Glimmer (20 page)

My mood lightening, happy that I wasn’t going to have to save people I loved from a horrible death,
again
, I turned on the stereo and listened to the CD Ben had made me for Christmas.  I sang as loudly as I could, beating my palm against the steering wheel in time to the music, as I drove around the last corner and entered the straight away.

If Ben hadn’t decided to add in nature sound effects between each track, I never would have heard the sound in time.  As it was, one second my mind was enjoying the soothing sounds of a babbling brook and then the next second it was trying to comprehend the screeching of tires against icy asphalt.  It was the sound of Avery’s truck careening, spinning, coming directly for me.

Without thinking, without really looking at what was happening in front of me, I stopped my car in the middle of the road. I flung the door open and got out, both hands already forward, willing the truck to rewind.  Harnessing all the power I could, I pushed against it as it still came at me, rotating and knocking into the guardrail, throwing sparks. 

For a moment, I thought it was going to work.  The truck started circling in the other direction, reversing, but then like a Tilt-a-Whirl, it would swing back with forward momentum again.  They were getting closer to me; I could almost make out the frightened expressions on their faces.  Dang it!  If I wasn’t so out of practice, if all of my power hadn’t been sucked dry cleaning up after Mildred and her minions, this would be so much easier! 

At no more than twenty feet away from me, it was becoming very clear that we were all screwed.  This wasn’t my vision exactly, but that didn’t mean this wasn’t what it turned into.  The universe was going to take all three, crap, four of us out if I couldn’t get my act together!

I aimed all of my energy, palms up, at Avery, and thought of every second I had ever spent with him.  Kissing his perfect mouth, the feel of his soft hair slipping through my fingers, his hands on me pulling me closer.  I shut my eyes and aimed, and remembered, and prayed for that godforsaken truck to stop. 

The screeching sound subsided, I could still hear the gritty crunch of the tires on the road, but the sound was less chaotic, less violent.  I opened my eyes a slit, afraid that what I was hearing wouldn’t reconcile with what I saw.  They were only ten feet away now, backing toward me, facing Rosedell.  I let out the breath I’d been holding in.  Backwards was fine, as long as the truck wasn’t spazzing out anymore.  I lowered my hands, smiling; proud of myself.

And then that stupid truck jerked back, spun around, and ran me over.

I came to, looking down at myself, well the top half of myself, pinned under the gigantic right front snow tire of Mike Adams’ truck.

“Holy shit,” Avery said.

Reflexively, I elbowed him in the ribs, only my elbow didn’t make contact with his body.

“Holy shit,” he said again.  This time, I echoed the sentiment. We turned to each other, our eyes meeting.  His gaze lowered to my body on the ground while mine went to the driver’s side of the truck.  I should have been shocked by what I saw, but my soul had already accepted what had happened.  Avery’s body was dead, his face mangled and swollen from the impact, his head slack and drooping onto his chest at an unnatural angle.  My body was dead too, crushed beneath the weight of the truck.

“Zel, we’re dead,” Avery said plainly.

I nodded my head.  The sleet picked up, but I couldn’t feel it.  Thick icy water ran in rivulets down the front of the truck and dropped onto my lifeless face as Avery and I stood there and watched. After a few seconds the clear water became tinted with blood. I followed the rust colored trail up the hood of the truck to my mom, who was suspended in the windshield. Her pregnant belly, acting as a stopper, had prevented her from going all the way through the glass and being thrown into the road.  Avery and I scanned the area nearby to see if Mom’s spirit was wandering about, but neither of us saw anything.

Avery shrugged. “Maybe she’s with my dad someplace?”

“Yeah, maybe,” I said, going through the motions of biting my lip. “It does seem kind of weird that they aren’t here with us, though.  What do you think we should do?”

“Zellie, honey,” Mom said, her voice barely a whisper.

Without a second’s delay, Avery and I both scrambled up the hood of the truck, getting as close to Mom’s body as we could.

“Can you hear me, Mom?”  All the calm that had overtaken me suddenly vanished. 

She raised her head slightly. “The baby, he’s still kicking.  You’ve got to save him.”

Avery sprang to his feet, yelling for his father to come help us.

Mom licked her lips and swallowed, mustering the strength to speak again. “He’s gone after Ben for help.”

I went to tug at Avery’s pants, to get him to stop screaming and to help me figure out what to do, but then I remembered what I was.  I stood up and got in his face. “He went to get Ben,” I hollered.

“Great,” he said and then slumped back down on the hood, leaning back onto the windshield, directly in front of his damaged body.

I rolled my eyes at him.  Just like a boy to take jealousy with him into the afterlife.  I hopped down from the hood and stood back from the truck, assessing the situation.  There was a large jagged piece of glass about three millimeters from Mom’s jugular, so moving her physically, even if it were possible for us to do, was not an option. 

I held my hand out and steadied myself.  “Please God,” I prayed, “you blessed me with this power that has so often felt more like a curse.  If you could please, please help me out and let Mom and the baby live, you’d be doing me a huge favor.”  With everything I had in me, I forced my energy onto Mom.  For several minutes, nothing happened, but I pushed forward, digging deeper.  I believed my abilities came from God, but they were housed in my spirit and that’s all I was now, pure spirit and energy. 

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Avery slide from the truck.  He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me the best he could, whispering in my ear.  “You can save them, Zellie.  You’re the most amazing and strong person I know.  I loved you when I was alive, I love you now, and I’ll love you forever. I know you can do this. Save them.” 

The energy surged within me, coming to the surface of my skin and wrapping itself around us until we were both encased in its glowing blue light. I directed it all at Mom.

The truck’s windshield evaporated, freeing Mom to fall back onto the seat, before it materialized again as one whole solid piece of glass.

Avery broke from me, rushing to her side.  He bent into the door, getting as close as he could to inspect her.  “She’s breathing!” he called, “And she’s not cut anywhere.  I think she’s just passed out!”

“And the baby?” I asked.

Avery laughed, astonished.  “I can see him kicking.  Zellie, you did it!”

Assured that Mom and my baby brother were going to be okay, I went with my instincts and turned my focus to Avery’s body.  The blue light around me that had ebbed with the force of rewinding Mom out of the windshield grew brighter with my newfound concentration.  “I love you, Avery and I will always be with you.”

His spirit caught onto what I was doing and only had time to give me a sad, relenting smile before it disappeared. 

In the truck, Avery’s head snapped up straight with a sickening crunch and then his body thrashed violently back and forth twice, uncrashing his face into the steering column, before he came to rest, also appearing to be passed out.  I lowered my arm, but held my power close to the surface, watching Avery’s chest, waiting for his lungs to expand with air.  When he inhaled, I crumpled to the ground, the blue light fading, leaving me trembling.

Mr. Adams sprang up beside me, bending down next to me.  “Everyone is on their way, Zellie. They’ll be here any minute. Ben had Melody call an ambulance.”  He glanced up at the truck. “Oh, God,” he moaned, trying to take me into his arms, encircling me in a pseudo-embrace. “You did that?  Avery and your mom?”

I nodded my head numbly.

“He was safest with you after all,” Mr. Adams said, shaking his head.

I just nodded again.  I guess he was right. Although I’m not sure “safe” would be the word I would have chosen.

The sound of screeching tires jerked me out of my haze.  Ben frantically raced from Frank’s car before Frank had a chance to slow it all the way down.  I stood up to greet him.  He ran past the truck, coming at me with open arms, but then backtracked and flung the driver’s side door open, putting his fingers to Avery’s neck and checking his pulse.  He whipped his head around, staring at me, his eyes wide with shock. “You were able to bring him back?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how?”

I shrugged. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s because I’m dead.  Because I’m pure energy.  It made me powerful enough?”

A devious smile spread across his face.  He put his head back, cackling up to the sky. “There’s your loophole, bitches!”

“Except I’m dead,” I said.

Ben’s smile faded, his expression turning serious, considering. “Well, that is some bullshit I’m not gonna let stand.” He shut the truck door and shouted to Christopher.  “Hey, Chris, get your ass over here with a quickness.”

Melody, Claire, and Frank, who had all been anxiously hanging back, came running over. Melody went directly to Mom, climbing up into the truck trying to wake her. When she had made sure Mom was okay, despite remaining unconscious, she realized I wasn’t there.  “Zellie?” Melody questioned, searching for me, tears seeping into her eyes.

“She’s here,” Ben and Claire said at the same time, he pointing to my spirit and she kneeling next to my body on the ground. 

Melody shot a menacing look at Ben. “Do something, now.”

Ben nodded and then spoke loudly, “I’d be happy to rewind your sister back to life before the ambulance arrives if Pastor slow-ass could get over here and help me out.”

Christopher sauntered over, barely flicking a glance my way. Guess he didn’t make it to the church service after all. Dad was gonna be pissed.  “What?” he said, sounding bored.

“What do you mean what?” Claire yelled at him, getting up from the ground and charging through me and Mr. Adams. “Freaking knock it off with your emo crap and start helping.” She put her hand on Ben’s back and nodded at me.

“Well, I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do,” Christopher said, directing everyone to look at Ben.

“
We
are going to band together and bring Zellie back,” Ben said, reaching for Christopher’s hand.  “She brought Avery back because she’s made completely of energy now. I need your power to help me.”

He slapped Ben’s hand away. “If you’ll recall, last night I banded together with you two, got burnt to a crisp and knocked over the head for my trouble.  I think I’ll sit this one out.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”  Ben glanced at me, desperation in his eyes.

“Dang it, Christopher,” I screamed, “you leave me over here and I will send every spirit I encounter to haunt your ass!”

“Starting with me and I’ve got a horrible singing voice and all the time in the world,” Mr. Adams said. 

That got Christopher’s attention. “Ugh.  Fine.  Zellie will probably end up brain dead anyway.”

“All right,” Ben said, taking charge.  “Let’s get Avery and Mrs. Wells out of the truck and out of the way.  Claire and Chris, you guys get Avery. Mel and I will get Mrs. Wells.”

Christopher pushed Claire out of the way, opened the truck door and dragged Avery out. Hoisting him up over his shoulder, he then unceremoniously dumped him in the brush along the side of the road.  Claire rushed to Avery and rolled up her jacket, placing it under his head, all the while giving Christopher searing looks.  Ben gently lifted Mom in his arms, stumbling a bit from trying to balance her odd weight distribution.  He laid her down next to Claire and Avery, Melody right behind him, taking Mom’s head into her lap.

Ben walked over and stood next to me, motioning for Christopher to join us. “You got anything left in you, Zel?  I could use a boost of Retro power to get the truck off of your body.”

“I’ll give you everything I’ve got left.” I smiled, sinking my hand into his.

Christopher took his other hand.

“Wonder twin powers, activate!”  Ben said, giggling nervously.

“Really?  That’s what you’re going with? There’s three of us.” Christopher asked, cracking a smile.

“Concentrate, guys! I hear the sirens from the ambulance,” I said, a faint blue glow rising to the surface of my skin.

Ben put his hands out, palms up, each of us attached to him, channeling our energy at the truck.  Slowly, it rolled off of my body, my crushed rib cage reforming before our eyes.  The truck jerked back violently and then spun around, landing with a thundering jolt on the asphalt twenty feet away.

I felt the sensation of being pulled, ripped from Ben’s grasp, and then complete stillness.  My eyes were open and I was standing, arms at my side. I saw the empty truck before me, idling in the middle of the road, facing toward Rosedell.  My entire body inhaled; cold, biting oxygen filling my lungs.  The siren from the oncoming ambulance blared in my ears as it swerved to avoid the truck and came to a stop, parking sideways a few feet in front of me.  My hand shot out, pointing to the side of the road where a now awake Mom and Avery sat.

Avery scrambled out of the way, explaining that he was fine and that the paramedics were called to take care of the pregnant lady in labor.  He started walking my way, but then something else crossed his mind and he went over to a dazed Ben.  Christopher had already detached himself from the situation and was standing next to Frank’s car.

I couldn’t make out the conversation Avery and Ben were having, but whatever had passed between them ended in one of those awkward bro hugs that started out as an attempted handshake and ended with vigorous back slapping. I swear if I hadn’t been as dehydrated as an alligator handbag in the middle of the Mojave Desert, I would have shed a few satisfied happy tears.

The paramedics hoisted Mom up onto a stretcher and rolled her into the back of the ambulance.  Melody and Mr. Adams got in with her.  “We’ll see you guys at the hospital,” Melody called, sticking her head around the door before the driver of the ambulance swung it closed.