Exit God Out - Book One - The Unexpected Terrestrial

Exit God Out Book One: The Unexpected Terrestrial - Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was now 11:30pm and Jackson was still on the couch, his mind racing with far too many questions to answer. He began to recap the events while Diane was visiting, in hope they would somehow provide comfort if only for just a second. Victor entered his influence, and he remembered how Victor could make people laugh. Other details of the dinner that evening also started to emerge, visions that began to connect a few dots and possibly answer a few "whys". He sat dead still for a minute, pondering the message being presented, and then got up and put his coat on and walked with purpose over to Victor's home.

Victor was inside and awake when Jackson's footsteps were heard, and he opened the door quickly with his index finger at his mouth, as if to hush up Jackson immediately. The music was loud, a pleasant opera but not very appropriate for the moment. Jackson pushed the door open and boldly entered without closing the door. A big chalkboard on rollers sat directly in front of him as he entered. Victor had written all over it and was trying to convince Jackson to read it, but he was in no mood and grabbed Victor, crumpling his clothing around his neck. Victor was trying to speak softly to him, as if nothing happened, which made Jackson even angrier. The music enraged him even more.

"You knew!" Jackson shouted, trying to outwit the opera volume. "You knew she was going to die!" Victor put his hand over Jackson's mouth and pointed to the words on the board. Jackson kept hold of him and silently read the board.

"I knew you would come. We cannot speak here. This house may be bugged. Come outside with me please. I will explain everything. Please keep quiet. Say nothing."

Jackson followed Victor outside and stayed quiet. He was highly agitated and upset, and the second they shut the door to go outside, Jackson grabbed him again and pasted him against the house, rain streaming down on them both from overflowing gutters.

"Tell me exactly what you saw," his face displaying immeasurable pain. "I know you saw something when we were over for dinner! What did you see?" Jackson continued to hold Victor against the old worn siding, his strength amplified with adrenalin and anguish. Victor took his right hand and gently persuaded Jackson to lower him and walk. Jackson's eyes never left Victors as he slowly dropped him back to the ground. Victor put his index finger up to his lips and signaled for the two men to walk up the road away from the house. It wasn't any easier for Victor, as he loved and respected Diane, but he knowingly watched the little red truck roll over and over until it came to a sudden stop and hit the guard rails on the highway. His heart was left on the pavement that day.

After a hundred feet or so Victor started to speak. "I did see the crash. You are correct."

"Why didn't you say anything? What do you mean? How did you see it?"

Victor paused for a moment. "This is going to sound crazy, but I am going to tell you something that only I and my ex-employer know. For over thirty years I worked for the CIA as a forensic psychic, or better known as a remote viewer. I was the only one at the time when I started, and I was very good at it. I could predict most events, the past, the present and the future. I helped them find bodies and perps. I sold myself to be there, and I was not allowed to leave on my terms. I still see things, horrible things, good things, all things, and if I hang out on this island, everything slows down to a crawl. I hate I was given this. It's not a gift; it's a nightmare. A silent nightmare that's been trying to kill me for many years."

"How? How do you do it? How did you see Mom? Did you see all of it?"

"No, I didn't see all of the event. The pictures I get are very quick for the most part. I "see" things," and Victor held up his fingers in parenthesis. "I get "downloads", a term I prefer to use as I don't believe it has anything to do with me. I also get a feeling I ....... I cannot describe. It's so intense and powerful that you can't shove it aside. I was born with this. It's a curse." Victor looked at the agony and lines on his friends face. He wanted to reach out and erase it all, to change what happened, but he couldn't. He couldn't change a damn thing.

The two men kept walking, slowly, in the dark and bitter cold rain, tears flowing from both of them now. Jackson's voice was trembling more than his hands, more than his whole body. He wanted to collapse. He wanted to kill Victor. He wanted to run and scream and wake up from this evil dream that invaded his senses and robbed him of his sanity. They knew they needed each other but their fears got in the way. Jackson was bitter. Victor was scared. And then Jackson stopped.

"Why didn't you say something? I don't understand! You could have prevented this! Why? Why didn't you say something? Why?" Jackson fired him a look that ripped Victor even further. "Mom could have changed her plans."

"Because I can't stop destiny. Yes I could have said something at dinner. I could have prevented your mom from driving away the next day. But I can't stop the outcome of future events. She would have died another way. Just like Charlie. I can predict but I can't stop things that are meant to be. I wish I could but I've done this work for my entire life and not once have I been able to change the outcome for more than twenty-four hours. "

"How do you know about Charlie?"

"I saw that too, earlier at your place. He's alive."

"Charlie is dead Victor! I saw him get wiped out by an Eagle! Charlie is dead!"

Jackson dropped to the ground, his knees hitting the rocks and gravel hard. He held his face and planted his forehead on the road, his tears blending with the rain that flooded the thoroughfare.

"I'm so sorry Jackson. You have no idea how sorry I am. I have seen some terrible things in my life, but nothing, nothing, has broken me up as much as this has. You have every right to kill me. I felt like doing that myself. I'm just so sorry. So sorry..."

Victor dropped to his knees and the two men cried for half an hour, holding each other in the middle of the dark dirt road, oblivious to the cars that moved around them, passing them by without so much as a honk or a stop to see how they were. The rains grew heavier and tortured the road, as rain does on the West Coast. It was cold and misty, and the fog rolled in over the water, covering everything in its wake.

Victor stayed by his friend patiently, with no notice he was drenched and shaking. A car passed slowly, and Victor nodded to the driver as he made his way along the eroded pathways engorged with water. Finally Jackson got up. His voice was deep and desperate.

"So why can't we talk in your house Victor?" Jackson asked slowly, his words biting of bitterness "What is it about you that is so damn secret?"

Victor stuttered. "The CIA moved me here years ago, after a battle I had with them. I had a few in those years. I wasn't happy with the way they were handling things and I clashed with a new member who had more authority than I did. They also found a younger person that did a good job and pandered to the boss. I knew I was out. I just didn't know what "out" looked like. Not that I don't like the island. I just wish I could live an open and honest life, and I can't. I can't be with people long term, because I'll slip just like I am doing now, and I see things the closer I get to people. I live my life knowing this is how it's going to go until I'm gone. And that is one vision I'm most afraid of seeing."

Jackson's face changed and he reached for Victor and gave him a long hug. They cried for a while and then Victor walked him home. They said goodbye and Victor promised he'd see Jackson the next morning, and he agreed. He watched Victor walk away, and as he turned to go into his house, a long, blood-stained seagull feather lay on the top step in front of the door.

April K. Reeves, Author. Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved. Visit us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/April-K-Reeves/390530011143987?fref=ts or our website: https://aprilkreevesauthor.wordpress.com/