Invisible Terror Collection Part 15

"Becka, you tried - "

"You, me, Scotty - we're Chris tians! We can fight this stuff, but - "

"What are you saying? You don't believe what happened out here ... you're not saying it's connected with what happened in the mansion." It was as much a statement as a question. Ryan was new to all of this, and there was a lot he didn't understand.

Becka didn't have an answer. "I don't know." She buried her face into his chest. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know ..."

It was only a dream. A hallucination.

But it was the most vivid dream Julie had ever experienced.

She was riding in an ambulance looking down at a cute paramedic. He was hunched over some poor soul, working for all he was worth, but the patient wasn't cooperating.

She'd never been inside an ambulance before so she knew she was having to make up a lot of the stuff she saw. For the most part, she was impressed with her imagination. Everything seemed so real, so lifelike.

"No breathing! No pulse!" the paramedic shouted up to the driver. "I'm starting CPR!"

Her dream-self watched as the paramedic ripped open a blue-and-green s.h.i.+rt. His head and shoulders blocked the victim's face, but Julie noted with interest that the person's s.h.i.+rt looked exactly like one she had picked up at an after-Christmas sale.

The paramedic placed his hands on the center of the patient's chest and began to pump vigorously. A growing curiosity tugged at Julie. She leaned past his shoulders to get a better look at the patient's face. It was pale. Lifeless ...

And it was hers.

Oddly enough, Julie felt no panic. She experienced no fear. If anything, she felt a growing sense of peace. She remembered the speeding car - remembered sailing over the hood and smas.h.i.+ng into the winds.h.i.+eld - but none of that mattered. She was even losing interest in the paramedic's attempts at pounding life back into her chest.

Instead, Julie's attention was drawn to a gentle stirring. A breeze. It was barely noticeable at first, but it grew stronger by the second. It seemed concentrated around her upper arms and shoulders.

And then she saw it.

It wasn't wind, but a light. It was a light that gently touched and brushed against her shoulders. She turned to watch. Slowly, the light began to take shape until it had formed a person. Or something that looked like a person. Julie could make out a head and long flowing hair. Then a face, then a nose, and a mouth.

The mouth wasn't smiling. But it wasn't angry, either.

And, finally, she saw the eyes.

It had been a long time since Julie had seen such tenderness and compa.s.sion. But they weren't weak eyes. They had a strength, a depth, and a love - the deepest love she had ever seen. Julie knew these eyes were true, she knew they could be trusted.

She felt a gentle tugging at her shoulders. The being never said a word, but he was making it clear that it was time for Julie to leave.

She took a final look at her body. Funny, but everything seemed so useless, so pointless. The clothes, the hair, the popu-larity. Weren't school elections coming up in just a few weeks, and hadn't she been fretting about whether or not to run for office? Julie almost laughed. None of that mattered now. It just seemed silly and vain.

Yes, it was definitely time to leave.

Julie looked into the creature's s.h.i.+ning face. He nodded and they began to rise.

"Come on, sweetheart. Don't you quit on me!" the paramedic muttered in concentration. Julie looked back at him. He sounded so worried ... but the being was waiting, so she turned to follow.

Chapter 2.

They were in a tunnel.

The sides of the tunnel raced past, but Julie barely noticed.

She was too mesmerized by the light at the end - a light that grew brighter every moment. It was the same light that radiated from the being who was escorting her.

But it was much more intense.

It contained every color in the rainbow and then some. Yet at the same time, it was absolutely ... pure. That was the word that kept coming to her mind. There was no other way to describe the light. It was simply ... pure.

As it struck her face and skin she could feel that purity embracing her, was.h.i.+ng over her, seeping inside her. Never in her life had she felt so loved, so cherished. And the closer she drew to the light, the more deeply she felt that love.

Suddenly the walls to the tunnel fell away, and she was surrounded by even more light. Julie had heard stories of people dying, of them going through a tunnel and meeting a light. Like everyone else, she figured the light had to be G.o.d. But she didn't see him. Instead, she saw a city.

This was no ordinary city. It spread below them for miles.

And in place of concrete and steel were crystal and gems. Glowing crystals and gems. The buildings, the streets, the bridges ...

everything glowed with the same light she was feeling.

It wasn't long before she saw the source of the light.

They were approaching a large, gra.s.sy knoll, and just on the other side, behind the rise, the light blazed the brightest. Julie couldn't explain it, but as they drew closer, her eyes began to fill with tears. Not tears of sadness; tears of joy. She knew that the light behind the knoll held the comfort to every sorrow and heartache she'd ever felt. She knew it was the answer to all of her pain and emptiness. She knew that in the presence of that light she would never be lonely again.

She also knew that it wasn't just light, but a person.

The paramedic was working silently, determination on his face.

He plunged the needle of a syringe into a bottle and drew in a clear liquid. He reached for the Y connection of the IV tubing that led to Julie's arm and inserted the needle. He injected the drug quickly and steadily.

Pitching the syringe into a bag, he expertly slid his fingers down Julie's jawline to her throat and checked her pulse.

There was none.

Julie knew that whoever was on the other side of that knoll was the source of all the light, all the power. And all the love. She wanted to be with this person; she had to be with him. It was the most important thing in the world.

She started for the knoll, but to her surprise, her guide stopped her. She looked at him, puzzled. His face still radiated the same strength and kindness, but it was clear he did not want her to approach the knoll.

Julie tried again.

Again, he prevented her.

Her anxiety rose. They were pa.s.sing the knoll. They were pa.s.sing the very thing she wanted, the only thing she ever needed.

She tried again, with the same results. Her companion held her back. Fear took hold. Her stomach knotted. And the farther away they traveled from the knoll, the bigger the knot grew. She felt sick - like she was going to throw up. And still they continued moving.

Now different tears burned her eyes as loss and sadness swept over her. Her throat tightened with an unbearable ache of loneli-ness, and then, when the pain was the greatest, she saw it.

A park.

Directly below them.

But it really wasn't a park; it was more like a garden. A lush, manicured garden. Incredibly beautiful trees towered on every side, s.h.i.+mmering with such vivid color that they made the trees back home seem like shadows. The same was true of the stream that wandered through the garden. Its water was more real somehow than any she had ever seen. She thought it looked like sparkling diamonds as it splashed and swirled.

Julie noticed they were slowing down and dropping gently into the garden. She could see human forms of light standing on the lawn, gazing up at her. They waved, and suddenly she recognized faces: her Aunt Marcy, who had pa.s.sed away when she was eight; a deceased cousin she had never met but whose picture hung in the hallway of her house; Grandma and Grandpa - looking exactly as they had when they were alive, only a lot stronger and happier.

As her feet touched the lawn she was surrounded by these loved ones and many others. Everybody was excited to see her; everybody wanted to hug her.

"Grandma!" Julie embraced her fiercely. "Is this heaven? Am I in heaven?"

The woman continued smiling, but there was no missing the concern around her eyes. She didn't speak, yet Julie could hear her voice.

"You don't belong here, honey. Not yet."

"But, Grandma ..."

"It's for your own good," Grandpa interrupted. "You're not ready, sweetheart. There's something you must do first. A decision you must make."

"But - "

"In good time," Grandma gave her a warm smile. "In good time."

The paramedic snapped on a small machine that quickly hummed to life. He grabbed two metal paddles, then squirted gel from a squeeze bottle onto their flat surfaces. Though his actions were precise and steady, his heart pounded.

"Here we go, sweetheart," he said grimly. He placed the paddles on Julie's chest, then depressed a small switch on one paddle.

Julie's body arched as the electricity surged through it, then slumped back down onto the stretcher.

Suddenly Julie felt a tug. Hard and forceful. Suddenly she was being pulled away - and her dream began to feel more like a nightmare.

She cried out in alarm. "Grandma?"

"It's all right, dear. You must return. You must make your decision."

She was plucked up into the air, flying backward, away from the group, away from the park.

"Grandma! Grandpa!"

But they quickly shrank in size as she flew away. Soon she couldn't see them at all. She was flying faster than ever before.

The city blurred as she streaked past. Desperately, she searched for the knoll, the light, but it was nowhere to be seen. She looked for her guide, but he had disappeared. She tried to scream, but she was traveling too fast. Any sound she made was sucked out of her mouth by the roaring wind.

The tunnel closed back around her.

"No." She squeezed out a gasp. "Please ..." Its sides raced past her at terrifying speed.

"No ..."

Now she was back over the ambulance, being sucked toward it with tremendous force. She covered her face as she approached the roof, but she felt no impact.

For a split second she saw the paramedic. Then her lifeless body.

Then there was nothing.

"We got her back!" the paramedic yelled to his partner. He took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from face. It had been close ...

too close. He had almost lost her. But he had finally succeeded in starting her heart.

Becka also dreamed.

She dreamed of the gray car racing over the top of the hill.

She dreamed of crying out a warning. And she dreamed of being too late.

It had been twenty-four hours since the accident. The group had followed the ambulance to the hospital and waited all morning and late into the afternoon. But since Julie remained in intensive care and since only her immediate family could visit, there wasn't much they could do.

The police came and asked a lot of questions. Philip and Ryan were able to identify the car as a gray Escort, but no one got the license number, and oddly enough no one could remember what the driver looked like.

By early evening, Julie's dad had convinced them to go home and get some sleep. He promised he'd call if there was any news.

So finally, reluctantly, the group broke up and headed home for some much needed rest. Between the accident and the showdown at the mansion, it had been a long two days.

But rest didn't come easily for Becka. Once in bed, she kept tossing and turning. She kept reliving the accident, over and over, in her dreams. Was it her fault? Was there something supernatural she had overlooked in the mansion? Something that came out and attacked Julie on the street? Why hadn't the car slowed?

Why hadn't anyone noticed the driver? The questions rolled and tumbled inside her mind.

Each time she dreamed of the accident, she tried to warn Julie, but each time she was too late. She hated it, but there was no way she could help in the dream, and there was no way she could stop the dreaming. Why did it keep returning? Was it guilt? Or was there something she was supposed to see?