Frank said, “let me help you,” in a soft gentlemanly tone.
Jayme looked up and Frank was standing in the aisle in front of her holding out his hand. She smiled and took Frank's hand. “Thank you, kind sir,” she smiled, appreciative of the assistance.
Frank helped Jayme up and immediately pressed the front of his body against the front of her body. “Mm,” he said passionately as he pressed his freezing nose against her neck. “You smell amazing!”
“Excuse you!” Jayme snapped, as she tried to pull away!
Robin jumped up from her seat and tried to help her wife out. She tried grabbing Frank by the back of his collar but her hand kept going right through him! Before she knew it, Frank had rushed Jayme to a back corner of the bus in the wheelchair area. He had her wife pressed against the wall, trying to make a sexual move on her! She wasn't going to put up with this!
Robin stomped to the back of the bus, anger raged through her eyes
! She wasn't about to let anybody treat her wife that way! Dead or alive! She had the perfect plan, or so she thought! She got right behind Frank, took her foot, and kicked as hard as she physically could right into his groin! Of course, her foot went right through his ghostly body. Robin ended up kicking Jayme in the groin instead.
Jayme's eyes crossed and rolled into the back of her head as Robin and everyone else on the bus cringed. Frank jumped back and quickly returned to his seat.
Jayme laid on the floor sobbing in pain. “Why did you do this?” she cried.
Robin was horrified. “I wasn't meaning to kick you!” she tried explaining. “I was trying to kick Frank!”
Jayme was furious with her wife! “HE'S A FUCKING GHOST!” She snapped! “Did you really think your foot wasn't going to go right through him?!”
“I'm sorry,”
Jayme got up and limped to her seat. “Where are we?” she asked Casey.
“This is my old house,” Cissy stated. “I can't move on until my girlfriend moves on too.”
“You're a lesbian too?” Jayme asked.
“I'm a bisexual,” Cissy responded. “My girlfriend was a transgendered woman.”
Robin walked over to Cissy and asked, “What happened to your girlfriend?”
“One night,” Cissy began. “I was working the graveyard shift as a security guard. While I was at work, a group of men broke into our home and stole all of our valuables.” Cissy took a deep breath and continued. “The most valuable thing they took from me was my girlfriend. I found her murdered by the robbers when I got home from work.”
“That's horrible!” Jayme stated.
Cissy nodded. “What's even more horrible is I know she didn't move on,” she stated. “Every time I would try to tell people she was still in the house, they thought I was crazy! That's how I ended up in the mental hospital, to begin with!”
Robin looked at her mother, and asked, “Mother, did you think Cissy was crazy?”
“Yes, I did,” Eva replied. “I didn't believe in anything of the paranormal, I believe in it now."
“What is it you need us to do exactly?” Jayme asked.
“I need you to move my girlfriend on,” Cissy replied.