Page 3
That did not last long. I’d rather look like the walking dead than force more blood smoothies down my throat.
Unfortunately, because I’m a medical anomaly, there’s no one for me to consult with.
“Yeah, it has. Not sure what’s going on there, but I’m managing.” Barely, but I’m still up and moving, so as far as I’m concerned, it’s managed. For now.
Eric grunts but doesn’t comment. When I look up, Tilly and Brecken both look at me with concern but quickly look away.
“Guys, I’m fine. Quit looking at me like I’m gonna shrivel up like a prune and die. If it gets bad enough, I’ll reach out to my old specialists. Now shut your traps and let’s get on with the game.”
“You heard The Count,” Brecken says, straightening up in his seat. “Game on.”
With that, focus returns to the game…which Tilly and I lose, epically. We’re just dealing a new round when the oddest sensation creeps its way up my spine. All the hairs on my arms stand on end, and a shiver runs through me. Before I can analyze it too much, the station tones go off.
Brecken and Tilly are already off duty, so Eric and I jump into action.
Halfway to the rig, Eric turns around and points a finger at the two of them. “Don’t get any ideas about looking at cards while we’re gone. I fully intend on kicking The Count’s ass when we get back if you two are still here.”
I just catch Brecken’s barrel laughter as I close the rig door.
Grabbing the radio, I respond, “Dispatch, this is Medic four, responding.”
“Medic four, respond to a motor vehicle accident on Lookout Road. Single vehicle, no airbags deployed. Police on location.”
“Copy, dispatch. Medic four en route to MVA on Lookout Road.”
Eric hops into the driver’s seat, fires up the rig, and we’re off.
“Why do I always drive?” Eric asks as we hit Main Street, lights and sirens blaring.
“Because you’re the DICK, I mean PIC.” I laugh.
“Lemme ask you something, friend. When you go all prune like, does your micro dick shrivel up too, or is it just your brain?”
I shoot him a one-finger salute with a smile.
Eric just laughs and navigates us through town. I take a minute to appreciate Main Street as we pass through. You would think a town full of supernatural beings would have zero interest in Halloween.
You’d be dead wrong.
On October first, the town transforms. The Halloween Festival is the most over-the-top and extravagant event the town throws. Although my Christmas-a-holic friend Grace would say it’s the second most extravagant event. She lives her best Christmas life all year long, despite the fact that her husband, Jackson, is far less enthusiastic.
I spot shop windows decorated with jack-o-lanterns and fall decor. The grocery store has a giant inflatable spider and web stretched across its sign. Fabric-and-wire ghosts decorate many of the small businesses, and witches’ brooms can be spotted parked in “Official Broom Stands” on every corner.
Different themed activities run all October, culminating with a big festival out on one of the local farms where one of the cornfields has been turned into a maze right before Halloween.
I love going and enjoying the festivities with friends, but each year as my friends pair off and find their mates, the loneliness I’ve always felt grows deeper.
As we take a left, nearing the outskirts of town near the scene of the accident, that same creeping feeling from earlier hits me. I shudder again as if invisible fingers trail down my spine.
Eric takes a sharp turn, and moments later I see the flashing reds and blues of the police cruiser.
The car in question is a little ways down in a ditch positioned at an odd angle, its front end pressed against a tree.
Eric slows the rig and gets us as close to the car as possible.
“Dispatch said no airbags deployed?”
“That’s what they said. I can’t tell from this angle,” I say, craning my neck to try and get a better view. “But I don’t see any engine smoke and the side doesn’t look like a bunched-up slinky. Maybe the driver didn’t hit the tree hard enough to deploy.”
