Voices From Beyond

Chapter 4

"So basically you both hate your school," Ryan stares at Samuel and Noah.

"Well, I don't hate it. I just don't talk to anyone there," Samuel shrugs.

"I hate it," Noah states matter-of-factly, his eyes glance away with disinterest.

"Switch to our school then, it's not much of a drive," Bruno suggests excitedly.

"Yeah, you guys could hangout with us," Sydney grins.

Samuel's eyes dart to Noah. "What do you think?" Samuel asks curiously.

"Why not?" Noah shrugs.

"So we are going to then?" a smirk forms on Samuel's face.

"I will if you will," Noah nods, he seems a little excited now as well.

We established that in a week, Noah and Samuel will be switching to our school. I don't show it, but I'm glad that they decided to. It will be nice to have them around more often.

"Woah, it's already four a.m. It's been four hours, the sun will be up soon," Ryan stares at his phone in disbelief.

"Shit. My parents are going to be pissed," Kennedy groans. When Kennedy mentions this, I realize that mine will be too.

"Fuck," I mumble as I scramble over to the break room. I'm sliding my boots on and pulling my coat over my sweatshirt as I look out the window. The sky is still dark, the stars sparkle across the horizon. I have a clear view of the parking lot, nearly bare aside from my friends' cars. The snow has stopped falling, only a couple centimeters of the snow actually stuck overnight. I watch Ryan and Bruno both get into a car and drive out of the parking lot before I leave the break room and head back into the diner. When I enter the room, Sydney and Mitch are throwing napkins at each other. I can hear their laughter fill the room. Samuel is quietly zipping up his coat and Noah is pulling his hat over his head. Kennedy must have left already.

"You headed out?" Noah asks me as I make my way to the door.

"Yeah, I gotta get home before my parents wake up," I speak calmly, but I want to rush.

"You have a ride?" Samuel raises an eyebrow.

"Not really," I shake my head, "but it's alright. I walk home everyday," I add a shrug.

"No way, you can ride with us," Samuel states as if it's not a question. Noah holds his keys up just as he had done earlier, they jingle once.

I follow Samuel and Noah out the door. I'm grateful for the ride offer, I wouldn't have asked them to take me home. The air feels cool, there's a slight breeze. A blue pickup truck is parked at the end of the parking lot. It's lights flicker on when Noah clicks the unlock button on his keys. I stay quiet on the walk there, there isn't much to say. Noah gets into the drivers seat and Samuel opens the passenger door for me. Noah lifts up the center console, I hear change clatter around inside. I slide into the center seat and Samuel takes the passenger seat. After giving Noah my address, Samuel begins to play with the radio. We pull out of the parking lot just as Mitch and Sydney exit the diner. I watch Mitch lock the door through the rear-view mirror as we turn onto the street. Noah's GPS gives him different directions than I go when I walk, it takes us a little ways out of the way. We're driving through a road surrounded by tall pine trees blanketed in a thin layer of snow, the sun is rising in front of us. The sky is swirling with various shades of pink, orange, and red. Noah rolls down the windows and Samuel turns up the music. I rest the back of my head against the seat and take in a breath of cool air. My hair is blowing in every direction so I tie it back off with my scrunchy. We cruise down the road, everything feels really calm.

Ahead of us, I see a figure standing in the center of the road. It's a little girl, she's faced the opposite direction. All I can see is her long black hair and her light-blue dress. I squint, wondering why the little girl is even there. "Do you guys see that?" I scoot forward on my seat a little bit, trying to get a better view.

"See what?" Noah glances over at me.

"That little girl," I point to her.

"Um, there's no little girl. The road is clear," Samuel looks concerned when his eyes meet mine.

"Are you messing with me? You should probably slow down," I grow nervous, my palms get sweaty. The closer we get to the little girl, the more panicked I feel.

"There's nobody there, I'm not kidding. Are you sure you didn't hit your head too hard?" Noah slows the truck down.

"Stop the car," I state blankly, my muscles tensing up.

Reluctantly, he pulls over and puts the truck in park. Noah opens the drivers door and steps out, scanning ahead for the little girl I'm seeing. Samuel still looks concerned, he looks deep in thought.

"I'm going to go over to her," I mumble, sliding out behind Noah.

"What the hell is she talking about?" I can hear Noah whisper behind me to Samuel as I walk down the empty street toward the girl.

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up again, I'm only a few feet from her. A breeze blows her hair, I hesitantly search for what to say. "Excuse me, little girl? You can't stand in the middle of the road like that. It's not safe," I whisper, everything about this feels off. She doesn't move, she appears stiff. "Hello? I said you shouldn't be here," I reach a hand toward her. She turns to face me and I retract my hand quickly. I don't see her face before the wind blows and she melts away into the air. In an instant, she's gone.

I gasp. I must be going crazy. This is not normal. Noah and Samuel reach me as I turn around. They can tell by the expression on my face that everything is not alright.

"I swear I saw her. I swear it, she was just here," I shake my head, I am in disbelief.

They both search for what to say. "We believe you, lets just get you home," Samuel waves me over to the truck.

I shake my head, shuffling over to the truck still shaken up. They both get in on either side of me. "I'm sorry I just did that, I swear I thought I saw someone," I hold my head, it's spinning as I speak.

"Do you think that maybe the board has something to do with this?" Samuel sounds uncertain.

"Yeah, right," Noah rolls his eyes, but his voice cracks on the last word.

"There was a little girl with black hair in a blue dress and she was standing in the middle of the road. The second I got to her she just blew away, I can't even explain it," I'm trying to keep calm as I say this, but after the woman I saw in the diner and the whispers, it's just too much for me to wrap my mind around. I can't even find an explanation for myself.

"You don't really think the board works, do you?" Noah starts he truck back up.

"I don't know, but somethings up," Samuel nods his head toward me.

When we pull up to my house, the sun has risen and all of the colors of the sky have faded away into a calming blue. "Thank you for the ride, I'm sorry again about acting so weird," I wave them off after Samuel lets me out.

"We're all a little weird," Noah jokes lightly before pulling away.

I make my way to my bedroom and collapse onto my bed. My parents aren't awake yet, which means I avoided getting into trouble for being out all night. The second my head meets my pillow, my sleepiness sets back in. My eyes grow heavy and I fade off into sleep.