End of the Road (Ghost Stories Trilogy #1) (16 page)

Chapter Thirty-Five

We didn’t have to wait
long. Less than a month after I finished, a car with a flat tire coasted to a
stop on the shoulder.

A man about my age got
out and opened the trunk. He removed the jack and spare tire, setting them down
on the dirt while his wife or girlfriend stayed in the passenger seat. She
stared out the window, directly at my message. Her forehead creased and she
looked around then she rolled the window down.

“Honey?” she called to
the man changing the tire. He was sweating and his face was red from the
exertion.

“What?”

“Do you see that?”

“No, I don’t Claire. I’m
kind of busy here.” The exasperation in his tone was unmistakable. At this
point everyone had joined me to watch.

“Well when you’re done, I
need to show you something.” She stuck her head back in the car and rolled the
window up.

The man fastened the last
lug nut with a grunt, lowered the jack and stood up with a hand supporting his
lower back. After packing the crowbar and everything else into the trunk, he
slammed it closed and started walking towards the driver’s side. Claire opened
her door and stepped out.

“David, wait, I need to
show you something, remember?” she said.

He looked at her across
the top of the car. “Claire, it’s hot and we just lost a half hour. What is so
important?”

“Come here.” She gestured
with a hand. David groaned and walked around the car. “Look.” She pointed at my
message and I waited with great anticipation. This was it.

“It says “Help”,” Claire
said.

“I’m not illiterate,” was
David’s response. Claire crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him.
“What? So someone wrote “Help” with rocks. Obviously there isn’t anyone else
here. Whoever it was has already been helped. Let’s go.”

David turned and started
walking away. Claire threw her hands up in the air and followed suit.

“Wait! Where are they
going?” I asked the group.

Peggy shook her head and
laughed at me. “Bob, they can’t see us, what were you expecting?”

My plan was collapsing in
front of me. I needed to do something. I bent down and grabbed a rock from the
pile Frank had been working on and flung it towards the car. It hit Claire
square in the back as she was opening the door.

She screamed and turned. Her
eyes were wide and her nostrils flared, reminding me of a startled horse on the
brink of bolting. When she didn’t see anyone or anything that could have made
the rock airborne, she yelled at David to “start the fucking car” and practically
dove head first into the passenger seat.

David had an expression on
his face like he was convinced his woman was nuts, but he shrugged his
shoulders and got in the car. Seconds later they pulled onto the highway and
sped off.

I stared after them,
wondering how my plan could have gone so horribly wrong.

***

LAWRENCE

Poor Bob, I tried to warn
him, but he took the failure hard. Peggy heckling him didn’t help. I had to
chuckle though, for they reminded me of how my two children argued and antagonized
each other. Teddy, usually the instigator, always managed to get a rise out of
Sara by dangling dirt encrusted earthworms in front of her face or placing a
Praying Mantis on her back. Her shrieks and complaints echoed throughout the
house. As much as she protested, she left herself open to her big brother’s
teasing. Her cheeks flushed with excitement and her infectious giggles always
followed the shrieks.

How odd that a grown man
and woman’s antics would remind me of my children. Yes, we all did make up a
strange group. If we ever could communicate with the living, what a story we’d
have to tell.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Tobin Abraham Sayer

b.1986 – d.2007

PEGGY

A violent storm shook the
landscape. Lightning twisted through a wall of dust and debris as it hulked its
way across the desert. Drivers wore focused expressions as they hurried to beat
the impending menace. These kinds of storms were known to impair visibility significantly
within minutes of forming and intense ones could strip paint clean off of cars.

We watched from the side
of the highway, like spectators at the fifty yard line. The sky grew orange and
hazy and within minutes the air was so thick we could barely see each other.
Frank heard the crash first and as he focused his attention on the accident. He
grew brighter and we followed him into the dust.

A car had crashed into
the ditch by our clearing. Judging by the condition of the roof, it must have
rolled once or twice. A severed arm lay on the ground a few feet from the open
driver’s side window. Puddles of blood were soaking into the sand. I heard a
baby crying and looked to Juanita. She started to glow brighter with the
increase in adrenaline - Lawrence too.

Juanita approached the
car and peered in through the window. I went around to the other side with
Frank.

“Peggy, can you open the
door? This one is stuck,” Juanita said.

I pulled up on the
handle, but it snapped back.

“I think it’s locked,”
Frank said and reached in through the shattered window.  Sure enough, he
flipped up the knob and opened the door. Almost simultaneously the smoking hood
burst into flames.

A woman in the front seat
was slumped over the dash and unresponsive. Frank pulled her out and I flipped
the seat forward to reach the toddler who was strapped into a car seat. I carefully
lifted the boy out and carried him to a safe distance, sheltered from the
flames and whipping sand, and placed him next to his mother who was regaining
consciousness. He was crying inconsolably, his round cheeks bright red and
shiny with tears, but there wasn’t much I could do.

I glanced back and the
rest were struggling to extricate the driver from the burning car. At this
distance I saw the spirit appear before they did. A tall, lanky figure stood
next to the group and watched the rescue effort with a confused expression on
his face.

Flames consumed the car,
fueled by the winds. When the worst of the storm passed people driving by saw
the accident and pulled over to help.  The new ghost hovered over his family,
talking to them, trying to get them to notice him.

I moved next to him and
put my hand on his shoulder.

***

TOBIN

I couldn’t make sense of
what was happening. I knew I had to be dead. I saw my body go up in flames.
What I couldn’t figure out was who were the people trying to save me and why
couldn’t they be burned? Stunned, I looked on helplessly then remembered my
family and rushed, well kind of like teleported over to them.

Candy was regaining
consciousness and Egan was crying. He appeared to be more in shock than hurt
and I had never been more relieved. Candy was bleeding from a cut on the bridge
of her nose and she had a swollen upper lip, but other than those superficial
injuries she was going to be okay. I tried talking to them, but they couldn’t
hear me.

A touch on my shoulder caused
me to turn. A woman with red hair was staring at me with warm, brown eyes. She
began to fade a little bit and I couldn’t feel the pressure of her hand on my
shoulder anymore.

“Can you hear me?” I
asked.

“Yes, but they can’t,”
she answered and gestured to my family.

I started to cry.

The EMT’s loaded my
family into an ambulance. Candy kept telling them that angels saved her and
Egan. They nodded and one patted her hand before they secured the doors. The
firemen worked on my car and the surrounding grass which had caught fire. I
watched as they quickly doused the flames.

Before I knew it, they
were gone, my remains removed in a body bag, my severed arm tossed in as an
afterthought and my car towed away. I was left behind. The woman stayed by my
side and whispered her condolences.

“What happened? How did
they get out of the car?” I asked her, when I had calmed down enough to speak. 
Peggy introduced herself and the others then told me how they rescued my wife
and son, but weren’t able to help me.

“Thank you for saving my
family, but I need a moment,” I said and walked off to be alone. That’s when I
learned I could only go so far before hitting an invisible boundary. Nobody
followed me and for that I was grateful. Later I learned they all understood
after having to come to terms with their new status.

I stayed away for a few
days and watched the others, which is what I used to do when I was alive. I
worked at the MetroCenter Mall in Phoenix as a security guard and spent all day
watching people. At first I took the job because it offered a steady paycheck
and the hours allowed me to take night classes at the local community college.
My plan was to gather enough credits, figure out what degree I wanted to pursue
and then transfer to ASU.

At least that was the
plan until Candy found out she was pregnant. Then I needed to stay for the
benefits and school fell to the bottom of my list of priorities. Every cent I
earned went towards rent after Candy and I moved in together. We struggled even
more once Egan was born. While we fought a lot, we tried to make the best of
our situation.

Plus, I always assumed
that the struggles were temporary and somehow things would turn out okay. Candy
and I would catch a break and I could go back to school. As I stared at the
scorched earth where my car used to be, I realized any plans for the future
didn’t matter now. My life was over.

Juanita was the first to
break through my solitude. She approached as the sun rose on the fifth day.

“You must miss your son?”
I nodded.

“I miss my daughter. Not
a day goes by that I don’t think about her.”

“How long have you been
here?”

“Since 1951,” she said
and I stared at her in disbelief. Her lips curled up in a sad smile. “Why, what
year is it now?” She asked.

“2007.”

Juanita sighed and turned
away. Her eyes glistened with tears, but I noticed they didn’t spill. “I left
Mariella with family so I know they took care of her. I’m at peace with that,”
she said and turned back to face me. “Your boy will also be taken care of.”

“It’s not the same as
seeing him grow up. When Egan took his first steps I thought my heart would
burst with pride.” I remembered the determination on my son’s face as he concentrated
on staying upright when he placed one foot in front of the other.

“You’re lucky…I wasn’t
around for that with Mariella, but I know what you mean. When she first said “Mama”,
I just about choked from sheer joy.” She smiled and her whole body shimmered
with more depth. “I wanted Mariella to become a doctor. What about you, do you
have a dream for Egan?”

“I want him to be a
software developer.”

“A what?”

I spent the entire day
telling Juanita about computers and the latest gadget…the smart phone.

We had a lot of time to
do nothing. The others were quick to fill me in on how they were able to move
objects. With practice, I learned how to generate enough energy without lightning
to pick up and move things, but for only very short periods of time. Frank and
I enjoyed tossing rocks at rattlesnakes, forcing them to strike. This made Juanita
upset so we only did it when she wasn’t around. 

A few months after the
accident, Candy came to visit. She pulled onto the shoulder in a new used car
and lifted Egan onto her hip. He had already grown so much in that short
period. She held a bouquet of flowers and a white cross in her other hand.
After walking up the small incline she found the charred grass where our car
had been. Setting Egan down and holding his hand, she squatted and placed the
flowers on the ground. She then picked up a rock and hammered the cross into
the hard earth. Her eyes were red and swollen. When Egan asked, “Daddy?” she
nodded and fresh tears fell. It was up to Candy to keep my memory alive for our
son and I was glad to see she was making an effort.  

I wanted her to know her
act didn’t go unnoticed. I focused my energy and tossed a rock in their
direction. It landed in front of Candy’s feet with a muted thud. She looked
down and jumped back. Her head whipped around toward the direction from which the
rock was thrown. I waved and said her name, but she couldn’t see or hear me. I
picked up another rock and threw it. She watched it sail through the air and
the closer it got, the wider her eyes became. This time it bounced off of her
shoulder before it fell to the ground. Color drained from her face and she
scooped Egan up in her arms then ran back to the car. The tires peeled out on
the asphalt when she pulled onto the highway.

Lawrence came to stand
beside me. “I’m sorry she panicked and ran, but I’d have done the same. Bob
tried something similar and got the same reaction.”

“Fuck, I blew it! Now
she’s freaked out and won’t come back.” I moved away from the group to stand by
the small memorial Candy resurrected, my back to everyone else. I hated how
nothing went unnoticed. Privacy on a small stretch of road is hard to come by.  

We were all surprised
when about a week later a familiar blue Toyota Corolla came to a stop alongside
the road and Candy stepped out. I waited for her to reach into the back seat to
grab Egan, but she hadn’t brought him. Instead her sister, Claudia, joined her
and they walked over to my cross.

“Candy, you sound a
little nuts…first you claim angels saved you and Egan and now you’re talking
about ghosts? That’s the last time you are allowed to watch Ghostbusters,
Poltergeist even the Exorcist for that matter,” she finished her speech and
crossed her arms over her chest.

“Claudia, I know what I
saw and I’m not crazy.”

“Whatever, let’s get this
over with, I’m hungry.” 

Claudia had cut her hair
boy short since the last time I saw her and it didn’t do her narrow face and
large ears any favors. I stood next to Candy and took advantage of Claudia not
being able to see me by flipping her off. Georgia laughed.  

Candy closed her eyes,
took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. I watched the tip of her long lashes
touch the skin under her eyes. Her lips were shiny with lip gloss and I knew it
was strawberry scented. She had worn the same flavor ever since we started
dating. Unlike her sister, Candy kept her hair long. Strands blew in the light
breeze and I fought the urge to tuck the errant hair behind her ear, but had a
feeling I needed to save my energy. She opened her eyes and asked, “Tobin, are
you here with me?”

I didn’t think tossing a
rock at her would be convincing enough for Claudia, so I summoned up my energy,
picked up a stick and wrote
‘yes’
in the sand by their feet. Claudia
gasped and reached for her sister’s arm. Candy blurted out, “I told you so!”

“Holy shit! Did that
really just happen? Ask him another question,” Claudia urged, her cheeks
flushed with excitement.

“Are you alone?”

I wrote
no, me plus 6
others
and dropped the stick, noticing my arm disappeared completely. My
energy had run out.

Lawrence came up beside
me. “I will write the next answer, if you tell me what to say.”  I nodded and
waited for both Candy and Claudia to recover – they were both shaking. This was
the first time that any of us had communicated with the living and the others
moved in closer wearing matching expressions of amazement. Just with them being
nearer, I grew stronger and my arm reappeared, although not as solid as it had
been.

“Are you in pain?”

Lawrence looked at me for
direction. “Tell her no.”

After she read the answer
Candy started to sob. “I’m sorry you didn’t live.” Claudia put an arm around
her sister’s shoulder and held her.

“Tell her that doesn’t
matter. I only care that she and Egan are alive.” Lawrence struggled to get it
all out, but managed and dropped the stick when he finished the sentence.
Candy’s sobs grew heavier and Claudia asked the next question.

“Were Candy and Egan
saved by angels?”

Georgia bent down and picked up the stick. She didn’t need me to tell her what to write.
No, the
other spirits pulled them out
.

Claudia was silent and
contemplative. Candy cleared her throat and shook her hair back, getting
herself under control. “Thank you. Thank you so much!” She said with a thick
voice.

“Why are you still here?”
Claudia asked after a few moments of silence.

Frank took the stick from
Georgia, who was fading fast and almost invisible.
We don’t know.
 

“Oh.”

Claudia grabbed her
sister’s hand, “Candy, we have to leave to get Egan from daycare.”

I moved closer to my wife
and hoped she’d feel my presence. Summoning all of my remaining energy, I touched
her cheek. It was a light caress, as my supply was limited, but I saw goose
bumps travel down her arm. She gasped and stared in my direction.

“I’ll come back,” she
promised.

She did come back with
her parents and Claudia, plus my parents, my brother and a camera. My mom cried
when the answers started appearing in the sand. My brother stood with his mouth
hanging open while my father paced behind the group. He was a religious man and
having his oldest son communicate from the great beyond surely tested his
faith. Claudia took pictures with the digital camera while her parents stood in
stunned silence, much like my brother.