by Brian Harmon
MY DAD LIKES TO WATCH THOSE. I’M NOT IMPRESSED BY THEM
“Me, either.” In his travels, he’d seen quite a few things that were unexplained by science. He had an entire disc hidden in the back of his desk drawer that was full of monster pictures he’d taken himself, with his cell phone. Some had wandered between worlds through a fissure, others had been conjured or projected from the minds of deranged individuals. Finding these mysterious things had never seemed all that hard to him. Avoiding them was the hard part.
They were obviously doing it wrong.
MIGHT AS WELL GET STARTED
She was right, of course. He looked out at the surrounding trees. “But where do I start?”
THE LAKE?
Right. The lake. The one Holly told him was his destination. The one Isabelle told him was overflowing with spiritual energy. Probably the same one he glimpsed in the dream that brought him here. Sometimes even high school English teachers with Masters Degrees in education and literature had moments of stupidity.
Eric turned his back on the house and set off into the woods. At the same time, the cat bolted across the yard ahead of him and vanished among the trees.
Chapter Four
The cat was long gone by the time Eric lost sight of darling Mrs. Fulrick’s house and he was again left alone in these strange woods. It didn’t matter. It was only a cat. He wasn’t even a great lover of cats. Neither he nor Karen had ever been moved to acquire a pet, and if anything, he’d always thought of himself as more of a dog person. But there was something unsettling about being left alone out here, even if the only company he could hope to have was a spooky cat.
The trees in this area were big. This land had been well cared for, and for a long time. Ancient oaks and maples and weeping willows spread their broad branches overhead, painting the rocky ground in deep, mottled shade. Only a few of the trees had full leaves this early in the year, just enough to reduce his visibility. The rest were still in the process of blooming. It was beautiful, but at the same time eerie. The serenity of the awakening spring was cut through with the stark, skeletal branches of the lingering winter, as if the seasons were at war.
The forest, in all its drama, seemed to go on forever around him.
“Can you tell exactly where the energy is coming from?”
I CAN’T PINPOINT IT. THE WHOLE AREA IS SATURATED WITH IT
“You think it’s the whole lake?”
IT’S HARD TO SAY. SPIRITUAL ENERGY DOESN’T TYPICALLY HAVE MUCH REACH. IT’S VERY LOCALIZED. BUT I’VE NEVER HEARD OF SO MUCH OF IT IN ONE PLACE BEFORE
“And you have no idea why there might be so much energy here?”
HOW SHOULD I KNOW? I’M PSYCHIC, NOT OMNISCIENT
Eric frowned at the phone. “Sorry. Just asking.”
For a moment, the phone remained silent. Then, finally, Isabelle replied, NO, I’M SORRY. I DIDN’T MEAN TO SOUND BITCHY
“It’s okay.”
IT’S JUST THAT PLACE
“Don’t worry about it.”
I DON’T LIKE IT
He nodded. “Forget it. I understand.” And he did. She’d already told him this place made her anxious. “Just try and relax. I’ll handle things for a little while. It’s not like I have any kind of plan anyway.”
THANKS
Eric slipped the phone back into his pocket and continued walking. It bothered him that Isabelle was so uncomfortable here. It felt like a seriously bad omen. But he didn’t seem to have much choice in the matter. If he left now, the dream would just bring him back again.
He could see no sign of the lake from here, but he’d seen it as he drove in and had a good idea of where to find it. All he had to do was continue in this direction and he was sure he couldn’t miss it. It was, after all, an entire lake.
For some reason, however, he felt compelled to continue not straight ahead, but a little to his left. Having learned to trust his intuition in the past, he let himself be drawn in that direction.
Now the trees became smaller and crowded closer together. Thick brush sprang up around him, making it harder to walk. This place looked a lot less welcoming. A childish uneasiness was growing inside him and he found himself reaching for his pocket, his fingers inching toward the phone, toward Isabelle. It wasn’t that he needed her, exactly. She was only a voice on the phone. There wasn’t much she could do, aside from offering advice and encouragement. But it was comforting to have her there when things started getting creepy. She was, after all, his only friend out here.
He forced himself to focus. He needed to keep his head clear. One never knew when something strange might happen. And the thought had barely crossed his mind when he realized that he wasn’t alone. Someone else was walking in these woods with him.
He stopped and turned, trying to see through the low, overhanging branches and the overgrown brush that separated them. A shape moved among the foliage, upright, definitely human, and yet he couldn’t quite make out any details. A pair of legs, a glimpse of an arm, a head. He stepped forward, pushing an oak branch out of his way.
But the person was gone.
Eric ducked through the thickening brush as quickly as he could manage, making his way to the place where he last saw the figure, but there was no one here. He was alone.
An odd tingle crept up the nape of his neck. He was sure he didn’t imagine it, and yet there was no one here. And now that he was trying to rationalize it, he couldn’t help but think that there was something odd about the figure. It was unnaturally dark, as if the person had been walking through deep shadows, and although the shade was thick here, it wasn’t dark. The sun was shining brightly.
Only his imagination, he was sure.
He was a little on-edge. After all, he’d come all this way expecting the same sort of strangeness he’d found every other time he was summoned into the weird. If his prior experiences were any indication, he could expect at any moment to be set upon by a strange monster or surprised by an adversary with terrifying, supernatural powers.
He turned back toward the lake. Or at least in the direction he thought was toward the lake… Distracted by the shadowy figure, he’d lost track of which way was which, but he was fairly sure he was moving in this direction. Roughly…
He looked around at these unfamiliar surroundings, wondering how many miles of wilderness might lie between him and the nearest sign of civilization if he wandered off in the wrong direction, and as he stood there, he was overcome by a very strange sensation.
It was as if a storm cloud had passed over the sun, but the only clouds in the sky were wispy and faint. The temperature seemed to drop. Gooseflesh prickled upon his arms. A stiff wind rushed over him, bending branches above his head and stirring his hair.
Something was looming before him. Something enormous. Something vile.
He could almost see it, a great, undulating form rising over the trees, consuming everything in its path.
Then he blinked and it was gone. The forest wasn’t dark. It wasn’t cold. The wind wasn’t blowing. For a moment, he’d been sure that something blocked his path, something unspeakably huge and unfathomably ancient…
But that was such a peculiar thing to think.
Again, it was only his imagination. He was tired. He’d spent the entire morning behind the wheel of his car, after all. And he knew well enough that something would eventually happen.
Keep it together, he thought to himself. Don’t let your guard down, but don’t start jumping at shadows, either.
His phone rumbled against his thigh and he withdrew it from his pocket.
THAT’S GOOD, Isabelle told him. KEEP THINKING THAT WAY
Eric nodded. “I don’t suppose you felt that, too.”
NOTHING BUT THAT CONSTANT BUZZING OF ENERGY
Again, he nodded. He knew that she was aware of what he thought he felt, since she could read his mind. And although she could feel things he couldn’t perceive, she was also blind to a great many things. She couldn’t sense most people,
for example. She couldn’t tell him if a stranger was lurking nearby, waiting to ambush him. And she hadn’t been able to detect most of the creatures he’d encountered on their strange journeys, either. There was no way to know for sure if she simply couldn’t sense something or if it was only in his head.
JUST KEEP LOOKING FOR THE LAKE. SEE IF YOU CAN FIND WHERE YOUR DREAM TOOK PLACE
That narrow little cove, pressed between steep, wooded hills and rocky bluffs. It wouldn’t be frozen now, of course, but he should still be able to recognize it. It was the logical place to start. There might be nothing over there, but at least he’d know where it was. It might at least give him some frame of reference.
JUST FOLLOW YOUR GUT
Eric stuffed the phone back into his pocket and looked out at the surrounding trees. “Good idea. That should get me in trouble as fast as possible.”
“Who’re you talking to?”
Eric yelped in surprise. He turned and jumped backward at the same time, banging his head on a low branch and cursing.
The girl standing in front of him was about ten, with dark blonde hair tied back into braided pigtails. She wore a blue tee shirt splashed with little, white hearts, blue jean shorts and a pair of pink and white sneakers. A little warmer-weather than he’d dressed in his khaki pants and long sleeves, but children always seemed to have a higher tolerance for cold than did adults. He hadn’t heard her approach. Probably because he’d been distracted by those peculiar things he thought he saw.
“You scared me,” he told the girl, lifting one hand to his thumping heart while rubbing at the sore spot on his head with the other.
“Obviously,” she replied. “Unless you flail around, smack yourself in the head and shout profanities every time you see a kid, in which case you’ve kind of got some serious problems.”
Eric rubbed at the back of his head. “Profanities?”
“When you hit your head,” she reminded him. “It wasn’t a very nice thing to say to a little girl, you know.”
He vaguely recalled sputtering something in his moment of surprise, but he wasn’t entirely sure what it was he’d said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“That’s okay. I promise not to repeat it.”
“I appreciate that.”
“If you tell me what it means.”
Eric straightened, surprised. “What?”
“I promise not to repeat it if you tell me what it means,” said the girl.
“What what means?”
“What you just said. I’ve never heard anyone use those words before.”
Eric stared at the girl, baffled. “Are you blackmailing me?”
She gave him a curiously smug grin. “I’m just offering you a deal.”
“You look a little young to be making deals.”
“Take it or leave it,” she warned him.
“I don’t even remember what I said,” he told her. “I was startled.”
“You said, ‘fu—’”
“Okay!” snapped Eric. “I remember now. Don’t say it. It doesn’t mean anything. It’s just some random words that spilled out when I hit my head.”
The girl stared suspiciously at him.
“It’s true. That second part wasn’t even a word. It was like, three words that got all mucked together.”
But still the girl stared at him.
“What’s your name?” he asked, trying to change the subject.
“Jordan Holstep.”
“Jordan. That’s a nice name. I’m Eric.”
“You never told me who you were talking to,” she reminded him.
“What?” For a moment, he had no idea what she was talking about, then he recalled that he’d been talking to Isabelle just before she startled him. “Oh… I was talking to a friend on my phone.”
“You weren’t talking into your phone,” she challenged. “You weren’t even holding it and you were still talking.”
Clearly, nothing got by this girl. Since Isabelle didn’t need the phone to hear him, he sometimes stuffed it back into his pocket before he was finished speaking his mind. “I was reading a text from her,” he amended. “So I guess I was talking to myself.”
Again, she remained silent. Again, she looked suspicious.
This time, Eric stood there and stared right back at her.
“Are you one of those alien weirdoes?” she asked.
Eric blinked. “Alien…? What?” It was actually impressive. This girl knew how to keep him on his toes even better than Karen.
“Those guys looking for the UFOs,” said Jordan, as if that clarified anything.
“UFOs?” Eric couldn’t decide if the girl was really this confounding or if he was just too stupid to keep up.
“Unidentified flying objects?” she explained, curling her lip into an “are you really this stupid?” expression.
“I know what a UFO is. Are you telling me there are people here looking for them? Now?”
“There’s always someone here looking for something.”
“Why?”
She shrugged. “Because weird stuff happens here, I guess.”
“What kind of weird stuff?”
“All kinds of weird stuff.” She cocked her head and stared at him, her expression puzzled. “So you’re not one of them? ’Cause you sound just like them.”
Eric supposed he did. “I’m here on my own,” he explained. “I’m not with anyone. But I did come looking for something.”
“What did you come looking for?”
There was the million-dollar question. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Won’t that make it hard to find?”
Eric sighed and looked out into the forest again. “Pretty much the story of my life, it seems.”
The girl studied him for a moment, as if sizing him up. Then she said, “Maybe I can help you.”
“I’m not sure you can,” he replied, thinking of the odd dream that brought him here and all the insane things that had happened on his previous journeys.
“Sure I can.”
Eric didn’t like the way this conversation was going. He looked around and tried to remember which way he’d been walking before he was distracted by the shadowy person in the trees. “You’ve already been helpful. Thanks for the chat. I’m going to go now.”
Suddenly, Jordan’s face spread into a wide smile. “No, I’m definitely going to help you.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good—”
“I’ve decided.”
Eric scowled at her. He didn’t like the idea of this girl following him around. Things tended to get dangerous when he started exploring new places. “You should go home. You don’t know me. Hasn’t anyone ever told you not to talk to strangers?”
“You’re not a stranger. You’re Eric.”
“I am a stranger. Your parents wouldn’t approve of you following me around. Trust me.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “If you’re a stranger, then you don’t know my parents. So you don’t know what they’d approve of.”
“I know I wouldn’t approve if I were your parent.”
“But you’re not.” She cocked her head, as if considering the idea. “You don’t look anything like my dad’s picture.”
“His picture?”
“I’ve never met my dad. I’ve only ever seen his picture.”
He wasn’t sure what to say to that. “I’m…sorry…”
She shrugged. “Why? You’re not him.” Then she squinted at him, as if trying to picture him blurry, bearded and wearing a hat. “Are you?”
“Definitely not!” he snapped, startled by the question.
“Are you sure?”
He’d found himself in quite a few awkward conversations, but the turn this one had taken might just have won the grand prize. “Positive.”
“Just checking.”
Eric turned, shaking his head, and started making his way through the trees.
Jordan followed along at his heels. “Where’re you going?
” she asked.
“The lake.”
“You’ll want to turn a little to your left, then.”
Eric realized as soon as she said this that it felt right. That strange intuition was pulling him to the left. “Do you really plan on following me all day?”
“Probably not. I’ve got other things to do.”
Eric grunted. “Maybe you should get started on those things.”
“Not right now. I don’t feel like it yet.”
“Does your mom just let you run free out here?”
“Pretty much.”
He rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.
“She’s been sick,” she explained of her mother. “She needs to rest.”
“I see,” said Eric. And he did. He could certainly see how she might not get any rest if Jordan stayed in the house all day.
The woods seemed to go on and on. The deeper in he went, the denser and smaller the trees became. The underbrush grew ever thicker and thornier, the ground rockier. Eric made his way through the changing terrain, his eyes open for anything unusual as his new friend tagged along behind him.
Once, he thought he caught a glimpse of that strange, shadowy figure moving through the trees far to his right again, but it was gone before he could be sure it wasn’t his imagination.
At last, the forest gave way to a weedy shore and Eric found himself looking out over the calm lake.
There were three boats out there now, all of them fishermen. It was tranquil. No speed boats zoomed around, disturbing the peace. It was a little early in the year for skiing, he supposed. The water would still be cold. But people still liked zipping across the water on nice days like this. He wondered if it just happened to be a quiet day or if the water was unsuitable for fast boats.
It wasn’t an enormous lake, but neither was it a pond. It was a lot of ground to cover. The terrain here was nothing like what surrounded the small cove in his dream. It was mostly flat. But on the far side of the lake, on the left, the ground appeared to be more elevated. There were a few bluffs rising out of the water over there. Where the rainwater made its way downhill to the lake, there would probably be lots of little cracks and crevices like the cove he’d seen.
