Reunion (A Psychological Suspense with Murder, Mystery and the Paranormal) (21 page)

“Is it?”

At that moment, Julie approached.

“Hi, guys! How’s it going?”

“Oh, just fine,” Kate lied. Her face couldn’t hide her uneasy feelings.

“Why so glum? This is a big week for you guys! And the place is looking great by the way. You should be proud.”

“Thanks,” replied Kate. Bryan dropped his trash bag and walked away.

Julie’s jaw dropped. “Was it something I said?”

Kate shook her head. Accustomed to codependency, she covered for Bryan by saying, “It’s his work. He’s having a hard time and he can’t talk about it.”

“Ouch! I’m sorry to hear that. Good thing we got some footage while you were both working.”

• • •

Lana kept busy picking up sticks and other debris. She pushed a wheelbarrow as she made her way toward Tanner, intrigued by his golf swing.

“Hey there, Tan! What are you doing?” she asked accusingly.

“Why? Am I in trouble?”

She responded flirtatiously. “Maybe.”

“Maybe?” He smiled and resumed his pre-swinging position.

“Keep your head down,” Lana teased. Tanner cleared his throat as a way of asking for silence.

“Lock your elbows!” Lana giggled. Tanner stopped and rubbed his eyes and jaw, but said nothing. The look in his eyes expressed his irritation. He resumed his stance and prepared to swing.

Lana persisted. “Bend your knees!”

As Tanner swung the sickle, he heard her words and laughed quietly to himself. However, the joking came to an abrupt stop. Tanner let go of the sickle, and it went flying into the air. He fell backward, and his face twisted with terror. Suddenly, his breathing changed and grew heavy. He began crawling backward, in a crab-walk, as if he were trying to escape something.

Lana ran to him.

“What is it, Tanner? What happened?” Lana looked terrified by his sudden display.

His eyes were wide open, searching blankly for something.

“I don’t know. I…I think my mind is playing tricks on me…or something!”

“What happened? Did you see something?”

“Yes!”

“What was it?”

Tanner hesitated. “It…it was David Ray. He was right there!” Lana put her hands over her mouth and gasped.

“When I swung…” Tanner gulped, clenched a fist and put it near his mouth. He barely got the words past his trembling lips. “When I swung, I saw David Ray’s head. And when the sickle came down, he screamed! The sickle cut his head off!” Tanner breathed deeply, his eyes staring wildly around the yard, searching for the head, but he saw nothing. What the hell? It was there, he thought. I saw it!

He wasn’t much of a believer in the paranormal. He tried to come up with a logical explanation, to no avail. He turned to Lana.

“Did you see or hear anything?” he asked.

Lana shook her head. “No. Nothing.”

“Then it’s me. I’m seeing things, aren’t I?”

Lana stared at Tanner. “I don’t know.”

• • •

Paul walked toward the two men on his maintenance team who were working in the cafeteria. The bigger man, Tony, was plump and stood about five feet eleven. He wore coveralls and a green John Deere cap. He was pushing a mop with wax, moving it in a figure-eight motion. His partner, Joe, pushed the squeegee and wiped away the excess solution. Joe was a frail seventy-something. His coworkers called him “old man Joe.” He had a quiet spirit and a tell-it-like-I-see-it mantra.

“Looking good,” Paul said. “Everything looks real good.”

“Thank ye,” replied old man Joe. He never looked up but kept working when Paul arrived. He had broken his back in a farming accident as a child and was hunched over as a result. Tony, on the other hand, proved more than willing to take a break. He plopped the gooey mop-head on the floor and rested his weight on the handle.

“And what have you been doing all day, boss?” asked Tony.

“I guarantee I’ve done more than you,” replied Paul.

Paul and old man Joe both chuckled.

Tony strained to speak through his heartburn. “Well, maybe I’d get something done around here if you got me some help that’s still breathing!” Tony nodded his head and double chin in Joe’s direction. Joe stopped laughing.

“Oh, don’t worry about old man Joe,” said the foreman. “He’ll be here long after you’re gone!”

Joe resumed his work, giggling. “He he he he.”

Paul changed his tone to a more serious one. He had to get to the bottom of the rumors that were circulating about the building. “So, have you guys seen or heard anything unusual?”

“Nope!” responded Tony.

“Aaaap!” wheezed old man Joe.

“You okay there, Joe?” asked Paul.

“Aaaap!”

Taken aback, Paul questioned Joe’s response.

“What are you saying, Joe? Did you see something unusual today?”

“Aaaap!”

“For God’s sake, what is he saying, Tony?”

Sarcastically, Tony replied, “He’s saying…Aaaap!”

Paul grew frustrated. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I think it means
yes
. At least, that’s what I assume he means when he makes that sound.”

Paul thought for a second and asked, “So, what did you see, Joe?”

Joe pointed behind the two men. They both followed his finger with their eyes.

“What the—!” shouted Tony. He tripped on the mop bucket, causing the wax to spill all over the floor. He slipped and splashed in the slippery solution.

“Oh, God!” cried Paul. His heart skipped a beat.

When Paul turned to look at what old man Joe pointed at, he saw a hazy mirage of children walking to and fro. The images looked like an old-time movie where the picture faded in and out, but the same frames played over and over. Paul and Tony stood there frozen, watching the images emerge and vanish again as if their broadcast depended on a weakening signal. Old man Joe just kept on gliding his squeegee across the floor. The flickering film continued, smoky and translucent. Paul stared right through the children, across the cafeteria.

They seemed to be trapped in another dimension where they walked the same path over and over. Their spirits appeared lost and searching for the life that was cut way too short. One of the spirits resisted the pattern and stared right back at them, looking deep into the place that he could no longer enter.

“Do you see that, boss?” asked Tony as he rose to his feet, dripping with wax.

Paul stepped back and said, “Yeah,” then turned toward Joe. “Why didn’t you say something, Joe? Why didn’t you tell us?”

Joe kept on working. “Reckon, you’d see it all by yurself, just like you done.”

Paul and Tony looked at Joe in disbelief. Paul threw his hands in the air and began pacing in circles, trying to make sense of the mirage as it slowly disappeared.

Paul looked at the men and commanded, “Just finish the floor and get the hell out of here. You hear me?” They nodded and began rapidly cleaning up. Tony looked over his shoulder and gripped the mop handle tight.

“I’ll check on Mike,” said Paul. “Hopefully he’s done by now.”

• • •

When Paul entered the boiler room, he saw Mike lying on the floor twisted and bleeding. He rushed forward. He could tell the injuries were serious. He crouched down, taking note of the pipe wrench lying near Mike’s head.

“Mike! You okay?” Paul put his fingers on Mike’s neck to check for a pulse. He’s still alive, but barely breathing, he thought
.
Immediately he pulled his cell phone off his belt and dialed 9-1-1.

Minutes later, two paramedics wheeled a gurney into the school. Old man Joe stood guard by the front door, taking it all in. He watched the small crowd that had gathered outside, holding his squeegee like some sort of gatekeeper’s staff. He kept the others out so the paramedics could do their job. After they’d triaged Mike, they wrapped his head in gauze and fitted him with a neck support brace, and then wheeled him out of the school to the waiting ambulance.

The onlookers stared as Mike passed and began whispering a slew of theories. Julie and her camera crew were filming right there at the door. Paul closed and locked the entrance as soon as everyone was out. Paul looked at Tony and old man Joe.

“Seems, Mike done hurt his self,” said old man Joe.

“Do you suppose it was the…well, whatever we saw in there?” asked Tony.

“I hope not,” replied Paul. “I just want to believe a wrench fell on his head and that’s it.”

“Reckon whatever done it, is what it was,” commented Joe.

“You don’t say?” joked Tony.

Paul looked at his subordinates with displeasure, indicating that he had heard enough of their bickering. He suddenly felt a strange sensation, as if someone were watching him. He looked over his left shoulder. Nothing. He looked over his right shoulder. Again, he saw nothing. His nerves began to get the better of him. Without delay, he ushered the other two men down the front steps and into the parking lot. He sent them home early and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day.

Paul did not feel at ease until he sat in his car driving out of the parking lot. The experience reminded him of when he had worked on the graveyard crew at the school, back when they’d sweep and mop the school floors late into the night. There’s something in there, he thought. I don’t know what it is, but it’s not good.

S
heriff Richards walked beside Nick until they came to the interrogation room. Larry pushed a button on the intercom system and requested entrance into the secured area. The door buzzed and the two men walked inside. The room was empty with the exception of a small metal table and two folding chairs. Larry politely directed Nick to a chair as he walked around the table preparing his thoughts. Nick sat down and slouched in the chair.

“Tell me what you know, Nick.” He took off his hat and threw it on the table.

Nick sneered. “To begin with, I know about the kids who were playing at the school the other night. And I know that one of them was killed.”

Larry stopped walking. “How do you know that?”

Nick put his elbows on the table, clenched his hands together and leaned toward Larry. His eyes glared at the table as he imagined the scene. “I was there, Larry. Kate and I are having problems, so I was out walking around, just thinking. Sure enough, I hear you and your boys racing toward the school with your lights flashing. So, I decided to check things out. And that wasn’t the first time things have gone bad at the school. I’ve seen some other weird things happen there too.”

“Like what?”

“Well, let me see.” Nick had to think past his drunken memories. He scratched his messy hair and whiskers and looked directly at Larry. “The first time, it was just noises. You know, the creaks and squeaks that make your heart skip a beat. Then I started seeing subtle movements and shadows that didn’t belong there. Most of the time, I’d had a few too many drinks so I just laughed it off and walked home.” Nick paused and stared straight ahead, while his mind formulated a picture of his memories. “I walk around the school to just think and talk to my brother. But when the shadows started coming
at me
, I knew I wasn’t just paranoid. I knew there was something there…” He looked back at Larry. His eyes betrayed him, revealing his fear. “And lately, I’ve been hearing sounds…and voices. I’ve also felt some kind of force leading me to the school, egging me on. Whatever’s in there is getting worse…like it’s gaining strength. But why am I calling it,
it
? We both know what’s in there, don’t we?”

“That’s debatable. No one knows for sure what
it
is.”

Nick stood up and angrily slammed his fists down on the table. “Bullshit! Didn’t you see the glass, Larry?” He walked around the table, his arms flailing about. “For crying out loud, what kind of idiot are you playing me for? I know what I saw, and it was David Ray’s face! Trust me, I’ve been nose to nose with that little son of a bitch! I’d know his face anywhere.”

“All right, Nick, you win. Obviously, you’re aware of said events. But you have to understand, the fate of this town is dependent on keeping that under wraps until we figure out exactly what’s going on.”

“So in the meantime, you’re just going to let Kate and her friends spend an evening in there! Are you crazy? If that ghost, or whatever it is, was angry enough to kill that boy, what do you think he’ll do when Kate and the others walk in, huh? That’s a bunch of crap and you know it!”

Larry took a deep breath, sat on the edge of the table. “Listen, Nick. They planned the reunion on their own. Disrupting it now could cause enough of a ruckus that people might start asking questions. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to avoid. It’s not my decision. The town’s leadership has agreed on this policy.”

Nick looked angry and paced the small room again.

“Do you think I care about that? I don’t give a grey-rat’s ass what the town thinks. If you let Kate and the others in there, someone’s going to get killed! And I swear to you, if anything happens to Kate…” Nick stood there shaking his head and grinding his teeth, staring intently at Larry, making the point with his eyes.

“So what would
you
suggest we do?” asked Larry.

“If it were up to me, I’d burn the place down.”

Larry openly scoffed. “Okay. That’s one suggestion. What else have you got?”

“Kill David.”

Larry’s eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped.

“What? What are you talking about, Nick?”

“There’s more.” Nick looked away, embarrassed by what he planned to say next.

Mockingly, Larry said, “Go ahead, Nick. I’m all ears.”

Nick took a deep breath and reluctantly revealed his thoughts. “What I mean to say is…I think he’s still alive.”

“Go on,” insisted Larry.

Nick rested his head in his hands, staring at the table. Without looking directly at Larry, he continued. “I had a dream while I was sleeping. But…it was more than a dream. It was like a…vision.”

“Okay. What did you see?” asked Larry, choking on the pessimism in his voice.

“I saw David Ray. I saw his life. I saw his death. It was extremely vivid, or maybe frightening would be a better word. It was as if he was trying to tell me what he went through. And I’m telling you, it was too real to be a dream. I never dream like that.”