The Bridge (Para-Earth Series) (42 page)

             
‘What’s going on?  What is she doing to you Alex?’ she wondered and then thought, ‘Or are you the one doing something?’

             
Her attention was so focused on the pair below that she failed to notice the railing she was holding onto begin to crack.

              “You’re confused and frightened.  I understand.  You’ve never been treated like this before have you?” Alex whispered and hummed a tune to her. 

             
She seemed to like it.

             
He smiled and stood up.  “There’s so much you’ve never experienced.  Let me show you…” All around them grass appeared, followed by trees and the sounds of birds.

             
Soon the sun shone down on them as well.

             
A rosebush blossomed nearby. “You like flowers don’t you?” he said picking one and holding it up so she could smell it.

             
She refused to look at first, so he brushed the petals against her cheek.  Turning she saw the color and her little face lit up.  She was trying to smile, but was unsure how.

             
“Like this,” Alex said and showed her.

             
She tried to copy him, and after a few attempts succeeded. 

             
“Yes,” he told her, kissing her cheek.  “Would you like to see something else?”

             
The infant looked at the flower and then curled up against his chest once more.  She was still a little frightened. 

             
Smiling, he sang another little tune as they made their way past a cement labyrinth, towards a playground.  There were slides, swings and a pair of large rockets made of tubing.  But Alex was heading towards some metal mushrooms, specifically the ones with upside down domes.  They were perfect for sitting and spinning in.

              As the railing broke in her hand, Veronica felt her feet begin to slide towards the edge.  “NO!” she screamed, while desperately backpedaling to no avail.

             
Suddenly, a pair of hands grabbed her from behind and stopped her slide. “Gotcha!” cried Cassandra.  A moment later, Julie appeared and carefully leaned over the edge and reached down to grab Alex’s other leg.

              He was taking her along the pier where colorful boats were moored.

              “I’ve got him,” Julie grunted.

             
“Be careful, that’s the injured one,” warned Cassie.

             
“Never mind, just pull him up!” cried Veronica.

             
They had almost got Alex onto the bridge, when Julie finally saw what he was holding in his arms.  Screaming in horror she nearly lost her grip on his leg.  Only Ronnie’s bellow of “DON’T LET GO!” saved them from disaster.

              Now they were at the stretch of beach.  The sun was shining down as the waves crashed nearby.  Overhead some gulls danced on the breeze and she was taking her first steps with his help.  He was holding her hands above her head and saying, “That’s it, I’ve got you.”

             
Excitedly she headed straight for the sandcastle he’d built nearby.

             
“And the fortress falls under the attack of Girlzilla,” he cheered.

              The tiny, decayed figure in Alex’s arms began to wriggle.

             
“HOLY SHIT IT’S ALIVE?” Julie cried.

             
“I KNOW, NOW PULL HIM UP!” roared Veronica, hoping her tone would be enough to keep the big girl focused on the rescue.

             
It did.  Using her powerful muscles, Julie lifted Alex and his charge to safety, much too Ronnie’s relief.   But once the two were safely on the bridge, she notice both Julie and Cassandra backing away.  The sight of the living corpse-baby in their friend’s arms was obviously too much for them.

             
Just then the babe opened its mouth wide.

             
Veronica instinctively clapped her hands over her ears only to realize the sound that came was not the banshee-like wail she’d expected.  This was the cry of a frightened who needed reassurance and comforting.

              He had taken her down the slide, only to find she hadn’t liked it.

              Forgetting their terror Julie and Cassandra both reached for the baby saying, “The poor little thing…”, and “Oh let me…”

             
But Ronnie stopped them both by saying, “Let me, she was going to be mine.”

             
“Bugger off, I was here first,” murmured Alex, not opening his eyes.

             
All three women sighed with relief. He was alive AND he was being a smartass.

             
Although she had no idea what was going on between him and the child, Ronnie decided to follow his lead. “I called dibs on her way before you ever showed up buster.”

             
“Fair enough, just remember to open your mind,” he whispered, and reached out a hand.

             
Without hesitating Veronica took it and...

              …
found herself standing at the foot of the slide.  She looked around and began to say, “Isn’t this Wantagh Park…” Then she spotted the perfect little figure, crying in Alex’s arms. “Is that her?” she breathed.

             
Her lover nodded. “She was going to be your daughter, Luv. How about giving me a hand with her?”

             
Eagerly Veronica reached for the baby who suddenly tightened her grip on Alex.

             
Undaunted, Ronnie slowly stretched out a hand and stroked the child’s head.  “It’s all right honey, I won’t hurt you.  I’ve waited so long to see you,” she told her ‘daughter’.  “Will you let me hold you?”

             
The child slowly looked up at her.

             
Veronica smiled, “Oh, such beautiful blue eyes.” 

             
The child seemed to be fascinated by the mass of red hair and let Alex hand her over.

              As the long awaited union between the police woman and the infant finally took place, Cassandra and Julie gently helped Alex into an upright position.  He was careful to keep one hand on Veronica and the baby.

              The three of them were enjoying her 1
st
birthday.

              “Alex?” said Julie, shaking him gently. 

             
“NOT YET!” he hissed.

             
The big girl threw a confused look at Cassandra, who reached out and touched her childhood friend and saw…

              It was her first day of kindergarten.  She was a little reluctant to leave her parents, especially Veronica. But she was being a brave little thing. 

             
Alex spotted her and pointed, “Look, Aunt Cassie came to see you.”

             
The child looked over and waved at her. 

              “Oh Alex what a wonderful thing to do…” Cassie murmured, carefully removing her hand.   

             
“What?  What’s he doing?” asked Julie.

             
“Giving her the life she never got to have,” Cassie replied sadly.  “She’s never known what it’s like to be loved.  After all, she was taken from her mother almost as soon as she was born and used as a puppet…”

             
“What do you mean?” asked Julie eyeing her curiously.  “I thought she was the one doing all the killings.”

             
Shaking her head Cassandra explained, “She’s another victim.  Both her, and her mother, were forced into the water.  But, only Rachel was allowed to die.”

             
Julie’s expression changed from nervous to angry.  “You mean something’s been keeping her like that, in order to use her?”

             
Cassandra nodded solemnly.

             
Staring out at the darkness the big girl murmured, “And I think I know what it is.”

             
Now it was Cassie’s turn to look puzzled.  “How?”

             
The raven-haired beauty started scanning the area, as she answered.  “When we came here earlier and split up, I saw something.  At first I thought at the time that those hallucinogenic fumes from the stream were messing with my head.  But, I’m not so sure now.  In fact I don’t think there are any fumes.”

             
“Why?” Cassie asked her eagerly, “What did you see?”

             
“A white wolf,” her friend replied.  “And it was staring at me.  I mean really staring at me.  Then I started seeing images in my mind, like I was seeing into the past, from a time long before this bridge was built.  I know it doesn’t make sense but...”

             
“No, tell me everything you saw,” Cassie insisted, grabbing her by the arms.  “It could be important.”

             
Julie stared at her for a moment, and then looked over at Alex, Ronnie and the baby and made a decision.  “All right, it started with a tribe of Paleo Indians living next to this stream.  One night strange lights that started to appear in the water…”

              For days the lights had been seen, but only at night.  Then they became more and more frequent until one night flashes of lightning that shot up out of the water and a whirlpool appeared.  It grew in size until finally it erupted into geyser before subsiding and leaving behind… the thing.

             
Then, for reasons they did not understand, they tried to help it.  They began by keeping it in darkness, since the light seemed to cause it pain.  They tried to communicate with it with very little success. Or so they thought.  That night, IT reached out to them in their dreams. That was then they realized the creature was intelligent.

             
Soon fish and animals became more numerous thanks to the thing’s dream calls, and the tribe prospered.

             
But, when summer came and the stream had receded a bit, the bodies of dead animals were found partly buried in the mud.  The carcasses were withered and strangely marked as if many mouths had fed upon it.  Upon cutting the corpses open they found certain organs and tissues were missing.  Those that remained were either still fresh or extremely decomposed as if they had lain there for years.

             
Then, the body of a child, who had been missing for some weeks, was found in the same condition.  The elders quickly realized that the thing was not their friend and sought to rid their people of it.  But, all efforts to drive the thing back into the water where it had come from failed. 

             
Finally, one of their best hunters went and sat at the water’s edge for three days and nights to commune with the spirits.  Towards the end of the third night, the strange lights appeared again.  The hunter stood up, waded into the stream and vanished.

             
For one week nothing happened.  Then a child, who had been fishing with a spear, heard a disturbance in the water nearby.   As he watched in terror, a man’s head surfaced and approached him.  The child recognized the missing hunter and called out to the tribe who quickly gathered to see what was happening.

             
Upon seeing their lost friend, many rushed into the water’s edge to greet him.  But then they realized he was pulling on a long rope and trying to drag something heavy out of the water. Immediately, they rushed into the stream to help.  Soon a massive stone emerged from the stream.  Its color and texture were unlike anything they had never been seen before. 

             
That night under the hunter’s guidance, a ritual was performed which forced the strange being into the stone and imprisoned it within.  After that, the stone was carved into an oblong slab and marked with a warning that only the people could understand.  Then, it was lowered into the waters which would help preserve the stone for all time. 

             
Their efforts to imprison the creature had succeeded, but soon they learned that the stone was not enough to keep the thing from reaching into their dreams.  More than once, a squaw, heavy with child, was found wandering along the banks of the stream or even entering its waters. 

             
So the people packed up and moved away.  Occasionally, they returned just to make sure that no one had tampered with the great stone.  They also wanted to make sure that the waters of the stream still flowed over it.  For they knew if the stone was taken out of the water, it would eventually weaken and finally crack, releasing the creature into the world once more.