The sound repeated itself.
“What's back there?” Liliana asked the driver.
He appeared physically ill as the sounds appeared more intense.
“Alright, I’m curious now, what are you hauling?” Liliana climbed through the back of the cab, stepping over the highway whirring by under the gap between the cab and the trailer and through the front wall of the trailer. In the dim light, the reason for the crashing sounds became apparent. Ten human beings were being transported within the truck, but they were not the truck’s only occupants. Three Scourge entities were viciously attacking a young man, and each other to determine who could obtain the man’s body.
In the dim light of the lone LED stick up near the hatch, Liliana caught sight of a flurry of activity. A shadow-like entity had its distended appendages wrapped around a young woman’s neck. Her dark hair draped over the thing’s limbs as it attempted to strangle her like a snake. Her eyes were wide with terror, but no sound came from her bluish lips.
A shiver of repulsion caught Liliana off guard when the woman’s attacker suddenly convulsed into the shape of a human soul, then warped back into the writhing mass of darkness.
“The Scourge!” Liliana said. As the words escaped her lips, the climate of the truck changed.
The three Scourge entities turned from their captive human target. Their eyes, now black voids, focused on Liliana.
“Who do we have here?” one of the three Scourges spoke with a gravelly voice. He let go of the young man’s arm and stood to his full height, towering over the guide.
“I should ask you the same.” Liliana’s shock was overshadowed by her anger. How could mortal-bound spirits become this abomination? How could they dare turn against the humanity they were created to become a part of? She squared her shoulders drawing her slim frame up to her full height as she glared at the scourge entity that had dared to challenge her.
“Little girl, where did you leave your body? I’m sure it would suit this small imp just fine” the creature’s head lolled on its neck as it indicated a short, broad figure still squatting over the young man who appeared drugged. It grinned, exposing a row of sharpened fangs. It turned back to its original victim, digging its claws into his flesh. The young man let out a muted groan.
Liliana took a step forward, closing the distance between herself and the tallest Scourge. “Little girl?” she said. “I never had a physical body.” She glided across the floor toward the creature. As her fingers met the thing’s shoulders, it thrashed against her. She connected to its thoughts. Liliana held tight to her attacker as it struggled against her. She searched for the humanity that she hoped would still be present in the creature, but the memories of human conquest and torture had replaced the lifetime the thing was meant to have. Liliana had almost given up hope when she found what she had been searching for. Surely making the creature remember its purpose on earth would restore its humanity. She dragged the last fragment of humanity, the innate purpose the creature was created to fulfill to the forefront of its conscious thoughts. It struggled against her with renewed vigor, but just as Liliana was hoping that the creature had realized the error of its ways it crumbled into particles in her grasp. The Scourge who was choking the young woman hissed in surprised as its companion disintegrated to nothing.
A crash from the stacks of cargo pushed against one side of the trailer drew the attention of Liliana and the Scourge. A man was wrestling with another Scourge entity in the shadows. This one was different than the others. He did not have the distorted physical form that came from too much time and distance from humanity within the matter of Earth. He gave a powerful shove, sending the creature flying through the truck’s outer wall.
He turned to Liliana. “You destroyed it, how'd you do that?” the man’s voice had a hint of a southern drawl.
“I, I didn’t mean to. I was trying to help it remember humanity.”
"Humanity? Lady, I don't think you can reason with these things. How did you do that?"
“I.. I really don’t know,” she admitted. “Until recently, I didn’t believe that any of this was possible.”
“You mean ghosts?” he asked.
The creature that entrapped the young woman let her body fall to the floor with a dull thud. The creature bounded to Liliana, knocking her to the floor of the truck. “What have you done?” the creature demanded. “What did you do to him? We were starting over today. Where did he go?”
Liliana pushed the Scourge off her, immobilizing it while she stood up.
“I don’t know where you sent that other thing, but you may what to send the rest of these things with it,” the humanoid entity said.
“I, I am not sure where it went, to be honest. I didn’t really think an entity could be destroyed. What about you? You’re not with this bunch?” Liliana had removed the Scourge's energy to manifest.
“I just want them out of my truck and out of my body,” he replied. The Scourge he had been fighting with renewed its attack, springing on him from the top of the containers he had used in an attempt to trap it.
“You’re the truck driver?” Liliana asked. She didn’t wait for a reply, the other two creatures followed the attacked, pulling and tearing at Liliana without mercy.
“That’s enough of that!” the truck driver yelled. He rolled the Scourge off himself as he launched himself into the fray, dragging the smallest entity away from Liliana.
Liliana managed to connect with the consciousness of the largest of the scourge as it wrapped itself around her. Its existence was over in a matter of seconds. The next creature let go when it realized that Liliana’s hands were no longer restrained by the coils of the larger Scourge. It turned to flee, but Liliana was faster. One by one, she eliminated the Scourge that were hiding in the truck. The trailer bumped and groaned down the highway as she took on the last of the scourge that been pinned by the disembodied truck driver.
“As for you, how is it that you are no longer in your body and driving this truck? And why are you transporting ten drugged people?” Liliana demanded.
“I’m not; I was supposed to pick up a load of prefabricated furniture two states back. Instead, these things attacked me in my cab at a truck stop when I was trying to take a little nap. Once they threw me out on my body, one of them took over. That thing is driving the truck now, and it picked up all these young people from another fella. No my body and my truck are being used for some crazy human trafficking, and I’m stuck back here.”
“The Scourge didn’t realize you rode along after they attacked you?” Liliana asked. “What should I call you anyway?”
“George, but most people call me Red because of my hair,” he said. “No, I was hiding in the cargo, waiting for a chance to try to take my body back. I heard one of those things say that they were taking the bodies somewhere to be used by more creatures.”
Liliana sized up Red with a concerned expression. She wanted to believe that there was an innocent entity left that she could help, but she had to be sure he was what he claimed to be. She streaked across the width of the truck, closing the distance between herself and the disembodied man before he could react to her motion. She felt his jerk away, startled, as she gripped his wrist. Her connection with his thoughts confirmed his story as a fact in a way his words never could.
“They are deceiving these people, making them think they are bringing them to the United States with a job and a new start ahead of them,” Liliana confirmed.
“But they only wanted to steal their bodies.” George finished his thought that Liliana had voiced. “Can you help me take my body and my truck back?”
“I think we can arrange that, but let’s wait until we stop somewhere, I think we would cause a wreck if we try to switch you back while we are going down the highway.”
“That’s fair, but what about these folks? They'll think I was the one that kidnapped them.”
“We will find somewhere safe to leave them once we switch you back. I’ll help you g
et your body back, but I need your help to get to a place called IPS, in Ohio. Can I count on you to get me the rest of the way there?”
“Ma’am, if you can get me my life back I’ll gladly drive you wherever you want to go.”
“Then we have a deal,” Liliana said. She held her hand out to the man.
They shook on the agreement, as the truck put on its signal to pull into the next rest stop.
Chapter 32
Portia held Terra's hands and looked at her daughter at arm's length. “I know you'll be fine, but you make sure that you call me and let me know where you're headed,” Portia hugged Terra tight as she said her goodbyes. Her sadness and insecurity at her suddenly empty nest resonated through Terra, enhancing her guilt.
“We've been over this. I’ll be back home before you know it!” The memory of the long heart to heart talk with her mother was fresh. Terra had never wanted to have the ‘talk’ with her mother, but Portia had been determined to make things Terra had already known embarrassingly clear.
“I love you, Terra,” Portia said. She pulled her only child into another tight hug.
“I love you too, mom!” Terra was amazed at her own sincerity.
Portia let out a deep sigh and gave Terra’s hand a final squeeze. “You remember what we talked about.”
“How can I forget?” Terra said.
Portia climbed into her car. As Terra opened the door of Liam’s 1999 Nissan, she waved as her mother pull slowly out of the parking lot. Terra sat down in the passenger seat and buckled her seatbelt.
“She's out of sight. Are you ready to switch seats?” asked Brendan.
“Switch?” Terra asked. “Honestly, I've never driven. I didn't have any real need to. I don’t even have a driver’s license.”
“She really never has driven,” Korin volunteered from the backseat.
Elise approached the car at a pace that would have been impossible for a temporal person. She slid to a stop as she took a seat beside Korin. “It's done. The switch was easier this time. I think I'm getting better at it already.”
“Where did you find the nurse?” asked Terra.
“It wasn’t hard. She was lingering outside a room in the psych ward where they were holding the thing that hijacked her body.”
“I had a feeling that she would still be close by,” Terra said. “What about the Scourge?”
“It was a grunt. It knew nothing. Now it knows even less,” Elise said.
Terra nodded. Elise’s complete lack of qualms was strange to Terra. “At least she will have a chance to get her life back now. I bet her guide in the Tweens is celebrating her return to humanity.”
“Yeah,” Korin’s voice was quiet.
“I think that needs to be our first focus,” Terra said. “Korin, it's time to put you back where you belong. You've fought long and hard to keep yourself together without your body. How long has it been now?”
“Since you were little,” Korin admitted.
“Exactly, the time for your release after the little bank robbery is coming up. We have let the Scourge that did the crime serve the time for its punishment. Now it's time to right the wrong that was done. Korin, it's time for you to go home.”
“Home: do you really mean it?” Korin asked. “I could go back to live a mortal life in my own body?”
“It was always meant to be yours,” Terra said. “When the Scourge took your body from you and used it to spread their brand of filth, you had no choice. It wouldn’t have been fair for you to spend those years in jail for crimes the Scourge thing committed.”
“Wait, what happened?” Brendan asked. He turned in the driver’s seat to look at Korin.
“I robbed a bank.” Korin’s eyes twinkled with the acknowledgment.
“You did not!” Terra chided. “The Scourge that stole your body did that!”
“I would think the court records would indicate otherwise,” Korin said. She smiled.
“Either way, now you have a chance to pick up where you left off,” Elise said.
“It's overwhelming. I’ve wanted to have a mortal life for so long now. This drifting has never felt natural. But, now things are strange. I've been a part of this world that the mortal world never sees for so long. I'm not sure I can go back to living like I'm wearing blinders.”
“You may still remember everything,” Terra said. “You've managed to find a way to see past mortality when you take my place as a human.”
“True, but I thought it was because your brain was used to you retaining that consciousness of what is beyond. I guess you broke it in already.”
“I guess there’s only one way to find out!” Brendan said.
“Okay, first stop, Chester County jail,” Terra said.
"Terra, I still want to be a part of this. I want to help change things. I want to tell you about Azalea's plan to eliminate the Scourge."
"Azalea can plan if she likes. I think that when we find Liam, we will find the cause of the problem. And this is not the trip for you to risk your existence on. These creatures that have taken Liam and probably Carol, are next-level things. They were never human. They are nothing you want to confront."
"I understand," Korin said. "But Azalea will wonder what happened to me." She touched the strange markings on her arm.
"I will personally visit your friend and let her know once we clear things up, you have my promise," Terra said.
Korin opened her mouth to respond, then shook her head. "You're making good on your promise to return me to my body. I think I'll have to trust you to find Azalea as well."
"Then it's settled," Terra said.
"We should be on our way," Elise said.
“Right, now that Portia is out of sight you can come to take over driving this machine, Terra,” Brendan said.
“Me, I really can’t drive!” Terra's mouth was agape.
“You have spent eighteen years as a corporeal, and you never bothered to learn to drive?” Elise asked.
“It was never a priority.” Terra shrugged.
“Sure, because you can just propel yourself to wherever you need when you leave that body behind!” Korin said. “I told you it would be worth learning! I enjoyed driving when I was young. It was a ticket to freedom.”
“So wait, Korin, you know how to drive?” Brendan asked.
“Of course!”
“Then you should be the one to drive!” Brendan said as he grasped the door handle.
“I can’t,” Korin said. “You're the only one here with a driver’s license that matches their face; not to mention a registration that matches the license. It has to be you! Besides, a car driving itself down the street would upset people.”
“I think you'd best go sit upfront and give Brendan a driving lesson or two,” Elise said. “We may have better odds of actually getting out of the parking lot that way.”
“Being a human is exhausting,” Brendan said. “Just moving through this matter and trying to fuel a body is a job. And now trying to get where we're going…”
“Don’t worry Brendan; you'll like driving once you try it!” Korin smiled as she climbed over the seat to take her place in Terra’s still–warm seat.
“I guess people will think we argued.” Terra grinned as she sat down on the back seat. “Since we can’t stand to sit next to one another.”
“Alright Brendan, first push the brake pedal and then turn the key away from you until you hear the engine start.” Korin gestured the motion of the key turning with her hand.
“Break? What broke?” Brendan asked. His eyes widened in surprise.
“Nothing broke: just push the brake pedal before you turn the key.” Korin smiled, suppressing a laugh as she pointed to the brake pedal at Brendan’s feet.
Brendan nodded his understanding. Within moments, the aging car wheezed to life. “It’s purring!” he exclaimed.
“Yeah, it probably needs a tune-up,” Korin said. “We will leave that to the pros.”
“Now what?” Brendan a
sked. His excitement was evident.
“Hold down the brake pedal and then move this lever over to the letter D.” Korin indicated the shifter.
Brendan obeyed. The car inched forward across the parking lot.
Terra inhaled sharply. “Stop! We need to go over steering first!”
“Stop what? I’m not doing anything!” Brendan said.
“She means to push the brake,” Korin said. “Terra, let me tell him.” She cast a look of warning at her friend in the backseat.
“Okay, I’m trying. I have a bit more to lose than you do. I’m not done healing from the last catastrophe.”
“We're just lucky that Liam’s left leg is the broken one because now Brendan can drive with the right one.” Elise pointed out. Her cheerful tone was meant to placate Terra’s rising distress.
Liam. Where is Liam? Terra remained silent, but the tears that always lurked just out of sight welled up in her eyes once more.
“Let’s try this again,” Korin said. “This time I want you to hold on to the steering wheel with both hands. “
Brendan obeyed. He leaned forward so that his nose was pointed at the windshield glass. “Now what?” he grinned.
“Sit back in your seat, nice and straight. You're not a ninety-year-old woman!”
“Yes ma’am” Brendan scooted as far back as he could in the seat.
“Now take your foot off of the brake pedal and aim the car towards the entryway to the parking lot. Stay towards the right side of the lane.”
The car edged forward little by little as Brendan attempted to steer. “It’s not really going. Won’t it take a long time to get to the prison?”
“It will take a few hours at a normal speed,” Terra said.
“So it does go faster?” Brendan looked at Korin with a sparkle in his eyes.
“GENTLY press the other pedal, the gas pedal to go faster, but when you get to the…”
Korin’s directions were cut short. The squeal of tires announced the beat-up sedan’s sudden transition into motion. The car careened toward the row of parked cars across from its place. Brendan jerked the steering wheel to correct the car’s course. The car fishtailed toward the row of cars before its momentum caught up, and it rocketed forward leaving a trail of discarded rubber behind it.
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