Oblivion (9 page)

“Yeah, I guess that’s what’s buggin’ me the most. I can’t recall doing anything so bad I’d be trapped here.”

“Being in Oblivion ain’t about punishment, Jace. That’s what you don’t get. You aren’t being punished by being here.”

“Why am I here then?” Jace demanded angrily, his dark eyes flashing. “I did everything my ma ever asked of me. I took care of my family. I did everything right! I don’t deserve this!”

Merrick eyed him in amusement. “Drea was a nun before she got here.”

Jace’s eyes widened. Merrick laughed bitterly.

“Yeah, now tell me she deserves to be here. Does that answer your question?”

“No, it doesn’t! I’m not satisfied with that.”

“Jace, you were murdered too, just like us. Someone else’s will cut your life short. Do you want to know what I think?”

“Please, tell me something to make sense of this,” Jace demanded in frustration.

“I think we’re here because we weren’t meant to die quite so soon. Our plan got changed by some asshole; and that’s it.”

“That’s not what I was looking for.”

“Drea was walking home from her church and three guys jumped her and raped her,” Merrick said in a hard tone. “The third guy was worried she’d ID them so he shot her in the head. You think she deserved this after going through that?”

Jace stiffened to hear about what happened to Drea, shuddering from the thought of it. His expression and silence seemed to please Merrick. The black man lit a cigarette and took a long drag, exhaling and smiling sadly.

“That’s when you know life ain’t fair and death is worse, Jace. Nobody knows it better than Drea.”

“Why so long? I guess that’s what I question. You’ve been here over forty years. She’s been here for twenty. Seems to me; this is punishment.”

“It seems to me it’s an extension of life, Jace. Maybe not back where we want to be, but it’s not the end.”

Jace reflected his words in miserable silence. If what Merrick said was true, he could be here a long time. It tortured him. He wasn’t in denial anymore. He was dead. Knowing what happened to him seemed pointless now, but Merrick insisted he still keep trying to remember.

Everything went blank after Cameron got out of the truck to piss on the side of the road. One minute he was adjusting the radio, the next he woke in the alley. Merrick insisted it would all come back to him. He also claimed it would help with his feeling of being lost and his anger. The anger was the worst. The rage he felt was such he was shocked by it.

“You want answers. I get it. I’ve been where you are. Trust me I didn’t have no black fairy godfather waitin’ for me when I got here. I had to fend for myself. That’s why me and the others started this group. We thought if we helped people sent here it would get us out of here faster.”

“It doesn’t look like that’s happening anytime soon.”

Merrick laughed at his disgusted words. “No, but it’s better than the alternative. How far do you think you would have gotten if I hadn’t been there for you, Kid?”

“Not far.”

“Do yourself a favor and pay it forward. Ain’t got nothin’ to gain or lose in it. The more of us; the less vulnerable we are to the demons out there.”

“Yeah about them; what do they look like?”

“They could be anybody; could look like me for all you know. You can tell by the eyes. That gives them away. The eyes are solid black and no soul in them. You ever get face to face with one of them; you do what I tell you. They use whatever form they can to get into your mind and steal that last piece of life you have left.”

“Why do they want these souls?”

“Drea says they have to get so many to please their master.”

“The Devil, you think?”

“Maybe, but after forty years I’m thinkin’ there ain’t much difference between either of them.”

“What do you mean?”

“What kind of God asks for suffering and penance to join him in his house? What kind of God allows what happens back in the world? You start to ask what the difference between God and the Devil is. After a while it ain’t nothin’ but geography, Kid. Up or down, and that’s the truth of it. I ain’t seen nothin’ here to convince me otherwise.”

Jace thought about his Mom. Dawn Turner had been as selfless as she was kind, beautiful and devoted to her family. The one wrong decision his Ma ever made was marrying Everett Turner.

She worked her fingers to the bone cleaning offices to make the bills while her husband stayed drunk. Then she got sick, passing the torch on to him. Then he was cut down for his trouble. It wasn’t fair, none of it.

“You’ve been here for forty years and don’t even know if there’s a God?” Jace asked in astonishment.

Merrick chuckled. “He has his hands full upstairs, I’m guessin’. Don’t look so pissed off about it. Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you get to meet the boss right off.”

Jace glared at Merrick. “Great, guess nothing really changed then. I still don’t know anything.”

“Oh plenty changed. You getting cut down before your time effects everybody in your past life. Things that should have happened won’t now. That causes lots of problems. That’s why we don’t go back. You can’t fix none of it. They have to find their way back on their own.”

Jace thought of Lindsay and his family and tensed. “What do you mean? What happens to them?”

Merrick blew a perfect smoke ring before he put the cigarette out on his plate. His dark eyes looked murky and bleak. “Kid, ain’t nothin’ you can do about it.”

“I want to know.”

“Everything goes to shit right on down the line. That girl of you told me about? You ain’t there now. That effects decisions she would have made, had you lived. She ain’t gonna make them now. That changes the course of her life, good or bad. Same with your family.”

Jace felt a sense of helplessness again to know Lindsay would be affected by his death. He thought of her dream to be a doctor one day. He thought of Dougie and Sara. His heart hurt to know there was nothing he could do for them.

“What if I gave them some sign I’m ok so they stay on course?”

Merrick looked angry. “You can’t go back, Jace. You open doors between this world and that one; you’re askin’ for trouble.”

“What kind of trouble?”

“That’s what the demons want, Jace. They want out of here too. You manage to get through the doorway; you open the door for them. They could follow you there. You don’t want that, trust me.”

“But it’s possible? I could help them get through this so their life doesn’t get screwed up.”

“Yeah, it’s possible. Anything is possible. You’re in Oblivion, Jace. You’re gonna find out real fast what you can and can’t do. What you have to ask is whether it’s worth the risk. Those demons would go after everything you love back there.”

“Sounds like you did it before,” Jace remarked quietly, seeing the turmoil in Merrick’s expression.

Merrick looked away. “Yeah, I had a woman when I died. She was havin’ my kid. I wanted to make sure she was alright. I went back and did that ghost thing for a time. Scared the Hell out of her but she knew it was me. A demon followed me and pretended to be me. See they can take to flesh form, unlike us. She thought it was me. The demon took both of them. That’s what I got for trying to fix things, Kid. Got a two for one special; that demon did and I gotta live with it.”

Jace looked miserable. “What if you could close this door behind you or whatever it is, so they couldn’t follow?”

Merrick looked disapproving. “I guess you get a friend to close it behind ya it might work. Ain’t worth the grief. Somethin’ goes wrong and you’re stuck there.”

“Wouldn’t that be better than this?”

“I think you need to realize something right off,” Merrick snapped. “Staying in that place as a ghost ain’t any fun; trust me.”

“But it’s possible?”

“Why don’t you learn the ropes down here, Jace? Get a handle on who wacked ya and why, and worry about the other stuff some other time.”

Jace could see Merrick didn’t approve of his considering going back. That was when he made the decision he was going. He would learn all he needed to know from Drea and Merrick. He was opening the doorway and going back.

Everything he went through in his life wasn’t going to be for nothing. So what if he wandered for eternity as a ghost? If he could help Lindsay and his family, it was worth it.

Chapter Six

Lindsay knocked on the door of the Chase house and frowned as she stood there for ten minutes. She could hear music blaring inside. It was after three-thirty in the afternoon. She knew Marianne was at the salon she owned. Her husband worked in Helena and didn’t arrive back until late in the evening. Cam was expecting her so she was annoyed when she heard the loud rock music within.

Cam had the attention span of a gnat. Tutoring him was going to be a challenge. This was the first day and it sounded like a party was going on inside. She muttered under her breath as she retraced her steps to the gate that led to the back of the house.

The Chases were pretty well off, living in the gated sub that she had once called home. She was wistful as she recalled the block parties and barbeques. It seemed like an eternity ago, not just a year, since she went zipping up and down these well-tended roads in her bright pink Volkswagen bug.

The pool was closed up, a winter cover still on. The music was louder back here, coming from the wreck room they built onto the back of their house. Cam was the only kid at home now that his brother was away at school. The baby of the family; he was spoiled rotten. Until six months ago, he had a brand new truck. A drunk night out totaled it and he was back driving his Dad’s new Mustang.

Lindsay went to the sliding glass doors past the Jacuzzi and knocked. She frowned. Cam wasn’t going to hear her over that racket. She tried the doors and found them open. She hesitated before she walked inside and shut them behind her.

The house was immaculate thanks to the maid they hired. The modern furnishings and art on the walls weren’t to Lindsay’s taste. Marianne liked to show off her wealth. Her husband did some kind of financial planning and investments for a living. He wasn’t home much and Marianne had her hands full with Cam.

“Cam, I’m here,” she called and realized he wouldn’t hear her so she ventured to follow the music.

She stepped into the wreck room and coughed from the smell of marijuana and waved at the smoke in front of her face. Cam and his three pals were huffing on a water bong and didn’t see her. Her eyes narrowed. He certainly wasn’t taking his finals seriously.

He noticed her and grinned, his cute face wreathed in pleasure. He got up and turned down the music. The guys looked at her and she stiffened from the looks passing between them. They obviously thought this was more than it was.

“Hey Lindsay, you’re early,” he said as he came forward. “My mom said you would be here at four.”

“It’s ten too, Cam. Can we get to it? I have things to do later?” she asked in annoyance, seeing his eyes were like moons from the dope he’d smoked.

“Ok, sorry. I’ll just walk the guys out.”

Lindsay could just imagine what they were thinking as they passed, sending her speculative looks. Tomorrow the rumors she was tutoring Cam would be twisted into some perverted rumor. She was glad she wasn’t in school anymore. Knowing Cam, he would encourage people to think this was more than it was.

Minimum wage by the hour was hardly worth this. Then as an added incentive, Mr. Chase offered five hundred dollars if his son passed his SAT exam. Five hundred dollars was a lot of money to her right now.

She couldn’t draw off her trust until she was actually enrolled in school. She had to fly down for orientation in August to register. As soon as she signed on the dotted line she had access to the funds.

“I’m sorry about that, Lindsay,” Cam said as he came back, his stoned expression ticking her off.

“Cam, I’m here to help you pass your exams and that isn’t going to happen if you don’t take it serious.”

Cam grinned and his handsome face lit up. “I promise this won’t happen again.”

“Ok, let’s go someplace quiet and get started.”

Cam looked intrigued. “Ok, let’s go to my room. That way when my mom gets home she won’t interrupt us.”

Lindsay nodded and hitched up her purse, following Cam as he led her through the house to the stairs. The upper level was an open loft and Cam had it to himself now that his brother was away at school. Two huge bedrooms and a combined bathroom were up there. The wall facing the street was a huge glass window.

Cam’s room was a disaster she saw. She stepped over clothes and dirty towels on her way in. He mumbled apologetically as he went to his computer desk and cleared it off. He had every modern technological advance known to man and couldn’t find any of it under his laundry. He cleared off his desk and offered her a chair.

She busied herself going through the checklist given to her by the guidance office. She nearly groaned in dismay. Cam needed help with every course, not just math and science. She had a month to get him ready and if he was stoned every day of it she could kiss the five hundred bucks goodbye.

“Cam, if you aren’t going to take this seriously, tell me now,” she said as she gazed at him fumbling with his flat screen TV’s remote. “I got better things to do.”

“No, I just study better with the TV on.”

“No, it’s a distraction we don’t need. Turn it off.”

He laughed and flipped it off. “Bossy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Cam, I need for you to take this serious or why bother?”

“I bet you weren’t this mean to Jace when you tutored him,” Cam said sullenly.

“No, I was meaner, trust me.”

“Fine, have it your way.”

Lindsay was glad she had Cam’s attention. While she went over the notes of each subject, she looked around out the corner of her eye. Seeing the mess reminded her of how small the object was she was looking for. She reasoned it would be hidden in a drawer more than likely.

“Lindsay, how’ve you been?” he said finally when they took a break. “I don’t see you anymore.”

“I’m fine,” she said as she leaned back in the rolling computer chair.

“You look good, but then you always look good,” Cam remarked, his eyes lingering on her blouse. “You ever get lonely, just call me.”