Shadows in the Night

by J. J. Franck

  Avery wasn’t sure Captain Elliott saw her at the cemetery, and for that matter, she didn’t care. Her only reason for going was to pay respect to Kirt’s parents, but when it came time to walk by the casket, she just couldn’t do it. Avery also found it difficult to offer her condolences to Kirt’s parents, not knowing what actually to say to them. She avoided them completely not wanting his parents to ask who she was. And Avery feared Jake would mistakenly lead them to believe that Kirt and her were more than just casual acquaintances. Avery also did not want them to find out she was the one who was with him when he died. It eliminated having to relive the ordeal all over again. It was something she wanted to forget ever happened.

  Once Avery entered her apartment, she didn’t bother to turn on any lights. She liked natural light from the street. Her headache was less noticeable in that light. Avery tossed her purse on the couch. It was then she saw the shadowy image in the far corner of the living room. Avery strained her eyes and then slowly walked over to where it seemed to be floating above the carpet. This time it didn’t move or disappear like the other night. Avery just stood there and stared at the dark image before her, finally convinced the hallucination was caused by the tumor that was growing in her brain. Avery rubbed her eyes half expecting it to be gone when she opened them again, but it was still there. She swallowed hard and then took a deep breath not knowing what she should do next.

  “What are you?” she asked, laughing to herself because she was half expecting an answer.

  Avery reached out, but her hand went right through the shadowy image. Suddenly the image started to take shape, and her hand was hardly visible anymore as the vision of Kirt floated closer to where she stood and became more prominent.

  Kirt’s mouth moved, but the words were inaudible. Everything was garbled at first, but then after a few intense moments, it started to become clearer.

  “Help me,” is all that she thought he was trying to say.

  It took Avery a few moments before she could collect her thoughts. Finally, she leaned closer to the shadowy figure and just shook her head when suddenly the image became clear. But then she stepped back and just stared at Kirt who was as plain as day in front of her. Panic filled Avery, as all she could do was turn and quickly walked over to the counter. She grabbed one of her prescription bottles. Once she popped a pill in her mouth, she took a glass off the countertop and quickly ran water and gulped it down. After she set the glass down, Avery shut her eyes until she started to feel the pill take affect. Avery knew that one of the side effects of her tumor could possibly be having hallucinations, like what she was experiencing now. Avery often wondered what she would do once they started, but Avery didn’t understand just how troubling it actually would be. Avery had spells where things appeared blurred, but this image of Kirt wasn’t like anything she experienced before. Avery was so unprepared for what was happening to her, and this scared her.

  A part of her wanted to call her doctor, but she knew what his response would be. He would suggest her admitting herself in the hospital for observations. Once there, she feared the surgery she had been putting off for months would be thrust upon her once again. So that phone call would never be made. She would have to deal with what was happening to her on her own. Even sharing this with her mother was out of the question given it would only put credence on her moving back home, which was another thing Avery hadn’t wanted to do. Not just yet.

  Avery turned back to the living room and was thankful that the image of Kirt was no longer there. Quickly she took a few deep breaths while rubbing her temple. It always helped in the past when Avery had the blurred vision. She only hoped it would help with the hallucinations also. It angered her knowing that possibly the tumor was growing faster than the doctor lead her to believe.

  The phone ringing startled Avery for a moment. She stood staring at the ringing nuisance for the longest time before the answering machine finally picked up.

  “Avery, are you okay. I called the library. They said you took a few sick days. Please call. Your father and I are worried.”

  The phone suddenly went dead. Avery just shook her head as she glanced around the room. Whatever she saw earlier was nowhere to be seen now. Slowly Avery walked into the bedroom. Hopefully, her parents would not be calling again because all she wanted at the moment was to rest. Avery walked over to the bed and then sat down for a moment. She leaned forward and put her head in her hands. It always helped in the past when she felt lightheaded, but she was unsure what it would do for the hallucinations. Avery finally sat up and then leaned back on the bed, shutting her eyes while the early afternoon shadows danced across the ceiling. It was not like the shadowy figure she saw earlier.

  As the sun finally set, the bedroom was shrouded in darkness. Avery was still lying on the bed fully clothed. Avery opened her eyes and just stared up at the ceiling. But the movement near the closet caused her to turn her attention in that direction. Avery searched the room. Her eyes were wide open in fear. It wasn’t just that she saw something, but she also heard the movement.

  There near the corner of the room next to the window sat Kirt. All Avery could do was just stare at him for the longest time. Avery knew her mind was playing tricks on her. But it seemed so real. Finally, she got up enough courage to talk.

  “How long have you been there?” she asked like she expected an answer.

  “Forever.”

  Avery was started because she thought the vision was a figment of her imagination. She didn’t expect an answer to her question. Avery was puzzled, wondering why Kirt hadn’t passed to the other side like he was supposed to do. Avery had read enough books on dying to know that only the spirits with unfinished work stay around the people they knew until their work here on earth is complete. But this was only a theory. There was nothing to substantiate this as fact.

  “But you are dead,” Avery snapped.

  “I won’t argue that point.”

  Avery shook her head as if to shake herself awake, but in reality, she was awake. The image of Kirt never faltered as it just stared at her for the longest time hoping she would understand. Avery finally slid over to the end of the bed to get a closer look at Kirt while staying a safe distance away from the vision in front of her.

  “Isn’t there a place where dead people go?” she asked and then hesitated a moment before continuing. “Shouldn’t you be there?”

  Kirt shrugged while shaking his head. “I have things to resolve before I can pass to the other side.”

  This puzzled Avery for a moment. “Other side of what?” she asked in a curious tone.

  Kirt stood up suddenly while Avery quickly crawled on her backside to the headboard of the bed to put distance between them. Kirt just walked over to the window and stood there looking out as if deep in thought.

  Avery saw through him as if he were just a dark cloud in front of the window. She rubbed her eyes again, but when she opened them back up Kirt was still there. He turned to her with a helpless look on his face.

  “Wherever it is I’m supposed to go, I can’t go. Not yet.”

  “You’re not making sense,” Avery said shaking her head.

  “All I know is before I can pass through to the other side, I have to put things right.”

  “So why don’t you mosey on over to where ever it is you have to go to make things right so that I can get some rest,” Avery said and then just waited for Kirt to respond.

  Avery laughed at the absurdity of what he was saying. She remembered when her grandfather died, how granny talked about seeing him in the months after his death. No one believed her and figured she was delusional. The visions supposedly stopped after a short period of time. She died shortly after that but swore up and down those images were real and that he still had unresolved issues that didn’t allow him to go to the other side. No one knew what those issues were.

  Granny never confessed to helping him resolve things, but it was suspected she actually lost her will to live and those visions ac
tually helped her decide that death wasn’t all that bad. In the end, she embraced her death and went peacefully in her sleep. Avery’s parents suspected that his unfinished business was to help his wife settle their affairs so that her passing wouldn’t be traumatic for the family.

  Avery got up enough nerve to talk. “You’re being investigated for being on the take,” she said and then watched Kirt’s reaction to that news.

  A surprised look overcame Kirt. He stared at Avery for the longest time. “How do you know this?” he asked.

  “At your funeral, I heard two men talking. They didn’t realize I was there. The one cop was the officer who was undercover the afternoon after we met that first day.”

  “That was Kirby,” Kirt said with a puzzled look on his face. I wonder what he meant by that?”

  “I didn’t catch any more of their conversation. It’s all going to come out tomorrow,” Avery said looking at the clock and seeing that it was after midnight Avery quickly corrected herself. “I mean today.”

  Kirt continued staring at Avery for the longest time before speaking. “You were there?”

  “Where?” Avery asked.

  “My funeral!”

  “Yes.”

  “Was there a big turnout?”

  “No, not really.”

  Kirt looked at her with a frown on his face that was unmistakable. “Oh well,” is all he said with sadness in his voice.

  “What’s going on?” Avery asked.

  “It’s called keeping your distance,” Kirt snapped as he turned away not wanting to face Avery. “No one wants to be drawn into the investigation.”

  “Does it bother you?”

  “Hell yes,” he snapped as he pointed the finger at Avery as if to make a point. “I wasn’t, you know, on the take. I think that’s why I can’t pass through. I have to set things right.”

  “Is everyone allowed to do that?”

  “How in the hell should I know,” Kirt said with a puzzled look. “All I know is, I’m stuck here. And I hear a lot of bad things said about what I was supposed to have done.”

  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Kirt shrugged and then a look came over his face. “That key I gave you. What did you do with it?”

  Avery hesitated a moment. “I think it’s in the living room,” she said quickly crawling off the bed. She hurried across the room to the door followed by the shadowy figure that didn’t appear to take any steps, just drifted across the room after her.

  There on the coffee table was the blood stained key where Avery dropped it after leaving the hospital. She picked it up and held it out to Kirt as if she expected him to take it from her. Finally, Avery laughed to herself for a moment as she shrugged while rolling her eyes.

  “I didn’t know what to do with it?” she said as she raised her hands.

  “I’m here now. I’ll show you,” Kirt said looking at Avery who was in her nightclothes. “Get dressed, we’re going out.”

  Avery turned to the clock, “It’s midnight, and can’t it wait until morning?”

  Kirt just laughed and then looked around the room. “You live in a city that never sleeps.”

  “It may never sleep, but I do,” she snapped.

  “It will only take an hour, then you’ll be back here safe and sound,” he said with a pleading look on his face. “Please.”

  Avery stared at Kirt for the longest time. He had such a pathetic look on his face even for a ghost. There was no way she could turn him down even if she wanted. Finally, she turned and started walking over to the bathroom with Kirt following her. Avery quickly stopped and then turned back to Kirt with her hand out to block him from following him. Avery half expected to feel his image, but her hand just went right through his chest, and all Avery could do was sternly stare at him.

  “You stay here!”

  Kirt abruptly stopped. He stared at her and then smiled embarrassingly at Avery. He then just stood there and watched helplessly as she disappeared into the small room. Kirt knew then why he was attracted to her.

  CHAPTER 12

  Avery had no idea where to start looking for the locker the key fit into. Kirt was at a loss also. He would not tell Avery where he got the key or why he felt it was crucial to solving his murder.

  Kirt had a few suggestions on where they should start looking, and Avery knew then that she would not be getting much sleep that night. Avery finally, with reluctance agreed to go to Penn Station. Kirt wasn’t sure, but it seemed the only logical explanation. Worse case scenario, they could go to a locksmith in the morning and possibly he would be able to tell them what type of lock the key was from. But clearly, Kirt had no patience and was somewhat sure Penn Station would be the answer to their question.

  Once Avery was on her way, she could not get over how busy the streets were even at that time of night. Avery just sat back in the taxi and stared at the people walking the streets and ever so often glanced over at the hazy hue that followed her into the cab. She seriously thought it was a figment of her imagination or was there indeed a vision of Kirt guiding her? A lot of what Avery had been going through lately was confusing because of her uncertainty about her mental state. But somehow what she was experiencing with these crazy visions she was seeing, didn’t seem to be caused by her tumor. Avery didn’t know if her thinking so much about Kirt after his death caused her to imagine him being there with her now.

  All the while they were in the taxi, the specter of Kirt never faltered, or left Avery’s side. She had to believe that it wasn’t a figment of her imagination. Plus the key she held put credence to what she was now doing. Avery could feel her stomach start to turn as the taxi pulled up to Penn Station, she wasn’t sure if it was her nerves or something more serious.

  In all the years that she lived in New York City, Avery never had a reason to enter the massive station hub. She never traveled out of the city, always putting it off thinking maybe one day she would see the country and travel to places she had only read about up until now. But it was not an option for her now. She remembered all the Amtrak brochures she had acquired in recent years and laughed to herself thinking how she wasted all those years just dreaming about traveling around the country.

  Even though it was late and Avery normally was in bed early, the adrenaline was flowing. Avery had to admit to herself, she too was anxious to see what the key unlocked and hoped they were on the right track. Avery turned to the hazy hue on the other side of the seat and gave it the thumbs up. She didn’t know what the key would unlock, only hoping it would answer the reason behind Kirt’s death and possibly put him to rest so he could pass over to the other side.

  As they pulled up to the curb, Avery was in awe of the people wondering around, they all seemed to have places to go. A lot of them appeared to be in the party spirit, and for now, she was one of them. But it wasn’t a party she was going too.

  When the taxi finally stopped at the entrance, Avery quickly got out. Not looking at the meter, she handed the driver a twenty dollar bill while slamming the back door shut as the shadowy figure of Kirt just floated through the closed taxi door. This confused Avery for a moment, but then she could do nothing to stop the door swinging shut.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said wide-eyed thinking maybe she had hurt Kirt.

  The taxi driver glanced back at Avery with a funny expression on his face, not knowing whom she was talking to. Even people on the street took notice and seemed to sidestep being near her.

  The driver quickly put the twenty-dollar bill in his money tin and then promptly put the taxi in gear and quickly sped away. Avery was left standing on the curb with her a look of embarrassment as she reached out, “the change,” she yelled after the taxi driver was well off down the road.

  Kirt just laughed at Avery and then smirked. “It’s called a tip,” he said making an attempt to stop Avery and pull her back, but his hand went right through her arm.

  Avery turned to Kirt and frowned. She was angry that her distraction wi
th him floating through the door caused the driver enough time to leave without giving her the change back.

  “That shouldn’t have been more than ten dollars. He only drove eight blocks,” Avery argued with useless results.

  Avery rarely took a taxi anywhere because of the expense and certainly never felt the need to leave the driver a tip on top of the outrageous fare they charged. It angered her how naive she must have looked as people around her were taking notice.

  As frustrated as Avery was, all she could do was turn to the entrance and get on to the task at hand. She quickly walked through the doors leading to Penn Station with Kirt at her side.

  Once inside, all she could do was just stand there and stare at all the mayhem. It was larger than she had ever imagined and seemed somewhat confusing. Avery was thankful that all she needed was the location of a locker and that she didn’t need to get directions for one of the many trains that left the station all through the night.

  It bothered Avery at seeing all the homeless people. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who they were compared to the many travelers hurrying about. Suddenly, in the distance she thought she saw Nathaniel, he was moving about with people on their way to one of the trains that were departing soon. She wondered why he was there but didn’t have it in her to find out. Avery had to stay focused on what she was there for.

  As much as Avery found herself somewhat uncomfortable at being at Penn Station, she couldn’t get over the feeling at how alive and exciting it was. The noise was overpowering, in the distance a train arriving sending a vibration through the hollow walls. Along with the sounds, there was a mixture of the different smells from the various eateries that made Avery’s stomach a little queasy. If this was what it was like after midnight, she wondered how it would be during rush hour. She was thankful she wouldn’t find out. Avery couldn’t get over all the people standing in front of the information board looking for where their train would be departing. And it amazed her that anyone knew where they were going.