Dastardly Bastard (12 page)

“You know you don’t have to.” Justine wrapped her arm around Trevor’s. He would think it was a loving gesture, but in truth, she was only using him as a shield of sorts. With his body blocking her view, she wouldn’t have to look at the thing at the bottom of the slope.

“I know, but if we’re ever gonna get out of that complex we’re gonna need money.” Trevor kissed her lightly on the temple. His lips felt warm and soft. “Anyway, so she harps on me all morning about not going in to work, saying her
‘You’re throwing shadows’
stuff, and—”

“Wait. Throwing what?” Jaleel asked.

Justine saw recognition in the tour guide’s eyes. It made her flesh crawl.

“Shadows,” she said. “I see shadows. And that morning, I saw one on him.”

“So, finally, after her constant harassment…” She pinched his back, and he flinched. “I called in with strep throat or something like that and chilled at the apartment the rest of the day.”

“Did something happen? At your job, I mean?” Lyle asked. The boy’s eyes were wide, attentive, as if he were hearing the story unfold from around a campfire.

“The propane tank on the back of my forklift blew up. Those things have safety valves to release pressure when they get hot or malfunction. Well, that day, the lift’s engine was running hot, and the valve on the tank is what malfunctioned. They only found pieces of the guy.”

“Whoa!” Lyle said.

“It was my forklift.
Mine
. I never drove anyone else’s, and I sure as hell didn’t like anyone else driving mine. But because I called in sick, they had to fill my spot. I wrestled with that shit for a while, knowing that if I had gone to work, that guy would still be alive.”

“And you’d be dead,” Justine said, squeezing him in closer with an arm around his waist.

“I know. But that guy had a family, baby.”

“And I had you. Would you rather I’d been left without you?”

“Sometimes… yeah.”

Justine was taken aback by the truth in his words. She’d never realized how much that day had affected him. Trevor hadn’t let on, hadn’t expressed his feelings to her. She wondered if he blamed her. By the look in his eyes, he didn’t, but the memory was still harsh and fresh. Justine fully believed that if Trevor could go back, he would trade places with that poor man in a heartbeat.

“You know what I mean.” Trevor kissed her forehead.

She saw the wet in the corner of his eyes, and her heart sank.

As Trevor pulled away, Justine saw the thing on the slope again. It no longer hid behind the outcropping. Since peeking around hadn’t worked, it had decided to show itself. A shiver ran up her spine.

“I want to try this again,” Trevor stated. “I know we’ve been through this already, but I want a hold on just how far this…
portal
goes. Maybe figure out why the rock wasn’t affected.”

“I’m coming with you,” Justine said. She wanted to know what would happen to the thing at the outcropping if she were to warp back down the path. Perhaps it would disappear and leave her alone.

“We really should get going,” Jaleel said. The tour guide stared at the sky, an odd look about him. Justine saw something on his face, not a shadow, but a brightness. He glowed—softly, but glowing all the same. “I think we’re about to lose the light.”

“What?” Trevor blurted. “Man, it’s, like, still morning and stuff.”

“Yeah, that’s debatable.” Jaleel met Justine’s eyes. The shine left him. He looked toward the sky, and she followed his gaze.

“Holy shit!” Justine cried.

Jaleel continued while Justine focused her attention on the craziness happening up above, “The sun’s been moving in the wrong direction since our little warping session.”

“What?” Trevor exclaimed.

“In case you guys didn’t pay attention in school, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Since we’ve been down here, it’s been moving south.”

“That can’t happen, man,” Trevor scoffed. Justine chanced a glance at Trevor. His neck bent at an angle while he watched the sun inching its way across the sky.

“I noticed it a little while ago. It’s speeding up, too. It crested the chasm wall just as you started your story, Trevor, and now it’s in the middle of the opening up there, headed in the wrong direction. Remember how I told you guys the chasm runs north to south? Well, the sun is now running
parallel
to it. Not
over
it like it normally does at this time of day.” Jaleel ran a hand over his short, curly hair.

“That’s not possible,” Marsha said, echoing Trevor’s disbelief. Justine was glad to see the lady could once again form a coherent sentence.

“Yeah, neither is anything else that’s happened.” Jaleel emitted a nervous laugh.

“True. Never mind.” Marsha dropped back a step.

Justine was unnerved by how easily everyone was taking things. Well, everyone but Marsha. The events before the camera man’s fall, combined with their nearest star suddenly having a mind of its own, should have sent the party into a screaming frenzy. Human beings denied the improbable. It was in their mapping, their structure. Justine didn’t like the oddity one bit. She didn’t like the thing waving at her from the bottom of the slope either. She decided just to ignore both.

“So, what now?” Trevor asked, any ideas of trying the loop again apparently abandoned.

“If anyone cares…” Lyle held up his cell phone. The pictures were closed; a dashboard showed instead. “I don’t have a signal. We’re on our own.”

“Great. Just peachy,” Trevor said. “We know we can’t get back to the cars. What about going further down the slope? What’s down there, Jaleel?”

“There’s Flat Rock, then Scooter’s Dive just beyond that. No other way up.”

“You think the portal works both ways?” Lyle asked.

“How so?” Trevor inquired.

“Okay, so this… whatever it is, keeps setting us further down the trail when we try to go up. Right? So if we go down, maybe it will spit us out up top? I don’t know. Just a thought.”

Justine shrugged. “Worth a shot, I guess.”

Marsha said, “Anything to get my son out of here. Let’s just go. Please.”

“Wait!” Lyle spun around in a circle.

Justine’s stomach dropped. She had a brief flashback of Jaleel and his crazy little song and dance.

She didn’t feel any better when Lyle finally spoke again. “Where’s the little guy? What was his name?”

“Donald,” Jaleel said, looking around.

“Well, damn it,” Trevor said. “Now we have a missing person. Shit!”

“He didn’t have anywhere to go. Unless Lyle’s theory is right.” Jaleel scratched his chin. Justine almost laughed at the fact that the tour guide actually
looked
as if he were thinking.

Marsha said, “I’m lost. What’s Lyle right about?”

Jaleel answered, “The portal might take us back to the beginning if we continue toward Scooter’s Dive. Donald could have snuck off further down the trail and stumbled upon the way out. We’re moving on, anyway, guys. We’ll just look for Donald as we go. He couldn’t have gotten far. Just keep an eye out for shadows. Eh, Justine?” Jaleel winked at her.

Justine could have sworn she saw sparkles of pink and blue flitting from the tour guide’s eyelashes. She wouldn’t have discounted the sight if it had been a shadow. That, she had seen before. Sparkles and glowing were new. “Right,” was all she could think to say.

At the outcropping, that improbable horror waved at her.

“Come on, babe.” Trevor took her hand.

Justine stepped forward. “I don’t like this.” She looked down the slope, meeting the thing’s eyes. It seemed pleased the group was progressing and smiled as they continued.

I know that’s not you
, Justine thought.

Sure it is, Just
.

She wasn’t a bit surprised that it was able to answer her.
No, it’s not
.
And when I find you, whatever you are, I’m going to rip your heart out for trying to use her against me. So you better crawl back under that rock of yours, because I’m coming.

What makes you think you have any power here, girl?

Because you’re hiding from us. And only something that’s afraid hides.

“You okay?” Trevor asked, breaking her concentration.

“Yeah. Just making a promise to someone.”

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter. I just hope we find a way out of this mess.” She wrapped her arm around Trevor’s waist again.

“Me, too.”

At the bottom of the slope, standing there in her purple sundress and pink bunny slippers, Nana Penance smiled.

BRIDGING THE GAP

24

MARSHA HAD BEEN WALKING FOR fifteen minutes by her best estimate. The pathway kept cutting in on itself in zigzag patterns. The deeper they went, the heavier she felt. Her mind was beginning to come back, and was less frazzled upon its return.

She glanced at her son as they eased down the rocky slope. She tried to smile when he looked at her.

“You okay?” Lyle asked.

“You know, you look just like your father.”

“Thanks.” Lyle smiled back at her. She could tell he was proud of that little fact.

“You know…” Marsha swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing, “I didn’t mean those things I said. Back there. Back—”

“I know you didn’t. Well… now I do. Dad told me it wasn’t you.”

Marsha wondered at what point he had grown into the man she saw before her. “You really think it was him, huh?”

“I don’t
think
. I
know
.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah. He’s like our guardian angel. He won’t let anything happen to us. Don’t worry.”

“Come here, butthead.” Marsha pulled him in for a side-by-side hug as they continued along the trail. She kissed the top of his head, noticing happily that he didn’t pull away in embarrassment.

“I love you, Mom.”

“Love you more,” she said into his hair, lingering there for a moment, taking in the scent of his shampoo. “You’ve been using your dad’s stuff again in the shower; haven’t you?”

“Do you mind?”

“Are you kidding? Of course not.”

The slope leveled off, and Jaleel led them around a soft bend to the right, before coming to a sliding halt.

“What the
hell
is that?” Jaleel yelled.

Marsha saw the slope spread out, widening to four times the width of the previous trail. The guard wire stopped just ahead, then started again ten feet further down, where the path narrowed again. Stretched across the chasm, swaying lazily in an unfelt wind, was a rickety-looking bridge.

Jaleel was pointing at the trestles, confusion flooding his face.

“It’s a bridge,” Marsha said. “I thought you said you’ve been down here before.”

“I have.” Jaleel shook his head. “I’ve been up and down this section of trail hundreds of times over the course of the past four years. But that—” He jabbed a finger at the bridge. “—is new.”

Trevor laughed. “Doesn’t look new to me.”

“That’s where we need to look.” Jaleel suddenly sounded very sure of himself, but Marsha just thought he was crazy. There was no way she was crossing that thing. Uh uh, no way.

“You just got through saying you’ve never seen it before, and you want to risk crossing it?” she asked.

“That doesn’t look safe.” Trevor shook his head. “I’m not getting on that, bro. Sorry.”

“It’s just this thing messing with you, Jaleel,” Justine reassured him. “You’ll probably step right through it if you try and cross.”

“Like a hologram, or something?” Lyle asked.

“Yeah, like that.” Justine responded.

“Fine.” Jaleel shrugged. “Stay here, then. Or go back and try your luck with the warp zone. I don’t care. Donald was
my
responsibility. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to him.”

“You don’t even know if he’s still alive,” Trevor returned.

“Damn that,” Jaleel fumed. Marsha saw the guy’s hands draw up into fists. “I have to try!”

Lyle stepped forward. “When my dad called, he said I needed to find the cameraman. He told me he’s still alive.”

Trevor shook his head. “Sorry, little guy, but that man’s dead. Gone. There’s no reaching him.”

“I don’t even know what we’re arguing about,” Marsha said. “No one is crossing that thing. Are you crazy? Listen to yourself, Jaleel.”

“I’m not suggesting we all go, Marsha.” Jaleel told her. “I’m going to go over there and check it out. That’s all. If it even starts to swing too much, I’ll come back.” Jaleel stepped to the edge of the chasm and peered down. “Doesn’t look too bad.”

Marsha couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Jaleel was the only one who knew his way around the chasm, and he wanted to leave them alone? For what? To play search and rescue across some rickety old bridge?

Marsha exploded in rage. “You know what? Fuck you! You’re going to stay with us and find a way out of this mess. You understand me?”

“Scared the boogeyman might climb up your ass while I’m gone?” Jaleel asked. Something in his eyes had changed. She shivered.

“Asshole,” Trevor growled.

“Enough!” Justine yelled. “I’m tired of all this crap. Stop fighting. We don’t have anyone else but each other here!”

Jaleel laughed. “You guys can come over once I see that it’s safe. Easy enough, right?”

“You’re nuts. No way we’re going over there. Just drop it,” Marsha said. “You’re not leaving us. Why risk your ass when you don’t even know what you’re walking into? Bad enough we’re already running around in circles!”

“We can just keep going. See if Lyle’s theory pans out,” Trevor offered. “Why don’t we just keep walking? We could still hit the other side, the other… portal.”

Jaleel shook his head. “If there even
is
another side. We don’t know that. We could just be stuck down here. That’s why I need to check the bridge. There may be a way up through that cave.”

25

LYLE FELT HIS CELL PHONE vibrate. He hadn’t even realized he was still holding it. While the group argued by the bridge, he snuck off to the rock face to answer.