Thunderland (19 page)

‘Why do you want to know?”

“I want to know so I can help you, Jason. The more honest you are with me, the more I can help you.”

“I don’t need your help. I already have someone to help me.”

“Who is that?” Brains said. “Who helps you?”

“I shouldn’t tell you. You’ll blab it to everyone.”

“I’ll keep it secret. I promise.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise. Now, tell me: who helps you?”

Jason spoke in a whisper: “My friend.”

Brains glanced at Shorty and smiled. Jason had to be referring to the Stranger. It was the only sensible assumption. Filming everything with the camcorder, Shorty gave Brains the thumbs-up sign.

Brains returned his attention to Jason. “What’s your friend’s name?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“You have to tell me, Jason. You have to be honest and open with me.”

“No.” Jason’s lips formed a firm line.

“Okay. Then tell me where your friend lives.”

“You can never go there.”

“Why can’t I?” Brains said.

“Because it’s impossible. For you, anyway.”

“Is it impossible for you to go there, too?”

“No.”

“Then how can it be impossible for me?” Brains said.

Jason shook his head. “You’d never understand. Ever.”

“Does your friend live in this world?” Brains said, aware of how foolish he sounded, but not wanting to leave any question unasked.

“I can’t tell you that,” Jason said.

“Is your friend human?”

“I can’t tell you that.”

“Why not?”

“Because if I do, he won’t be a secret anymore. He has to stay secret, always.”

“All right,” Brains said. “How long have you known this
friend?”

“A long time. Since I was four years old.”

“Are you close to him?”

“Extremely. “

“You said earlier that he helps you. How does he help you?”

“He’s always there for me,” Jason said. “He knows me better than anyone. I can depend on him for anything.”

“Do your parents know about this friend?”

Jason chuckled. “No.”

“Does anyone else know about him?”

“No one does. Not even Granddad.”

“Why do you hide him from everyone?”

“Because no one will understand him.”

Brains leaned forward. “I’ll understand him, Jason. You can trust me. Tell me more about him.”

“I can’t tell you anything else. I’ve already told you too much.”

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not going to give your secret to anyone.”

“I know you won’t, because I’m not giving it to you.”

Brains sighed. He took a sip from the water bottle he had placed under his chair. Beside him, Shorty shrugged, mouthed the words
good try, man.

Jason lay in the chair, relaxed.

Why was he compelled to conceal the important details about the Stranger? What did Jason fear would happen if gave the complete truth?

Brains had no idea. This entire thing was getting weirder every minute. Because Jason had clammed up, Brains saw no alternative but to move him forward in time, to his fall from the tree. Maybe more clues waited there.

‘Jason, it’s now three-twenty on that same day. What are you doing?”

Tension drew Jason’s face taut. When he spoke, his voice was pained. “I’m arguing with Mom. She’s drunk, and she won’t leave me alone. Why does she keep beating on me?”

Rather than get embroiled in that mess, Brains quickly moved Jason five minutes forward.

“What are you doing, Jason?”

Jason panted. Tears squeezed from his eyes, trailed down his face. “Running away, out the patio door, across the backyard, to the big tree. Mom’s shouting at me to come back, but I’m gonna ignore her, ‘cause she’ll kill me if she catches me. Ijust want to get away for a while, let her calm down some. I jump up, grab a tree limb, then start climbing. Mom’s calling me, but I shut her out; I shut out everything. All I want to do is climb to the top of the tree and forget what happened.”

As he climbed in his memory, Jason’s face twisted with the effort of his concentration. His breaths came in gasps. His hands clenched and unclenched, ascending the imaginary tree.

At last, Jason sighed. His muscles relaxed.

“There,” he said. “I’m finally at the top, resting between a couple of limbs.”

“What are you going to do up there?” Brains said.

“Not much. I rest my head against the trunk, look up at the sky, and see thunderclouds. I can smell rain coming, but I’m going to stay up here anyway. I just want to clear my mind and forget everything. I close my eyes, let out a deep breath, and just listen to different sounds around me. Birds, a car honking, dogs barking, the wind blowing. Then, I hear a voice.”

Brains literally jumped forward. ‘Whose voice?”

“My friend’s.”

“Your friend is talking to you?” Brains said.

Jason nodded.

Brains leaned on the edge of his seat. Shorty, too, had moved forward with the camcorder. “What does your friend say?” Brains said.

Strangely, Jason smiled.

“He says ...” Jason said, and then his tone abruptly changed, becoming deep, sonorous, and nothing like his natural voice.

“I’m here.”

Jason’s eyes snapped open.

His eyes were white; his pupils had rolled back in his head, as if he were a voodoo priest possessed by an ancient spirit.

Brains stared at the whites of Jason’s eyes.

“What the hell...?” Shorty said, and then his words were drowned out by a tremendous boom of thunder, a shattering blast that sounded like a bomb heralding the end of the world.

Brains shot to his feet. He did not know what was going on, but he had to regain control of the situation.

Jason lay slumped in the recliner, the whites of his eyes gazing blindly. A thread of drool inched down the corner of his mouth.

Was he possessed by the Stranger? Could the Stranger do that? Jump inside Jason’s body and take control?

“Are you there, Jason?” Brains said. “Do you hear me?”

Jason only lay there, drooling and breathing softly.

Thunder bludgeoned the night, rattled the windows.

“Brains,” Shorty said.

“What?” Brains spun.

“Check out your watch, man.”

The digits of Brains’s watch were frozen at 8:31.

“Has it stopped?” Shorty said.

“Yes.”

Shorty motioned to the camcorder in his hand. “The timer on this thing’s stopped, and my watch has, too.” He looked around the room. Beyond the corner they occupied, darkness reigned. “Man, something weird is going on. Can you feel it?”

“Something does feel different,” Brains said, searching the darkness. He bent down and pulled the .22 out of his ankle holster. He was not convinced that the gun would harm the Stranger, but it was the only weapon he had. “Something’s very different. But I don’t know what it is.”

Wind slammed into the windows.

Like Thor’s hammer, thunder smashed the sky.

“How the hell can this be happening?” Shorty said. “Jason’s been hypnotized, not us.”

“I don’t know, but I have to wake him up,” Brains said. He turned to Jason. “Jason, you will wake up now! Do you hear me? You will wake up!”

Jason did not respond. He seemed comatose.

Brains grabbed Jason by the shoulders. He shook him. “I order you to wake up, Jason! Wake up now!”

Eyes white and strange, spittle creeping down his chin, Jason remained locked in the trance.

Outside, a gale shrieked. Thunder bellowed with such power that Brains expected the house to collapse.

Shorty clicked on the ceiling light. He parted the drapes at a window. “Oh, shit. Look out here.”

Brains joined Shorty at the window. The overcast sky was the blackest he had ever seen, as black as it might be if the sun burned out and brought endless night to the solar system. Neon-blue lightning flashed and tore across the charred clouds, which churned like the bubbling contents of a sorcerer’s cauldron.

In spite of the gloom, all of the surrounding homes were unlighted, as though everyone had vacated the town in fear of some catastrophic storm. The neighborhood
felt
empty, too. It was easy to believe that they were the only living people in the entire city.

But that was insane.

Rain struck the glass. Shorty and Brains flinched backward.

Like a giant stomping on the roof, thunder crashed.

Fierce winds howled, whined, and skirled.

A gritty taste had swelled in Brains’s mouth-one he was not accustomed to. The taste of fear.

Yet fear was justified. Never in his life had Brains heard such bone-rattling thunder, or seen a sky burned as black as an iron skillet. Somehow, the Stranger must be influencing the weather. And if he could command the elements of nature, he was nothing less than a god. Only a fool would not fear him.

Brains could sense the Stranger’s presence there, too. Somewhere nearby. A tangible aura of power suffused the air.

“Stand next to me,” Brains said to Shorty. Together they formed a barrier in front of Jason. Brains held the gun before him, arms straight and locked, as his dad had taught him. Although he had trained with firearms for many years, in the face of this enemy he felt pathetically vulnerable.

Silently they waited.

Hard rain punished the house.

Thunder shook the walls as if they were constructed of cardboard.

Sweat crept down Brains’s back. Beside him, holding up the camcorder in a valiant attempt to film this madness, Shorty had clenched his teeth.

Another peal of thunder made the floor tremble.

Then the lights went out.

Later, when darkness had fallen over the world like a great swatch of purple-black silk, Thomas reached across himself and traced his finger along the side of Linda’s face. His heart clutched. Although they had made love with great passion and tenderness, that act of profound sharing failed to express adequately the depth of his feelings for her.

Linda’s eyes opened. She touched his hand, kissed it.

“I love you,” she said.