Seeing Their End — Chapter 19 and 20 (#NaNoWriMo Draft)

Frustrated and somewhat infuriated, I needed to do something. I can’t stay here anymore. I have to get back to Green Bay and do something about this. Today is Monday. By the end of Thursday, Kaley will be dead, unless I can stop it. I’m putting all my chips on Taylor helping me. Before I go back to find Taylor, I realize I need some help. I can’t just waltz into the police station and demand answers. This isn’t the time to be careless. With that being said, this is something I have to do outside the system. If the police are involved with what happened with Taylor, I can’t trust them.

Thankfully, my brother works a lot with technology. He was in the military for a while, and served overseas. We never got along very well, but after he came back, things have improved little by little. He still has flashes of the temper that would occasionally clash with my propensity to always say things that set him off, but they are fewer and far between. These days, he works with hospital systems, but I’m sure he still has a few tricks to help me with my issue. Of course, that means confiding in him. Well, what are brothers for if they don’t have your back?

I leave everything at the house, including Reeks, who is feeling very neglected at this point, and drive across town to the hospital my brother works at. I find a parking space a mile away. It baffles me how full this huge lot is all the time. The long trek through the lot finally ends at automatic doors near the front. I walk up to the front desk.

“Hello sir, how may we help you?” greets a friendly nurse. Ugh, I am once again struck by my unfortunate affliction. With all the lonely activities I’ve been involved in, I almost forgot about it. Sadly, this nurse doesn’t have long. I try and shake it off and contribute to my half of the conversation.

“Hi. I need to speak to my brother, Calvin. Is he here?”

“Let me page him. Give me one moment”

I watch as she punches some keys into her computer, then after a couple seconds of scrolling, picks up the phone and presses a few keys on there. She speaks into the headset, mentioning a request to come down to the lobby.

She finishes the call, then turns her attention back towards me.

“He’ll be down in one moment hun. Just have a seat right over there.”

I thank her, and find a spot to sit. It isn’t long before I see my brother come lumbering down the steps to the far right of the front desk. I stand up, and walk over to greet him. I recall a line from Tommy Boy (Brothers don’t shake hands. Brothers gotta hug!) as I near him. I open my arms, and we embrace for a moment. It is so nice to receive some friendly contact, as opposed to being pummeled to the head. I’m sure there is more of that to come, but I’ll take the respite.

“Lyle! What’s up man? Want to go get some lunch?” He says, cheerfully. I guess it is nice to know my presence is cheering up everyone else initially. Hopefully he can leave my presence as happy is it all started.

“Sure, I have something important to discuss with you. Ready to do your best Chloe impression?”

He chuckles, understanding my 24 reference, but probably not quite understanding what I need to ask of him.

“Let’s take my car. Your stupid thing is too small. Next time — buy a bigger car jackass” Ahh there it is. The brother I know and love. We walk out to the parking lot and over to his car. We head downtown, away from the hospital, and decide to have Dairy Queen for lunch. Even though it is fast food, it is probably one of the better places to eat in this town.

After ordering, we sit down.

“So, how is Isaac doing?” I start. I’m trying to be kind and sociable instead of getting right down to business. No sense in angering him to not help me. Time is of the essence, but I do need his help.

“Oh man, he is so awesome! He is walking now, and talking up a storm. That cute kid is going to be a genius. I can already tell. What’s new with you?”

What is new with me? Should I dive right into the gory details of my weekend? The newfound facts about our family history? I decide to get right to the point.

“Well…I’m in a little bit of trouble. I guess I’m not the one in trouble. A friend of mine I just met. She just went missing and I…”

He cuts me off.

“You…you spoke to a girl? No way. I kind of always thought you were gay. Especially after you got that cat. Phew. Dodged that bullet. And by bullet, you know I mean…”

Okay, time to shut him up.

“yeah yeah. Shut the heck up. Anyways, this is actually kind of serious, and why I needed your help. Her name is Taylor. She is a police officer, or at least she was. I’m not going to explain how we meet. I just need you to know she has gone missing. I have her cell phone number, but somehow somebody else is using it, and I’m being lied to about her. I’ve called, and I’ve been told she doesn’t work there and never has. But I was just there with her on Saturday! Can you help me?” I’m pleading now.

He looks at me quizzically. Clearly, my story has left lots of gaps and plenty to the imagination. Hopefully he doesn’t ask too many questions and lets the process move along here. Time is of the essence.

“Woah dude. Slow down. Why were you at the police station on Saturday? That sure doesn’t sound like you. You wouldn’t even swear growing up”

I fire back, this time more unrelenting “Listen man, are you going to help me or not? We can talk about the details later. I can tell you it was nothing serious, because clearly I am out right now. I have her cell phone number. Can you track it?” Insulting your brother probably isn’t the best idea when you need his help, but I figured he’d appreciate the volley after his previous comment. He laughs, allowing me to relax a bit.

“Alright dude. Take it easy. Don’t want you losing your religion over this. Yeah, I can track a cell phone. You’ll need to get connected to it for about a minute though. Think you can make that happen?”

“Oh I’m sure I can. At least, I hope so.”

“This sounds like fun. Listen, I’ve got to go back to work. I know this is urgent, but it is crazy slammed today. Meet me at my house at 5pm. Got it?”

As much as I wish he could help me now, I didn’t do a great job articulating how life or death this situation was. So now, I’ll have to wait. I try not to appear agitated, I’m grateful for his help. “Okay bro. 5pm it is.” We head back to the hospital after finishing our meals, and I make my way back to the house from there. Looks like Reeks will get a few hours of quality time today, after all.

Chapter 20

I feel something strange happening inside of me. All of the anxiety and feelings towards my predicament with Kaley have been replaced with worry and concern for Taylor. This is the reason I kept myself isolated. Keep myself unattached. I didn’t need to feel this helpless. Regardless, we are all intertwined now. My future needs Taylor, because without her, there can be no future with Kaley. Unless I’m wrong. Unless there is another way. You know, besides the whole sacrifice myself method.

My nails are reduced to nubs as I sit and wait for something to happen. Waiting for my brother to finish work these four hours has been excruciating. Even if he can help me, there will still be a lot of time to drive back to Green Bay. Watching too much action on TV has conditioned me to want answers and resolutions immediately. Life just doesn’t work like that.

As five o’clock approaches, I rise and find my way out the door. I decide to take a quick walk back by the pond again. It is such a place of serenity and peace, which is so badly needed in this messed up situation I’ve created for myself. I stare out across the greens and browns of the water. I rest my eyes on the popular turtle hangout log near the far end of the pond. About a dozen turtles packed on the log, even this late into the year. Just relaxing, without a care in the world. Crazy to think that in this moment, I am envious of the life of a turtle. When things get too tough, they just hide in their shell. Where’s my shell? Some might say I’m hiding right now, up here. Not much longer. My life has to have a greater purpose. It just has to. I choose to believe I can make a difference now. It is time to get out of my shell and choose a different path for myself. To find Taylor and save Kaley.

Okay, well that was certainly a valiant thought. My synapses fire to a different thought: just how in the hell do you think you are going to save Taylor? She is likely captive somewhere secure, surrounded by police and people trained at keeping other people at bay. I haven’t exercised much since college. I’ve seen fun noodles (you know, the foamy things kids use to swim with) with more strength than my arms. All I’ve got is determination. And maybe brains. Hopefully enough of both to make this happen. This realization makes me believe something positive may have come out of my affliction after all. I no longer fear death. Seeing it all around me and having no control over it has really softened me to it. Good thing — I might be meeting mine soon.

I check my phone — 4:55pm. Time to head over to my brother’s house to try and track down Taylor. I jump in the car and drive the short drive through the west part of town to reach his place. I park out front and walk up to the front door. Even though we are brothers, I still struggle with just walking into someone’s house, so I knock. His wife, Audrey, answers the door. I’ve always joked with my brother about this, considering she is a character in our favorite TV show (24, the one with Chloe in it.). Sadly, her death date is sooner than his, with an unfortunate health complication taking her life in 2040. Ugh. So young. If I can find Taylor and save Kaley, maybe there is hope to change the fate of others as well.

“Hey Lyle. Come on in. But please be quiet. Isaac is taking a nap”

“No problem. Is Calvin downstairs?”

“Yup. Head on down. He just got home so it might be a few minutes. Want something to drink?”

Having had a refill of a large soft drink at lunch, I decline. I head down the stairs and find my brother, who is setting up his equipment in the basement room to the far back of the lower level. This room happens to have a large window to the outside world, which will hopefully get us the signal we need.

“Hey. Dude, I just want to say again. I really appreciate this.”

“Lyle. I’m only going to say this once. What you are doing is really stupid. You don’t know what you are up against. This is too big. I think you need to take a step back and think clearly. What does this girl mean to you?”

Great question. What does she mean to me? She arrested me, became the first person to believe me, had me arrested again, which nearly led to me being killed, and then sent me away. Either I’ve developed Stockholm Syndrome at the fastest rate ever, or I’m crazy. It really could be either. But the whole reason really isn’t about Taylor, or at least I try to convince myself that. It is about Kaley. And it is about breaking this curse.

“I’ll be as honest as I can be” — here I go, spilling my guts again. If I survive all of this, I need to take a class on lying. — “I do want to save Taylor. But it isn’t about her. It is about something else you should know…” I trial off. Choking back tears. Even though I’ve been through this talk a few times recently, it gets more difficult each time, instead of easier.

“Lyle. What’s going on man? You can talk to me.” Ha. I’m not so sure I believe that. He’s always been critical of me. But, he’s the man with the tracking equipment. I’m the guy who needs to use it.

“I’m…umm…different. I have the ability to see when people will die. And how. There is a girl at school who I met. She is…” — tears are coming much more steady now — “she is amazing. I see a future with her. But, unfortunately, she doesn’t have on. By Thursday, she’ll be dead. I don’t have much time! Taylor is the key to this. I believe it strongly.”

I continue to explain to him my conversation with our dad, my trip to the cemetery, and my own personal revelations. I can tell it was a lot for him to take in, but he seems to have softened his stance.

“Woah dude. I never knew. I’m so sorry man. But, I suspected you had a better reason than you were letting on. That’s is why I talk to my boss before I left work, and took vacation for the rest of the week. I’m coming with you. You’ll need my help.”

Out of left field. My brother, who I’ve rarely seen, who has a wife and a new son, is offering to assist me in this potentially life-threatening mission. Although he may have packed on a few pounds in his years after his time in Iraq, he certainly has skills and knowledge that I can’t begin to imagine.

“I can’t let you do that? What about Audrey? Isaac? Calvin…you could die. I’ve accepted that I might need to die for the good of others. I can’t drag you into that.”

He shakes his head and grows serious with me. “Listen close — you are my brother. We grew up together. I’ve spent my entire life treating you like crap without knowing why you were the way you are. That doesn’t excuse me, in fact, that makes me feel like I owe you more. We’ll be smart, and we’ll be careful. But I need to help you. I’m coming with. And that is that.”

He is so stubborn. I really hate that about him. He has a family. He shouldn’t be doing this. I’ve dragged him into a situation he shouldn’t have to have worried about. There is no way to get him to back down now.

“…and one more thing Lyle” — he adds on — “you better not fricken say anything to Audrey. Let me talk to her. This is between you and me.”

I nod. He turns his attention back to his desk, where he sets up his laptop with a connecting port for my cell phone, and a software programmer meant for tracking.

As soon as he has everything set the way he wants, he turns back to me and says “Time to make a phone call. Remember you have to keep him on the line for one minute. I don’t need to tell you that if you blow this, our chances of finding your, umm, person go down the drain. Don’t eff this up.”

“I’ve got this bro. Let’s make the friggen call”