Seeking Souls

9: The Tracks

“What are you talking about?” My heart was racing, that combined with the burning sensation in my chest, I thought I was about to die. What she said made no sense, I was there that night, I jumped into the water to save Kara because she was drowning, not me. Madison looked around the lake, as if searching for something.

       “I’m talking about the fact that right now, a cop is trying to perform CPR on you, while Kara sits behind him screaming and shouting for you to wake up.” I didn’t notice it, but I was starting to shake, my fingertips suddenly growing cold. “These last few days, in reality were only about five or ten minutes. You need to wake up soon Des, or else you will die.” I was trying to keep my eyes on her, but the pain was so much, I wanted to slam them shut and wish none of this was happening.

       “Who are you? How do you know all this?” Madison smiled, petting my head and looking out at the water. I needed an answer, because none of this made any fucking sense.

       “I’m someone who is trying to save you Des, someone from the real world who is reaching out to your soul to pull you back in.” She looked back at me, holding my eyes in her gaze. “You have to tell me what happened that day at the tracks, finish the story and then you can go back.”

       “What makes you think that will help?” I grabbed my arms, trying to keep myself from shaking. The feeling was moving throughout my body, I was getting cold.

       “It will make your mind realize that you have a reason to stay alive. Tell me Desmond, what happened after the fight?” I closed my eyes, but not to sleep, to remember. I opened my eyes just then; this will be the hardest thing I would ever have to remember.

Six Months Ago

       It had been a whole month since that day I yelled at Kara, and I hated myself every day for it. Summer started and it was dragging on as much as possible. Things stayed the same though, no communication with Kara, I haven’t seen her at all. I was walking that day, trying to get away from the summer heat without any luck. It was ten times hotter in my house due to the fact that my parents refused to turn the air conditioner on until the furniture started to melt. I walked on for what felt like hours when in reality it was probably only a few minutes.

       I was coming up on the town’s park, a place where I went mostly since Kara walked out of my life. This time however I really didn’t want to be here. Chris was there, talking to some girl that I didn’t recognize. The girl looked over his shoulder at me and when he turned around, his face dropped. I turned my head to the side, wondering exactly what was going on. “Keep walking Desmond.” He called out to me, but hearing that only made me want to get closer.

       “Isn’t that her best friend?” The girl whispered, her eyes growing wide as if she was afraid.

       “What’s going on here?” I looked between the two of them, and then suddenly something clicked in my head. “Does Kara know about this?”

       Chris looked away from me, and that’s when it dawned on me. Was he cheating on her? I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer, a rush of anger smacking me in the face. He glared at me, trying to break free of my guilt. “She just left here a while ago.” The girl spoke up, and my attention was brought to her. “He told her straight up that he wanted to be with me.” Her voice broke a bit; I could only imagine what Kara was feeling at that moment. I turned my attention back to Chris; I wanted to punch him so bad. “She didn’t even do anything, she just started crying, said goodbye, and then walked away.”

       “She said goodbye?” I looked back at the girl and she nodded. Shit. I shoved Chris down to the ground and took off running. If she said that exact word then something bad was about to happen and I had to hurry.