The Red String of Fate

by Rebekah Fowles

  Landon internally rolled his eyes. He wondered if that was just an excuse for poor memory, or if something really did change after death to blind a ghost’s eyes to some very obvious details. Landon was sure that if he was a ghost, especially one in the middle of nowhere, he’d be more than intrigued by a human—body-bag or otherwise—and soak in everything he could about that person. But Ol’ Jones wasn’t Landon, so he’d have to make due with the information they had.

  “What about the height?” Landon said.

  Vee motioned with her hands. “About this tall.”

  “Does that match with any of the males in your group?”

  Vee sighed. “Yes,” she said, “all of them.”

  Landon rubbed his temples. “Surely there’s some distinction?”

  “Well, yes,” Vee said, “but if you’re using ‘about’ as a qualifier, then it could be any of them.”

  “Of course,” Landon said. Things just can’t be that easy, can they?

  Vee shrugged. “He does know where my body was thrown in the river, though. Said the killer weighed it down, so it’s probably not even that far downstream.”

  “Alright, let’s go there, then.”

  Vee led the way, and Landon pulled out his phone. He only had one bar in all the trees, and it seemed to cut out every few minutes. It would be difficult to call the detectives now, so he hoped the river was fairly open and had better reception.

  Vee didn’t float so far ahead so as to guide the way. Further into the trek, Landon started noticing clumsily broken granges and trodden underbrush. He looked at Vee, who apparently noticed the same thing, because she said, “Ol’ Jones says this is the way the killer took me.”

  “I would’ve been surprised if it wasn’t. Wildlife isn’t this overt in their paths.”

  Landon was grateful for the trail, actually. It made maneuvering much easier, and therefore much quicker. Vee didn’t have to stop as frequently to wait for him to catch up; and it was pretty soon before the trees cleared and the river’s rocky shore exposed itself.

  Vee hovered over the water and watched its surface for a moment before she turned towards Landon.

  “I’m going to go in,” she said. “I’ll see if I can’t spot it so I can guide you better. Can you stand by the edge?”

  Landon obliged. He hadn’t considered using Vee to check out the riverbed. Assuming it wasn’t too deep, it was really the best thing he could ask for, given the situation. Carrying a person, bag or no, was a tough thing to do. He’d probably need to loosen the weights. At the very least, Vee didn’t look like she’d be that heavy. Of course, it was hard to tell since she was a ghost, but it wasn’t as if she had a large frame. If anything, she looked a little thinner than what should be healthy, but such was the life of a college student.

  As Vee disappeared under the surface, Landon dropped his suit coat, shirt, shoes, and socks. He would’ve preferred to take everything off, but Vee was still a woman, despite being a ghost. It would probably make her just as uncomfortable as it would make him. Instead, he pulled his arms over his head and began stretching.

  Vee came to the top, and Landon noted how strange it was that the water didn’t move as she did. It didn’t stir when she went under, either. It was just another thing that reminded him just how bizarre this situation was. If not for the blood in the cellar, he would’ve assumed he was going insane and imagined this whole thing up, but there were simply too many coincidences to brush it off as hallucinations.

  The moment Vee saw him, she turned away. “Sorry! So sorry!”

  Landon chuckled. He was only shirtless. “It’s fine. Were you able to find it?”

  Vee coyly turned back around and nodded. “It was a little further down than I expected it to be, and I couldn’t reach it from where you stood on the shore.”

  “I appreciate it,” he said, heading to the edge of the bank where she indicated.

  “The water’s a little murky, I’m afraid. It’s about ten feet down.”

  “Don’t stray too far, then.”

  Vee nodded as Landon waded in. The water was cold—too cold for his body to completely adjust to. He’d have to try and make this quick or risk hypothermia. He grit his teeth, took a breath, and dunked his head under the water.

  His eyes didn’t sting as bad as they would have in chlorine, but it was still an odd sensation nonetheless. Landon took a moment to gather his bearings, and saw Vee not too far ahead. She looked a little concerned, likely because he was wincing at the cold. He wasted no time following her down.

  Egged on by the heat leaving his body, Landon swam quickly. His only care was taken to avoid undercurrents and preserve his breath.

  “Over here,” Vee said.

  Once again, Landon was surprised to discover that Vee’s voice seemed unhampered by the water all around them. Her voice came through perfectly clear, a strange contrast to the murky surroundings.

  Vee was paramount in leading him to the right place; because thanks to the mud and poor light, the large, thick bag was nearly hidden in the mud. At first, he fumbled around digging around it, but decided to change his focus to removing the rocks tied to the cinched up and tied off top. It took him more time than he cared to take, but was able to dislodge them before running out of breath.

  Landon surged to the top, gasping as he broke the water. Vee followed close behind.

  “Are you alright?”

  Landon’s teeth clattered together as he spoke. “Let’s just say I want to get this over with just as quickly as you.”

  After another moment or two, Landon dove back down, following Vee’s lead. His body was moving more sluggishly, but he forced himself to exert through it. Once again at the bag, Landon wasted no time grabbing the top and gave it a tug.

  It took a try or two to get it out of the mud, but with a final surge of strength, Landon was able to get the sack afloat. He wasn’t sure if it was due to buoyancy or desperation, but it actually seemed to travel fairly well, despite the awkward swim-pull combination. Landon managed to avoid any slips and follies, reaching the bank with relative ease.

  He took a moment to savor the fresh air before completely pulling the bag out of the water; but decided to wrap his suit coat around himself before moving on. He was grateful that the sun was still up and that there were very few trees around the bank to block its rays as he rubbed his arms up and down. The air was still cold, but he could feel himself starting to warm up some.

  Vee alternated watching him and glancing at the bag, but when she said something, Landon was impressed that it had to do with his own well being. “I’m sorry,” she said, “I realize that was definitely a lot more trouble than anticipated. Maybe we should’ve called for backup...”

  Landon sat on the stones and looked at her as he continued making motions to warm himself up. “I considered it, but decided not to in the end.”

  “Why?” Vee asked.

  “How would I explain to them that I knew exactly where you were? I’m actually still at a loss on how to break it to them. Detective Bimmel trusts me, but his partner doesn’t, and police can’t exactly look past ‘gut feelings.’ I’d be labeled a suspect right away.”

  Vee looked down. “Oh. That makes sense. ...I hadn’t considered how that would be troublesome. Except, I mean, I know you’d sound crazy if you told them a ghost told you.”

  Landon nodded. “In the end, I guess it was more important to me to help you out.”

  Vee tilted her head, but didn’t say anything. If he had to take a guess, she was probably wondering why someone sane would bother helping a ghost.

  To be honest, he wasn’t quite sure himself...except that Vee was somehow unique. As much as he had stewed on it earlier, there was undeniably something important about Vee—some connection that they shared—that Landon couldn’t help but feel was extremely important.

  After a few minutes, Landon arose. “Well then,” he said, “I think it’s time to look inside.”

  Landon returned to the
bag and regarded it gravely. Even though he knew what to expect inside, it bothered him now more than ever. It was easy to ignore the thoughts when faced with bitter cold and oxygen loss, but there was less of that now, and nothing else to distract him. Landon had seen and even handled dead bodies before, but it was strange to consider that the person whose body this belonged to didn’t exactly feel, well, dead. She might not have been alive, but she was still around. Still observing. Still persevering.

  Landon looked to Vee. She nodded.

  Landon uncinched the bag and peeled it off. There lied Vee’s crumpled body, cold and blue. The killer hadn’t even bothered to close her eyes. Landon regarded it in eerie silence before glancing toward Vee.

  She simply hovered there with a complex expression. He couldn’t tell if she was sad, dejected, frustrated, or what. It had to have been a combination of the three and many more. At the very least, Landon knew that he certainly wouldn’t know how to feel when presented with his own dead body.

  He wondered if he should say anything, but no words came to mind. He just decided to watch as Vee slowly approached her broken husk. She stayed a few inches away, hesitant at first, but eventually reached out her hand as if to touch the dead arm.

  And then she disappeared.

  - 9 -

  Vee felt cold.

  Incredibly cold.

  And wet, and sticky, and gross. But most importantly, Vee felt.

  She was dizzy, and her chest was incredibly sore, too. Taken aback by the sudden wave of sensory input, Vee coughed and spat, and a few moments later, the contents of her stomach were on the ground. It was mostly water, and as it left, she realized she could breathe much easier. The rest of her body ached, and she could tell she had bruises all over, but as she knelt on the ground shaking, only one thing was running through her mind.

  I’m alive.

  Vee clenched her bloodstained shirt and after a moment looked underneath. There was a cut there, but even without parting the edges, it didn’t appear very deep. Her skin was gradually returning to its original pink, if a little pale. Vee knew she looked shellshocked before, but now she was amazed. Confused and amazed.

  She whipped her head over, finding Landon looking just as stunned as she assumed she appeared. His jaw hung open, and he didn’t even try to formulate any words. Vee found she couldn’t make any either. Her brain wasn’t even trying to create words. Instead, she turned her attention back to her body. She looked at it, as if it might not be real. And with nothing else to look at, she looked back at Landon.

  Nothing else?

  Vee whipped her head around again, trying to catch a glimpse of Ol’ Jones, but the short, portly ghost was nowhere to be seen. He had been standing quietly on the bank the whole time, but now there was no trace. It was clear that even if he was still there, Vee could no longer see him. She tried calling out to him.

  “Ol’ Jones?”

  No response. She looked at Landon again. It was easier to speak now that she had already said something. “I can’t see Ol’ Jones anymore.”

  Landon finally closed his mouth. Vee could see his adam’s apple rise with a swallow. He then cleared his throat and replied. “What just happened?”

  Vee looked at her hands. They were nearly back to their original color, but she still felt particularly cold. “I’m...not sure. I just did the same thing I did when I haunted you, but somehow...”

  “You’re alive.”

  Vee nodded very slowly.

  Suddenly, Landon moved in close and kneeled beside her. “Are you alright? How do you feel?”

  “I’m fine, I think, but, uh...” Vee looked away momentarily and flushed, “can I...hug you?”

  To that, Landon’s cheeks also brightened a shade. “Uh,” he said, after fidgeting for a moment, “I suppose...”

  Vee wasted no time leaning in and wrapping her arms around his torso.

  He was so warm. It had only been a few hours, but Vee missed the sensation of touch. She wasn’t exactly a super touchy person, either, but something about this moment had elicited the need to make human contact. Sure, it was awkward, what with them being wet, him being mostly shirtless, and her shirt being stained with blood, but Vee didn’t care. And even though it was pretty clear Landon did, she was going to hold on anyway. She had to fight off the tears that threatened to fall, making her shake along with the cold.

  Vee let go once Landon decided to clear his throat. She got the hint well enough. Vee had to brace herself against the chill of the air when they left contact, but once they did, Landon draped his damp suit coat over her. Afterwards, he up and returned to the pile of things he left on the shore and picked up his shirt. He quickly put it on, but left the front open as he once again bent over and retrieved his phone.

  “What now?” She asked, curling up to conserve the returning body heat. She was right. He was wearing cologne.

  “We get the police here.”

  Vee rested her forehead on her knees. “What are we going to tell them? I mean, this is pretty...”

  “We’ll worry about that when they get here. You’re unnaturally cold. We need to get you to a hospital ASAP.”

  Vee withered a bit at his proposal. He was right, of course, but Vee couldn’t help but wonder what would happen to her from here on out. Not only was she afraid that the hospital would want to do all sorts of experiments, but she’d have to try and explain to the police what had happened, and there was no way they’d believe her. Maybe they’d even think it was all a prank or publicity stunt.

  Vee’s voice was small as she responded. “I’m getting warmer.”

  Landon looked at her as he waited for his call to connect. “Not fast enough. Plus we’re both wet and freezing. I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s not exactly summertime.”

  Vee didn’t reply, figuring the call would go through at any moment. Not that she had anything to say anyway. She felt a little self conscious under Landon’s gaze. He watched her intently, as if she were about to blink out of existence at any moment. Part of her wondered if that would actually happen, considering everything that had gone on thus far.

  “Jim? Good, the call went through,” Landon said. “Listen, I need you to come exactly where I tell you to.”

  Landon gave Detective Bimmel directions on how to find the river. He included details about the trail Vee’s killer took and things to look for along with the general direction. He had to repeat things a few times, which Vee guessed was because of poor reception. It happened enough that Landon’s demeanor became a tad impatient. Once he was through, Vee assumed Detective Bimmel had asked “why.”

  “The girl is alive. Bring blankets and call an ambulance for me.”

  He hung up after goodbyes and sighed. Vee felt uncomfortable in the silence, so she spoke. “Seems like that detective agreed to come pretty quick, even before knowing the reason. Are you two friends?”

  “Something like that,” Landon said walking back to her.

  “You did mention that he trusts you. Do you think he’d believe us?”

  “At the very least, he can probably smooth things over. How are you doing?”

  For whatever reason, when he asked her this time, a surge of adrenaline pumped through her body, and she began to shake. The reality of her situation crashed down on her instantaneously, and she began to hyperventilate. “I, uh,” she stammered.

  Landon kneeled down and placed his hand on her back. The motion was comforting and helped her breathing some, but it didn’t help the thoughts. Vee had died. Someone had killed her. Someone she knew. Someone she had gotten somewhat close to. And they were still out there. And now she was too. Fear coursed through her blood, blood she shouldn’t have had. She didn’t even know why—why she died, or why she lived.

  “Hey,” Landon said, “look at me.”

  Vee did as she was told. She was grateful the tears were frozen behind her eyes, but she still felt scrutinized.

  “Tell me what’s wrong,” he said.

 
Vee bit her lip. “I was dead, Landon. I died.”

  “But you’re alive now.”

  “That just makes it worse! I shouldn’t be alive right now! What if it’s only temporary? What if I die again? That’s...I can’t...”

  “Calm down,” Landon said, “take things one step at a time.”

  Vee knew Landon was being considerate, but it wasn’t helping. Instead, the dam finally broke, and the tears began to fall.

  They sat like that for a long while. Vee only barely calmed down when the police appeared through the trees.

  - 10 -

  Landon tapped his foot as he watched Vee rest in the hospital bed. He watched as her strings wafted around the room and through the door. Each of those strings attached to another person, and for whatever reason, they always floated in a way that could be easily followed. They never phased through walls or ceilings like Vee had before she returned to her body. Instead, they’d follow doors, sidewalks, and stairs or elevators until connecting to the other person. It was a skill that had come in handy for Landon more than once, and only Jim knew the reason he was able to track down criminals so quickly. The only requirement was that he had to personally meet both people attached to a string before he could use the skill, which is why it surprised him a bit whenever he met a stranger who had strings vivid to Landon’s view. Of course, after spending a few years in his chosen profession, Landon had amassed a fair amount of people to his memory within the city of Lamelle, so it was becoming more common for people to share strings, but for someone like Vee who came from out of town to go to school, it seemed less likely for her to have any connections he recognized.

  For whatever reason, though, Vee’s ambience seemed...strange. Every person Landon met always had what seemed like hundreds of tiny strings emanating from them that didn’t act like the normal relationship strings he normally saw. All strings originated from somewhere within a person’s chest, and ambient strings were no different. Normally they fanned out evenly with little or no intertwining, simply disappeared into nothingness with no additional discernible features, like varying colors, widths, or slack.. From Landon’s estimation, every person’s ambience appeared exactly the same, and if there was some information to be gleaned from it, Landon hadn’t figured it out. Only, Vee’s was different.