Borderland Read online

  Her hand wrapped tighter around the gun, her finger still on the trigger.

  “Logan!” Harry yelled. “Fight him; fight him with all your might! Don’t let him kill you.”

  “Get away, old man,” a voice growled from deep within Logan’s body.

  Suddenly, Harry was lifted off his feet and slammed to the ground with a sickening thud.

  “Harry!” Betty screamed and was picked up like a rag doll herself and tossed on the ground next to him. They both laid there, limp, gasping for air, too terrified to move.

  Tom knew if he made a move towards them Jake would kill him, so he pondered what to do, while keeping an eye on Betty and Harry. He had to try to appeal to Logan again.

  “You must listen to me,” he said gently. “I know you can hear me.”

  Tom noticed the more even rise and fall of her chest, the tear in her eye, all evidence that Logan was fighting for control of her body.

  “Jenny came to me tonight. She warned me that you were in danger.” Tears began to form in his eyes. “I’m falling in love with you and she wanted me to know that it was okay,” he whispered. “If you don’t believe me, believe her.”

  He watched her closely. Her face showed the inner turmoil that was raging. She wanted to believe him but Jake wouldn’t let go.

  “Noooo,” she yelled and took a menacing step toward him.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Tom saw a figure lunge toward Logan. She saw it too. It was Harry. His body was quickly launched into the air and slammed into the tree again. A loud crack rang throughout the clearing and his crumpled form slid to the ground.

  Betty let out a loud moan and tried to crawl over to him.

  Tom moved toward Logan, oblivious to the fear, just wanting to curb the madness.

  “Stop!”

  He heard the chorus of voices, couldn’t see where they were coming from, but saw Logan staring past him. He turned to see a group of spirits forming in the trees just beyond the clearing. They gathered in a circle, holding hands.

  Travis was among them and he spoke next, “It’s time for you to go now, Jake.”

  Finding his courage and seeing the ephemeral beings assembled to help, Tom added, “Put the gun down, Jake.”

  Pleading, “Make him put the gun down, Logan.”

  She used every ounce of strength she had left to resist. Prying her own finger off the trigger, she let the gun drop. It landed in a pile of leaves. Her right hand reached down to grasp it again. Her left hand wrapped around her wrist and fought, the whole time her right hand flailed, desperately grabbing for the gun. She pushed, pulled, fought with all her might until finally Jake lost control. He came rushing out of her body and she fell to the ground, unmoving, whimpering in pain.

  As they all watched, Jake became the very epitome of the devil. A foul, putrid sulfuric smell filled the air. Pus ran from all of his pores. Maggots darted in and out of his flesh. His eyes were a fiery, blood red color. Decomposition of living flesh was complete.

  Betty turned her head in disgust but the others watched with repulsive fascination. They noticed that his mouth was cracked and bleeding. Tufts of hair sprouted from his ears and nose.

  While he stood there enraged at their revulsion, Tom took the opportunity to lunge for the gun. Jake saw him just in time to reach for it also. The rest of the group watched as they grappled for control.

  Harry was in bad shape but he managed to call on a small reserve of strength he had left to struggle to his feet. He toppled forward with his arm outstretched, managing to flip the gun into the air. Before he collapsed again, it fell to the ground a safe distance from the two combatants.

  Betty crawled over and lifted his head up in her lap. Harry looked up, gasping for breath, his chest heaving up and down.

  Travis felt an urge to rush over to his dear friend but the others held him back.

  “We need you now. They’ll take care of him,” Donald said.

  With that they all used their powers to lift Jake into the air.

  He fought, beating his hands frantically, struggling to set himself free from their collective force.

  Tom held on and was lifted into the air with Jake until gravity forced him to the ground. He landed a few feet away, and when he looked up, he saw a multitude of spirits holding onto Jake with tenacity that defined their godlike powers.

  Jake found himself in the middle of the group, turning wildly, whipping around from one to another to escape the impenetrable wall they had formed around him.

  Then, slowly, they all rose together, one in being and purpose, ascending into the clouds, returning to Borderland. Jake’s time on earth had truly come to an end.

  * * * * *

  Tom, Logan and Betty stood at the foot of the hospital bed as Karen and Jonathon Sands conferred quietly with Harry.

  “So,” Karen repeated, “You came down here to talk with Logan about Dad’s account? I don’t understand. Why couldn’t you wait until she came back from her vacation?”

  “You know me, Karen,” Harry patiently explained, “Once I get something in my brain, I have to take care of it…or I’ll forget it! Old age, I guess.”

  “Well…yeah, I guess so. You always were a stickler for details…wouldn’t rest until you had the right figures, Dad used to say. And then you had a heart attack?”

  “Yes, and these nice people took me to the hospital.” He waved his hand at the threesome standing close by.

  Karen’s face clouded up when she remembered a key element of the story he’d forgotten to mention, “What were you doing in the park that late at night? The nurse told me you left the hospital without telling anyone.” She gave him a withering glance, hoping to chastise him for not taking better care.

  “Well, yes, I’m sorry about that but you know how stubborn I can be. I thought I was well enough to leave. Guess I was wrong.” He attempted to give her his most pathetic look.

  “And…” she waited for his reply, gently tapping her shoe on the floor.

  “And…I wanted to spend some time at the park before leaving for home. Then when I fell, I knew I was in big trouble because I didn’t know where I was. I called Betty on my cell phone and she brought Tom and Logan to help find me. They know the area and were able to locate me. Tom checked me over and called 911 and here I am,” quickly summarizing, a triumphant grin on his face.

  Karen started to say something else but Jonathon put his hand on her arm, “That wasn’t a very smart move, Harry, but we’re just glad you’re okay. We’re also very grateful to your friends,” he bowed his head in the direction of Betty, Logan and Tom. “We can’t thank you enough for everything.”

  Tom noticed the look on Jonathon’s face and knew that he realized there was more to the story than Harry was telling, but was willing to let it go for now.

  “No problem. We’ve really enjoyed having Harry with us and hope he decides to stay a while longer…until he’s well enough to go back home that is.”

  “The doctors say you’ll need help once you leave the hospital,” Karen said. “Jonathon and I want you to come home with us.”

  Harry put up his hand, “Oh, that won’t be necessary. Betty’s already offered me a room at the motel where she can keep an eye on me.”

  “I hope I’m not being insensitive, but didn’t you just lose your husband, Mrs. Gleason? I wouldn’t want to put you under too much stress. Are you sure you can handle the responsibility so soon after his passing?

  “Yes, you’re right. The funeral was a few days ago, but Lou had a bad heart and we talked about what would happen when he died. I’ve always been heavily involved in the day-to-day operations at the motel and restaurant. I also looked after him during that time so I think I can handle it.”

  Pausing, “I also think it might help keep me going. I promise to check on Harry regularly. He can eat at the restaurant and I can drive him to his doctor and therapy appointments.”

  “Well, sounds like you two have thought of everything.”

 
She paused, “but, I’ll be calling and checking on you, Harry. If you’re not doing what the doctors tell you to do, I’ll be on the first plane back here.”

  “I understand,” he replied, “and I would expect you to do that.”

  Satisfied, she bent over and placed a kiss on his forehead, “Take care. You’re all the family I have left,” tears visible in her eyes.

  “I’ll do that, honey. But, don’t you worry about me,” he patted her on the arm. “I’ll be fine.”

  Jonathon took her by the hand and started leading her from the room, “I’ll call when we get home. Love you.” She blew him a kiss from the doorway.

  The group in the hospital room silently waited until they knew for sure the couple was gone.

  Finally Harry spoke up, “Wow, that was awkward.”

  “I think Jonathon suspects we’re not telling the whole truth,” Tom offered.

  “Maybe, but he’s too protective of Karen to let on. He knows she’ll worry even more. Best to leave it alone. If he asks later, I’ll handle it.”

  “I thought we all decided not to tell anyone,” Logan said.

  “Yes, but who would believe the story we have to tell anyway! If he asks, I’ll think of something to put him off.”

  His cluster of friends nodded in agreement.

  * * * * *

  A week later, Tom and Logan stood next to Betty as she placed a wreath on the freshly dug grave. She began to sob and Logan reached out and wrapped her arms around her.

  Betty sighed, “He was a good man.”

  “Yes, he was.” Tom leaned over, put his arm around the both of them, and all three stood there for several minutes.

  A silent trio, they stayed in the cemetery until the sun started to fade and the moon glowed, waiting in the shadows until it was time to make its presence known, signaling another night.

  Tom put his hands on both women’s shoulders to gently guide them back to the car.

  “Lou would want you to go on now, Betty. He wouldn’t want you to think on it too much. Just remember the good times, laugh at the silly jokes between the two of you, and cry when you need to. It helped me.”

  “Yes,” Betty agreed, “but it’s hard, isn’t it Tom?”

  “Yeah,” pausing, looking at Logan, “but before you know it, someone will come along and help you forget.”

  “Betty,” a weak voice called from the distance.

  All three looked towards the car to see Harry sitting patiently inside, waiting for them, his crutches leaning up against the door. She smiled and addressed the young couple, “Yes, I guess you’re right. It just takes time.”

  * * * * *

  Skimming along, swiftly moving through space, the ephemeral circle reached their destination, Chartres Cathedral in France, another place where ley lines afforded them the opportunity to slip through to Borderland. This is when it finally dawned on Jake that his time was done. He would be doomed for eternity, his punishment for all the chaos he caused on earth too horrible to imagine.

  “Time for you to face your judgment,” Donald said.

  “You’ve done enough harm,” Travis added.

  He tried to fight but was no match for the powerful group, and, as they lifted him up through the center of the labyrinth in the old church, lights flickered throughout the interior, streaming through doors and windows, illuminating the night sky. If a human had been present, no earthly reason for these flashes of light would have been justified.

  In other incidences, when people had seen them, they assumed they were natural, much like the aurora borealis lights in the Northern hemisphere. They had no way of knowing that they sometimes meant travel to and from parallel worlds. In this case, they signaled a demented soul on his way back to Hell.

  Jake screamed out in terror, and the last vestiges of his aura left him forever. Only silence greeted him as he was lifted into his own eternal damnation.

  Streaking blurs of color and rapidly changing environments led the band of spirits to the deepest, darkest region of their world, one that they only traveled to when bringing a loner back. They moved rapidly over the stark, barren terrain. The flat, dusty ground was surrounded by a black night sky, no stars or moon to illuminate the bleakness it depicted. The group glided on, firmly holding Jake in their grasp.

  Finally, in the distance, he saw something, but it looked so horrific that his brain didn’t make sense of it and only blocked it from his mind temporarily. It was large, seeming to go on forever.

  As they neared, he detected movement, undulating, seething, coiling and uncoiling, covering the entire landscape. Whatever it was, it teemed with excitement awaiting his arrival.

  Uneasiness increased and quickly turned to terror when he began to make out the shape-a huge, pulsating, twisting reptile of such mammoth proportions that it encompassed the whole space in front of him, blacking out everything else.

  Bulbous eyes glowed with a heat that turned the air around it into a mass of flames. Horns protruded from the head and the cylindrical body was covered with scales and points, slashing and piercing anything that dared to come near it. Clawed feet were visible along the length of the body, gleefully dancing in anticipation. The ground shook, reverberating from the movement of the deformed monster.

  He could hear voices coming from the orifice, wailing and groaning in agony. Then, he felt himself being lowered to a spot right in front of the creature. His instinct was to run, but when he tried, the ground grabbed him by the feet and he couldn’t move. Several white, bony fingers appeared in the dirt and they clutched at him, grasping, holding him firmly in place. Hands pecked and clawed. Jake could only jerk violently from side to side, rooted to the spot by the skeletal appendages.

  He looked up and his eyes grew wide with fear when he saw the reptile in his sight. A giant, slithering, forked tongue lashed out and viciously took hold of him.

  The bony hands let go while the monster quickly yanked him closer and closer. It wrapped itself around him, crushing, searing pain coursing throughout. He wiggled in its grasp, but it was too strong to overcome.

  He trembled in fright, forcing himself to look at the creature, and what he encountered was the mouth, flames licking, intense heat approaching. He felt the fire as the demon brought him ever closer.

  He smelled what he thought was burning flesh and felt wet ooze slide down, crackling, melting away any semblance to a human being. It felt as if fluids were draining from every crevice of a body touched by flames.

  Horrible real memories of a past now disappearing. A scream formed but never found an escape. He was catapulted into the looming darkness of the reptile’s throat. Tumbling, bouncing, heaving ever downward into the belly and, in the final moments before his spirit gave up, Jake accepted the consequences of his actions and the hideous finality of his eternity. In the bowels of the Devil, he would lurk for all time, waiting for the next victim to enter Hell.

  THE END

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Jennifer Seet is the author of Borderland and Snow Signs. Both are fictional paranormal thrillers set in the hills of southern Indiana. Jennifer is a retired teacher from the Indiana School for the Deaf who lives in Brown County, Indiana, with her husband, Bob. She has always had a fascination for, and even some personal experiences with, the spirit world.

  Mrs. Seet has also written professionally on the subject of Deaf Education and Autism, having two adult sons with Autism. While working at the Indiana School for the Deaf, she wrote several short stories for a federally-funded literacy project for deaf children. Since retirement most of her writings have been the two books and several short stories, both fiction and non-fiction, for The Realm magazine.

  Other books by Jennifer Seet

  Borderland

  Snow Signs

 

 

 
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