Lost Souls Read online

  ***

  DEATH HOWLED IN pain as yet another chunk of him vanished. This was by far the largest piece, and again, Death vowed to find out what was happening. He knew the answers lay on the distant planet and with a gnashing of teeth and flashes of red in his eyes, he was off.

  As Death neared the Earth, chaos prevailed. Winds howled, waters rose and mountains and hillsides crumbled. Hurricanes appeared out of nowhere and volcanoes that had lain dormant for years rumbled and threatened to erupt while wildlife that had lived in the forests for years started their emergency evacuation in a fruitless attempt to survive. The anger that wafted off of him was almost palpable. It had been mere hours since Dalton had disappeared and Death honed in on Marissa as fast as if she were wearing a beacon.

  Mercifully, she’d been found by a park ranger who’d been alerted by her screams, and now there were people surrounding her everywhere. She was beyond distraught and inconsolable, sobbing uncontrollably and babbling incoherently about shadows and cults and strange chanting. Hearing her mention the chanting, Death drew nearer and is felt subconsciously by many. Goosebumps rise on their arms; they rub their hands together and rub their biceps in a feeble attempt to warm themselves from the sudden chill. She stood as close to the edge of the river as she dared, pointing to where Dalton had fallen in, and out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed the inky shadow, identical to the one in her dream, and panicked even more. She pointed at the spot, trying to get the police to see what she seen, but no one did.

  Death was shocked as he realized Marissa could see the reflection of him in the water. It was the first time he’d ever been noticed unless he’d actually been there to assist someone to the other side. He had no reason at this point to help her along to her death so why could she see him?

  The police were convinced that she was having a nervous breakdown and had confirmed from the park ranger selling the wood that she had been with a man when she got there, but now he was nowhere to be found. It lent credence to her story of him falling in the water and going over the edge of Devils Kettle, and if that were the case, despite not saying so, they knew he may never be found again. The water was far too rough and deadly to send the scuba team in and there was no way in hell they were going to chance losing one of them trying. The sergeant took pity on her and wrapped her in a blanket hoping to take the edge off of the shock she must be in. She looked at him, pleading with her eyes for him to help her, to find the man she loved. To do something! He felt helpless and averted his eyes away from her as he gently guided her to one of the cruisers and helped her into the backseat. He added another blanket, covering her legs to keep her warm. The shivering seemed uncontrollable and he could hear her teeth chattering. They had called for a helicopter to airlift her out of the park and take her to the nearest hospital and all that was left to do now was wait.

  After several minutes, the chop-chop-chop of the rotor blades could be heard. The only place big enough to land was the parking lot leading into the park. The police had already had the few cars they had been unable to find the drivers for, towed out in order for the helicopter to land safely. They gently strapped Marissa onto a stretcher and had her put on the helicopter, ready to take her to the hospital to be seen by the trauma unit. In less than six minutes they would have her there. Death realized he had to follow her to find out more of what had happened as his visions only allowed him to see so much. He must investigate and learn the rest of the story and find out where Dalton had gone.

  Without warning, he froze as he caught a whiff of that familiar smell. As he’d neared the girl, the scent grew stronger, the scent of the one thing that could cause him to tremble, the ring. Death searched pockets and bags and tents and trailers, all to no avail. As it brushed by the people who had gathered to watch what was going on, they all shivered and pulled their jackets closer to ward of the sudden cold, to fight off the feeling that someone had just walked over their graves. Several of the police officers noticed the reactions and one of them prayed it wasn’t mass hysteria. As Death moved to inspect the floor of the parking lot, he glimpsed it. There, glistening in the hollow of her neck lay the ring. The thing he has searched for since the beginning of all time. One of two things ever created that had the power to rid the universe of him forever. No wonder she could see him, she was the keeper. The keeper of the ring! She had a protective aura enveloping her that he had not noticed until now. How had this girl, this mere wisp of a girl, come to be in possession of one of the most sought after items of all time? It didn’t make any sense. She couldn’t be the one. He had expected someone huge and powerful and strong, someone who would be a worthy opponent for him, a little bit of competition! “This was too easy…” he thought. That alone made him wary; knowing there had to be more to it. Nothing as important as this ever came easy. Reaching out to grab it and rip it from her throat, Marissa’s eyes focused right on him and grew wide in horror. Just as he’d almost had it in his grasp, huge chunks of him had started disappearing and he realized that this would be his punishment for taking it. He could not claim her when she was the keeper either. She was beyond his wrath. NO! It couldn’t be! As quickly as he could, he withdrew and watched carefully as Marissa’s eyes fluttered and closed, finally blocking out the events of the day.

  The cop who’d been first to arrive on the scene had been watching everyone carefully, so when they’d started acting like they were cold on an 80 degree day, he’d known something was up. Psych 101 had taught him to be watchful and wary of things like that but he’d been at a loss of what to do. He’d shaken his head and walked over to his car where in the backseat, his partner Milon waited for instructions and a pat on the head. He loved being with the K-9 unit and he loved his dog. Officer Cross shifted uncomfortably though, when as he got closer to the car; Milon seemed to peer behind him, baring his teeth and growling low in his throat. Cross turned to see what might have caused such a reaction, but there’d been nothing behind him to see. Once he got close enough to comfort the dog, he was mystified to see that he had wet the back seat. Better get him into the precinct vet and make sure he was ok because today Milon was acting weirder than he had ever seen him act before. Mass hysteria wasn’t contagious to dogs was it?

  ***

  DALTON WANDERED AIMLESSLY around, confused but curious. Everywhere he looked, he seen something else that amazed him. Again a lamb sleeping amidst a group of tigers, one of the females licking it like it was one of her cubs while a tiger cub nursed from a cow. It was as if each species looked out for the other without prejudice. Birds he had never seen before, colors so vivid and bright they were almost blinding. Sounds that were so clear and concise they were perfection. After walking for what seemed like a day, he finally came across signs of life. Relieved but wary, he followed the footprints past old fire pits that had burned out long ago, past old mud huts that must have, at some time, housed someone. In the distance, for the first time since he had come to this strange land, he noticed copses of trees in the distance and started to walk towards them. After traveling about half the distance, a woman came out of the forest followed closely by a man, both with their heads down talking softly. As she drew closer, Dalton realized her face was familiar and struggled to remember where he’d seen her before. Would it be possible to run into someone he knew so far away from home? Energized and excited, he picked up his pace to get to her, hoping she could help him get back to the campground and back to Marissa. She stood about five foot seven or eight, surely no more than that. Her hair was brown and cut short with curls that framed her face, and although she was obviously a woman, there was something about her that seemed masculine. When she turned to smile at her male companion, her face looked almost angelic. Out of the corner of her eye, she seen Dalton and stopped dead. Her shock was obvious as her mouth gaped open, her hand flew to her throat and she just stared at him as if she’d seen a ghost. As they started once again and drew closer, a smile encompassed her face and she eagerly laid a hand on his arm.

&nb
sp; “We have waited a long time for you,” she smiled, “a long time indeed!”

  Surprised and puzzled, Dalton asks her, “How could you have been waiting a long time for me? How could you possibly have known I would come here? I don’t even know where I am myself!”

  “We know a lot of things you would never believe. Well, you might not believe at first, but eventually you’ll come to see that what we know is true, because you will know it as well. Let me introduce myself. My name is Amelia. Amelia Earhart.”

  It was Daltons turn to stare, and stare he did, like she had two heads. The more he looked at her, the more he realized there was no denying it. No possible way she could be lying. She looked exactly like the woman he had studied in history class, the same woman whose face graced the books he’d read at school. He knew because she was the one he’d done a detailed report on in grade 11 on which he’d received an A+. He was stunned, beyond shocked. He didn’t think he could string two words together if his life depended on it.

  “How can this be?” Dalton finally stammered. “You have been dead for decades!”

  “No, missing perhaps, but not dead. My story is probably a lot like yours, although how I got here may be different. I was flying from New Guinea to Howland Island which is southwest of Hawaii to refuel. We hit a massive storm when we were almost there and instead of flying to the island, we flew for what seemed like hours, and more than likely was. Somehow we ended up over the great eye of Belize. Everything went crazy, dials on our dashboard spinning out of control, gauges giving false readings and suddenly we were going down and we went down fast. As much as I fought to control the plane, I couldn’t do it. It was like it had a mind of its own. Fred and I,” she nodded to her companion, “we both tried to bring her up but there was no doing it.” It was then that Dalton realized the man who was with her had to be her flying companion Fred Noonan. “When we hit the water, I thought for sure we would be dead but instead, our plane stayed intact, floated for about 5 minutes, then started to sink. The door of the plane was jammed and we couldn’t break the windows no matter how hard we tried. The crazy thing was, despite being underwater, Fred and I could breathe. When we hit the floor of the eye, we sank right down through the sand and the next thing we knew, we were here in this place.”

  Dalton was flabbergasted yet he could see no reason for her to lie. The similarities to his own plight were undeniable. His body started to tremble with the realization that he was standing in front of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan. The history books that he’d read in school that had said they were dead were wrong, because here they stood, talking to him as plain as day. Then again, maybe he was dead and he was talking to them in the hereafter. Dalton was so confused he didn’t know what to think anymore. He didn’t know if his brain was playing tricks on him like people who were lost in the desert and come across a mirage, or if by some strange twist in reality, what he was seeing was actual fact. He just didn’t know anymore.

  Fred stepped forward and took Daltons backpack for him and “Amelia” beckoned him to follow her and they traveled through the trees, over a steep hill and down into a village where it looked like about a thousand or so people resided. Small huts dotted the hillside to the left, and to the right there was a huge rustic looking building made from what looked to be wood. As they drew nearer, people popped their heads out of their doors and windows to get a glimpse of the newcomer and many wiped at their eyes and waved to him, smiling a warm welcome.

  ***

  “THIS IS THE city of the missing. Since the beginning of time anyone who has ever disappeared, whether it was in the United States of America or halfway around the world, anyone who disappeared and was never found, has for some reason, ended up here. You will be fascinated to hear the stories of the people you will come across; just as I’m sure we will be fascinated to hear the story of how you managed to get here. But for now, you must be hungry, you must be tired and if it hasn’t been so long that I’ve forgotten how you’re feeling right now, you must be just a little dumbfounded. Although it seems like a long time in history since we disappeared, here the time flows differently and to me, it hasn’t been all that long since I left. Let’s get you something to eat and a bed to rest your head. Tomorrow is another day and tomorrow will be soon enough for us to hear your story and for you to hear ours.”

  She led him into the main building of several that lay scattered within a mile or so of the perimeter. It was at least six very large banquet sized rooms long and three rooms wide and then it seemed to break up into smaller rooms, building almost a beehive like maze. In the first room, the only one that was built to be the width of the hut was a table. It was large enough to hold at least 100 people. A fire burned in a huge fireplace, like in the medieval times where they cooked in an open pit with the huge cauldron type pot. Whatever they were cooking smelled delicious. Dalton hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the odor of what was simmering there assaulted his senses. He actually started to drool and quickly wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Amelia seated him at the end of the table closest to the fire and wrapped him in a blanket to help warm his still shivering body. Dalton looked around at the vast array of artifacts that were placed randomly around the room. A shield with the head of a lion engraved on it took precedence on the far wall while on the other side of the room there stood a huge wooden cross. He found it strange to see something so foreign inside the hut but at the same time, as he stared at the crude wood, the muscles in his stomach started to clench and he broke out in a sweat. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from it no matter how hard he tried. He had the deepest feeling of utter sadness, the worst he had ever felt, and hung his head as the tears flowed freely. He cupped his hands over his face and sobbed for everything and nothing.

  When he felt Amelia lay her hand on his shoulder, he looked at her with the embarrassed look of a school boy caught cheating on a test.

  “We all had that same reaction when we seen the cross”, she said “It was dragged here by one of the first of the missing, took him days to drag it by himself all the way from where he found it to here. He built this building around it with his own hands, with hardly any help from anyone who was here at that time, for the sole purpose of preserving it. He swears it is the cross Jesus died on. He put it in here for protection from the elements and comes in here religiously to pray at the foot of it every evening. It’s quite touching really. He is a very devout man, as we have all come to be since coming here.”

  Dalton raised himself up from the table and tentatively made his way to the cross. The feelings he felt were a strange mixture of anger, sorrow and joy. As he reached out to touch the wood, the door to the hut swung open with a loud bang and there stood a man weeping, trembling, and reaching out to Dalton.

  “You have come!” the man cried as he staggered across the room and fell at Daltons feet, sobbing and unable to stop. “You have come! I knew it was going to happen soon, all the signs were there, but even I didn’t expect it would be now. Our Savior, tell me what it is that I can I do for you?”

  Dalton looked at the man in confusion and shook his head wildly in disbelief, looking back and forth between the man and Amelia. The man was now on his knees, arms outstretched towards him, tears streaking the dirt worn face. Amelia standing back; hands clasped to her chest, also had tears running down her face. She wore a smile so angelic that once again Dalton wondered if he weren’t in Heaven.

  “I... I... don’t understand,” he stammered. “What does he mean he knew I would come? How can any of you have known I would come here? It’s just crazy, that’s what it is. Crazy! I am nobody special; I was born and raised by normal parents, boringly normal parents! Went to school, graduated from college, worked and fell in love. I am just a normal guy! I am no ones Savior, I don’t even know how to get myself out of here... I am just… me.”

  “Dalton, I know how you must feel. In a short time you will understand all that we do, but first, please, have something to eat and then rest. It
’s been such a long day for you, and even longer than you can possibly know because as I told you, time moves differently here…” Amelia reached down to the man still kneeling on the floor and helped him up.

  “Madoc, come and let’s get Dalton something to eat. He knows nothing yet and is hungry and tired; would we be so inhospitable as to let the poor man go hungry?”

  “Aye, you are right.” Madoc replied with a thick brogue accenting his speech and understanding dawning in his eyes. “What kind of hosts would we be if we let the lad go hungry?” He sauntered over to where the dishes were kept, still brushing the tears from his cheeks. The crude bowls were made from wood but were clean and Madoc grabbed one with hands that still trembled slightly, and then went to the fire where he ladled some of the delicious smelling broth into the bowl and with a slight bow, handed it to Dalton.

  “Forgive me lad, I was just so excited to see a new face here and thought perhaps you might know the way home. I am so sorry I forgot my manners, enjoy the soup, I made it myself.”