The Unexpected Hero

by Michael C. Grumley

  Connie crossed the room and sat down next to Evan on the couch. She took his hand and squeezed it, glancing at Taylor in front of them.

  “You must be Mr. Taylor.”

  Taylor nodded. “Dan.”

  “Thank you for coming, Dan,” she said, wrapping an arm around her son. “Can you help Evan?”

  “We were just getting to that. Your son is living on borrowed time, so whatever we’re going to do, we’d better hurry.”

  She turned to Evan with raised eyebrows.

  “He’s right, Mom. It’s getting really bad.”

  Taylor turned his attention back to Evan. “So, it looks like fog?”

  “Yeah, sort of.”

  “Is it moving?”

  “Yes.”

  “What else?”

  “When the fog moves, it kind of opens up. Almost like a tunnel.”

  “And what do you see in the tunnel?”

  Evan shrugged. “I don’t know. Different things. People. Places. Sometimes I don’t see anything. But the last several nights, I saw stuff, even with the Valium.”

  “And your reactions?”

  Mary spoke up next to him, her eyes still on Evan. “Sweating, heart palpitations, rapid temperature changes in the skin. Combinations that don’t make any sense. His heart rate and blood pressure go in opposite directions.”

  Taylor leaned forward and took a closer look into Evan’s eyes. “How are you feeling now?”

  “My chest hurts.”

  After a long moment, Tayler seemed satisfied and leaned back in his chair. “What color?”

  “Color?”

  “The fog. What color is the fog?”

  “Uh…white.”

  “Do you see any other colors?”

  The three women in the room remained quiet. Shannon wondered where Taylor was going with his questioning but said nothing.

  “Evan thought about his answer for a moment. Yes. There’s red too.”

  “Where? In the fog or around it?”

  “It’s more like behind. As the fog moves, I can see patches of red behind it, trying to get through.” Evan hesitated. This was the part he had not yet told anyone. “That’s when it starts. That’s when I start to feel things.”

  Mary raised her eyebrows, surprised. “You mean that’s when the symptoms begin?”

  He nodded.

  “Wait a minute,” Shannon said. “This happens when you see what exactly? The fog?”

  “No, when I begin to see what’s behind it.”

  “You mean the red area?” Shannon asked, looking between the two. “Why? What is it?”

  Taylor remained quiet, waiting for Evan to answer. But he didn’t so Taylor spoke up. “It’s not just a color. Is it, Evan?”

  Evan shook his head quietly.

  “What does that mean? Is it some kind of object?”

  “You could say that. I think the kid knows what it is. He certainly should by now. It’s not the fog that’s causing his body to panic. It’s what’s behind it. And it’s not an object. It’s more like…an ocean.”

  They could see the look of fear growing on Evan’s face as Taylor spoke.

  “An ocean of what?”

  “An ocean of blood…of pain…agony. Whatever you want to call it. That’s what’s been causing his body to panic. I’m guessing he’s been too afraid to tell you, any of you, that what he really sees behind that fog is an endless sea of death.”

  They were dumbfounded. “What…what does that mean?”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. It’s what it is. The kid hasn’t told you about this, because I think he already knows what it is. The images he sees are coming from the space that lies between the world of the living and the world of the dead.”

  4

  Connie Nash squeezed her son hard and looked into his eyes. She could see his nervousness. She continued holding his hand as he lay down onto the couch.

  The truth was that Evan was terrified. The fear he felt that morning had returned, and he worried what the next “episode” might bring. Now that Dan Taylor had confirmed what was behind the white fog, he felt even worse. And if the affliction really was stronger in Evan, then no one had a clue about what might happen next.

  He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to muster enough courage. He tried to appear strong for his mother and hoped she would not sense how much anguish he was really in. God, why did this have to happen to him? Hadn’t his life been hard enough?

  Evan opened his eyelids, revealing tears glistening beneath them. He blinked hard and rolled to the left, looking at Taylor.

  “What do I do?”

  Tayler took a deep breath. “Listen to me very carefully. Your body is panicking because it knows what’s behind that fog. It knows what death feels like, and it knows how close it is. You can’t let your body forget where it really is: here and alive.”

  “How do I do that?”

  Taylor quietly undid the top button on his shirt. He then reached beneath the neckline and pulled something out.

  Evan could see it was a long string of some kind. No, not a string…a chain. He watched Taylor pull it all the way out, before lifting it up and over his head.

  “Take this,” he said, holding it out. Most of the silver chain was bunched in his hand with a pendant hanging over the tips of his fingers.

  “What is it?”

  He motioned for Evan to put it on. “It’s your way home.”

  Evan complied, sliding it down over his ruffled hair. He turned the pendant over in his hand and studied it. The dark, polished metal was formed in the shape of a cross.

  Taylor leaned forward and wrapped his giant hand over Evan’s. “Keep it in your hand.”

  He nodded.

  “Keep your hand tight. You need to keep squeezing it hard enough to be able to feel that cross while you’re on the other side.”

  “Huh?”

  “But not too hard that you can’t fall asleep.”

  Evan stared at him a moment, and then squeezed tightly until the cross caused a tinge of pain in his palm.

  This time he was less worried about falling asleep. He could feel the pills Taylor gave him begin to kick in. Some kind of extract. Evan felt his mind begin to slip and pressed harder until feeling the pain in his hand again. He tried to remember the names of the extracts; hops and something called chamomile.

  His mind slipped again. It was working fast.

  “Now listen closely,” Taylor said, in a low voice. “The ocean that lies behind the fog is death. Don’t forget that, ever. The closer it gets to you, the more your body will panic until it simply can’t take it anymore. And that’s when your life is over.” He placed a hand over Evan’s and squeezed, pressing Evan’s palm tighter around the pendant. “Remember where you really are. Focus on this and nothing else.”

  Evan nodded, fighting back tears then looked up at his mother.

  She was still gripping his other hand firmly in both of hers, pulling it close to her. Her voice was trembling. “I’m not leaving you, Evan. I’m right here.”

  “I’m scared again.”

  “Good,” Taylor replied. “Fear will help you. Don’t let go, no matter how close it gets to you. When you feel that fear take hold, remember what you have in your hand and repeat this: ‘Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.’”

  Evan looked at him with surprise. “What?”

  “Repeat it.”

  After a long pause, Evan repeated the phrase.

  “Again.”

  Evan blinked and complied. He was losing his fight against Taylor’s extract pills.

  “Good. Use the pendant and repeat that over and over. Don’t stop saying it and, whatever you do, stand your ground.”

  Evan stammered. “But I’m not religious.”

  Taylor furrowed his brow at the boy. “Neither am I.”

  It seemed like only moments after everyone around him had disappeared before he saw something. The fog began small but gre
w larger and larger until it filled his view, moving and swirling around him.

  It felt cool as it moved past.

  He could sense it moving through his fingers and hair. Like a cool but eerie breeze. There came a strange feeling as the fog thickened around him.

  Evan looked back where the fog had come from and could see a small, seemingly tight, circle forming. As it expanded, it resembled a horizontal tornado, slowly spinning and opening wider, allowing him to peer further down its center. He watched it widen further and further.

  Then he felt it.

  It began subtly. A faint tingle in his chest. The grip of panic.

  Ahead of him, the tunnel grew larger. But this time there were no images inside. Instead, the other side began to thin and change color. The white swirl gradually began to turn pink.

  Now a jolt of panic ran through Evan, causing him to lurch. His body knew what was coming through the tunnel as if pulled by a powerful magnet. The pink color of fog grew darker and continued swirling. It was impossible to tell if it was getting closer or the tunnel was simply growing larger.

  The color deepened noticeably again and another jolt coursed through his body. This time it wasn’t just panic. He had never felt pain on the other side before, until now. And the fear was stronger than ever.

  The inside of the tunnel began to grow red, and a powerful feeling of dread washed over him. He could feel his breathing, or what he thought was his breathing, becoming erratic.

  Evan saw several other red circles begin appearing through the fog. He forced himself to remember what Taylor had said. He was in a place between life and death and had to stand his ground. He couldn’t lose the connection to the living, no matter what.

  He concentrated and tried to squeeze his right hand, but felt nothing. He tried again and again until he finally had something. A tiny point of pressure. Evan concentrated harder. He soon felt multiple points against his palm. It was the cross. Taylor’s cross.

  In front of him, dozens of red dots quickly became hundreds. Through some of the larger patches, he could now see actual blood. His body was hyperventilating now and beginning to shake. He concentrated desperately on his hand. The pendant was still there.

  Blood became visible everywhere. Evan squeezed his hand harder and spoke to himself.

  “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…”

  5

  The northwest corner of East Broadway and Glendale Boulevard held an old and very dark secret of which most city residents remained unaware. During its very first years in the early twentieth century, a three-story Victorian structure with seventy-five spacious rooms occupied the site and was known by another, more somber name: the Glendale Sanitarium. Now, over a century later, the very same ground was home to a more modern and well-known enterprise called the Glendale Beeline Transit System.

  The connection was more than just a little ironic, given the mental state of one of the company’s bus drivers. A driver whose route passed the auspicious corner multiple times a day. But today something was different.

  Outside the Beeline’s giant beige building, along East Broadway, three marked police cars were parked in a straight line just beyond Glendale’s busiest downtown stop.

  From the opposite direction, waiting for the light to turn green, the bus driver’s hands gripped the steering wheel like a vise. He could see the squad cars waiting at his next stop, with two officers standing near the first car. A third officer was in the shade closer to the building, speaking with a man in a dark suit and tie.

  Someone honked behind him and the driver realized his light had already turned green. His mind began to race as he reluctantly pulled forward. As he rounded onto East Broadway, he watched in slow motion as the first two officers turned, hearing the rumbling of his approaching bus. For a brief moment, he contemplated smashing the pedal down and attempting an escape, but he stopped himself. No one could escape in a bus. Instead, he fought to keep his cool long enough to pull the giant vehicle to the curb where it jerked to a stop.

  His heart beating rapidly, the driver opened the door and simultaneously leaned forward reaching down along the left-hand side of his seat. His fingers instinctively found the small bag he kept with him at all times. He fumbled to get it open while trying to maintain sight of the officers between the shifting forms of his few disembarking passengers.

  He could feel his entire body begin shaking as he watched the last passenger step down through the double doors and into the sunlight. His hand was now inside the bag, gripping, ready for the moment he had prepared for. And it was going to happen right here…on his bus.

  The seconds ticked by, with each heartbeat pounding heavily in his chest. He twitched his left hand to ensure he could still feel the cool metal against his palm.

  But to his shock, none of the officers made a move toward him or his bus, nor was the man in the suit anyone he recognized from administration. Instead, all four men paid him and his bus only a faint acknowledgement before turning back around.

  A growing sense of confusion washed over him in a wave. Then he realized. It wasn’t him. It was something else. They were there for something else…or someone else.

  He promptly pulled his hand out and placed it back onto the wheel before closing the doors. He nearly stomped on the gas in elation but caught himself and eased his foot gradually onto the accelerator.

  No attention.

  The powerful bus engine roared beneath him, and he watched intently through the giant side mirrors as the police and their cars faded in the distance.

  An uncontrollable grin spread across his face. They didn’t know. They still didn’t know…which meant he was doing everything right.

  Maybe he couldn’t be caught.

  6

  Taylor eased the door closed and turned around to follow Shannon and Mary out into the hallway. “Well, he’s still alive.”

  Taylor explained the nature of the episodes, as Evan called them, to the women. They happened as the mind passed from consciousness to unconsciousness. Not alert enough to be awake but not tired enough to be asleep. And it would only happen once per sleep cycle. After that, the body was far too exhausted for it to occur a second time.

  “He made it,” whispered Shannon.

  “Don’t get too excited, Counselor. This is only the beginning. It will get far worse before it gets better, and he’ll have to grow stronger to match it.”

  “What does that mean, ‘only the beginning’?”

  “It’s hard to say.”

  “How long did it take you to make it through this?”

  “It’s not a matter of making it through,” Taylor said. “This will never go away. It will never be gone. I can’t tell him how to cure it. I can only teach him how to fight it. How to endure it.”

  He watched the two women exchange looks. “It took me a few weeks to finally withstand the visions. But I was older. And the curse runs far deeper in this kid than me.”

  Shannon raised her eyebrows. “Curse?”

  “What would you call it?” He lowered his voice. “It’s a lot stronger in him. Hell, I don’t even know if I would have made it this far. I’m not going to bullshit you. I don’t know if he’s going to survive this.”

  “He has to,” Mary whispered.

  “Yeah, well, there’s a lot more involved here than grit. It’s hard to fully explain what he sees on the other side. It’s like…standing face to face with the Grim Reaper himself.”

  “Evan’s strong,” Shannon insisted. “He can do this.”

  “Every night?”

  “If he has to.”

  “Your confidence in him is admirable, but naïve,” Taylor said. “Fighting every day for a few weeks is one thing, fighting every day for years is another.”

  “We’re not going to give up.”

  “You’ve got the easy part,” he scoffed. “But it’s your prerogative.” Taylor looked past them again, toward the end of the hall and the reception
area. “I’ve gotta take a break. Where’s the john?”

  “Uh, outside. To the left.”

  Both women watched Taylor advance down the hallway and disappear around the corner.

  Shannon turned back to Mary. “How in the world did you ever get him to come here?”

  Mary smiled devilishly. “I blackmailed him.”

  “Really?”

  “He’s quite paranoid.”

  “Is that why you took the bus?”

  “It was either that or the train. Low security and both accepted all cash payments. He wouldn’t let me use my phone either. Otherwise, I would have warned you sooner about the Valium.”

  “I can’t even begin to thank you.”

  She shrugged. “What are sisters for?”

  The truth was that Mary never knew there was a connection between Evan and Ellie. She knew her older sister was hoping for a miracle, but when she left, Mary’s priority was simply to save Evan. His health was deteriorating rapidly, and being a nurse, she was not about to give up. With the help of a friend, she set out to find someone who never wanted to be found. Someone who had gone to great lengths to cover his tracks.

  It was the phone call that morning that completely shocked Shannon. After Taylor finally relented, Mary called her sister from the bus the second her phone had a signal again. She could not believe it when Shannon practically screamed the incredible news into the phone. Evan had helped Shannon find her missing daughter before she lost her forever.

  He was an incredible kid. At eighteen and just a few inches over five feet, he had a streak of raw courage that neither had seen before, even in men twice his size.

  Evan opened his eyes and blinked several times. The room looked darker than before, leaving him wondering how long he’d slept. He focused on the bookshelf against the wall and then scanned the room.