Almost Midnight (17 page)

Looking up at his dad, he saw him glance up at the sky. Picking up his radio, he called to confirm it was safe to take off. Chase held his breath, thinking this might be his lucky break. No such luck.

His dad nodded, hung up, and told them all to turn their cell phones off. They were leaving. The storm was five hours away, his dad informed them. They would be safe.

At least that gave this Jimmy guy—someone his dad trusted with Baxter's life but not Chase's, which was not a good sign—five hours to find Baxter.

The plane took off with ease, the gray sky greeted them with a snowy mist. A few minutes later, Mindy put on her headphones and went into her music zone, but she met his eyes every now and then and he knew she was worried about Baxter as well. The heavy silence in the plane matched Chase's mood. That mood plummeted deeper when a sudden jolt shook the plane. The unexpected jarring threw Chase against the cabin wall.

“What's happening?” his mom asked, her voice heightened with panic.

“Downdraft,” his father gritted out as he fought to control the plane. But the small aircraft kept falling and being yanked up and down.

The cabin filled with loud shrieks from his sister and Tami.

“I got it. I got it,” his dad yelled over their screams in an attempt to put everyone at ease.

No ease came. The plane continued to fall. Fear swelled inside Chase as his dad fought the controls. The plane tilted at an angle. Tami's shoulder came against his. She grabbed his hand, her grip amazingly tight. He gripped back. Determined not to let go.

“Watch out,” his mom screamed again. “The mountain! The mountain!”

Another jolt shook the plane. The wing must have clipped something. A loud crack, the shrill noise of metal being crunched, vibrated in Chase's ears. Behind that hideous noise his mom called out, “I love you guys.”

That was the last thing Chase heard before everything went dark. Dark as in complete blackness. Nothingness. And because he feared what was coming, he went there willingly.

*   *   *

Chase was stuck. Caught. Trapped in the middle of something … of somewhere.

The darkness started to fade. He saw light. He saw … he saw his family.

“Are you okay?” he yelled out, not understanding why he felt this raw sensation that something was wrong. Not that they looked wrong.

Unlike him, they were in a tunnel. A tunnel of light. He didn't understand. Why were they there, when he was … here? Wherever here was.

Worry. Panic. Terror. Emotions continued to swell inside him, and somehow he knew if he could get to his family, it would be okay. He would be okay. That he wouldn't be stuck anymore. He tried to move closer to them, but something held him back. No, it didn't just hold him back. It pulled him back.

“No,” he said, trying to free himself to go to them.

His mom looked up. Her mouth moved as if talking, but he couldn't hear her. Then she waved him back, as if telling him to go. Not that he had a choice.

Whoever, whatever had him, kept moving him. His family was getting smaller and smaller. Why wouldn't his mom want him to come with them? He didn't want to be alone.

In the distance, he heard barking. Baxter. Thinking of Baxter brought on another wave of unexplainable panic. Why was he worried about Baxter? He squinted to see if his dog was with his family. It didn't seem like it. But they were so small now, maybe he just couldn't see.

But the barking seemed to be closer than his parents and Mindy. He shifted his gaze, looking for the dog. When he glanced back up at his family they were nothing but tiny specks in the surrounding light.

He could still hear the barking. “Baxter?” he called. “Where are you?”

Then he remembered Baxter was lost. Lost. And the storm was coming. His heart suddenly swelled with another memory. The plane. The … crash.

His heart pounded against his chest.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The light disappeared. Or that light did. Another light turned the inside of his eyelids red. He tried to open them, but they felt so heavy. Crusty, as if something had glued them shut.

Before he tried again, the pain hit. Pain in his arm. In his neck. His head. But amazingly, nothing else hurt. That's when it hit him. It didn't hurt because he couldn't feel anything. He couldn't feel anything below his chest. Not his legs, or his feet.

Forcing his eyes open, bits of white fell toward him. Snow. A flake fell into his eye and he blinked it away. More raw panic gripped his chest.

His parents? Mindy? Tami? He swallowed. His throat barely worked. He tried to raise his head. It hurt, but he did it anyway. “Mom? Dad?” he called, but the sound barely came out.

He blinked several times and tried to focus. All he could see was a mangled piece of metal that had once been a plane. The plane his dad loved. He called it Amy, named after Chase's mom.

“Mom?” he called again and turned his head to see if he could spot anyone. He couldn't. But then he saw the snow around the mass of mangled metal. It was red. Blood red.

He remembered the light. Seeing them in the bright tunnel. “No,” he screamed and tried to get up, but he couldn't move his legs.

He dropped his head back in the pillow of snow. Hot tears rolled down his cheeks.

A wave of dizziness hit, bringing the blackness back. He embraced it.

*   *   *

Noise. Chase's mind registered it. Metal scraping against metal.

He saw the red again on the back of his eyelids and forced his eyes open. Snow caught on his eyelashes, or was it ice? His face felt almost frozen, sort of half-numb.

“Damn it, Tallman. This wasn't supposed to happen,” the voice boomed out of nowhere.

Chase used every bit of his energy to lift his head. He saw two men standing beside the red snow and plane wreckage. One wore a white coat. The other wore black, all black: black jeans and a black coat.

“I should have never involved him in this,” the man in white said, as if he was looking at …

Is he alive?
Chase tried to speak but only air came out. Then again, he must have spoken, because the two men swung around as if he'd yelled the words.

“One of them is alive,” the man in white said. They both rushed closer, their footsteps crunching on the snow.

One of them? Only one?
They were dead. His dad, mom, Mindy, and … Tami. He remembered the light.

 

NOVEMBER 1, 4 P.M.

NEWS FLASH: UPDATE

Four confirmed dead in plane crash on Jasper Mountain Range

After a nearly six-hour trek to the crash site, the Search and Rescue (SAR) and Mountain Rescue Association (MRA) converged on the wreckage of the Cessna 210. Sheriff Ted Carter of Jasper County confirmed getting the report twenty minutes ago that four bodies have been found at the crash site of the plane flown by Dr. Edward Tallman and carrying four passengers. The friends and family of the victims already in Jasper have been notified. Identification of the bodies has yet to be made. But regrettably, the emergency crew does not anticipate finding any survivors. The crash site was worse than they had originally suspected, and it is believed that the last remaining passenger could have been thrown from the plane or is lying among the charred remains.

Sheriff Ted Carter was quoted saying, “On behalf of Jasper County, I offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the individuals who lost their lives today. As we continue to monitor the situation, our thoughts and prayers are with the loved ones of those who were on board.”

More updates will be made when available.

 

Chapter Seven

OCTOBER 31, 4:45 P.M.

Had these men really said his family was dead? Chase let his head fall back down. No, he couldn't accept that. Couldn't believe they were gone. He fought to keep his eyes open, wanting to ask again—to beg them to be wrong. To save his family. The two men appeared over him. He tried to open his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Black spots, like fireworks, started popping off in his vision. He couldn't make out their faces, but he saw their shapes.

Then he saw … he saw their eyes. Glowing. Bright lime green. What the hell was wrong with his vision?

One of the men crouched down beside him, the snow crunching beneath the heels of his shoes. It was the guy in the lab coat. Chase couldn't make out his face, but he saw his eyes, still glowing, and the white coat.

“Damn it,” the man said, looking up at the guy wearing black who stood over Chase. “He's a carrier. Did we bring gloves?”

“No,” the other man said.

The dizziness had Chase closing his eyes, but he listened. Their voices were distant—as if on a radio in another room. He tried to pick up his right arm, but couldn't.

“We're here, kid,” one of them said and Chase felt his body shift slightly as if someone was moving the snow from around him. “Damn it. If I touch him I risk activating the virus. He's in bad shape. He wouldn't be able to survive the turn.”

“I disagree,” the deeper voice said. “It's his only chance to survive.”

“He's too weak. It'll kill him,” the other voice argued.

“Probably, but he's dying anyway. Turn him and at least he has a chance. It might not be much of one, but it's the best shot he has.”

He was dying. He thought hearing it would have caused him to react. He didn't. He thought of the light tunnel where he'd seen his family. He wanted to go there.

Chase opened his eyes to tell them it was okay. He couldn't speak but he stared at the blurry figures. One of the men passed something to the other.

Chase blinked the ice from his lashes and saw the man in the white lab coat holding a knife. Chase's heart thumped once in fear. Then he watched as the man turned the knife on himself. He put the knife to his palm and gripped it. Blood, one drop at a time, dripped from his clenched fist.

Chase didn't react to it because somehow it didn't seem to matter. He was dying and he was going to go to the light.

As Chase stared, the guy dropped the knife in the snow. Then he pressed his bleeding palm to Chase's arm, to an open wound he had there. The touch wasn't nearly as warm as he'd thought it would be. Then suddenly it was. It was so warm it stung.

“Hot,” he tried to say, but wasn't sure he'd managed it.

A burning sensation started flowing inside him. He heard himself moan.

“Come on, kid. Hang in there. I owe your dad that much.”

Chase choked on his next intake of air.

“Damn it! Don't you die on me!”

Die on me. Die on me. Die on me.

The words echoed in his head and he saw the light again. Peaceful, pure, bright but somehow soft. It didn't hurt to look at it. As a matter of fact, it was beautiful.

All of a sudden his dad and mom appeared beside him. “No,” his mom said. “Go back.”

“Live, son,” his dad said. “Live for us.”

“I don't want to,” he said. “I … I don't want to be alone.”

“Take him back, damn it!” his father roared, staring back into the tunnel of light as if someone else was there. “Please, it's not fair.”

Something started pulling him away again. “No,” he begged. “I like it here.”

He stopped moving. He heard the bark again. Baxter.

Turning in circles, he looked for his dog. “Come here, boy. Come here.”

“Chase?”

The fine voice had him swinging back around.

Tami.

She looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her dark hair glistened with the light. Her smile lit up her face. Angelic. That's how he would describe her.

She moved to him. Her presence so sweet his chest ached.

All of a sudden she looked back over her shoulder as if someone called her. “It's my brother,” she said when she turned around. “He's here. And he looks so good. He runs and can play ball like he loved to do before he got sick.”

Chase tried to look over her shoulder to see him, but he couldn't. He could only see her. He let his gaze fall back on her face. On her eyes that seemed honestly happy.

But then her smiled faded. “You have to go back, Chase. Don't you remember what she said?”

“What who said?”

“You can't turn your back on a challenge, Chase. That's what the palm reader said. I bought the dog collar with the saying on it, remember? It's in your pocket. In your jacket. You have to face this challenge.”

“No, I don't want to go back. I'd be alone. It would be unbearable.”

“You'll be sad for a while, but not forever. It's not like it will go away, you just learn to go on and then you realize that life hasn't ended. I did it with my brother. And you'll do it, too. Go, Chase, go face the challenge.”

He shook his head. “
You
were my challenge.”

She grinned. “Are you kidding? I wasn't a challenge. You had me in the palm of your hand the first time I saw you playing baseball. You looked so good in the uniform.” She glanced back again as if she was being called. “Go back.”

“No,” he said.

She looked sad. “Look, I don't know if I'm supposed to tell you this, but you can see things up here. Glimpses of the future. And I know for a fact that you're going to be okay. You're going to meet someone.” She laughed. “You only
thought
I was a challenge. This other girl you'll meet is the real thing.” She sighed. “Oh, Chase. You have so much life to live. And you can do it. Don't turn away from it.” She looked back one more time. “I have to go. My brother is calling.”

She faded. Disappeared right in front of him. The place where she'd stood held snowflakes and tiny pieces of frozen ice. Slowly it all floated to the ground.

“I'm not going back!” he muttered.

 

NOVEMBER 1, 7 P.M.

NEWS FLASH: UPDATE