Close Encounters of the Bus Kind

[39]

The echoing dark threw all of Nadia‘s senses off. She grabbed for anyone’s hand but only found air. Ringing followed the echoes as she struggled to keep from stumbling or running into a wall.

Eventually, the faint reflection of the outside grass off the dim lamps gave her something to aim for. But she didn’t want to just run blindly and abandon her friends. She had to find them.

Crying out for them just blasted an incoherent echo against the cement. She swooned and swooped with her arms out, reaching for anyone. An arm passed by hers, but it was slick, cold, and slimy. She kicked up her feet but didn’t make contact with anything.

“Nadia!” Erin’s voice cut through the chaos and she followed it to warmth. The others latched onto her and ferociously dragged her. It felt like her shoulder was going to be yanked out. They rushed in the dark towards that sparse glimmer of light. Leslie sailed above and swooped around like a predatory hawk.

At the entrance to the long hallway, they sprawled and tumbled over into the bushes. Nadia could see Eva with her hair all askew and tears streaking her cheeks. The glimmer of Gina’s bright hair from the shielded spill and presence of her phone told Nadia that this was the right Gina. Erin covered her mouth and stretched an arm out while wrapping herself around Nadia. Leslie launched to the top of the cement hallway and settled there. A few moments of silence seeped into them.

*…Click clack….click clack…*

The noise sounded less like insistent footsteps and more like scraping a knife against a polished surface. The four of them huddled together and crouched down low in the grass so that the bushes would hide them. They weren’t friendly bushes but jabbed and poked and stabbed at every crevice. The discomfort was muted by adrenaline and every breath slowed to the tightest trickle of air. Eva seemed to struggle the most to restrain her suffering.

“I know you’re here. I know you’re heeeerreeee. I know your every secret. Show your faces…and I’ll make it quick. Join me in death.”

The serrated, menacing steps advanced along the side path, crossing beside them while feeling like they were spiraling and swooping ever closer. Nadia noticed some pebbles around her feet and considered tossing one far away as a distraction, but she didn’t feel confident about not accidentally dropping them and leading whatever it was right to their side. It certainly wasn’t Gina. She knew that as well as anyone else, even though it was wearing Gina‘s face and speaking like it went through what they went through.

Gina didn’t have that issue of confidence as she grabbed a handful of rocks and flung them in the air as hard as she could. Most of them peppered the nearby sidewalk like a sudden downpour but others tinkled and pinged against a trashcan and actually ricocheted against a car bumper.

The entity gave a hiss but didn’t rush in the direction of the falling rocks. It lingered by the bushes, as if picking up conflicting information. Of course, right then Nadia‘s lungs and throat felt a random urge for a small cough. She tightened her mouth and swallowed it down, albeit with the faintest squeak of air. Whatever that thing was shifted again, back in their direction, and seemed to be sniffing the air.

Instead of talking, it gave a painful whistle that lingered in the air like acid rain against their ears. Then another. Between humming, it would torment them with whistles. If they could just wait it out, Nadia hoped that it would go away. Long minutes passed though, and it continued this tense and painful game.

“I’m hungry to see you terrified. What will your last thoughts be? What will you do? What kind of meal will you make?”

The group clustered together in the dark, except for Eva.

To Nadia‘s horror, she watched as Eva shifted from empty, sobbing panic with her hands cupping her mouth to a bitter fury with her fists clenched. Before any of them could plead with her not to do it, she stood up and walked out of the bushes.

“Come to die?” The voice sounded like it was speaking underwater with a rough cold. Eva stomped her feet.

“Shut your stupid mouth. Only a paranormal idiot would take the face of a moron like that. So, I don’t give a shit what you think. You DARE to use my suffering for your entertainment! Back off, bitch!”

Looking up, Nadia saw that Eva had brought a hand up and slapped the entity across the face. The mangled representation of Gina staggered and looked up with wide eyes. Slowly, the others started to rise from the bushes. Leslie was still hovering above and actually had a large stone in her hands.

Eva halted the others from getting too close, saying, “This is my fight. I’m not running away. I’m not scared. I’m not letting you, whatever you are, have control.”

The dirty, wrecked creature had its façade of Gina slip slightly with jagged teeth and blackened skin. “Fight?…” It cackled. “What do you expect to do against me? I can send you to your grave with a single slash…"

“I can send you somewhere worse with a single word,” Eva intoned with some measure of her command presence. “Don’t fuck with any of us.”

“You heard her!” That voice didn’t come from Leslie above or their side but rather somewhere behind Eva. It was another Gina.

Nadia puzzled for a moment about how Louise could’ve known where they were, made it to this location, and what she intended to do. Then, she noticed a certain shimmer and translucency to the Gina standing over there. The original Gina tried to use her phone but, for some reason, it wasn’t working.

Eva took a tight breath and all the intensity in her face returned to vast, dark sadness. “I’m sorry…”

”Don’t be, it doesn’t suit you.” Rushing over, that Gina boldly kicked the entity right in the jaw and practically seemed to rip it off. Its illusion faded to the vast, indistinct presence of an emaciated Gollum hunched over and covered in mud. It smelled like rotten meat and ass. Spectral Gina pointed this out and admonished the entity, “Take a freaking shower sometime. All you crackhead cryptids can never get that through your skull. Maybe you’d actually be successful. But then you just like scaring people.”

The entity hissed again. “You don’t really know me. I can bring pain you can’t even imagine. Suffering. Loss. Death. All you can do is moan and scream.”

Eva gestured around. “I can send anything wherever I want. Even to the depths of Hell. She can suck the energy out of anything and use it. She can fly and read your mind. She can crush you into a wet paste with a thought. And we don’t know what her abilities are yet, but I’m scared of them. And we have friends who can lift buildings, scream shattering destruction, and climb inside your soul.”

The entity’s gnarled features dropped. “I… want to sincerely apologize for causing any of you trouble this evening. And for the whole death thing. I understand now that my presentation and reading of your trauma were impolite and improper. I feed off of suffering, pain, and shock, but I should’ve read the room better. I also want to apologize for scaring those two over there the other evening. I won’t trouble you anymore, I promise.”

All of the weird sounds and distortions of her voice vanished off for a light tone not too dissimilar from Gina‘s regular speaking voice but with a remaining, odd inhuman quality. Her gesture went to Nadia and Erin. Spectral Gina added, “And take a shower!”

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry, ma’am. Good evening to you all.” Without further ado, the entity swirled up in on itself like a little colorful ball and popped. That wasn’t exactly how Nadia anticipated things would go, but she couldn’t complain.

With the being vanished, everyone’s attention, especially Eva’s, turned to the other Gina, who they could see through.

She flashed a quick, melancholic smile before saying, “Hey, guys. It’s good to talk to you. To all of you. I was kind of lingering after everything that happened in the Sears. It was a real kick in the teeth to put together that I was just a copy. Gina‘s first copy. Explained why I couldn’t use what I thought was my phone. It meant a lot that you remembered me, Eva. Like this, that’s sometimes all you have to help you remember. Being a ghost isn’t as cool as I thought it would be. But at least I’m not stuck at Sears. I’m sure it worked for Liz, but that’s just not my style.”

Her voice, weirdly faint and oddly sped up at points, crackled with emotion and hints of tears. Even though it was a difficult embrace, Eva wrapped her arms around her spectral friend. She could feel her, even though it seemed more like an outline of a person than their full presence. The original Gina kept back but listened diligently.

Eva teared up as she struggled to find words. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t…”

Spectral Gina pushed against her. “No. Don’t you dare. You did everything you could. You saved everyone. You. Saved. Everyone. You are amazing and it was an honor to share a little of the life you share with her. Now, I feel a compulsion for the whole cliche tunnel and lights, and all that stuff and I get to find out what it all means first. I’ll do my best to make sure your Grandma Edith is alright. Promise.”

Swallowing hard, Eva nodded and fought back whimpers. Holding her close, Eva gently whispered in her ear something only she could hear. Not that it mattered for very long, as spectral Gina spilled the beans.

“SHE LOVES US! Well, I love you too. Took you long enough to say it. Never really thought about it the way I’m sure you mean it but a bit of a bummer that you waited till the last possible moment to say something. I’m counting that against you when we see each other again. Also, super lucky for her, so jealous. May you have joy, happiness, and love. Toodles!”

She walked to the east with a bit of a rise to her steps. Before she faded from view, her foot snagged on something invisible and she took a tumble forward. Eva urgently moved toward her but spectral Gina waved her off, grumbling to herself, “So embarrassing. I thought I was going to make a cool exit. Oh well…”

And she was gone.

Silence slipped back as Leslie lowered herself to the ground and looked around. No one knew what to say to one another. Eva pressed her hands around the side of her face, as though she were trying to block out the world. Gina took a deep breath and walked around to look her in the face. Eva avoided her eyes and her cheeks looked so bright that it almost seemed like she was having an anaphylactic reaction.

“You want to talk about it?” Gina asked.

“God, no…” Eva said faintly. “Why did I say anything? I’m so stupid. I hope she winds up in Purgatory where she has to play really hard video games like when we were kids and the power supply was broken and…”

Gina finished for her, “And sometimes it would shut off and destroy all your progress. Yeah, that sucked.” Gingerly, Gina wrapped her arms around Eva and rubbed her shoulder. The taller girl hunched over like a fallen tree and balled her eyes out.

Erin stretched her hands out like she wanted to rub Eva‘s shoulders too but there seemed to be no right place to set her hand. Leslie folded her arms in front of her and looked stymied about what to do as well. Nadia didn’t hold back.

She went right for the two of them and wrapped them up in as much of a hug as she could offer a pair of larger girls. It didn’t matter that they had only known each other since yesterday. It didn’t matter that, except for alien shenanigans, they never would’ve been close to sharing lives like this. All that mattered was that Eva was sad and Nadia needed to do something about it. This broke the hesitancy of the other girls as the five came together into a very awkward hug huddle. Eva seemed confused but didn’t protest.

When they gave her some space, Eva stretched and bobbed her head like a bird with a nervous tick while still avoiding looking at Gina. She puffed a breath and said, “We need to go get that video. I mean, it would be good to get that video for proof. Some assurance that the world is crazy. Alright? We don’t really need to talk about anything else… Until that’s done. Right?”

Everyone in the group but Gina agreed. She lingered with her arms dangling and reached up to rub her forehead. She squinted and quietly nodded after a moment, but still endeavored to add one last thing.

“Evangeline Hayes. I want you to know one thing. No matter what you do, think, or feel about me or anyone else. No matter if you go on a crazed killing spree devoted to some eldritch God. I have been…and always shall be…your friend. Live long…and prosper.” She cracked a goofy smile.

The tears still lingered around Eva‘s eyes, but she chuckled through her teeth and shook her head as she muttered, “You absolute nerd.”

Gina smiled. “Always. Now let’s go prove the existence of aliens!” 

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm actually not that far ahead this time and I am wide open for possibilities for this particular story. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Also, if you see any random typos or uncapitalized starts of sentences, please pass them along. I have to cut down on my editing due to release speed and my programs don't seem to be catching lowercase sentences. Thank you for reading!]

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