Reunion (A Psychological Suspense with Murder, Mystery and the Paranormal) (24 page)

“So, why are you asking these questions all of a sudden, Sheriff? After all, it’s been twenty years.”

“Well, I guess I was hoping that you’d put my fears to rest.”

“Did I?”

“I’m not sure yet.”

Donald cautiously asked, “What were you afraid of?”

Larry grunted. “Two things. I was afraid…either that David was still alive and on the loose, or that he was dead and haunting the school.” Larry’s eyes wrinkled as he solemnly admitted, “We’ve had a lot of strange occurrences there lately that have been attributed to David’s ghost or spirit or whatever you want to call it.”

“And now that you know he’s still alive?” asked Donald.

Larry shook his head. “I still don’t have anything to go on.”

“Could these occurrences have been caused by some other spirit? Perhaps one of the deceased students?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps. But whatever it is…it’s getting stronger. And here’s the real kicker, a few days back we found a young boy murdered…and an impression in one of the school doors.”

“An impression?”

“That’s right. It was an impression melted into the glass…an indentation…of David Ray’s face.”

Donald gasped.

“Yeah, the whole thing is really getting under my skin. We don’t have any leads…especially if David is locked up and half dead inside some institution. There’s no weapon, no suspect, nothing. All we’ve got is a couple kids who say they’ve seen a ghost.”

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that, Sheriff. I hope you get your man…and may I ask you to keep our conversation confidential? For health reasons, I still need those retirement benefits.”

“Yes, and thank you for your help.” Larry shook hands with Donald. “Goodbye, Mr. Stout. Take care now!”

“Same to you, Sheriff.”

• • •

Sitting with Tanner in his darkened hotel room, Maria held a cool, wet cloth on his forehead, and Lana put a thermometer in his mouth. Tanner’s eyes were closed, but moved rapidly from side to side under the lids. His arms and legs twitched in time with the rapid eye movements.

“What’s wrong with him?” asked Lana in a worried voice.

“I don’t know, Lana. He’s either having a nightmare or going into convulsions.” Maria put her hand on his wrist to check his heart rate.

“His heart is pumping one-hundred-ninety beats per minute!”

“What do we do?”

“Call 9-1-1! Now!”

Maria pulled the thermometer out of his mouth so he didn’t bite down on it. “He’s got a fever of one hundred and two, and his sheets are soaked!”

Lana rummaged through her purse to find her cell phone.

Suddenly, Tanner sat up full force and screamed “Nooooooo!” at the top of his lungs. His face looked pale and was dripping with sweat. His eyes sprang open and veins stood out all over his body. He looked as if he might burst and his breathing became erratic. The two women stepped away from the bed, fearful of what he might do.

“Tanner! What is it? What’s happening?” cried Lana. She touched his arm. He tumbled off the bed and landed on the floor as if he were being attacked. His hollow eyes peered at Lana as he replied, “I…I…I saw him! I saw him in my dream!”

“Whom did you see?” asked Lana.

Still breathing heavily, Tanner crawled back onto the bed. “I saw David Ray. He’s here. He was talking to us…to all of us!” Tanner grabbed the wet cloth from Maria and wiped his forehead. He looked back and forth despairingly between the women.

“What does he want?” asked Maria.

“I’m not sure. He was at the school. He looked so disgusting…so repulsive!” Tanner’s body began to tremble.

“Tanner, it’s okay. You were dreaming. It was only a dream!” said Lana.

“NO! It was more! It was real!”

“What do you mean?” asked Maria.

Tanner seemed disoriented. “I don’t know. I just felt it.” His shaking began to subside. He reached out for the glass of water on the nightstand and drank every drop.

Maria continued, “Okay. Tell us what you saw. Tell us what you felt.”

“All right,” said Tanner, catching his breath. “At first, I was dreaming about the reunion. It was like a carnival with clowns and games. People were laughing and children were playing. Then you know how dreams work; my mind went from scene to scene. One minute I was driving in my Jeep and the next thing I knew I was back at the school. All of a sudden we were up on a stage, getting a hero’s welcome. Seconds later, we were whisked off into a dark room somewhere.

“In the darkness, a figure came crawling toward us. From a distance it looked small and human-like, but as it got closer it looked deformed. It had hundreds of tiny creatures crawling in and out of its flesh. It lifted its head and looked right at me. It was David Ray!”

“Oh no!” gasped Lana. “Then what?”

“He started mumbling. He talked so fast I could barely make out what he was saying. It was like he had a thousand words coming out of his mouth at once, but his lips were hardly moving. And the creatures that crawled out of him looked evil, almost demonic. They moved in and out of his flesh as if he were made of sand.”

Maria looked at Lana. Tanner noticed the concern in her eyes.

“All of a sudden he curled up into a ball, and for some reason, we all knelt down next to him. His eyes closed and his skin began to rot, bruise and peel off until there wasn’t anything but bones and rotting flesh. Then his eyes popped open and he screamed ‘Let me go!’ He reached up and grabbed my neck and continued screaming ‘Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!’”

Tanner began sobbing. The girls held onto him.

“We don’t have to go through with this reunion, Tanner,” suggested Maria.

“Yeah. Let’s go home and forget this whole thing,” insisted Lana.

Moved by their compassion, Tanner pulled himself together.

“No! We can’t quit now! We have to go to the school! I…I don’t understand what’s happening to me, and I know it sounds crazy, but we have to do this. There are no words to describe what’s going on in my head. It’s just a feeling, or awareness, if that’s what you want to call it. Besides, I didn’t come all this way to fall apart and run from my past. I came here to confront my fears and overcome the control they have over my life.”

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” asked Maria.

“I’m sure.”

Maria turned toward Lana. “What about you, Lana?”

“Okay, I’m terrified, but I’m still in.”

The threesome sat quietly for a moment until Maria broke the silence.

“Okay. It’s getting late. Why don’t we all get some rest? The superintendent is going to unlock the doors tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. He said he’s got some kind of surprise or something for us. And I’m sure we wouldn’t want to miss that!” The women laughed nervously, but Tanner sat there completely dazed and unsettled by the images that had been streaming through his mind. It’s him, he thought. He’s really here. What the hell does he want?

T
he next day, Kate and Bryan drove to the old school. They hardly said a word to each other. Tanner picked up Maria and Lana on his way to the reunion. Nick sat in his jail cell.

Bryan and Kate rolled into the parking lot at 6:45 p.m. Tanner, Maria and Lana soon followed. Lana looked through the window and marveled as the sun nestled into a blanket of cumulus cover, while a trail of orange and grey ribbons peaked through the storm clouds looming on the horizon.

Lana looked through the glass, stunned by what she saw. The superintendant’s surprise turned out to be a block party that resembled a county fair. The parking lot was filled with cars belonging to almost everyone in town. The entire school courtyard was packed with the residents of Crescent Falls. Past neighbors and families had come to celebrate the colossal step the group had taken to overcome their dark past. Lana looked at the crowd from inside Tanner’s vehicle and thought about the other classmates who had decided not to come. I don’t blame them for not coming, she thought. Looks like it’s just us five then.

She stepped out of the Jeep, smiled at Julie Divulge, who walked up to greet them, and then waved at Kate and Bryan as they walked toward the school. Tanner hopped out of the Jeep, and greeted Julie as he ambled forward, wearing, for the first time in quite a while, a white button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up and tie hanging loosely from his neck. Bryan stood in the middle of the crowd, slowly turning his head and searching the sea of faces. Dressed in full uniform, he scanned the crowd as if he were a Secret Service man on duty, searching for an assassin. Lana noticed that he still didn’t look at all happy. What’s up with Bryan, she wondered. He’s acting awfully strange.

Maria stepped onto the grass and followed Tanner, who seemed to be much improved after a good night’s rest. Lana waved at the well-wishers, grateful for the town’s support. However, her jovial countenance quickly changed. She stood at the edge of the parking lot, frozen.

Looking out at the crowd, she saw a familiar face. A tall, slim man with a well-trimmed beard and thinning salt-and-pepper hair watched her from a distance. Noah? Is it really you, she questioned internally?

Noah Berkley waved and smiled from under the shade of the oak tree. Lana wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry. She felt a wave of emotions. The sea of faces and carnival noises faded as his face stirred up the memories of their past. She looked away. She had to make a decision about how to proceed. Why hadn’t he told Maria he was coming?

After twenty years, the father of her daughter stood in front of her, smiling and waiting for her to speak. She closed her eyes, unsure of what to feel about his abrupt appearance. Everything she’d wanted out of life had left the country twenty years ago. Now, all that was missing from her life stood right in front of her. She walked forward to meet him.

Julie Divulge led the survivors through the crowd toward a platform covered with decorations. Colorful balloons formed a backdrop against building. Like a portal to the past, forming an archway that led directly to the main entrance. Rick Heinz and Gordon Wilcox, the mayor of Crescent Falls, stood behind the podium smiling as the guests of honor walked forward.

The townspeople cheered and waved small flags made of yellow and blue, exhibiting the school colors. Lana could see small bags of popcorn in their hands and could smell the butter and salt in the air. As the survivors followed Julie, the crowd opened up a pathway to let them through. They patted their backs as they passed by, as if they had just won a state championship. In the background, a marching band played the old school song to welcome the classmates home.

Lana’s eyes, however, peered toward the oak tree and the music faded.

She stepped forward, as if in a different world, into the dim shadow of the tree’s branches. She looked at Noah for a moment then turned her head, unsure of what to say. A thousand thoughts filled her mind, but nothing came out of her lips.

I wasn’t expecting to see him, she thought. I didn’t think I’d ever see him again. But here he is, right in front of me. She thought about her conversation with Tanner and asked herself, now what?

The pain she felt twenty years ago engulfed her chest once again with the force of an ocean swell. The
pull
had finally returned. Hold it together, Lana, she demanded of herself. Hold it together!

“Hello, Lana. How are you?” Noah said in his British accent.

She lifted her head and forced a smile. “Noah? Hi. Yes…I’m all right. I’m very surprised to see you. H…how are you?”

“Very well, thank you.” Noah towered over her. He seemed to be feeling as awkward as she felt. “You look wonderful.”

Lana blushed. “Oh, I don’t know about that,” she said, and then she thought, it really is him. But his voice is so different, deeper, grown up.

She tried to avoid staring directly into his eyes, but he was attempting to catch her gaze.

“I’ve heard great things about your work,” said Noah.

Lana blushed and tightened the grip on her cane, releasing her stress. The small talk seemed bigger than it needed to be. Why does it have to hurt, when I’m so glad he’s here
,
she wondered.

“So, Noah…” Her chin began to quiver and her chest tightened. She wanted to burst out in tears. “What have you been doing all these years?”

Noah began to give a brief monologue about his life. Lana smiled and nodded until she could no longer hide her feelings. She turned away and covered her face.

“Lana? You okay?”

She removed her hands and wiped her tears. “I’m sorry, Noah.” She sniffed and said, “We should get going.” Her eyes reflected her deep-seated pain.

He gently took her arm. “Lana.”

She gazed up at him and asked directly, “Why did you leave me like that?”

The band continued to play, and the others continued the procession. Noah had to shout above the noise of the festivities.

“Lana, I never
wanted
to leave you. I never wanted to be apart from you. It all happened so fast, the shooting, my mother and everything else. I was just a kid! We all were.”

Lana breathed deeply, pushing back her tears.

“You could’ve contacted me! You’ve had twenty years! What were you waiting for?”

Defensively, Noah said, “I missed you. God knows I missed you so much! But it just never worked out.” His eyes expressed his remorse.

“Did you ever call, or write?”

“Well…I…there were several times, but—”

“You never said goodbye to me!”

“Right.” He bowed his head. “I was messed up. I was hurting and in counseling for quite a while. Before I knew it, enough time had passed that I was afraid you’d forgotten about me or found someone else. And honestly, after a time, I felt like an idiot, too embarrassed to try.” He looked away and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Lana. I really am. But you’re right. I should have tried harder.”

Lana wasn’t sure how to respond. Her hands turned cold and clammy. She didn’t know how to interpret her emotions. She experienced feelings of both joy and pain, a Jekyll and Hyde of emotions. She tossed around the idea of revealing the truth about Zoe. Yet she didn’t want to give him something she couldn’t trust him with yet. She didn’t know anything about the adult Noah. Maybe I need to ask more questions? Maybe, she thought, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions.