What does he want from me?
Heather van Aalderen took a step back as she watched the man before her walk closer to her. She looked around only to find herself alone with the man on the rooftop. Searching for immediate objects she could use to defend herself, she found her hands bare. Her throat was dry in fear but she clenched her fists instead as she took another step backwards. She could feel her heart beat faster and faster. A cold drop of sweat slid down the side of her ear.
Unable to speak, she gathered all her strength to make a hard turn and run back to the door where they came from. With one forceful twist, she bumped into someone that made her heartbeats calm. Damien? They met eyes and from Heather's he could read that she was screaming "Help me."
Damien stood strong, his chin up and he held Heather with his one arm to comfort her. He looked at Michael who was quite surprised at his sudden appearance. He could only give out a smirk in reply to Damien's glare.
"Who is this guy, Heather?" Damien asked without failing his stare.
"He...he's..he was the guy on the phone."
Giving himself one big breath, he walked forward only to keep distance between them. "Look man, if you're one of those writers, reporters, or whatever secret profession you have. I'm asking you to leave her alone. She's just got out of an accident and her father is in critical condition. I hope you could learn to respect their privacy and take your spins somewhere else. She's not the perfect subject for that book or article you're writing, so please." Damien delivered this as calmly as possible yet his stare was unchanging.
"She came here with me for answers, you all need to relax. As far as the amount of information I have, I'm obviously not the one you should be worried about." Michael replied without a slight hint of emotion. He walked past them back to the door from where they came from. They flinched as the man passed by them without doing them any harm. With the man far from where they are standing, Heather looked up at Damien who held her in his arms.
"How did you know where we are?" Heather was relieved.
"...I.. I followed you, that's not important, your dad is still on life support. What happened earlier was something the doctors couldn't really explain. He still hasn't woken up. I don't know. But Dr. Pearson told me that your dad is fighting to stay alive." He made sure he used the right words to say.
"There's a lot more that I need to show you, if you're still up for it, follow me" the mysterious young man told them before going out of their sight.
The two could only look at each other, "I don't trust this guy."
"He seems to know a lot about what happened at this place."
"Some 'Angelic Intervention'? C'mon! Who would believe that?"
"I don't know, Damien. Does coming out of a freak accident without a single injury seem more believable to you?" She was confused yet little by little she tried to piece together what she has seen from what she has experienced.
"All I'm saying is that, we can't just believe everything that this guy says, you don't even know who he is and what he's really up to."
"Well, we won't find it out if we don't follow him, right?" Heather started walking to where they saw the man went through.
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***
"What do you think, Doc?" a female nurse asked the doctor who just got out of the patient's room. He left the doors open as the nurse peered in.
"I don't know. We were able to hold him off while he was having some sort of seizure from god knows where. For a moment there I thought he would finally wake up but he reverted back in this condition like it was just some false alarm... Anyway, what happened downstairs?" Dr. Pearson was exhausted.
"The fire alarms went off, probably needs cleaning, it was just... like what you said.. a false alarm."
"You were one of the nurses who assisted the survivors from the bus, correct?"
"Yes, doc, what about them?"
"I was just wondering... what did you observe from them? Like anything specific? I mean, who knows one of them might end up like Mr. van Aalderen here. Did any of them show any signs of mental instability? You get me right?"
The nurse felt odd with the sudden tirade of questions by the doctor. "Well, none of them appeared to be having any of those, they didn't even appear to be tired, weak or drained after what just happened to them. They were pretty much walking miracles just like just like Mr. van Aalderen's daughter. Although there was this one... he was the bus driver I think, he just kept on asking me if it would be okay for him to go home. I don't know, while some of the survivors had a few recollection of what happened, I think this one could remember everything. He kept on saying he had to go see his family. Since we really didn't find anything wrong with them, he was the first one we let go."
This piqued the interest of the doctor. Even Heather was unable to remember most of what happened. What if this guy saw everything... what if this guy was able to witness everything in full detail. The accident. Explosion. Flames. The mysterious white lights. Maybe this person knows the answer.
"Do you have the patient files with you?" he asked.
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***
All the way back down the building, the two walked a few steps behind the person who claims to have the answers. They never once saw him glance back at them. He walked straight until he reached the side of the street, he raised his arm as a yellow cab stopped right beside him. Opening the back passenger door, he finally glanced back at them and only gave them a signal to get inside.
Without question the two hopped inside while the man got on the front seat. They didn't hear him say where they were going.
The tall buildings soon disappeared from their view as they were replaced by old trees and small houses that are far apart from each other. The classic suburban community. Each house were elevated on some hill and each had an old tree which sheds an amount of dried leaves. In one careful brake, they have arrived at their destination.
Before them was an old house, there were a few steps before they could reach the front door. Dried leaves were all over the grass which were all on the verge of wilt. Large steps led them to the wooden door with a round window. Two keys were used to unlock the door, which bothered Damien.
Once inside, all they found were things in disorder. It was almost like a college dorm room with empty bottles of beer, clothes hanging over furniture, packaging tapes on the edges of the doors, windows and some parts of the floor. Dim, and only the light that came in was from the small round window at the door.
"We can't stay here for long." Michael said. There was a slight change in his voice.
He went inside a room where there were computers and a whole rack of CDs and tapes, some of them were stacked all over the place. The bed seemed unused with a lot of books and newspapers that were cut into articles. Looking up to the wall on the side, there went the news articles concerning different freak accidents, at the center was the recent incident at the intersection. Older ones like a ship sinking, an oil spill, a plane crash, the 9/11, a subway wreck were all plastered on the wall. The articles were all about people's testimonies of seeing something strange before they managed to survive the incident. Book pages were also stuck on the wall, pictures of winged creatures, and printed copies of old paintings depicting a man with white wings. One thing caught Heather's attention, an article about the fire that happened 25 years ago as pictures of the article depicted bright white lights shaped like the one they saw on the Internet video of the accident.
"It was the house of the Marsden's, they said the fire started at 3am from just a candle toppled down by the wind. Firefighters arrived minutes later and the flames have already eaten up the whole residence. Fire spread out burning six more houses down to the ground. 22 people were killed in the incident and the only survivor was the Marsden's only son who was only 5 years of age. He was saved from the burning house with not an injury or at least a scratch. It was a miracle they said but little Marsden had to move with his grandparents later on for fear to be blamed in the accident. Little guy assumed a different name then there weren't anymore information that came after."
Somehow, the story was eerily familiar to Heather, as if she heard the same story somewhere but she couldn't get a hold of it in her head.
"If there are any events that are most identical with what happened at the intersection, it had to be this incident." He pointed at the picture of the Marsden's house burning with the white light in the smoke.
"Were you able to find out where the survivor could be now?" Damien inquired.
"No, but since what happened at the Intersection was publicized, I'm sure he would show up anytime looking for answers himself." He was busy working on the computer, searching for a certain file.
"I'm sure he has seen of the video I posted considering it was on the news."
"You're the one who took that video?" Damien exclaimed.
"Yes, and I'm sure you are aware that the video is incomplete. I had to cut out some of the truth." He answered, there was something in his voice that told Heather to brace herself for what she is about to see.
"Why? Why would you..." Damien was furious with his answer but was silenced when the video started playing.
It was the same video, starting out at a peaceful view of the intersection, cars were all organized, following the changing traffic lights. But this time it showed the car of the van Aalderen's dashing straight on a red light as the truck on the right side of the road has started moving past the intersection. One of the tires hit the slightly open cover of a manhole sending the car on flight before it directly hits the flammable tank. Boom. The frame shook at the explosion yet it remained still after a few seconds to capture the events after the collision. The flames grew at an enormous rate eating up everything on its path. In just a few seconds, the smoke became so thick everything in the video became dim, faint lights of people walking out of the flames burning until they drop down dead on the ground. The bright white light appears right in between the explosion then disappears ascending high up out of the frame after a few seconds.
Tears slid down Heather's cheeks at after seeing the events again in full detail. With both hands covering her mouth she almost lost her breath but she felt Damien's arms around her and all her fears were slowly dispelled.
"Investigators are going to find out about this soon, that you and your father are actually the cause of the accident. Right now, they are having a hard time finding any witness to the event as you may know, possible witnesses to the scene have died in the incident as well with the strength of the flames. Security videos were of no help as all of them seemed to be bugged after the explosion. This right here is the only proof of what transpired in that accident."
Suddenly they heard a loud thud. The front door was kicked open.
"They're here, quick! Get behind that door!" Michael whispered as he pulled the flashdrive out of the computer. They all tried to get through that one small trapdoor beside the bed. It was a hole, a panic room in case of earthquake. They proceeded to a small dark room with LED lights to guide the narrow path to another door up a small ladder.
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***
The interior of the suburban house was pretty silent, every step at the wooden floor made a slight noise. Cocking his gun, Murph slowly walked straight down the hall only where the light from behind him gave him a proper view of what's ahead. He looked back to his partner Randall who has behind him by the front door they knocked open.
Turning to the right, they found the room where only the computer screen gave light to the place. No one was there.
"He was here. Go check at the back!"
Randall quickly paced his way out of the room, into the kitchen and through the backdoor. Still no sight of who they were looking for. Birds flew away from the roof at the sound of the door opening. He hid his gun after seeing a nearby neighbor looking at what's happening at his area.
Rushing back inside, he found his senior Murph checking the computer for files.
"Murph, if this guy is the only witness left to be able to take a video of the incident, why do we come in by force. It's like we're looking for a suspect here."
"We need to shut this guy up. Whatever he's doing is not helping the system, he's causing panic for the public by posting these videos."
"The system?" Randall was confused.
"Why do you have so much questions?" Murph shot back at him, "...I was told by the High ups to handle this and you were privileged to come with me cause I chose you. Now please, prove to me that I was right when I chose you."
Silenced, Randall could only nod back at his senior.
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***
The sun has set and the dark has taken over the city. Heather and Damien got down from the cab that stopped right in front of the hospital. With the window rolled down, Heather looked at Michael who dare not look into her eyes.
"Thank you." Those were the only words she could say.
"Just be careful, Heather. You don't know what the people around you could be up to. Just be careful."
The cab drove off leaving the two behind. They looked around and there weren't a single reporter or journalist flocking the doors toward the hospital.
"I still don't trust that guy. I don't want you going out alone again, understand? You almost gave me a heart attack."
"I'm sorry, Damien, but we both know that he was only out there to help us."
"Still, I don't trust him." he replied in his stubborn voice.
It was quiet. All the nurses were all just doing their daily routines, checking in on patients, receiving new ones at the emergency room. There wasn't any rush at this time of the night. But something tells Heather, something was coming up. She can't explain it for herself but this was in her gut before she entered her father's room.
It was cold. She walked inside to find her father on the bed with those machines lined up by his side. Only the two lamps attached on the wall gave illumination, not too bright to keep the dimness of the room. Beep. Beep. Those were the only recurring sounds that can be heard in the room. All seemed well until she noticed something was off. A bloodstain was left on the floor beside the bed. The light made it even brighter and noticeable. The edge of the blot has dried. There were also a few small drops on a tile before the restroom with its door left open. Slowly, she pushed the door, letting it swing inward. No one was there.
She run outside in haste, straight to the lobby of the 7th floor. There was only one nurse at the counter holding a piece of paper with blood on the side.
"Excuse me, do you know who came last came in my dad's room?"
"Oh, it was Dr. Pearson, he actually gave me this patient file when he got out of your dad's room, he was in a hurry. I don't know. He just left afterwards." the nurse quickly answered still holding the file, its contents still face toward her.
She knew that the nurse wouldn't let her have a look at that patient file. Think. Heather, Think. She mumbled to herself.
"Thanks, and um, do you have any new towels? We kind of used the ones in my dad's room, I don't know there was blood on the floor."
"Oh, sure. I'll be right back" the nurse agreed and went to the door behind her, it must be where they kept their stocks of tissue, towels and toiletries. Yes, she left the file on her desk.
Taking advantage of the situation, Heather had the file on her hands.
Jernigan, Robert J., 38 years of age. Bus Driver.
Health problems: None.
It was dated back at the day of the accident.
His checklist indicated he was free from any health concerns. Normal heart/pulse rate, stable BP.
"One of the survivors..."
Why did the doctor have this man's file with him if he was in my dad's room? Why was he in a hurry?
Skimming the paper down, she found a remark at the bottom left, it was a previous record. He had been in the hospital twice for intoxication and once for a brief anxiety attack. These records were from just a month ago.
Could he have seen the figure that saved me in the incident? She thought to herself.
Quickly, Heather tried to memorize the address indicated below the bus driver's name by repeating it over and over in her lips.
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***
"Yeah. Everything's fine. I know I should have called earlier it's just that... a lot of things came up. I know, I'm not forgetting... Of course.." Damien said on the phone as he walked to the cab that stopped a few feet away from him.
Before he could even get in, he heard someone scream his name from afar. It was Heather, running toward him. What's up with all the screaming? He didn't even had the time to think as the girl shoved him into the cab.
Leaves rustled from the trees at one blow of the night wind sending the nocturnal avians flying in view of the full moon giving light to the silent streets. Silence was the only language shared by the unlit inanimate objects of the outside. Somehow, a noise made its way out from the edges of a door half-closed. They were screams. Two different voices. One was pleading while the other was asking for forgiveness.
"There were children. Innocent little children! I could still see them right in front of me, they were begging for help. I couldn't move. I was stuck in that god damned chair as I watched their faces melt in the fire."
A man was sitting on the ledge of the second floor of the house overlooking down the living room. The ledge creaked at his weight whenever he tried to make at least one single movement. He had this ancient looking flask in one hand flailing it in the air as he spoke, "I killed them... I fucking killed them."
"It wasn't your fault, Robert! Don't move from there, please just let me talk to you. Don't do anything stupid!" Dr. Pearson tried his best to grasp on the right words to use. His heartbeat was racing a marathon. One after the other.
"It was...yes it was my fault. I should not have been scared. I was too terrified to even breathe." He hit himself with his free hand making the ledge creak even louder. One more sway. Dropping the flask out of his hand, it swirled down to the floor spilling all of its contents.
"I'm here to help you, Robert. Not accusing you of anything. Everyone was a victim here, you don't have to face it alone, we can talk this over, you hear me? What happened was nobody's fault. It was an accident. Don't put this on your shoulder. You're an innocent man just like the rest of us. Please, let me help you!"
"He was right. He was right. The man in the brown suit was right. I should be blamed for this."
A man in a brown suit? This puzzled the doctor. It was though as if he heard of this simple description before.
"Who was right? Who is this man? Robert, don't believe him. You did nothing wrong!" was all the words he could say to the man on the ledge in his confusion.
You did nothing wrong.
You did nothing wrong.
The words echoed in the bus driver's head. In a heap of silence, a tear fell from his eye.
Light suddenly came flashing behind where the doctor was standing. Heather and Damien barged in only to witness the man on the ledge reaching for a belt around his neck. It was tied to sheets of cloth that lined up firm behind him.
"I was drunk." he confessed.
One jump.
Snap.
It was the only sound they heard.
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