Dead. She couldn’t choke out the word—but that is what she thought. She thought P.J. was dead.
Sean rushed over and crouched next to Reenie. “I can’t hear a heartbeat,” she whispered.
“P.J. only fainted,” Artie said. “I’ll show you.” He knelt down beside P.J. And shook him the way he had shaken Sandi.
“Come on, P.J.,” Artie pleaded. “Don’t be a wimp. You can’t be that scared.” He shook P.J. harder. Shook him until P.J.’s head flopped back and forth on his shoulders.
Greta returned with a glass of water. She cradled P.J.’s head in one arm and tried to pour the water into his mouth.
He didn’t swallow. He didn’t choke. The water ran down his chin and cheeks.
“No!” Greta cried. “No, no, no.”
Sean grabbed P.J.’s wrist. The crowd grew silent. “I don’t feel a pulse,” he reported.
“Don’t die on me, man,” Artie moaned. “Wake up, P.J. Come on. Snap out of it. Please!”
“Marc, call 911,” Reenie ordered. Marc didn’t move. Dazed, he stared down at P.J.
P.J. lay there. Pale. Not moving.
Not moving or breathing.
Reenie shuddered. Sean pulled her close, held her.
“He’s dead,” Reenie wailed. “We killed P.J.”
PART THREE
1965
Chapter 17
BETH AND JEREMY
The car had flipped upside down. Beth hung from her seat belt with Jeremy suspended beside her.
“Jeremy,” she called in a choked whisper.
No answer.
She found the release on her seat belt and pressed it. She dropped to the floor. Actually the roof, she reminded herself.
Okay, what do I do? Beth asked herself, trying to calm down. What? Free Jeremy? Get out of the car? Get help?
She found the release on Jeremy’s seat belt. Pushed. Nothing happened. She tried again. The belt let go with a snap, and Jeremy landed with a thud.
I’m not hurt, Beth realized. We had a horrible accident and I’m not hurt!
Beth stared over at Jeremy. Bright light filled the car. She realized the headlights were still on. Reflecting off the snow.
No blood! No cuts. No open wounds. Relief swept through her. He’s okay, too.
Beth spotted the only way out of the crumpled car. The passenger-side window. The glass had been knocked out in the accident. She wriggled through the window and landed in the snow.
Now I have to save Jeremy.
She stretched out flat on her stomach in the snow, then reached in to grab Jeremy’s arm. She tugged as hard as she could.
Jeremy moved a little.
Beth pulled with all her strength until she slid Jeremy to the window. Now for the hard part. She clutched his coat and yanked.
She pulled one arm out. Then his head. Then his shoulders. She pulled on his coat again—and the rest of his body slid out all at once.
“Jeremy!” she cried. “Wake up. Please.”
He groaned and opened his eyes, blinking in the silvery light “Wh-what happened?”
“We were in an accident. You lost control of the car and we went tumbling down a steep hill. Don’t you remember?”
Jeremy stared at her blankly. “Yeah,” he muttered. “Yeah, now I do.”
“Are you all right?”
“I … I’m not sure.”
He sat up slowly. “Nothing hurts. I guess I’m okay.”
Beth uttered a sigh of relief. “Me, too.”
“We’ve got to get back to that boy!” Jeremy urged. “Maybe it’s not too late to help him.” Jeremy struggled to his feet.
“Are you sure you should stand up?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He reached down and pulled Beth to her feet.
“Hurry,” he urged. “We’ve got to find that boy. Right away.”
They stumbled through the deep snow. Beth couldn’t see the road. She hoped they were heading in the right direction.
She glanced back at the car. It was a crumpled mess. The tires in the air. The roof flattened against the ground. The windows all shattered and reduced to slits—except the one she and Jeremy had escaped through.
How did we ever survive that? Beth wondered.
“The boy should be right about here,” Jeremy said. “This is where we hit him.”
No sign of him. No footprints in the snow. No skidmarks on the road.
“We must be in the wrong place,” Beth said quietly.
“No,” Jeremy replied. “Look.” He pointed at the dark spots in the snow a few yards up ahead.
Bloodstains?
“How could he have walked away?” Beth asked.
“Oh, man,” Jeremy muttered. “No way he could have walked. Could someone have picked him up—while we were unconscious?”
“Only you were unconscious,” Beth pointed out. “I wasn’t. I’d have heard it if a car stopped.”
“But … where could he have gone?”
“We can follow his tracks,” Beth suggested.
They searched for his footprints in the snow.
There were none.
None at all.
“What’s going on here?” Beth asked in a shaky voice. “How can this be?”
Chapter 18
A CROWDED CAR
A crunching sound nearby. A low roar.
“What’s that?” Jeremy whispered.
Beth heard it, too. “It’s a car!” she exclaimed. “Coming from over there.”
Headlights swept over the snow as the car approached. The low roar of its engine grew louder.
Beth and Jeremy moved to the side of the road, frantically waving their arms. The car’s headlights grew brighter.
But… but it’s not slowing down! Beth realized.
“Stop! Hey—stop!” she screamed. “Emergency! Stop!”
The car roared past them, whipping snow and slush into Beth’s face.
What is wrong with that guy? Why didn’t he stop? Beth wondered. She watched as the car’s taillights shrank to two red dots, then vanished.
“Maybe he thought it was a trick,” Jeremy suggested. “Maybe he thought we planned to rob him. Or maybe he was late for a New Year’s party. It is New Year’s, after all.”
Beth clutched his arm. “Listen, another car is coming!”
“I’m going to make sure this one stops,” Jeremy said. He strode to the center of the road and turned to face the oncoming vehicle.
Beth joined him. A truck this time, she decided. She could tell by the way the ground shook, and by the sound of its diesel engine.
The truck’s headlights rolled over the snowy ground.
The vibrations beneath Beth’s feet grew more intense.
Beth and Jeremy frantically waved their arms over their heads.
The truck sped toward them, roaring through the silent night.
“Help us!” Beth screamed. “Please!”
Beth could see the truck’s grille.
And bumper.
“Jump!” she shrieked. She flung herself out of the truck’s path. Jeremy landed hard beside her.
“I don’t believe it!” Beth cried. “That truck nearly flattened us!”
“He didn’t even slow down,” Jeremy murmured, his eyes on the vanishing taillights. “What is wrong with people tonight? Don’t they have any holiday spirit?”
They picked themselves up. Beth brushed some snow off Jeremy’s back. I should be freezing, Beth thought. But I’m not. Must be the shock of the accident.
“Someone has to stop,” Beth murmured.
Help us, she thought. Please. Someone.
A tear trickled down her cheek. Then another. And another. She wiped them away.
Three more cars sped past them without slowing down.
“What are we going to do?” Jeremy asked. “We can’t stay out here. We’ll freeze.”
“I saw some lights over there,” Beth said, pointing.
But she couldn’t find them again. Where were they? Coul
d the trees be blocking her view? She moved to the left, peering through the trees.
And there they were! Pale white lights. Up near the top of a hill. Windows. Glowing brightly.
“It’s a house!” she cried. “Whoever lives there will help us. They’ve got to!”
They hurried toward the distant lights. When they reached a wire fence, they climbed over and found themselves in a snow-covered field. The ground beneath the snow was uneven, and they both kept slipping.
“My boot is full of snow,” she complained. But her foot didn’t feel cold. Did she have frostbite?
They trudged on. The lights grew brighter. They could see the house clearly. But they had to climb over two more fences before they reached it.
“Finally!” Beth sighed as they climbed onto the wooden front porch.
Lights glowed from three windows. Someone had to be home. Thank goodness, she thought. Oh, thank goodness.
Beth pressed the doorbell. She could hear the chimes ringing inside.
They waited.
No one came to the door. Beth and Jeremy exchanged worried glances.
Beth rang the bell again. She thought she saw the curtain in the front window twitch, but no one appeared.
Jeremy knocked on the door. He pounded on it again and again.
And still no one came.
“Help!” Beth hollered. “We’ve been in an accident! We need help!”
“Please!” Jeremy shouted. “Let us in!”
No one came to the door.
“Why won’t they open the door?” Jeremy cried.
“Shhhh! I hear something. Listen.”
“I hear it, too!” Jeremy exclaimed.
“It’s a TV. And people talking,” Beth said.
“They’re in there,” Jeremy insisted. “Why are they ignoring us?”
They yelled.
Hammered their fists on the door.
Nothing happened. No one came to the door. “Why are they ignoring us? Why aren’t they coming to help us?” Jeremy cried.
“What are we going to do?” Beth asked. Tears burned her eyes.
“We’ve got to go back to the road. Maybe some car will stop.”
Beth nodded. She didn’t have any better ideas. But she was too upset to move.
Tears rolled down Beth’s face. Her body shook as she sobbed. Why won’t anyone help us? Why, why, why?
Beth fought to control her tears. Then they turned and retraced their steps through the fields and back to the highway.
Two more cars passed.
They didn’t stop. Beth didn’t know what else to try. She wanted to curl up in a pile of snow and rest.
“We can get back into the car,” Jeremy suggested.
“It’s awfully cramped in there,” Beth replied.
“At least it might keep us from freezing.”
Beth couldn’t argue with that.
They made their way to the car. It rested on its back, crumpled and lifeless, like a squashed bug. The headlights had grown dim, the battery nearly dead.
Beth hated the thought of crawling back inside. “The only way is to lie completely flat and wriggle yourself through the window,” she explained. “I’ll go first.”
I really don’t want to do this, she thought. But she started to slide herself into the car.
Something brushed against her face.
A hand!
“Huh? Is someone in here?” she cried, unable to hide her shock.
Beth peered into the dark car.
No.
It can’t be!
“Jeremy!” she cried. “There are two people in here. A boy and a girl. And …”
Jeremy sounded just as stunned. “Who are they? How did they get in here?”
Chapter 19
I KNOW WHO THEY ARE
Beth stared into the darkness at the boy and the girl. Their bodies were twisted. Mangled and torn. And spattered with blood. Their eyes stared straight ahead. Unblinking.
“Jeremy—they’re dead!” Beth choked out.
She stared hard at their faces.
And then shut her eyes.
I know who they are! she thought.
She backed out of the car window. Jeremy leaned down so he could peer into the car.
Beth blocked his view. “No,” she told him. “Don’t look. Not yet.”
“Why?”
“There’s something I’ve got to tell you first.”
“What?”
She pulled Jeremy to her and held him.
“Beth—what …?”
A tear rolled down her cheek. But only one. She was too stunned to cry.
“Jeremy,” she whispered. “The dead boy and girl in there. I recognized them.”
“Who are they?” Jeremy demanded.
She didn’t know how to tell him. She could hardly believe it herself.
“Beth, who are they?” Jeremy repeated eagerly.
“They’re … us.”
“You’re lying!” Jeremy yelled. “No! No, Beth!”
“Jeremy, it’s us in there!” she cried. “We died in there!”
“That’s crazy.”
“Don’t you see? That’s why no one will stop for us—why those people wouldn’t open the door for us.”
“No,” Jeremy repeated. “No, no, no.”
“It’s true. We’re dead.” Maybe if I say it enough times I’ll believe it myself, Beth thought.
“No!” Jeremy chanted.
He pushed Beth away and threw himself on the ground. He tried to wriggle back inside the car.
“I’ll get back inside myself!” he wailed. “I’ll climb back into my body!”
Beth watched, horrified, as he struggled to reach his lifeless body.
“I’ve got to get back inside! I’ve got to,” he called desperately.
She watched him crawl into the car. “Please!” he begged. “Please, let me back in!”
“Jeremy—stop!” Beth yelled. “It won’t do any good.” She grabbed his legs and dragged him out of the mangled car.
“My arms passed right through my body!” he wailed. “I can’t get back inside myself. I tried. But I can’t.”
“Now what?” Beth wondered. “What happens now?”
Beth saw Jeremy’s mouth opening and closing as he answered her. But she could barely hear his words.
Something was wrong.
Why did Jeremy suddenly sound so faint?
“Jeremy?” she called. “What’s happening?”
She couldn’t hear his reply. His voice faded to silence. Then Jeremy began to fade, too.
“Jeremy!” she cried. She reached out for him. Tried to grab him, to hold on to him.
But Jeremy was gone.
Only the darkness remained.
Everywhere.
Closing on her.
Claiming her.
PART FOUR
THIS YEAR
Chapter 20
A SURPRISE BEHIND THE FURNACE
What am I going to do? Reenie wondered frantically. She was too confused and frightened to think straight. How could this have happened?
P.J. lay dead at her feet.
Reenie stared down at him, wishing with all her might that he would groan, roll over. Scream at her. Do something. Anything.
But P.J. lay still.
Pale. So very pale.
So very dead.
Silence hung heavily over the crowded room. Then a girl began to sob.
“We have to do CPR,” Sean ordered. “Reenie, you do the breathing. I’ll do his chest. Everybody leave. It’s not going to help to have a crowd around.”
“Sean’s right,” Greta called. “Come on. Get your coats. We’ll let you know what happened.”
Reenie couldn’t move. She stared down at P.J. It’s all my fault, she thought. I knew P.J. had a heart murmur. I’m the only one Liz told. And I didn’t say anything. Not anything. I didn’t even try to stop them.
“Reenie!” Sean called sharply.
She forced h
erself to move. “Okay,” she muttered. “First I tilt back his head—chin up. Then I clear out his mouth. Now five quick puffs of air.”
Reenie lowered her head and blew into P.J.’s mouth. His lips are so cold, she thought. They are already so cold.
She pulled her head up and took a breath. Then she blew another breath into P.J.’s mouth. She could hear Sean counting—setting the rhythm between her breathing and his pumps on P.J.’s chest.
“It was supposed to be a joke!” Artie cried from somewhere behind her. “A dumb joke! Nothing bad was supposed to happen.”
“Come on, P.J., live! Please live!” she heard Greta urge.
Reenie focused all her attention on Sean’s counting—and her breathing. I’ll keep doing it, she told herself. I won’t stop until he comes back to life.
“Count, count, count, count, breath,” she muttered to herself. “Count, count, count, count, breath.”
Reenie felt a hand on her shoulder. She heard Sean’s soft voice, telling her to stop.
No, Reenie thought. I’m not stopping until P.J. sits up. I’m not stopping.
Count, count, count, breath. Count, count, count—
Strong hands pulled her to her feet. Reenie stared down at P.J.’s body.
“He’s dead, Reenie,” Sean murmured. “There’s nothing else we can do.”
“Should I call the police?” she asked. She heard her voice quaver and she swallowed hard. “They won’t blame us for P.J.’s death—will they?”
Sean frowned. “I don’t know what we should do.”
“We’ve got to do something!” Reenie cried. “We’ve got to call his parents. We’ve got to call Liz. We’ve got to tell everyone that—”
The window behind the couch glowed brightly as a car pulled into the driveway. Greta parted the curtains and peeked out.
“Someone’s here!” she exclaimed. “Reenie—it’s your parents, I think!”
“Quick—hide him!” Artie shouted. “Until we figure out what to do.”
Won’t that make us look even more guilty? Reenie wondered.