#slow down arthur! hit the gas arthur! while steering. and arthur is shifting the gear. except that john has no experience in driving

[tkbrokkoli]

cant believe that after driving the car, riding the train, booking a hotel room, having a nightmare, visiting the father in law, visiting a hospital, making a friend, and escaping an assassin, the incomprehensible Horrors™ are back at it again and harder to bear than ever ����

[the-headbop-wraith]

1_18 Connected Roads

It was dangerous and illegal, but this particular stretch of road was heavy with the rumors warning of the many accidents that had occurred over the course of a few decades.  These tragedies were sometimes attributed to the reckless drivers, the sharp turns, and narrow roads, along with the outdated nature of the old road itself.  But what narrow, silt ridden road in the mountains was not known for tragedy?

They had seen a few of the memorials assembled by family, friends – bundles of cotton flowers tattered, colors faded, Styrofoam sentries caked in mud. Tributes to the lost, forgotten, left to wither and decay.  It had been years since anyone thought to renew the memories.

The deep fog and dismal rain matched the mood.  Vivi wasn’t certain if the weathers activity was entirely natural, but she supposed later on the road that it must’ve been typical weather patterns for the season.  When they had entered the high mountain elevation there had been a large swell of cloud cover, a huge mushroom of frothy, white rolling through the pines.  In a matter of seconds a pleasant fall day had become frigid and muggy.  The damp, chilled air clung to the open window of the van as Lewis took the tight turns, through the trees and down the steep sloping roads.  Thick gurgles rolled out of the engine as he applied the gas, the motor rumbled and wheezed on the cold air clawing across the pipes.

Lewis knew he missed driving, but he didn’t realize just how much he had missed it.  The novelty of it mostly, but there was no denying the simple freedom of getting behind the wheel of the van, taking control of the acceleration, the gentle motions of their little transportable home on the road.  He didn’t have it in him to forewarn Vivi that he might’ve been a ‘little’ rusty when the subject had come up.  Vivi’s idea, out of the blue (literally), after they had stopped for a late – late brunch.  She brought it up with Arthur when he returned from a walk with Mystery.  Lewis knew he gave Arthur an obscure look, but Arthur had misunderstood it.  Typical.

Once upon a time Lewis knew how to drive the manual shift, but he didn’t know if he would remember.  There was a special technique when it came to manual.  The van was automatic, and the road stretched on and on after he set the drive for lower gear to make up for all the steep downgrade.  The lazy speed helped draw back the memories, the motions, everything gradual.  Take it slow. Let it all come back, it would if he was patient.  He didn’t really forget, but it had been…. a while.  Lewis avoided asking too much from Arthur as they puttered along, didn’t want Arthur lingering too close to him.  Any didn’t mattered that much, but Lewis felt a smudge of aggravation that had no justifiable origin.  Maybe it was just Lewis, or he just wasn’t certain why, but he didn’t want Arthur around. Near him.  But Arthur had caught on quick that Lewis still needed a few small reminders in the beginning, and even once Lewis felt assured he could drive on his own, Arthur felt comfortable nesting in the front seat just in case. Lewis kept the driver’s side window open and enjoyed the fresh cold air moving over and through him.  

Every few miles Vivi would indicate Lewis to stop off on a clear spot beside the road, and each of them would get out.  The three collective living, but never Lewis.  

The fog filled branches surrounding them had the sounds of soft rain, pattering the moist pine layered soil with globs of fat droplets.  Beneath the sodden tree cover it wasn’t as obvious, as it was on the open road.  Wet and damp, everything slick and cold.  Vivi wore her sweater, and Arthur was stubborn.  He would get out with Mystery in his arms, the two bundled up in the blanket that Arthur had taken to curl up in on the passenger seat.  The two would do what they could to help Vivi assemble the prebuilt pieces of reliquary she had patched together while they were on the move.

It took no amount of time to find a suitable secluded location, and then build the little shrine where it would be hidden from the curious. The process was repeated again and again.  Lewis’ unease was not missed by Vivi, but it didn’t surprise her.  She had researched expulsion incantations, barrier spells, protective wards – he was not immune to their persuasion, even if he wasn’t the intended target.  Vivi made mental note to be more careful in future, but for the now she kept careful attention to the ghost’s ticks.

“You would let me know, wouldn’t you?” she asked, for what must’ve been the twelfth time.  Vivi had some freshly cut pine branches on one of the older blankets, as she stripped some of its needles and tied twine to hold the branches curled into a circle. The soft light of the small camp lamp offered her and Mystery plenty of visibility, as they mended and weaved. “I don’t know how much of this is affecting you, Lew.  Say something if whatever I’m doing is… y’know, hurting you.”

Lewis drummed his fingers along the window sill of the door and looked out through the trees drenched with the gray mist. “Uncomfortable.  That’s all,” he said.  The van needed some fresh air anyway, with all the incense and resin Vivi was tearing up.  “It’s nothing.”  He glanced to Arthur in the passenger seat.

“It still bothers you,” she said.  Vivi snipped off a bit of her hair and attached it to the base of the thick pine branch.  Mystery was pawing at a cut piece of burlap cloth.  Vivi noticed Mystery’s activities and watched, as the white dog raised a paw and pulled out small tufts of his own chocolate brown fur there.  Vivi rolled it up and tied it to the base of the branch she was working on.  “Are you even sure if it hurts or not?” Vivi posed.

Lewis chuckled.  He was getting better at that, in the sense that he could make a sound other than the distorted wrong station of the radio he had been ‘projecting’.  “It’s probably about the same, then.  Don‘t worry yourself.”

“I’m going to,” she said.  “And you can’t stop me.”  Vivi smiled at the small pink embers to flutter from Lewis’ face.  “Where’s that knife?”  She turns to Mystery when he plucked up the folded pocketknife from the cover and held it towards her.  “Thank you.” She worked for a while, cutting the thread and winding it tightly around the branches base.  “How many miles have we come?”

Lewis listened to the draw of the engine and the rattle of the undercarriage.  He checked the speedometer through the steering wheel and read off the mileage, a quick calculation snapped up.  “We should be getting near the bridge,” Lewis mentioned.  He looked to Arthur, who had been mostly silent for their travel. Arthur mumbled something and snuggled down into his blanket.  “You have enough supplies to finish?”

“I should.  Now where‘d the lighter go?”  Vivi fumbled around the mess, pine needles, gummy bits of branches, pieces of twine. It helped that the road had leveled out, she wasn’t worried too much about losing her balance while she was knelt. “What would I do without you?” She ruffled Mystery’s multi-streaked mane, and accepted the lighter he presented to her.  

Mystery yapped.  He was always glad to help with these little projects.  He was pleased with how Vivi’s skill had grown since she first began, and he could take some pride in that if he wasn’t careful.

Lewis checked Arthur again, then, let his gaze snap back on the road.  “Something the matter?” Arthur finally asked, without blinking, not even a glance to Lewis.

“No,” Lewis murmured.  Of course Arthur was cold.  The heater was on full blast, but the damn window was open and it was misting heavier in the lower elevation.  “If it starts to rain, I’ll shut the window.”

Arthur cleared his throat some bit and sniffed. “Thanks for the consideration,” he mumbled.  Lewis eyes glimmered as he checked Arthur, hardly hiding the action.  Arthur coughed as he took a breath of the rough air, but before Arthur could say a word, Lewis’ voice cut through his thoughts.

“Take the wheel,” said the ghost.  He was gone in an instant, the black leather coat Lewis had been wearing deflated and plopped onto the driver seat.  Arthur gawked, blinked.  The van had decelerated but they were still moving, slipping along the resent position of the steering wheel in the bend of the road.

“Fuck!  Lew’ss! WHAT?!”  Arthur lunged at the spinning wheel and latched on, wincing as the biting cold and wet air hit his face.  “Damn— !”  In the back Vivi was calling out a question, or warning, her voice was shredded by a muffled eruption.  “ –S’IT!” Arthur hissed.  He managed to get his eyes open and caught vision of the brilliant burst of magenta flames hissing through the fog directly beside the vans amber wall, outside.  There was nothing but the crackling heat and black ash, he couldn’t accurately discern what had happened other than a small eruption that slammed into his eardrums.

“Arthur!  What happened?”  Vivi yelped, as the van began to sway.  She felt the strong vibrations through the metal hull, the strength on par with a collision of some large physical force.  “Art!”  She threw her arms around Mystery when he struggled to stay in place on the short carpet of the vans floor.  This didn’t aid them too much, as they were sliding on the blanket on the floor. Vivi shut her eyes as she held the poor whining dog tight in her arms, the sudden lurch of the van sent her sideways over the floor.

Arthur stuffed his good arm into the space of the steering wheels bars and took his foot off the brake, he kept his eyes locked on the road as the front wheels of the van tipped.  The weight dragged them across the road as a screech tore out from the undercarriage, and burnt rubbed filled the open window.  “Hold on!  Hold on!” He shouts in lack of better caution, only partially focused on the black road sliding out of view.  He’d lost track of Lewis, but Arthur wasn’t sure if the large burst of heat was their ghost in the first place.  It was just bright.  And loud.  His ears were still ringing.  “Just— Argh!” Arthur cursed when the van skipped sideways on the slick road and smashed the front into two large pines spaced apart.

The bench seat absorbed most of Vivi’s body when she slammed into it, still wrapped around Mystery.  Mystery whined as Vivi uncoiled from him and stood up, arched over Arthur. “Say something, Art!  You still with me?”  Vivi reached her arm to his good shoulder and shook.  Arthur jolted when she gripped his shoulder, and he twisted around in his seat to stare at her.

“He left the wheel,” Arthur chattered.  “We could – I didn’t— ”

“We’re in one piece!”  Vivi snapped. She was staring past Arthur, out the side of the windshield.  “Stay put, I’ll see if I can find Lewis.”  Arthur gave a sharp cry and tried to grab her, but Vivi had sprung over the front seat and pushed open the passenger door.

“Vi!  Wait!” Arthur tried to follow, but Mystery had launched over the seat and bobbed in his way.  “Mystery!   Move!”

There was no sign of anything when Vivi had climbed out of the van. She gave the nearest of the area, where the fog was visible enough for her to see, a hasty scan.  Her sweater and scarf had been damp for most the day, but now less than a few seconds beneath the open road void of tree cover, she was already soggy.  She blinked through the gray, dreary scraps of light phasing through the cloud cover. Was that a hissing she heard?  Or a rustling?  It was loud, getting louder.

“Lewis!”  Vivi hailed, hands cupped around her mouth.  “Are you out here?  What— ” She stopped and looked up, her face drained of color as she staggered backwards into the side of the van. Arthur squealed inside at the echo of her body colliding with the cold metal.  “Oh god.  Arthur and Mystery!”  She couldn’t move, her eyes rising to the untamed river of earth crashing between the pine trunks of the glistening slope.  “They’re still inside!“  She lunged for the door.  They could still ride it down, it wasn’t that thick.  The van would be lost, but they would survive.

Vivi winced as a wall of flames sprang between her and the ominous stampede of nature.  Bright, fire swells up and heats the immediate range briefly, before it fades out, the air continues to simmer with warm steam.  To Vivi’s astonishment the mudslide recoils.  Recoils as if it was a sentient, mobile thing.  A congregation of embers collide between Vivi and the slithering soil, the fire diminish into the outline, the shape of Lewis void of flesh and living recognition.  Under the constant drizzle of rain his skull and suit sizzled, a steady stream of white mist rose from him, though none of this seemed to faze him.  Around his shoulders crackling spirit flames remain buzzing as he straightens up to watch the mudslide.

“You need to get out of here,” Lewis says to her.  “I surprised it, but it won’t work twice.”

“The vans stuck,” Vivi replies.  “I don’t know if he can move it on his own.”  She looks away from Lewis, to the winding road and the thicket of trees between them.

The grinding soil heaves back, layers and pebbles rattle over and around, swirling higher and compressing down into itself, while bits of twigs and larger rocks churn within the mass.  Rocks grind and gravel grates, as a torso and stout head mold from the thick silt.

Lewis throws himself forward, spooking Vivi who had turned back to watch mesmerized when the shape began to chisel out.  Flames erupt along Lewis’ coat the moment before he rams the thing in what might be its chest, or would’ve been.  The earth manifestation scatters under impact, and a low grating snarl emits from the pile of mud that dispersed over the road.  In less than five second the soil was already rolling and piling back onto itself, slower this time with black smoke spilling off its scorched gravel layers.  Lewis kicked himself away, ember eyes track the mass as it struggled.  This would buy some time he hoped.

The van lurched and coughed as Arthur toggled the drive stick and reversed, hunting for the combination of momentum to dislodge the vehicle.  “Vi!” He called.  Mystery was perched in the passenger seat leaning far out from the open door to watch, what he presumed was their friend(s).  Arthur heard no sound from Vivi, aside for the loud crash and a violent sweep of chilled air.  “Viv, could y—AH!”  Arthur lurched in his seat when Lewis shot into view, skull faced and hair all riled and popping.  Aside from that the fire ghost appeared unaffected by the rain, but for some steam rising off his shoulders and head.  Lewis caught Arthur with a glimpse before he leaned down and pressed his shoulder to the van’s grill.

“Get it into gear!” the voice snapped.  Arthur couldn’t judge if it was in his head or what, but it did reminded him keenly of the night he and Vivi stumbled into the mansion.  “One, dos, tres!  Reverse!”  

Arthur tried not to think of that now.  He swung the drive shift into reverse and floored the gas. A squealing came from the rear as the wheels spun, but found no traction on the slick ground.  Mystery bobbed at the open door and snarled at something unseen by Arthur, but he was beginning to hear it.  A loud rustling and clicking, hissing and slipping.  The image of rocks tumbling with loose soil down a steep hill hit his mind.  All the rain, the Watch for Falling Rock signs they’d seen.  Arthur didn’t care if he cracked the gas pedal.  He focused on Lewis’ shoulders hunched to the vans grill, and timed each pump of the accelerator as the ghost heaved at the vans grill.

Lewis had an advantage.  He could press his feet into the asphalt and push, but he focused more on keeping solid and straining against the impossible mass of the van. He didn’t remember it being this stubborn, but they were on a slope and everything was slicked.

Vivi was suddenly beside him, shoulder braced to the grill and her blue shoes scraping at the white rock under them.  “I told you to get back in the van,” Lewis hissed. Actually, he told her to get in the van and left her gawking at the mound of coiling mud.

“We’ll dislodge the van,” Vivi grunted.  “Then I’ll get in.”

Lewis didn’t argue, he needed to concentrate.  Drops of water bead at the tips of his upper jaw and drip off, his pseudo suit simmers as water mixed in his vague presence of shape. A fine whiff of fire wafts off his skull as he counts in his thoughts once more, judging when Arthur would hit the gas again.  The van lurched and began to struggle back from them.  Vivi groaned, teeth clenched, as she barreled forward with Lewis.  She gave a breathless gasp as she turns to the tall ghost.

“There!  Got it! Told you.”  Vivi halt her words, as Lewis launched himself over her head and snared a large, solid shape in mid leap.  Both fall sideways cutting across the solid amber hood of the van with a thud, under the clatter of metal, the same rustling tumbled through the air whenever the gray mass moved.  Vivi stumbled sideways, trying to catch herself on the van but it kept backing up from the two brawling on the road.  Once she caught her balance, she stood and stared as Lewis gave the shrillest cry she had ever heard him emit.  Vivi knew it was Lewis, because the skull had tilt far back off the collar of his suit, while the thing upon him dug claws – she blinked – yes, they were claws, into his shoulders.

“Van!” Lewis rasped.  “Get in!  Go!” Magenta flashed in his eye sockets as Lewis turned his attention to the creature on him.  Fire tore out of his cufflinks into the shaggy front of the creature, the locket on his chest pulsed steady, even as he struggled and screeched. “VIV!”

“Lew!  You need help—”  Vivi ducked back as the Gollum reared up over Lewis, a second set of arms at the base of its torso snared the collar of his suit.  It was large, but its limbs were too short.  It resembled something between a serpent or a goat, but lacked the definitive features of either.  When it raised Lewis off the road, Lewis swung his legs up and hooked one ankle over a set of curved horns on its head and began to kick it repeatedly across its clutch of glimmering ‘eyes’.

“Help by getting,” Lewis slapped his hands over the entities forearms and flooded its gray, moist body with ravenous flames.  “—Way!”  Vivi stepped back when the Gollum shoved Lewis onto the soil and pressed him there, while fire stabbed across its underside.  The Gollum grated, sounding as all manner of rock and soil crashing and crumbling.  “Go!” Lewis gave the screaming creature another kick.  It tore its arms out of Lewis’ suit, but its secondary arms still held his collar.

Vivi ran.  She darts to the driver side door and reaches through the open window to pull the latch. A wave of shock slices over Arthur’s eyes, but it’s gone even before he began scooting aside for Vivi.  “We’re leaving him?” Arthur spat.  He’s looking through the windshield at the roads side, where Lewis is pressing back into the gray pebbled body.  Mystery gives groans of concern, as Vivi puts the van into drive and tears off.  The wheels screech as they gain traction, the passenger door sways but doesn’t shut. Arthur climbs over Mystery to get the door before the dog can go sailing out.  Vivi was the best driver when it came to getaways.

“We’re more harm than good here,” Vivi retorts.  She leans onto the windowsill on the driver side and looks back.  The earth creature shrieks as unrestrained gusts of magenta and red spew skyward, embers crackle and steam keeps rising around them, obscuring the shapes within.  Soon it is only silhouettes, then a wall of thick black fog.  “Some sort of terraria spirit or man made Gollum.  Damn, we had to be right!”  She took the next curve sharply, the wheels screamed over the asphalt as she spun the steering wheel.

Arthur wrapped one arm around Mystery, and used his metal arm to hold the roof of the van.  “Easy! I’d like to see my next birthday.”

“A few more miles,” Vivi said, eyes glued to the road.  “There’s something about terra spirits, but I can’t remember.”

Arthur peered out of the fogged window at his side, Mystery wrapped up in his lap but watching Vivi intently.  “I don’t think there’s much that can be done to him now, Vi. Y’know….”

“No,” Vivi snapped.  She gave Arthur a short glimpse, then back to the road and keeping them in the proper lane.  She bit her lip and tasted blood.  “It’s more than that.  Terra’s aren’t spirits, they were never human.  God Arthur, you should read the more folktale stuff,” she sighed.  She wanted to go faster, she wanted to be there now, but she also wanted to GET there.  “It might just be paranoia, but I thought there was a description about them being kind of guides to the,” she choked as the words formed, and died.  She couldn’t say it, no.  She had to be wrong.

Arthur was staring at her.  “That doesn’t make any sense,” he cries.  “Nature spirits, right?  Then they do… nature shit, right?”

“I don’t remember the specifics,” Vivi snarled back.  There was the bridge, at the base of the mountain side. The road branched off to the next mountain range over, the bridge connecting the two.  Through the dense tree cover it was difficult to make out, but Vivi had seen the dull red roof amidst the gray haze.  “Knoxx Bridge!  I see it.”

“Careful on the breaks, it’s really slick,” Arthur cut in.  “Did you need to finish anything in the back?” He released Mystery in order to look over the seat, at the mess of pine needles and broken branches spread around.

“You can get the new candles we bought.  And the Teddy bear,” Vivi answered.  Arthur pulled himself into the back and she could hear tussle through the plastic bags.  Mystery was about to follow, but whipped around to face the road instead, poised with one foot raised off the head rest he had intended to hope over.  “Can you check if—”  Vivi’s face screwed up – shock, fear, amusement, she wasn’t certain.

A large black shape hurtled across the vans front, and Vivi twisted the wheel in some direction, she couldn’t recall, and screamed, “DUCK!” Arthur gave a sorrow filled moan as the van tilt far to the side.  Vivi came out of her seat (no seatbelts was very dangerous), but Mystery had twisted around and pushed Vivi down with his front paws and braced her onto the door. Vivi didn’t bump her head too hard when they smashed into the surface of the road and skid, and she didn’t get pinned in the open window either.  She couldn’t decide if Arthur was sobbing because he was hurt, or due to the van making that awful racket as the side was no doubt sanded off.  Mystery leaned on his paws over Vivi as the noise dug into his delicate hearing, and Vivi tried to help by cupping his ears with her hands.

The van ground to a halt.  Rain pattered gently on the large exposed side and gravel pecked around in the undercarriage, the pieces of rock misplaced in all the excitement.  Inside the van, items continue to shift of fall from the sideways cuvees from the wall that was now upgraded to ceiling.

“Art?”  Vivi called, gently.  She took her hands from Mystery’s ears and listened, the vans engine still puttered but not as intimidating or fearless as before.  She gulped down cold, wet air and turned the key in the ignition, then tried to call for Arthur again.  “Good news, if that’s a reasonable request.”

“Present,” the broken voice muttered.  The sound of rustling and crinkling came, as Arthur climbed over the tussled wall of the van.  He leaned in through beside the bench seat and looked down on Vivi.  “You okay?”  Vivi nodded, and Arthur let out a wheeze.  “Super. Now, what the fuck, girl?”

“It hit us,” Vivi insisted, as she pushed Mystery away.  But not before a firm hug around the dogs shoulders, then she returned to Arthur’s thrashed gaze.  “Or something like it.”  Arthur averted his eyes and stared at the interior of the van, the light mist tapped at the hull of their transportation.  The back was a mess, supplies everywhere in little gray lumps, the light from the lamp had gone out.  Vivi watched his sullen expression until it hit her.  She griped a fist to her mouth as her breath trembled. “Lewis!”  Arthur moved aside as she tumbled into the back, picking through the supplies.

“I’m – I’m sure he’s fine,” Arthur said.  Mystery stayed beside him as Vivi went through, pulling up whatever was salvageable.  Without further word Arthur began helping her.  It was okay, she’d see.

Mystery stayed in the front seat, poised on the driver’s door (floor) as he stood watch.  The bridge was only a few yards away, the heavy growth of pine branches dug at the rusted roof and walls that faded from the thickets edge.  There was no sign of the Terraria or Lewis, and that greatly concerned Mystery.  Shapes huddled in the fog, dark smears of vapor peering out, waiting.  Mystery gave a soft bark and growled.

The pieces and parts for the memorial were up beside the upper edge of the vans wall, in a pile along the scratched roof.  Viv found her backpack and loaded it with a notebook, a few charms – she knew nothing holy would work on an entity contrived of nature, not normally.  “Did you find the candles?” she asked, when Arthur began rustling into something.

“Yeah.”  Arthur picked up the bag and tucked back in a few of the candles that had fallen out. He also packed the twine and more branches stripped of the needles.  There was Lewis’ jacket as well, tossed into the back while Arthur had been frustrated with trying to get the van dislodged from the tree.  Arthur gave it a once over as he knelt in the supplies, his shoulders shook as the mist kept vibrating up and down the side of the van. “We’re ready then?”  He pulled the jacket on over his head and shoved his arms out through the sleeves.  The collar hung around his shoulders and Arthur tugged the torso out from his chest and grimaced.  Lewis was a big guy.

“Should be,” Vivi answered, as she moved to the back door. “If not we can come back.”  Before she could reach for the door handles, a loud hissing slammed into the side of the van.  A strong physical force somewhere at the back, the blow caused the van to twist around and along the road, the friction sent painful screeches through the interior van.  It might’ve been the van, it might’ve been the entity screaming at those within.

A pained yelp came from Mystery when he hit the side of the van. Arthur tries to recover and find Vivi in the dark.  He called out to her, before a hand snared the wrist of his good arm and tugged him to the vans front where Mystery huddled.

“I’m more worried about Lewis,” Vivi spoke.  She glanced back to the doors, but the assault had fallen still. For now.

Arthur brushed past her into the vans front, he braced himself to shove open the passenger door above them and wastes no time climbing up. Vivi knelt below the door and handed up her backpack, and the grocery bag of supplies they picked up earlier that day.  “It’s clear,” he called, once he gave the perimeter a rushed look over.  Vivi cooed to Mystery as she picked him up and passed the whining dog to Arthur.  “Hang tight for a second.”  The blond ducked away from the open door, leaving the drizzle to splatter the sides of the seats and the doors side.

A sudden and frightening crack came.  Vivi cringed expecting the van to be struck once again but the rough collision failed, leaving her braced within confusion and agitation.  Other sounds became audible beyond the walls of the van.  She could pick out the grinding of rocks, loose soil scraping among tree trunks and grass.  It sounded like the whole forest was moving, shifting, living.  “Art!”

“Hold on!  Juz….” His strained, conflicted voice came.  Not far.  A sharp scream came from Arthur (it was his high pitched voice), along with a whooshing and another harsh crack.  The vibrations rattled through the metal walls of the van.  “Whoa-whoa-whoa!”  Mystery was barking, and Arthur’s voice was moving quickly beyond the walls.  Arthur may have tried to make know the panic, but his voice was constantly cut off to his heavy pants.  Yips and whines came from Mystery.  “Vi!”  

Vivi put her foot to the steering wheel and balanced her feet, then pulled herself out from the passenger door and out into the miserable, brisk air.  She looked towards the sounds but didn’t see Arthur or Mystery, instead she saw Lewis perched upon the back of the earth spirit.  The struggling entity had risen off the road while Lewis held onto its horns, the curved ends red with heat as he poured energy into it.  For a second Vivi was relieved.  Lewis was still here and he looked to be in good condition.

Until the nature entity flipped over sideways and slammed Lewis into the road under its pointed head.  Flames spread all over Lewis ribs and shoulders as he grabbed at the thick neck of the entity and dragged it off, is hooved feet dragged at the road before it toppled over.  Lewis rolled away when it staggered at him, reaching with the side of its two arms. Vivi heard a warning cry from Arthur, when the entity snapped its head up at her.

“Get down—” Arthur shrieked.

The Gollum faded into the mist, or most of it did.  Lewis did much of the same, vaporized in a large burst of fuchsia fire fading outward.  Vivi lost track of Lewis completely, while mesmerized by the sight of the Gollum at it prowled. Its gray eyes gleamed in its pebbled head and the road whizzed under its shape as it rushed at her, gaining momentum as its claws lashed over the road.  She was about to dive off the side of the van when the shape collided with her body like a derailed train, she hadn’t realized it had gotten that close, it had just appeared.

“Viv!”  Arthur dropped the bags he was carrying and darts to the lining of brush where Vivi tumbled through, he could still hear her body dragging through the loose undergrowth and soggy leaves.  “No!” Mystery yelped after him as the dog gave chase.  Before Arthur could lunge through the brush, Mystery had jumped onto his back and thrown him down into the pine coated soil.  “Mystery!  She’s hurt! Get—” When Arthur had shoved himself up and crawled forward, he saw what Mystery had stopped him from reaching. Why it was important he did not crash blindly into the thicket.

There was nothing beyond the growth of brush.  The trees jutted out from the side, the soil worn and chipped, and below nothing.  Nothing but treetops hidden in the fog far below.

Arthur felt his eyes bulge in his head as he stared down and down searching through the drab, thick mist.  He snaps his gaze to the furthest side of the parallel mountain range, but there is nothing.  A fierce grip took his chest as hot tears filled his eyes.  “Vivi!  No… god no! VI!”

Calm down and look.  Mystery set his paw on Arthur’s good shoulder, then, nudged the grief-stricken youth’s cheek with his own shoulder.  Mystery pushed his head under Arthur’s chin and raised his gaze, Arthur didn’t seem to notice the guidance at first, but his eyes did turn up.

“Shit,” Arthur wheezed.  He folded down, nearly falling onto Mystery beside him.  Mystery tried to push Arthur up and keep him out of the mud. “She’s okay….  She’s safe—”

The rapid clamor of heavy feet caught his attention, and he whirled around to see the Gollum.  Arthur recoiled as it galloped for him, but Mystery lurched between him and the large mass of gravel, and snarled at it.  The creature hesitates, its shoulders sway and grit as it turns its head down to view the smaller dog.  Arthur stares, eyes flick from Mystery to the entity and back to the dog.  The nature entity sways, as if uncertain to its approach of the dog.  “Myst, we… we should move.”

Mystery backed away, red eyes gleaming over the rims of his glasses. The gravel apparition crept forward and Mystery hissed between his sharp teeth.  Mystery scarcely glanced back to Arthur when the human set his metal hand on his shoulder, and Mystery averted his gaze to keep track of the tall demon fabrication.  Not in front of Arthur.  Not again. Mystery raised a rear foot behind him and pushed it gently to Arthur’s knee and nudged the mud soaked pants leg. Arthur pushed himself to his feet and shuffled away, while Mystery continued to back up from the Gollum. The entity, gravel demon, kept its glimmering eyes fixed on the smaller creature.

“Okay…nice and easy,” Arthur edged, eyes on the entity. “Run!”  He spun around and shot off.  Mystery followed in the same manner, ears pinned back and head down. A soft rustling came from their backs as the creature charged after them.

Mystery barked, his breath misting in his face as he pursued Arthur.  They needed their gear, all of it probably.

Arthur cursed as he pivoted, skidding over the slick road in his shoes and ducked down.  He fell to his knees and clawed at the cold asphalt, his metal arm scratching as he scrambled back to his feet.  He felt a rush of air over his head.  When Arthur tilts his head up, he sees one large arm of the entity outstretched inches over his spiked hair.  The entity faded but kept its outline as it dug its claws and hooves into the road, but fell partway into the road when it lost traction completely.

“Too close!  Too close!” Arthur harped, without a glance back.  He tugged at the long sleeves of the leather jacket as he came upon the grocery bag and backpack he had dropped beside him at the time, when Vivi had fallen. Mystery’s legs clack at the road, every few feet the dog glanced back as the rustling of the Gollum cut through the distant between them.  Mystery barked softly.  “I know! This is as fast as I go!”  But when Arthur grabbed the bags and chanced a look back over his shoulder, he took on a new speed.  

Now Mystery found himself having a hard time keeping up with Arthur, as they jackknifed their course and ran along the tree lining beside the road.  Mystery was partially distracted, he kept glancing up as he tried to match Arthur’s pace.

__

Awareness crawled back into Vivi’s thoughts.  She couldn’t recall what had happened to lead up to her groggy, frigid state.  The dull thudding pressed into her hearing, among the soft hiss of rainfall. Her hand was icy and wet and she could feel no sensation in her palms at first, which drew up alarm in her.  Was she hurt? She couldn’t remember.  When she shifted, she winced at the hot pain in her shoulder and felt a tight constricting around her chest, pressing her into the cool mass against her.  The blurriness cleared from her eyes and she realized she was staring into a vibrant wall of pink, a satin tie if it were to be described.  Vivi arched her head up to gaze at the skull above the suit collar, water droplets collect along the upper jaws teeth and drip into her face.  She sees the eyes gleaming in small pinpoints within the eye sockets, but the gaze… doesn’t stare back.

“Lew?”  No answer. “Lewis?”  She picks up on Arthur’s scream and Mystery’s echoing barks, somewhere beyond the subdued thrum of the locket.  Vivi’s own heartbeat quickens painfully in her chest, given the situation she was made present to.  What is Lewis looking at?  She struggles in his hold, pulling her frigid arm up to her chest and pushing, trying to find where he and she were, and where Arthur and Mystery could be now. The arms around her tighten to a painful degree, and Vivi turns her gaze back to Lewis as she takes a strained breath. “Lew.  You’re hurting me.”  The crushing grip pauses but his arms wouldn’t loosen.  But, Vivi now had enough space that she could turn her head down to see….

Open air and trees way below their feet.  Sixty feet, maybe eighty.  Maybe.  Her free hand grips at Lewis’ collar.  The fog coats the tree tops with a thick gray shroud, and the tall pines stand along the slope below, angled, sharp.

Vivi blinks some of the water collecting in her eyes away.  “You… you’re okay, Lew.  It’s all right, I’m here.”  No response.  Not even a flicker in his dimmed eyes.  Vivi found she couldn’t describe the skulls expression accurately, it looked vacant. Not frightened, but gone.  

Shut down.  Lewis had shut down to a basic level, but he had enough sense in him still to keep himself suspended, and latched onto Vivi.

“Stay with me,” Vivi whispered.  She wriggled her other hand free, and again Lewis tensed his arms around her.  Vivi pressed her elbows into his chest as she stared at his skull.  “Can you hear my voice?” she asked.  “It’s gonna be all right.”  She removed her elbows from his chest and raised her arms, but hesitates. Lewis made no indication he had seen or heard her at all.  If his locket was any suggestion of mood, it showed nothing but from its usual soft pulsing, maybe a tinge more of tarnish and reds rather than its usual gilded quality. Vivi shoved her hands over his eye sockets and gripped his skull.  “Just listen to my voice, okay Lew?”  The skull jerks in her grip and the hands around her chest loosen a fraction. “Don’t let go!  Hold tight!”  Lewis arms remain locked around her, and Vivi clenches her own teeth tightly as she stares at the skull under her pale palms, the splash of vibrant ‘hair’ tussled over her wrists.

“Can you move Lew?” Vivi prompts, voice strained.  She heard alarmed barks from Mystery, but Vivi could only shut her eyes and pray that they were all right.  She took a breath.  “Follow my voice.  Can you do that?  Don’t let go, and follow my voice.  There’s safety, solid ground.  Safe ground.” Vivi nearly tears the skull off his shoulders when they begin to descend, but slowly.  “Wonderful.  You’re doing so well, just focus on my voice.  Follow me.”

“Vivi?” the voice rumbled.

“Stay with me, Lew.  A little higher,” she says, glancing back.  “We’re almost there.  Just please, don’t drop me.  That would really suck.”

“Drop you?”  When they were a little closer to the brush covered edge, Vivi stole her hands back from Lewis’ skull and plastered her arms over his shoulders.  Lewis lowered them down until he detected the solid rock and stood there, staring across the road.  He came back to himself a little more and took note of Vivi coiled around him, legs locked around his waist, and arms twisted over his shoulders.  He raised his skull above his collar a bit. “Are you okay?”

Vivi shook her head against his shoulder.  “No.”

Lewis was about to ask about what had happened exactly, when a shrill cry came from Arthur.  Vivi snapped her head from Lewis’ chest, and Lewis leaned forward to see Arthur not far down the road at the edge of the bridge.  The Gollum had him and Mystery pinned.

“Run, Mystery!  Run!” Arthur had one of the creatures smaller arms gripped in his metal hand, but it still had three other limbs to grip at his remaining arm and legs.  The creature didn’t have a mouth but it was pulling Arthur out by his legs and arm, and Arthur was trying to pull himself out of its grip.  “I’ll be okay!  Just find… find the—” Arthur cut off as he felt the first a dull crack in his ribs.

Mystery snarled and lunged.  The Gollum gave the dog little notice as Mystery darts in, one of its large arms released Arthur’s leg and lashed out at the barking dog.  Distracted, the entity pulled its torso back and looked up but hadn’t a chance to react before Lewis blasted into it from the side, fire spewing from his wrists down into the creature’s thick neck.  It toppled sideways with Lewis pressing it the dirt a few yards from Arthur.

Vivi dashed to Arthur’s side as he crabcrawled backwards from the gray thing and the sudden intense flames shooting out of Lewis.  “Are you hurt bad?”  Arthur winced to Vivi as she grabbed his shoulder.  “C’mon, move then!”  She dragged Arthur up to his feet.  “Why are you wearing his jacket?”

“I learned from you, okay?” Arthur grumbled.  He followed Vivi when she sprinted off.

Mystery whined as he limped, one front paw was raised from the black tarmac as blood seeped down his dark toes.  He went back for the bags left in the roadside and plucked up Vivi’s backpack, he raised it to her as she and Arthur caught up.  “I’m sorry Mystery, I didn’t see you hurt yourself.” Vivi tossed her backpack up to Arthur as he hurried by them, to the bridge.  She hefted Mystery up and grabbed the water slicked grocery bag and caught up with Arthur.

Another wall of fire tore from Lewis ribs and collar as maneuvered around behind the hissing Gollum.  It followed, swinging its head down towards Lewis but missed catching the dapper ghost with its horns.  Lush green brushes and thick leaves tear at its legs as it thudded and bound around the small clearing under the trees, it thrashed its head with a bullish quality whenever Lewis let it get near.  He had to be careful, it was not spectral and remained solid constantly, but he had found it could drag him back into a physical state through unknown means.  The larger front legs slashed at the pine littered rocks, dragging it forward with power and speed.  Occasionally, if Lewis let himself drift too near the earth beneath him, he could detect the loose soil sag at his feet and slow his retreat like quicksand.

It leapt high, higher than something its density structure should allow.  Lewis ducked aside on a swirl of flames and skids out of the way, leaving it to collide with the trunk of a pine in his place.  Bark shredded in its claws and the Gollum recovered, only to stare at the damage it had left.

While it was distracted, Lewis glanced off and took note of Vivi and Arthur as they raced across on the road.  They checked him before hurrying through the overgrowth of tree branches struggling through the rusted side railings of the road bridge.  A little longer, then.  Lewis returns to his current project, and glides backwards when the Gollum lashed out for him.  It moved fast on one gallop and caught up to Lewis, on impulse Lewis drew back a fist and struck out with a blazing punch.  Fire spread up and down the Gollum’s face and neck, but the creature merely shook it off.

As before.

It was more for his reassurance than protection, but it took too much out of him.  Lewis swings back and lands among the short shrubs.  He gives his collar a quick fix and straightens his tie, while the Gollum crept closer, the set of eyes between its horns track him.  When it’s close enough Lewis kicks off and move right at the precise moment when it crouched for a lunge, but his feet were caught in a tangle of thick mud.  The Gollum drags its head up and hooks Lewis’ in the ribs, and rears back on its hooved feet heaving Lewis up out of the slick silt.  Both sets of arms tear into his hips and legs, with him secure the limbs begin to pull at his body.  

Lewis scrabbles at the thick hide with claws, thick puffs of fire cough out around his neck collar.  He isn’t certain what could possibly happen if he’s pulled apart, he can’t feel the pain of being broken again, but he can feel whatever ether that consisted of his physical essence drag out from him.  He was losing focus, losing a sense of existence.  Whatever consisted of his emotions and awareness was winking out, dislocating far around his body until he had nearly lost connection to himself.  The distant rain in the pine trees became thunderous, the cold air ripped into his core.  Fading.  It was like fading into a null of vacant presence.

Flames tore out of Lewis, engulfing his graying suit.  The Gollum gave a strained rasp as the blaze knifed through the moist cracks of its pebbled body, it swung its head until he was dislodged and it could back off.  He tumbled through the wet shrubs before he managed to recover and rise up, flames and spirit orbs still drift around his shoulders.  Lewis watched the Gollum as it rubbed its side into the rocky soil, struggling to douse the small crackling embers that persisted to vex its hide.

It stops altogether and rears up, as if listening for… elsewhere. The fire on it seems unaffected by the mist, but it has forgotten about that affliction altogether.  He collected himself and raised up, prepared to steal back its attention, but the Gollum simply turns away.  It races towards the bridge, fully ignoring him.  

A gust of embers haze away from Lewis’ skull as he streaks after it, the soggy ground sizzles as he kicks up sparks.  When the Gollum reaches the bridge it fades and nearly disappeared completely, before it leapt up upon the roof of the bridge.  It was silent as it moved, the taps of rain the only sound across the steel top.   He paused beneath the rusted and hole riddled eave debating if he should chance following up there.

He decides to glide across the road of the bridge, towards Vivi and Arthur at near center setting up, beside the rail and the wall that opened up about shoulder height to view the chasm below.  They don’t notice him at first and Lewis doesn’t try to warn them, or slow their progress.  He tilts his skull back and he watches the roof, he strains to pick out where the Gollum might appear under the constant hiss of the rain.  Would it know where, he wonders?  It would have to, he reasoned, it realized the danger it was in. A cry comes when Lewis is a few feet from the group, Mystery is barking as the Gollum squeezes through the open wall of the bridge.

“Crap!” Vivi choked out.  She stumbled away when the creature barely missed her when it bucked with its hooved feet.  It was still twisting around, turning to Arthur as he sprang out of the way of its flying claws.  Vivi hit the back of her legs at the rail beside the road and she flops backwards, onto Mystery’s back when he darts up under her to break the fall.  Mystery yaps as he crawls out from under Vivi, he snags the sleeve of her wet sweater in his teeth and tugs her toward the little pine branch shrine she was working on at the base of the bridges wall.  “But Arthur!”  Vivi tugs back.

Arthur stumbled out of the Gollum’s path when it turned on him. He cursed as he pulled around Vivi’s backpack from his shoulder and rummaged through its interior.  He knew what he was looking for and snapped a few glimpses of the Terraria as it moved at him, the Gollum’s head low near his toes. A small rise of relief filled Arthur when he found the bottle of salt, and in one fluid motion he had it uncapped and had a small circle fixed around him on the damp bridge.  There was high likely hood it wouldn’t work, Vivi had warned him, but he wanted a small bit of hope, as the Gollum was bearing down on him.

Odd.  It was as if Arthur had imprisoned himself in the salt barrier.  The Gollum reared back and twisted its claws out, and Arthur found he couldn’t move.  The shock of it all, he supposed.  He was stunned, as it brought its claws down and pinned him to the road.  The Gollum leaned over him and bore its weight upon his body, Arthur gave an involuntary cry as the air was forced out of his lungs.

And then, it spoke.  “HOW DARE YOU, MORTALS, INVADE MY HOME.”

Arthur blinked at the mist in his eyes and struggled to drag air back into his lungs.  “I… We—” He choked, as it applied pressure onto its palm.

Then the Gollum swung itself back with a shriek, as a high wall of flames burst around Arthur and his small salt circle.  Arthur gathered himself and cringed down into a tiny ball at the center of the sizzling ring, and wonders if he wouldn’t have been better off being crushed to death.  But when he peaks at the Gollum, it had moved back and took no further act of violence on him.

Maybe that was because Lewis appeared right in front of it and grabbed it by the horns.  It jerked back, and Lewis followed its recoil.  Crackling fire surged down its face and chest as it tried to wrench out of his reach and gore or snag Lewis with its longer arms, but Lewis had risen his body out of its grasp and up towards the ceiling of the bridge.

The movement of the Gollum ceased at once, and it stood poised with Lewis hovering above its slanted face.  He was staring into the glimmering gray eyes as the light in them faded, like the shimmer of a river stone sinking into mud.  Lewis released the horns and drifted back, lowering himself to the road below while the fire ring continued to cackle and spit around Arthur.  The drab blotches soaked into the remainder of the Gollum’s body, turning its moist gravel skin into choppy dust.  In his peripheral, Lewis could see Vivi lean on the rail beside the road to watch, as the body of gravel began to collapse into the hollow shell of its core.  The dust spread into a pile onto the road and the edges of it quickly became black as they were splattered with light rain.  In the center of the thinning layer was a white edge poking out.

Lewis tilts his skull to the side and glides forward, dipping forward to reach into the pile of muck.  From the gray matter he plucked out a yellow and partially bleached ribcage that fit on the palm of his hand.

“Hmm,” Lewis said.  He swings back away from the remains and lowers his hand, as Vivi and Mystery come over. “You think someone made this… Gollum?” he asked, out of reference.  He didn’t know what else to call it.

Vivi shrugged, as Lewis flipped the remains of a body over with one finger.  “Could’ve been some animal.  Are there any more?” She looked to the thin mound, as Lewis made a scratchy echo in his chest.

“I’m not digging through that.”  Lewis let Vivi take the little ribcage, and she with Mystery returned to the memorial that had been assembled.

“Uh… hey?”  Arthur peered out through the flickering flames of magenta that surrounded him. Lewis didn’t turn around.  “Can I get outta the fire crib now?  I promise to behave.”  Arthur gave a sigh, trying still to work the stiffness out of his lungs. Lewis waved a hand over his shoulder and the flames dispersed.  Arthur sat on his knees a bit longer staring at Lewis’ back, and Lewis watched Vivi begin pulling candles out of the grocery bag.  “Thanks.”

The skull above Lewis’ shoulders twitched, but he didn’t look back. “Yeah,” Lewis echoed, as his form faded away.

Arthur moved to his feet quickly, the sleeves of the jacket slipped down over his hands.  “Fine, be that way,” he muttered.  He pulled the sleeves back up his arms and moved across the road, occasionally checking the pile of silt as he went.  “I think he’s gone back to the van.”  He could see beyond the bridge through the deep chasm where the trees stood in the curving, sweeping mountains.  In the distance it looked like the cloud cover had opened some, but the rain fell as consistent as ever.  It sounded nice now, while they were under cover.

“Probably,” Vivi answered.  “I could’ve used his help though.”  She set the candles down beneath the small shrine of bent and tied pine branches.  “Did we leave the lighter in the van?”  Arthur reached into his pocket and handed his over.  Vivi gave the yellow case a short examination, before she knelt down and began lighting candles.  Vivi pondered over her question, carefully orchestrating it in a manner that Arthur could not say ‘No’ to.  “Could you take Mystery back?” she said.  Three candles lit.  “He hurt his paw.”

Arthur raised his brows, and glanced to the dog beside him. Mystery gave Arthur his largest eyes and whimpered, holding up his red stained paw.  Arthur sighed and leaned over to pick the soggy dog off the road. “You sure you’ll be okay?”  He was backing away already, glancing to pile of muck that had become the Gollum.

“I will,” Vivi answered.  She put her hand over one candle and let the heat spread through her skin.  She didn’t want Arthur to get sick, he couldn’t afford it.  “Take care of Mystery.  Ah, and maybe call a tow truck to get the van upright?  The roads should be safe-er now.”  Roads would always hold accidents for the foolish, but without the Gollum’s influence there should be no unnecessary loss of life.  “Did Lew’s fire dry you out?”  She smirked back at Arthur.

Arthur sighed.  “A little. I’ll see you soon,” he murmured, and turned walking away.

Vivi watched him leave, a thin smile on her lips.  She looked again to the lighter he had handed her and resumed lighting the candles.  That was two more.  Three center, three on the right, and three to the left; all in that order.  When Vivi turns around, she’s startled by the person on the bridge with her.  

“It’s very nice, merci manquer,” the woman says.  Her clothing is lacy and white, absolutely dry.  Curls of peach hair stick out from under the large white bonnet she wears, and a sort of crocheted collar is around her neck. Vivi was staring at that, when the woman tips her hat and moves away.  Vivi follows her direction, and sees a group of people waiting for her, all dressed formally in attire that does not match the modern era.  Unless maybe they were going to a church.  The woman takes the hand of a small boy in a sky blue suit, and the small boy gives Vivi a last look before the woman leads him away to follow her group.  “Ne rester en sécurité, Bleu Moyen.  Do stay safe.”  

Vivi smiles sadly as she watches the group depart.  She dabs at her eye with a dry hand as she turns to take up the grocery bag.  She pulls out the teddy bear – purchased on a whim when they were shopping for candles – and sets it behind the collection of candles.  The rain patters and slicks down the sides of the roof, the sound distant and despondent as she stands alone upon the bridge cold and wet.  Vivi turns her head, but as she suspected the odd troupe of people had gone.  The road was safer, and maybe, maybe if people still used it, they would no longer see the odd hitchhikers out searching for home.

__

“They were French, maybe visiting foreigners,” Vivi said.

Lewis hummed for a minute as he pondered.  “Bleu Moyen would be,” he said, narrowing his eyes around their dark pits as he frowned, “Blue Medium.”

“Hmm.  I figured it was blue something,” Vivi admits.  She sat in the center seat beside Lewis and watched the darkened road ahead.  The engine puttered and hitched occasionally, but Arthur had given the van a thorough check over once they got it upright.  Or, Arthur got it upright.  With Lewis help.  While Vivi was away still, Arthur was able to get a wench system set up in the tree branches and managed to heave the van over onto its wheels.  It took some time, but in the end it had saved them a lot of trouble.  

Arthur was already knocked out in the back, curled up in a nest of sleeping bags, blankets, and Mystery.  With some amusement, Vivi recalled that Arthur was still wearing Lewis’ jacket, but since Lewis hadn’t made mention she figured that he knew Arthur probably needed it right now.

“Is that what you’re going to call me now?” Vivi asked.  The heater wasn’t on at all, but the window was shut and she was sitting right beside Lewis.

He shook his head and smirked.  “Naw.  Maybe… Mi Arándano Medio.  Or just Arándano Medio.”

“Is that Spanish?” she asked.  Vivi glanced at Lewis’ arm as he set it on the back of the seat behind her.

“It’s Spanish,” he answers.

“What’s it mean?”

“My blueberry.”  Lewis jolts a little when Vivi lies down and sets her head on his lap. She smiles up at him as he twitches, glancing down at her a few times while also trying to keep his focus on the road.  He forgot to turn on the headlamps and reached over to flip the switch.

“You don’t mind, do you?” Vivi said, expressing some concern.  “I’m a little run down from all of that… wildness.  Thanks for saving us, by the way.”  She folded her arms across her middle and enjoyed watching Lewis fumble with speaking, before he managed some audible words.

“No-no,” Lewis’ voice hitched, but it cleared somewhat as he went on.  “No matter what, I wouldn’t stay idle if my friends were in danger.”  He checked back over the head rest, into the vans interior as he moved his hand back onto the steering wheel.  “Never.”

Vivi raised her brows a bit in mock surprise. “Really?”

“You know it,” Lewis said, and gave her a small smile.

“Okay.  How about boysenberry.”  Vivi rubbed at the bandage on her arm, where she had cut herself after the fall.

“What?”

“Boysenberry,” she answered.  “In Spanish.  How do I say it?”

“Espera dis… err…”  Lewis glanced at his hands and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel as he considered. Then, he gave a wide smile. “Rey púrpura.”

Vivi glared up at his smug grin.  “Are you being honest?”

“No….” Lewis droned out, little lights in his eyes darting off from her frown.

“Tell me.  Now.” Vivi had a method for appearing intimidating, while lying on your lap, and staring at your face, all while she’s trying to seem serious but really, Lewis knew she was fighting off that grin. “Lew-Lew.”  She reached up for the locket on his chest.

“Bayaboysen.”  He watched as Vivi’s hand drew back to her chest, and inwardly he sighed.

She giggles, and Lewis no longer feels on edge.  “Really?” she chirped.  “Bayaboysen?”

“There wouldn’t be an actual translation, but this sounds more exotic.”  He grinned around the words.  “You like?”

Vivi cackles.  “Yes! Bara Bayaboysen.  Bara Bayay.  Mi bara baya bae.  Can I go on?” She clasped her hands to her lips and smiled.

Lewis slumps in his seat.  “I should have held my voice.”  He didn’t have a tongue, or vocal cords anymore, and barely had a voice as it was.

It is night now, the van rolls tirelessly through the black cage of the pine trunks curved around them on the thin road.  Sometimes there’s a curious animal at the edge of the tress, usually a mouse or raccoon, sometimes a deer gazes out as the van rattles by.  Lewis realizes how quiet it is and looks down at Vivi, but she doesn’t feel asleep. She’s quiet and relaxed, a bit bleary but holding on to the conscious world.

“Getting sleepy?” Lewis asked.

“Nope.”

Lewis lowers his hand and strokes her cool cheek.  “You saved me.  Didn’t you?”

“Hmm?” Vivi hummed.  “I… when?”

The road stretched far ahead, spun around dark turns and crooked broken tree branches.  Far above them the sky opened and dazzled, a thousand stars twinkling.  He thought about the pit.  “I got… lost, someplace dark,” he began, looking at the sky through the windshield.  Glimmering, far into the deep inky black.  “Your voice was there.  I could hear your voice calling, and I followed it.  I didn’t know what else to do.  It—” Lewis came back, he twitched and turned his sight up to the rear view mirror.  A skull stared back, bleached, burning ember eyes.  He shifted in his seat and brought his attention back to the road.  When he moved to take his hand from Vivi, she clasped it to her cheek.  He glanced at her.  Vivi was calm, tranquil, and there was a gentleness in her that had the capacity to tear him to pieces.  It wasn’t fair that such emotion should ripple through him.

“It’s all right,” she said.  “You’re gonna be okay.”  Lewis snapped his bright eyes back to the road, and hid his sour disappointment easily. “You’re scared of heights.”  Lewis didn’t respond, except to rub his thumb on Vivi’s chin.  “I was always scared of that space under my bed when I was little,” she offered, voice soft.

Lewis huffed, and a little mist of pink spread from his skull. “This is… a little different.”

“I know,” Vivi hisses.  “Jeez, don’t take it so literally, you’re worse than Arthur with playful jokes.”  

Lewis makes a sound, something sharp like a crack.  The radio pops to life with some soft music, and Lewis quickly snatches his hand from Vivi’s grip to lower the volume but not off. When he tries to replace his hand to the steering wheel, Vivi steels his wrist and brings his hand back to her cheek. Lewis says nothing, but he is content to stroke the soft space along her neck.  Vivi is quiet for a long time, the soft drum of his locket kept pace with the passing seconds.

“What if… you were the one that was under my bed?” Vivi asked, voice groggy.  “You would do something like that, wouldn’t you?  You have a spooky reputation you gotta uphold and all.”

And Lewis ponders as he strokes the soft folds of her hair, and wonders of hiding under a child Vivi’s bed.  She never kept up with her room when they were kids, still didn’t if he knew her (and he was confident he knew his Vivi).  Lewis had doubts that he would fit under any bed, and if he could he didn’t believe it would befit such a dapper specter all that much.

Vivi goes on, “What would you have done if I decided to confront you one night?  You know I would have, it was just inevitable.”

A soft hum rises in Lewis chest as he ponders the prospect. Go back in time and haunt a child Vivi’s bed?  “I think,” he begins, “I would have been very cross if a child – even you – thought it proper to confront the spirit haunting their bed, and I would have swooped upon you, and scolded you for being up at such a late hour.  Then, I would tuck you soundly into bed and tell you stories all night long, until you were fast asleep.  When I knew for certain that you were indeed and well asleep, I would give you a kiss, and relocate myself to the closet.  Where there’s more room.”  He looked down at Vivi as she lay silent, eyes shut and breathing steady. She looked asleep, but was she? He couldn’t decide.  Lewis kept his soft hymn calm and smooth.

“You did that once.”  The voice nearly caught him off guard, but it was only Vivi, half asleep.  “When we were kids.  Yeah.  You hid under my bed, because it was so cluttered no one would look for you there.” Lewis made a soft chortle.  He could NOT see himself hiding under anyone’s bed, even if he was a young lad again.  Well, maybe Arthur’s, but that was different.  Vivi yawned.  “You told your parents, that mine said it was okay if you slept over, and I just told mine you went home early.”  She snickers. “And the plan was to stay up all night, and fight off the monster that did live under my bed.  You were ready to go at it, I was impressed.”

A little more than confused, Lewis darted his eyes along his eye sockets as he considered.  “I don’t really re—” Then it came back to him.

He did do that!  Just like Vivi said.  At the time his heart was pounding, he’d never lied to his parents before and they were so trusting of him.  But it was for the greater good, and he wanted to be Vivi’s hero.  He did it for her.  Lied to his parents and was ready to face a bone crunching monster, with gnashing blood drenched teeth—this is how Vivi so eloquently put it at the time.

Turns out there was no monster or ghost, or anything as they had thought.  After some hours of waiting in boredom, Vivi declared the monster very rude, and announced they would make a sheet fort to protect themselves, if it came back from wherever rude monsters went.  They huddled inside with a few spooky story books Vivi had selected, and Lewis read to her for the remainder of the night, until they fell asleep.

“Ooh.” Lewis winced, as if taking a blow from the memory and the consequences of their mischief after all these years.  “We got into so much trouble.”

“It was worth it though,” Vivi mumbled.  “And we found out that there was no monster under my bed. Just Yew,” she said, and giggled a little.  She gripped Lewis’ sleeve and tugged his arm down and hugged his wrist.  Lewis let her, and only kept his hum sifting on the air.

Lewis remembered that in the intermission time, while her parents and his were sorting out the matter, Vivi had turned to him and announced the monster was so petrified by Lewis hiding in its spot, it gave up the ghost and went to bother someone else.  Lewis was a hero.  That had been fun, now ten years later.  Yeah. Now it was fun.  

“Art’s been telling you ‘bout the good ol’days, huh?”  Lewis murmured, without breaking his soft coo.  The engine rattled a bit as he eased off the gas to gain higher gear.  He hoped Arthur had been as thorough as said when he gave the van a checkup.  

Arthur makes an odd little sound in the back as he fumbles around and thuds to his side, or something.  The interior back of the van was still a mess, but Arthur had cleared enough for himself and Mystery.  It was possible he had heard his name muttered in Lewis’ voice, but Arthur resumed his heavy slumber without further noise, and Lewis let the cool ease roll through his form.  The rhythmic chug of the engine whined out as the slope ended, and the van descends back onto lower lands.  The thicket of pine trees cleared, the ground was hilly but low and leveled.

“He still doesn’t like to talk about the old days,” Vivi admits. “I just come up with these ideas of what we might’ve done when we were little.  To compensate, y’know.  So I feel like I do have something from back.”  She pressed her face into his sleeve, and mumbled, “Sounds like we got into a lot of trouble.”

“Yeah,” Lewis rumbled.  “But it was worth it after all.”  He’s not sure, if he had skin he might’ve been, but the sense of touch was foreign to his peculiar essence now.  He was accustomed to the absence, but he could remember the contrast and still revisit. He didn’t want to say anything at first, if he wasn’t certain.  He could detect the warm moisture seep into his sleeve where Vivi was hugging him. “I know, Vi.  I know,” he hummed.

“I’m happy,” Vivi said.

“I know,” he replies.  “You can cry and still be happy.  That is the best sort of happy, I believe.”

“I missed you,” she mumbled into his sleeve.

Lewis looked at Vivi, though she couldn’t see it.  “I’m here.”  But he began to sift through their words and only then, understood what Vivi had meant.  Lewis went quiet as Vivi drifted and dozed, and finally was asleep.  

No, no.  She couldn’t remember.  He burned out those memories, stole them away.  At that time it was all he was capable of, the bad with the good.  He could accept the toll, he could sustain though knowing his actions.  But, if Vivi could reach so far back, she would be able to see what no person should ever have to witness.  No.  He glares at the bright glow in the rear view mirror, accenting the circular edge of his eye sockets.  This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Vivi held his sleeve tightly.  Lewis couldn’t take his arm back, but he didn’t want to anyway.  It was tempting.  A way.  Reinforce the lock.  Banish the past completely.  But he couldn’t risk it.  Couldn’t risk doing what he had no comprehension or understanding of.  There must be another way.  When he had first done it, he had nearly… it had almost happened.  But he was stronger than the call, the compulsion of whatever was beyond.  The absence of everything that had mattered to him in life.  Lewis could test how strong the bond was, but he would never risk it.  He remembered too much.  There was much he longed for in the world in a time when he had been his happiest, but the further he reached for old memories, the more distant and distorted they became.

Acceptance.  That was the Fifth stage of Loss and Grief.  It amazed him how powerful certain words be.