Element Oasis: Project Zero

Chapter 18

Past Life

Opening his eyes, he found himself driving in a car as rain poured all around his car with the words "wife" on the dash.

"Honey, can you hear me?" she asked from through the dash.

"Yeah," he responded. "I'm just so angry that I got off late after promising Mikayla that I wouldn't miss her birthday party."

The sound of the tv was heard in the background as his wife lay in bed after having an exhausting day. She had worked for hours and then got off work so that she could celebrate her sister-in-law's 16th birthday.

"Josh," she said in a warm voice that had a hint of worry. "You're not her father. You're her brother that is currently taking care of her so you shouldn't beat yourself up too bad for missing her birthday."

Josh looked down slightly as sadness washed over him then he looked up once again to focus on the road. The rain was pouring so hard that he could hardly see the road as he drove on the side of a mountain. His home wasn't that far from his job but it was a route that was always dangerous to drive, especially on rainy days. He had driven back and forth on this road so much that he could nearly drive it with his eyes closed but today he was extremely focused on the road ahead.

"I've missed so many of her birthdays already."

"Josh, you shouldn't count the years you were in college," she said with a sigh. "You didn't have a car and your college was so far from your home that you wouldn't have been able to make it to begin with. You should give yourself a break."

This time he sighed. She was right and he hated when she was right because he was usually the one that was right on a plethora of topics they had discussed. Every time she was right, it was like a lecture and he hated being lectured.

"How is she taking my absence?" he asked in a lower tone.

"She's upset of course, but we still had a good time today," she answered. "I know that wasn't the point, but I already told you not to beat yourself up about it. You tried your best."

"Maybe I could have tried a little harder," he said quickly. "Should I call her?"

She laughed into the phone softly. "Yes," she answered truthfully. "Call her so that she can tell you the same thing I just told you so that you can stop worrying so much."

"Perfect," he said with a smile on his face. "Leah?"

"Yes?"

"Don't go to sleep until I get home. It's been a stressful day," he said with a sigh.

Leah smiled as she picked up her book as her plans for the night had suddenly changed. "You got it, baby. Now call your sister."

Josh had finally hung up the phone and began dialing his sister's number. It rang and rang until it finally just shut off without even a voicemail. He called again and it happened a second time. Picking up his phone to get a better look at what was going on, he noticed everything looked ok. He quickly figured out why she wasn't answering the phone and it wasn't because of his cell service.

Finally sighing in defeat, Josh drove in silence until his phone started ringing again. He picked up his phone, but fate had better ideas and it slipped out of his hand and fell onto the floor beneath his feet.

"Damnit," he said as the phone continued to ring. He looked up at the road to make sure it was clear then looked back down at where the phone had landed but it had somehow disappeared from his view completely. Looking at the road once more, he tore his eyes from the road again and quickly began moving his hands around to find the phone. He pressed the brake a little to slow down even more so that he could focus a bit more on the phone than on the road. His finger touched the phone slightly and he smiled. He dragged it up the middle of his car so that he could grab it fully with his hands and once he had it he looked back up at the road only for a person dressed in all black to pop out in front of the vehicle.