Dastardly Bastard(29)

“Father?” she giggled. “He wait twenty-one year for this. He wait a li’l more.”

Sunne winked at him, a light, coy sentiment that made Donald feel funny in his gut. Something was moving around in there. He hazarded to think it could be butterflies. Her chocolate eyes sparkled in the noonday sun, and Donald felt himself fall in love with her.





23


“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU can’t fight a shadow?” Jaleel asked. His face was ashen, much lighter than when they’d first started their trek.

Justine tried her best to pay attention to the group, but the thing she kept seeing from the corner of her eye was distracting. They moved back up the slope, making sure to stop before the time anomaly. From her guess, it began at the spot where the camera man had gone over the ledge when he tried to save Lyle.

Marsha seemed to have pulled herself together slightly. She didn’t look much better, just less frayed around the edges.

“I… see things.” Justine said, desperately ignoring the presence.

“What things?” Jaleel asked.

Trevor spoke up. “She’s been like that as long as I’ve known her. She just seems to know when bad things are going to happen.”

Justine was glad Trevor was telling them. The thing in her peripheral vision was growing more persistent, wanting to be seen.

Her boyfriend continued, “Four months back, she tells me that I shouldn’t go to work. I’m a forklift driver for Pepsi’s warehouse in Atlanta. I kept telling her we needed the money, that the bills weren’t gonna pay for themselves, and I wanted to be able to live comfortably and be able to buy her nice things.”

“You know you don’t have to.” Justine wrapped her arm around Trevor’s. He would think it was a loving gesture, but in truth, she was only using him as a shield of sorts. With his body blocking her view, she wouldn’t have to look at the thing at the bottom of the slope.

“I know, but if we’re ever gonna get out of that complex we’re gonna need money.” Trevor kissed her lightly on the temple. His lips felt warm and soft. “Anyway, so she harps on me all morning about not going in to work, saying her ‘You’re throwing shadows’ stuff, and—”

“Wait. Throwing what?” Jaleel asked.

Justine saw recognition in the tour guide’s eyes. It made her flesh crawl.

“Shadows,” she said. “I see shadows. And that morning, I saw one on him.”

“So, finally, after her constant harassment…” She pinched his back, and he flinched. “I called in with strep throat or something like that and chilled at the apartment the rest of the day.”

“Did something happen? At your job, I mean?” Lyle asked. The boy’s eyes were wide, attentive, as if he were hearing the story unfold from around a campfire.

“The propane tank on the back of my forklift blew up. Those things have safety valves to release pressure when they get hot or malfunction. Well, that day, the lift’s engine was running hot, and the valve on the tank is what malfunctioned. They only found pieces of the guy.”

“Whoa!” Lyle said.

“It was my forklift. Mine. I never drove anyone else’s, and I sure as hell didn’t like anyone else driving mine. But because I called in sick, they had to fill my spot. I wrestled with that shit for a while, knowing that if I had gone to work, that guy would still be alive.”

“And you’d be dead,” Justine said, squeezing him in closer with an arm around his waist.

“I know. But that guy had a family, baby.”

“And I had you. Would you rather I’d been left without you?”

“Sometimes… yeah.”

Justine was taken aback by the truth in his words. She’d never realized how much that day had affected him. Trevor hadn’t let on, hadn’t expressed his feelings to her. She wondered if he blamed her. By the look in his eyes, he didn’t, but the memory was still harsh and fresh. Justine fully believed that if Trevor could go back, he would trade places with that poor man in a heartbeat.

“You know what I mean.” Trevor kissed her forehead.

She saw the wet in the corner of his eyes, and her heart sank.

As Trevor pulled away, Justine saw the thing on the slope again. It no longer hid behind the outcropping. Since peeking around hadn’t worked, it had decided to show itself. A shiver ran up her spine.

“I want to try this again,” Trevor stated. “I know we’ve been through this already, but I want a hold on just how far this… portal goes. Maybe figure out why the rock wasn’t affected.”

“I’m coming with you,” Justine said. She wanted to know what would happen to the thing at the outcropping if she were to warp back down the path. Perhaps it would disappear and leave her alone.

“We really should get going,” Jaleel said. The tour guide stared at the sky, an odd look about him. Justine saw something on his face, not a shadow, but a brightness. He glowed—softly, but glowing all the same. “I think we’re about to lose the light.”

“What?” Trevor blurted. “Man, it’s, like, still morning and stuff.”

“Yeah, that’s debatable.” Jaleel met Justine’s eyes. The shine left him. He looked toward the sky, and she followed his gaze.