Seeing Their End — Chapters 13 and 14 (#NaNoWriMo Draft)

Drive time is think time. Is three hours enough time to figure out how to explain this mess to my parents? Hopefully. They are great people, but I can’t say I talk to them as often as I should. I try and be really involved in my career and extracurriculars, so I’m exhausted at the end of the day. To keep costs down, I travel as little as possible unless it is something I can use to further myself.

Even though it has been nearly a year since I drove these roads, very little has changed. Most of my drive is through farmland highways, with a few tiny towns on the way up north. As I make my way up, I can visibly see that the leaves are slowly but surely losing their summer green and header towards their fall radiance, before falling to the earth. As much as I’d love to live somewhere that is warm all year round, there is something so beautiful and magical about the seasonal cycle that makes it hard to leave.

As I drive, I try and come up with a plan of action. It is early morning on a Sunday, the 27th of October. That gives me 4 days to figure out what I can do to save Kaley. My first step — figure out what might have caused this. Why was I chosen? Is there some connection I can find? I’m not looking forward to interrogating my parents, but they have to know more than they are letting on. Perhaps if I can figure out where this comes from, I can figure out why it is changing now. When you are so used to something being with you, even if it is a horrible thing, it is scary to think about losing it. I think back to an episode of House, where the titular character gave a deaf boy a cochlear implant without his permission, so he could hear. The boy ended up ripping it out because he was used to being deaf and didn’t want to live another way. That is how I feel.

But on the flip side — I will accept my fate if that means I can help others through it. With the sudden deviation from expected outcomes that I see, there is reason to believe that I can help others. Somehow. If I can’t find the secret by the end of the month, I’m not sure I’ll care anymore.

As I near my destination, my mind wanders. I think of a future with Kaley and the fun we could have. I’ve been reluctant to ask her out, not wanting to get too attached, feeling the outcome is inevitable. Even the short time we’ve known each other, I feel there is something there. Something I’ve never felt with anybody. It may be all in my head, but I believe if I can save her, this might be the future I want to be a part of. I wouldn’t call it love. I barely know her! But I would say that there are some people worth fighting for, whether you’ve known them for years or days.

I reach the first set of stoplights in Hinland, reminding me that I’m about 10 minutes from my destination. My stomach twists and turns. The nerves are creeping in as I realize that I’ve got to explain myself again to someone else. The drive has done nothing to make me feel like I can explain this comfortably. Maybe my parents will be more understanding now. Maybe they don’t need to know everything. What could I leave out? I make the final right town and am headed down the hill. Soon, the familiar yard where I was raised appears. The pine trees are so tall now, lined up against the road. I remember being able to jump over those, playing football in the backyard as a child.

I take the left turn in the driveway and park myself in the same dirt turnaround I always do, tucked against the dropoff that goes down to the swamp between the road and my current parking place. Reeks is still meowing — I’m surprised she doesn’t go hoarse. Then again, she is a cat, so she couldn’t be a horse. After chuckling to myself for a moment, I open the door and make the trek up the ramp and to the front door. I leave all of my stuff in the car for the moment — I want to be polite and make sure I ask if it is okay if I stay.

I walk into the house as I always do. It is quiet for a moment, then appears the dog. Forgot about him. Should make things interesting with the cat. After being jumped on, licked, bitten, and clawed for about 15 seconds, I fight my way through Reggie, through the kitchen, and into the living room.

“Lyle! What a surprise! What are you doing here?” exclaims my mom, Tammy, clearly happy but surprised at my arrival. My dad isn’t out here, but his truck was in the driveway. He must still be sleeping.

“Hi mom! Just thought’d I’d drop in since it has been a long time since I’ve been home! I’ve missed you.”

I walk over and we hug for a moment. Then I take a step back.

“To be honest, I actually have a pretty important reason why I’m home and I’m hoping you’ll both be understanding. But I want to wait until dad is up. You both need to hear this”

My mom has a confused look on her face that is also showing some concern, a quick departure from her enthusiasm prior to my last statement.

“Okay, but that really doesn’t sound good”

We both turn and face the TV and watch pre-game coverage of football. Well look at that. The Packers plan on having a moment of silence for a girl named Sarah before their game today.

Chapter 14

There is an awkward feeling in the air as we wait for my father to awaken and come on out. I didn’t really set the best tone, and my mom is always strange to talk to anyways. Normally, if I can help it, I’d like speaking with my dad. He and I are a lot alike: both big sports fans, both love stupid humor, and we both do the best with the hands we’ve been dealt. Even though I often feel like what I’m going through is so horrible, he had it worse.

His family was dirt poor growing up, and they struggled to support the five kids in the family. But, they proved that with love, commitment, and a little creativity, you can survive. My dad made the best of things, often turning what would seem like disadvantages into ways to enjoy life. For instance, he would use the wide open fields they lived in out in the middle of nowhere as a place to set up targets to throw a ball at. If he missed — he had to go running a while. Needless to say, he got pretty accurate.

I always felt like my father had this chip on his shoulder that he was going to provide a better life for his children than he had. And he sure did. Even though times have often been dicey, with multiple job changes, he was still able to keep a good salary and we never were left wanting. I couldn’t ask for a better father, and I would brag about him to the ends of the earth.

As I sit and think about all of this in the tense living room — by all accounts, my grandfather was a revered, hardworking man. So why wasn’t he able to hold down a job, or get work? My dad said it was because of a back injury, but before my grandpa passed away, the only issues he had were with heart disease and diabetes. Nothing about the back. Could he have been suffering from an affliction that no one else could see?

“Lyle! What a nice surprise!” my dad exclaims as he lumbers down to the hallway and into the living room. I rise to give him a hug, and we hold the embrace for a while. I’m not sure after explaining my story that he’ll feel the need to do so. But then again, I should really give my parents more credit than that.

As he comes into the room to sit down, my mother wastes no time.

“Larry, It is about time you woke up. Something is wrong with Lyle and he wouldn’t tell me until you came out here”. Well, at least there were a few happy moments.

“Ugh. What’d you do now? Rob a bank? Knock some chick up?” he chuckles in a sarcastic tone. The sarcasm is nice — at least I know he is on my side, for now.

So I proceed to recap my entire weekend, from start to finish. Exhausted as I am, the adrenaline of this confrontation keeps me going. They sit, silently looking at me as I unraveled a ridiculously unlikely and unfortunate tale in front of them. My hope is that some fiber of their being decides to start believing me now. Because I’ll need their help if I’m to figure out how to use this curse as a gift.

As I reach the end, the confused looks on their faces emerge. They’ve known me to be passive aggressive and non-confrontational. Having to fight off an enraged police officer who is trying to kill you is slightly out of character for me. Of course I would have rather he killed me, but you know, I was feeling like surviving today. I then unveil my request.

“So, with this crazy guy on the loose and knowing exactly where my house is, I’ve been put on a semi-witness protection situation until they catch him. Which is what brings me here. Mom. Dad. I know my story is hard to believe, and you’ve never believed me in the past, but right now, I need your support, I need your strength, I need your love. But most important, I need to sleep. Right now. I’m exhausted.”

In return, I am given a few chuckles as the seriousness of my humor breaks through the tension.

My mom answers quickly. “Sure — you can sleep in Isaac’s room” — Isaac is my little nephew, and my mom babysits him from time to time.

As badly as I want to sleep, I have one more task to accomplish — get the cat and my stuff inside the house. I enlist the help of my father, and we go outside and begin to ferry my belongings in. Weirdly, we don’t say a word. This must be his way of processing, because normally, he is very talkative. After we are all set in the back bedroom, I come back out to the living room to thank them.

“Mom and dad. I really appreciate this. Trust me — I had no other options. I love you both and I hope you can forgive me for being so distant. I just wish you’d have understood me.

My dad is the first to reply. “Son” — ugh, that word makes me shutter now. Thanks Greg. “we love you too. I’m sorry that we didn’t believe you, but this story does make it seem genuine. But there was something else we never told you. Something that worried us from the day your first told us. And it was the reason we wanted you to ignore it, even if that made us seem uncaring. You see, I remember my uncle saying he saw similar things.”

He pauses for a moment. I can tell this story is painful for him to re-tell.

“My relatives, believing in spirits and crazy occult stuff, encouraged him in his Death Sight as we came to call it. But, every time he tried to save someone, everything turned out exactly as his visions had predicted. So he drank. And he drank. And he smoked and smoked” — my dad chokes back tears as he finished — “and the man I loved and that taught me a lot of what I know eventually died from trying to stop the pain of seeing but not being able to do anything about it.”

He is sobbing now. My dad never cries. I’m ashamed for bringing this up and almost regret coming, even if it would have meant having to find some other way to survive Greg. I just stand there, unsure if I should console him or just head to bed. I’m about ready to collapse anyway. Instead, he starts up one last time.

“But Lyle, this isn’t hopeless for you. You telling us about the visions changing. That reminded me about that story, not because of my Uncle Thomas dying, but because of what he said to me right before he passed. He told me ‘Larry…I finally know why. I finally understand the reason. Larry, it is all clear now. This was a gift, given to me. My efforts weren’t a waste…they weren’t’.”

It is taking everything in me to stay upright, but I am trying to figure out exactly what my dad is saying. To me, it sounds like his uncle was losing it on his death bed. But my father seems convicted that this was something valuable. So I decide to ask one last question before heading to bed.

“Dad…why haven’t you told me this before?”

The tears began running down his face again. He could hardly contain them. In fact, I was moved and crying too. I had no idea what was about to come.

“Because…Thomas saw my death date, like the others. And that is why he died. He learned that sacrificing himself for someone else was the only way to change things. He died for me. That is why I’m still here.”

At that point, the combination of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion catches up with me, and a topple to the ground.