John picked up a long stick propped against the tree and leaned over the bank, swiping at the rope. After a few swings, the improvised hook snagged it and he pulled it to him. His girlfriend looked nervous as he held it out to her.
“You go first. Show me how to do it,” she said hesitantly.
He straightened his shoulders. “Okay. First, make sure you have a good grip on the rope. Like this, see,” John said, showing her the position of his hands. “Then just walk back a couple steps and do this.” He ran off the edge of the bank, swinging into the air. When he reached the highest point that the rope came to, he threw himself back, doing a flip before hitting the water. He resurfaced in a few seconds, whipping his hair back, making drops of water rain down all around him.
“Just like that, huh?” Mae asked sarcastically.
“Well, you don’t need to do the back flip. I was just impressing you.” He swam out of her way.
“I believe the term is ‘just trying to impress you’,” she said with a smile.
“Nope, no trying about it. I impressed you. Now get down here with me. The water’s fine,” he said while floating on his back.
Her smile faded. “I don’t know if I should do this, John. If I come home with a broken leg, my pa will probably kill you.” Mae looked down at the fifteen-foot drop.
“Oh, you get free health care anyway. Your dad’s a doc.
Don’t worry so much, it isn’t that high. I wouldn’t have you do it if it were dangerous. Now live a little,” he chided.
“All right, but if I break my leg I’m not letting you sign my cast.” She giggled at him and straightened her shoulders as she had seen him do.
“Okay, make sure you have a good grip and let go around the middle… that’s where the water is deepest,” he instructed. Mae took a few steps back and ran off the edge, closing her eyes as her foot left the earth. She swung out over the water, her dark locks shining in the sunlight. The rope reached its highest point, and she threw herself back.
No! Amanda heard John think. Don’t try to flip, don’t!
She was falling fast. She attempted to right herself as he had, but to no avail. Her eyes shot open, full of fear and met his right before her head awkwardly struck the water.
Amanda knew the loud crack that sounded couldn’t have happened in real life. He must have imagined he’d heard her neck breaking afterward, but all the same, the sound chilled her to the bone.
John swam over to her body, quickly pulling her out of the water, and laid her on the bank.
“Mae?” he whispered. She didn’t respond, her body limp and lifeless. He put his head gently to her chest where her soaked Sunday dress clung to her skin. “Mae?” he screamed. “Mae, wake up.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her hard.
“Mae, don’t leave me. Don’t go,” John begged her through sobs. He gently picked her up in his arms and began running. There was no need for the Healers to give chase. They were dragged along with him. He ran across two wheat fields with Mae’s limp body in his arms before a small town came into view.
Looked like a postcard, little white church and all. They neared the quaint country town.
“Help!” John screamed out frantically. “Someone help us please!” he begged. His voice was so full of pain Amanda had to lean on Cole to keep herself standing.
Where was he going? Didn’t he know it was too late?
Amanda could see he hadn’t given up. He still believed he could save the very dead girl in his arms. He had to believe that. He couldn’t go on without her. She couldn’t believe the pace that he kept. He had run three miles before Amanda understood his destination, the hospital. She was beginning to understand why this memory hadn’t stopped by the river’s edge. It wasn’t only this girl’s death that was scarring. It was whatever happened next, with Mae’s father.
Amanda felt herself pulling back, attempting to fight the force towing her along after John. She didn’t want to see what happened next. She had no need to feel this boy’s pain. He was such a simple, fragile spirit. Madgie and Cole were looking at her thoughtfully.
“Mae’s father is a doctor,” Amanda said quietly. She turned to look at Cole, and his eyes met hers. He scanned her face. She looked away from him, turning back to the boy that she was scared to follow. “We’re headed to the hospital.” She gestured toward the building that was growing in size and clarity at their approach.
Madgie’s face contorted in pain and Cole’s fell in realization. “Oh!” Madgie cried. “You don’t think that…”
“Yes, of course something terrible is going to happen.
We’re here, aren’t we?” Amanda stated bluntly. Like the girl’s death wasn’t hard enough on him. She choked up. What was going to happen now?
John’s screams had caused a stir, and people began flowing out onto the street from small shops and eateries. They were all done up in their Sunday best, but it didn’t stop the women from dropping to their knees as John passed by.
“Mae!” Some of the women cried out before fainting, and
Amanda understood why they did. Mae’s body was devoid of all color. Her once pale, milky skin was now a nauseating grey.
Some of the men joined John in his run to the hospital. A tall middle-aged man ran next to him. He was dressed in a police uniform, but that wasn’t what struck her. As soon as she saw the man she knew who he was. John was the spitting image of his father.
“What happened, John?” his father asked.
“She hit the water.” His father looked confused by this short answer but didn’t question him any further. It was plain to see John was in a state of complete hysteria.
“You’re tired, son. Here, let me help you,” he said, leaning down to take Mae from his arms.
“Don’t touch her!” John screamed. “Don’t touch her!” The man jumped back. “Mae will be fine. She just needs a doctor. Right, Mae?” he asked, looking down at her lovingly.
Amanda took in the haunting building as they entered the hospital grounds. It stretched toward the sky, towering over the small town.
The building was stretched tall, like a yard of taffy, and its surface reminded her of seeing something through water. The color of brick faded from dark scarlet to light pinkish tones, and the windows bowed so badly Amanda was sure they’d break at any moment, spewing shards of glass all over her. Just then, she heard a voice ring out so loud it shook everything around them, including the bulging windows.
“Whaaat hasss haaappened?” it asked.
Amanda shivered as her skin tightened into goose flesh, and she wasn’t the only one. She felt Madgie shudder next to her.
That voice! It sounds so inhuman. The hospital doors trembled in their frame before bursting open.
The man stepping out of the hospital wasn’t at all what she’d expected. He was in a long white coat like the doctors she’d seen on television, but he didn’t resemble the tall proud men with good cheekbones. He looked more like a wounded animal. He limped out of the hospital, gasping as if each movement brought him incredible pain.
The man looked up and Amanda’s mind swirled in confusion. His eyes were double the size that they should have been and a solid sphere of black. She wasn’t taken back by their size or color or by the severe pain that was so evident in them. She was confused by the feeling they gave her. Amanda wasn’t at all fearful. She just felt that they were in need of help. They were that she fell in love with instantly, and that could only mean one thing.
He was a trapped spirit. She looked over at Cole and Madgie and saw they reflected her astonishment. “Two spirits in one Scar.”
“I’ve heard of this happening, even heard rumors about Ancients healing Scars with thousands of trapped spirits, but I’ve never experienced it. This is like opening a Cracker Jack box and getting two prizes!” Madgie exclaimed excitedly.