Talisman (42 page)

Before long, the snow had disappeared from the surrounding landscape, but the rain kept beating down.  I carried on at my current pace for a few more minutes, at least unt
il I slipped on some wet leaves while trying to dodge a large tree that popped up out of nowhere.  I tumbled down a hill and came to a stop by the side of a road.  I rolled over on the wet ground, covered in freshly fallen leaves, and looked up at the dismal autumn sky.  I lay there, trying to see if the rain could wash away all the teardrops that had stained my face.  I wished they could somehow cleanse my emotions and allow me not feel a single thing.  The pain in my heart was too agonizing to bear.

The sound of a car barreling down the road alerted my ears.  Though I ran the risk of being run over if it hydroplaned and skidded in my direction, I didn’t move an inch.  There on the cold
wet ground, I listened to the water channeling through the tires as it approached.  I didn’t care, not one little bit. A corpse couldn’t feel anything, especially
grief
.

The car came to a stop beside me.  I didn’t look over, but I soon noticed the flashing blue and red lights revolving in the air around me. 
Perfect
…
I guess when you waylay two of Welch’s finest you become an instant outlaw
.  I still didn’t know how I was able to do that to them.  I’d just passed it off as an adrenaline rush fueled by my volatile emotional state. 
Then again, maybe Welch’s finest weren’t so fine after all?

The next thing I knew, a West Virginia State Trooper was standing over me.  He was throwing on his rain p
oncho as he kneeled beside me.

“
Miss
, are you okay?” the trooper asked.

I figured I’d better play a little nicer
with this officer of the law.

“Yes, Sir,” I replied.  “I’m fine.  I was jogging and slipped.”
  He helped me to my feet.

“You know, you could get run over out here by the road, Mis
s.  You need to be more careful,” he advised.  The name engraved on the badge of his uniform read, “Burks”.

“Yes, Officer Burks.  I’ll be
more careful
,” I assured him as I knocked a few wet leaves off my jeans.  Trooper Burks nodded and smiled.  He acknowledged the horrible weather with a tilt of his head while the raindrops smacked the plastic cover stretched over his wide-brimmed hat.

“You’re not really
dressed
for a run…not in this kind of weather.  Can I give you a lift to your house?  A young lady really shouldn’t be out here
all alone
.”  He shook his head and carried on with his stern, but courteous chastising.  “I wouldn’t like it if my daughter was out in the middle of nowhere running around on a terrible day like today.  Does your father know you’re out here?”

My bottom lip quivered. 
“
No
.  No, Sir…
He sure
doesn’t
.”  I lowered my head and stared at the repetitive patterns of the raindrops as they struck the ground.

“
Well lucky for him,
I
came along.  Come on.  I’ll take you home.”  The tall, yet intimidating officer led me over to his cruiser and opened the passenger-side door.  Once inside, he grabbed a couple of towels for me to dry off with and handed me a warm blanket.

“Okay, Miss.  Where do you live?”
Trooper Burks inquired as he cranked up the engine.

“A left at the fork…right
by the mine,” I replied as I began to towel dry my drenched golden locks.

“Claybourne Mine?”
Trooper Burks asked curiously.

“
No
,” I answered somewhat surprised by the crazy assumption the trooper had made. 
Why on earth would he think that?
  His question was oddly amusing, but I decided to correct him, respectfully. “
No, Sir
.  Riverside Pocahontas Mine.  You know…
on
Highway 52?
”

“Okay, Miss,”
Trooper Burks replied shaking his head while he looked to see if it was clear to pull onto the road.  He paused for a moment and turned to me.  “Just how long have you been running today?” he asked.

What
a weird question
, I thought to myself as I tugged on my seatbelt.  I glanced down at my watch. 
It’s only a quarter to seven.  I haven’t been running long, probably about 15 minutes or so.
  I smiled back at the officer, clicked my belt into its buckle, and turned to look out the window as we pulled onto the road.  My eyes lit up and a sinking feeling followed when I spotted a road sign just a few feet in front of us.  It read:

Beckley — 2 miles

Welch
— 51 miles

I glanced at my watch again and then whipped my head around for a quick double-take, only to see the back of the sign fading in the distance.

No way
!
 
That’s IMPOSSIBLE!
 
I couldn’t have run over 50 miles in 15 minutes…There’s no way I’m in the NEXT COUNTY!
  I slumped down in my seat and stared out the front windshield in a daze.

“
Um
, It’s still
morning
…
right?
” I asked nervously.

“Yes,”
Trooper Burks confirmed with a laugh.  “Are you sure you didn’t hit your head back there when you fell?”

“Yes, Sir…
I’m sure
I didn’t
,” I mumbled.  That was the only thing I was certain of at this point.  I propped my head up against the window and stared hypnotically out at the scenery as it rolled by.  My mind replayed all the oddities that had transpired this morning, knowing my memory still had a lot of blanks that needed to be filled in — namely my unnatural strength in fending off two police officers, and just now, running 50 miles in about 15 minutes.  I needed answers to some awfully peculiar questions that were churning.  All of them led to what happened last night, so I knew exactly where I needed to start.

On the drive back to Welch, I noted two advantages of
riding with a State Trooper: They drove fast and people got the heck out of their way.  Needless to say, we reached the city limits in no time.

“If it’s okay with you…C
ould you drop me off at the mine, instead of taking me home?” I asked politely.

“I’m afraid
not
,” Trooper Burks declined.  “I think you should go straight home, Miss.  I want to make sure you arrive at your house, safe and sound.”

I didn’t take him for someone who could be easily persuaded.  I pouted quietly as we headed down Highway 52.  All I could think over and over in my mind was,
I want to stop by the mine.  Please drop me off at the mine.  Just let me out at the mine
.

We approached the fork, but instead of taking a left
to head up the mountain, Trooper Burks continued straight and then turned off to the right —
down into the mine’s parking lot
.  He was so adamant about “taking me straight home” a few minutes ago.  I turned to thank him, but I noticed the trooper was now sporting a somewhat vacant look.  He slowed to a stop and simply stared out the windshield.

“Miss, you’re at the mine,”
Trooper Burks announced, but never looked my way.  He seemed to be just staring off into space.  Though I was grateful, I couldn’t help but wonder what had prompted his change of heart, especially since the trooper somehow didn’t seem “all there”.  I opened the door and crept slowly out of the vehicle.

I replied
with an ambiguous, “
Thank you.?.
”  He never responded.  I shut the door softly and watched him drive off.

Weird…

I headed over to the parking lot, where my father’s truck was in the process of being towed.  I got there just as Hank Sheppard, who owned an auto shop in town, was about to start hooking up Daddy’s truck.

“Wait a second, Mr. She
ppard.  I need to get something,” I hollered.  The tiny man, well into his early 70’s, walked over and gave me a hug.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your father, Shiloh.  Caiden was such a good man.  Did you know he worked down at my
garage when he was your age?”

“
Yes
…I did.”

“I hated when he left to go work for the mine.  Caiden was the best mechanic I ever had.  I missed him then, and I miss him
now
,” he revealed with a somber gaze.  Several tears fell from his light-brown eyes.

I patted his shoulder. 
“He really thought the world of you, too,”  I acknowledged.  That was true.  Daddy was always telling me funny stories about Mr. Sheppard, and that he missed working for the “old coot”.

Mr. Sheppard
grabbed a rag from out of his back pocket and blew his nose.  “Did you need to get something out of here?  I was about to tow it up to your house,” Mr. Sheppard asked as he straightened himself up.

“Yes,
umm…
” I hesitated.  I really didn’t have a plan laid out.  I just needed some time to jog my memory some more.  “Could I have a few minutes, Mr. Sheppard?”

“Take all the time you need, honey.  I’ll run over and pester Uriah for a bit.  He’ll
love
that.”  Mr. Sheppard smiled and then headed over to the security gate.

I stood there in the rain staring at my father’s truck with a wary eye. 
After I’d circled it several times, I opened the driver-side door and climbed up inside.  I got a bit misty when I realized I could smell him —
musk aftershave
and
spearmint gum
.  I found myself taking several long, deep breaths.  As I clutched the steering wheel, another vision began to emerge.  His cell phone was ringing.  I whirled my head around when I recalled seeing something flashing underneath the old weathered tarp lying in the truck bed.

I hopped out of the cab and walked
back to the rear of the vehicle.  I lowered the tailgate nervously.  No sooner than I’d climbed up inside of the bed, I remembered exactly what I’d seen earlier — every
heart-wrenching
image.  I closed my eyes and shuddered.  Somehow, I could even feel the pain he was in.  I wiped away a tear streaming down my cheek and took a deep breath.

Why didn’t I
HELP HIM?

I began to sense something
— fear
.  My eyes focused in on a small dent that had been punched into the back of the truck’s cab.  A terrifying jolt ripped through my body. Someone had attacked me, but somehow I’d managed to jump out of the truck.  Once I’d climbed out of the bed, I felt an uncontrollable urge to walk towards the road, which I followed.

Standing
beside the highway, my eyes scanned the line of trees that lay on the opposite side.  My gaze honed in on a particular spot as the feeling urged me to enter the woods right there.  I hurried across the road and traveled down to the area in question.  Intuitively, I pushed back the tree limbs.  As I entered the woods, I could see myself running through the thick brush.

That’s how my dress got ripped
, I recalled.  I was running like the wind away from something, but I still had no idea from “what”.

I carried on uphill for several minutes.  Up ahead
to the right, something black caught my eye.  I ran over and grabbed what ended up being a tuxedo jacket from off a bush. I instantly knew it was Ty’s.  I remembered him giving it to me when we were in the parking lot. 
Right before that snake attacked me!
  A shiver ran down my spine at the sight of it slithering towards me.  I’d killed it with my shoe. 
Good aim
, I noted.  I folded the tux jacket over the bend of my arm. 
Surely he’ll need this back
.  Instinctively, something assured me that I didn’t head this way and to go back to the left instead.  Once again, I followed my gut and trekked up the mountainside some more, until I’d reached a clearing that lay below one of Shiloh Ridge’s cliffs.  Instantly, my anxiety clamped down on me like a vice.

What on
earth would’ve made me come up…HERE?

I continued to prowl the clearing as my eyes panned
across the edge of the cliff.   A cluster of bushes looked eerily familiar.  My senses told me something had been stalking me, and that I’d jumped into the bushes to hide.  The vision was so frightening that I had to scope out my surroundings — just to make sure I wasn’t in any
present
danger.  No one was around, so I continued to focus on my memory.  I recalled someone cackling and screaming out my name in a wretched voice as I stared intently at one particular bush.  I could see myself hiding behind it, and then someone reached for me.

I gasped loudly. 
It was Mike!  Mike Riverside!
  He was the one who had been chasing me.  I shook with fright as all the details of the encounter surfaced.  His eyes were the most frightening of all — eerily hollow and as black as coal.