Soul Stone

“Hey Scott,” Brian said inquisitively. “Why does Neil have a missing person’s poster on this post here?”

Scott turned away from the door to look at the poster. “That’s a friend of his. He went missing last year. He’s never been found.” Scott said, as he turned back to the door and knocked again. “He’s not here.” Scott got his phone from his jacket pocket, “It’s 3:05. He said to meet him here at 3:00, he won’t be long. Let’s sit down.” Scott said, pointing to some empty chairs on the porch.

“How did his friend go missing?” Brian asked, getting seated into one of the chairs.

“No one knows. His car was found in town, in some parking lot, the Westside Mall, I think. The door was open, and the keys were in it.” Scott said as he sat down. “There was no trace of him or any of his belongings. It’s like he just vanished.”

“Come to think of it, I’ve seen a lot of these posters around lately. When I was walking around downtown today, I saw a board that was covered with posters like that one.” Brian said as he pointed to the one on the deck post.

“Here comes Neil now. I told you it wouldn’t be long.” Scott said to his friend as they leaned forward in their chairs. “Hey man, where have you been?” Scott asked gleefully, as Neil approached the steps to his porch.

“Your friend doesn’t look too good Scott. What’s wrong with him?” Brian asked. “He looks wet.”

“Yeah, he does. I’ve never seen him like this before. You better go.” Scott said to Brian, as they both stood up. “I’ll find out what happened.”

“Yeah, sure, I’ll catch up with you later.” Brian replied.

Scott patted Brian on the shoulder as he went down the porch steps past Neil. “I’ll call you.”

Neil pushed past both people as he fished the key to his house from his right pants pocket. He put the key straight into the lock and had the door opened before Scott could finish his last words to Brian. Scott abruptly followed Neil into the house.

“What happened?” Scott looked at Neil’s state of dishevelled appearance. “Come on man, what’s wrong?” Scott asked, as he noticed that Neil wasn’t really breathing. “Why are you all wet?”

Neil mumbled some incoherent words to Scott as he took off his shoes. “What? I can’t hear what you’re saying.” Scott said as Neil darted into the kitchen.

Neil turned back around and walked to Scott. “SHUT the FUCKING door. LOCK it. Turn OFF the porch light! Could you hear that? Hurry up, do it!” Neil snapped, almost spitting into Scott’s face.

“Holy jeez man!” Scott said as he leaned back from Neil’s verbal assault. He turned around, secured the deadbolt on the door and flicked the porch light off.

Scott was slipping off his boots and watching Neil in his kitchen, getting a beer from the fridge.

“What happened?” Scott asked, entering the kitchen. He watched Neil get a bottle of scotch from the cupboard next to the fridge. “Are you going to use a glass?”

Neil spun the cap off the bottle of scotch and drank deeply as the cap hit the floor, “Nope.” He said, staring into Scott’s face as he wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his shirt. “I need to calm down. Holy shit dude!” Scott watched Neil take another drink.

“I’ve never seen you stare so blankly. Your color is off. Did you get hurt?” Scott asked with some concern. He scanned his friend and saw his socks were leaving wet footprints on the floor.

“I’m not hurt man, but something scared me pretty good.” Neil said as he handed the scotch to Scott. Scott took the scotch and watched Neil open a bottle of beer and drink in large gulps.

“Wow, I’ve seen you drink like that before, but you weren’t scared out of your mind. Why don’t you sit at the table and tell me what happened?” Scott suggested, as he motioned to the kitchen table.

Neil lowered the beer from his mouth and swallowed. “Yeah, yeah good idea, I’ll sit down, that way I won’t fall down.” He made his way across the kitchen, taking off his wet shirt and sat in the first chair he could get to. He leaned over and pulled the blinds down to block out the setting sun.

Scott got a couple more beers from the fridge, went to the table and sat down across from Neil. He put the scotch between them in the middle of the table, handed Neil another beer and kept one for himself.

“Are you going to tell me what happened?” Scott asked as he opened his beer.

Neil took the scotch and another drink from the bottle. He put the bottle down very firmly and muttered something Scott couldn’t hear.

Scott leaned back in his chair, bracing himself for another verbal attack, “You’re mumbling again.”

“I know.” Neil said. “I’m sorry but I needed a few minutes to collect myself from that event. I can’t believe it happened. That just happened.” Neil said in a stunned manner.

Scott leaned forward, resting his arms on the table, “What event? What happened?”

Neil looked at Scott. “Do you know Stony Park? It’s that park not far out of town where I used to go ice fishing. We’ve been there a couple of times before. You know the place I mean?” Neil asked.

Scott nodded. “Ya, I remember that place. It creeped me out, even during the day. We were there at night one time. That’s the time we watched that duck get attacked from something in the water. I’ve never forgotten that. Is that where you were? At that park.”

“Yeah. Karen took me up there, a woman from my geology class.” Neil said as he nodded his head in the direction of the park. “She said there were some really neat rocks and stones up there. I wasn’t sure what she was talking about, but we went up this morning. There were some cool stones up there for sure.” Neil straightened his left leg and dug in his pocket for the stone he picked up that morning. “We found a lot of these stones.” Neil said as he delicately placed the stone from his pocket on to the table, next to the scotch. “Lots of them.” He spoke directly into Scott’s eyes.

Scott broke their gaze to pick up the stone. It was not like any other stone he had seen. It had several iridescent colors that would change as he turned the stone in his fingers. It was very dense for its size, smooth and almost round, but there were several cracks in its surface, making it rough at the same time. It looked like liquid opal, but it wasn’t. This stone had a distinct vibration, one that no other stone that he had held ever produced. It was glowing, getting brighter and dimmer as he held it, displaying a rhythm, a heartbeat.

Scott placed the stone onto the table. “That is one weird stone man.” He said as he leaned back to get away from the stone. “Are you sure it’s a stone?” They watched the light fade.

“Wait until you hear Karen’s voice from it!” Neil said, reaching for the scotch.

“I don’t follow. What do you mean you can hear Karen’s voice from it? Start at the beginning man. Tell me what happened.” Scott said, as he sat up to hear the story. He realized Neil’s face was turning gray.

Neil took a short drink, “Ok, but you are going to have to help me keep on track.”

“I will.” Scott said, leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table, and clasping his fingers together in front of his chin. He detected a pulsing in Neil’s neck.

Scott watched as Neil put the scotch back on the table. “She came here this morning, around 9 or so. She was very excited to tell me about what she saw at the park.” Neil said. “She was there during the night. She saw some lights or a flash, something like that, coming from the lake, so she drove up there to check it out. I don’t know what time that was, but she was there most of the night I think.” Neil stopped to gather his memory of the morning’s events.

Scott witnessed the pulse in Neil’s neck get larger. “So, she was there last night.” Scott said, lowering his arms to the table.

“Yeah, that’s what she said.” Neil replied, gazing in Scott’s direction.

“What did she say happened that made her drive up there in the first place? You said something about some lights in the lake, are you sure?” Scott asked.

“Yes. I have seen some odd lights up there before. That’s the main reason I stopped going there. Strange lights, creepy vibes, that duck we saw getting attacked.” Neil said as he looked down at the table, shaking his head. “Too much weirdness.” Scott watched some of Neil’s hair fall onto the table.

Neil looked up to see Scott lean back in his chair. “Karen said she was out driving, listening to music, and enjoying the stars. She was thinking about her geology paper as she went past the park. She saw some light in the sky, like headlights pointing up. She drove up there to see if there had been an accident, or if a car had gone off the road.” Neil leaned forward and lowered his voice, “As she got closer to the lake, she saw that the light was IN the lake. Not in the trees or on the road, but IN the lake.”

“Had a car driven into the lake? Why was there light in the lake?” Scott asked as he took a drink of his beer.

Neil leaned back and looked at the table for a few minutes, his eyes shifting from left to right as he organized his memory. He looked at Scott, “It wasn’t a car.” He said as his face reduced to pale ash.

“If it wasn’t a car, what was it?” Scott asked as he watched Neil take a drink of scotch.

Neil put the bottle down, swallowed hard and wiped his mouth on his wrist. “Karen said the light lifted out of the lake. It shone on her. She had a sunburn. Her face was burnt and peeling. Her eyes were swollen. Her arms…” Neil’s voice trailed off. A few beads of sweat began to run down his forehead.

“What happened to Karen’s arms, Neil?” Scott asked anxiously.

“I could see her bones. The bones of her arms were visible. I don’t know how that is possible. Maybe the skin was peeled off. There was no blood. She acted normal. Nothing about her was normal, man.” Neil said as he drained the last of his beer. “She didn’t know her bones were visible.”

“Go back to the light coming out of the lake. If it wasn’t a car, what did she say it was?” Scott asked, leaning further forward.

Neil reached for the beer on the table. “This is where it gets weird, man. I kid you not.” He said as he sat back and opened his second beer. “She said the light was from a spacecraft. She didn’t call it a UFO, but a spacecraft. She said it looked different than a UFO. I don’t know how many UFOs she has seen to know the difference, but she was convinced it was a spacecraft.” Neil said as he moved his beer cap through his fingers.

“A spacecraft?” Scott said firmly as he sat up in his chair. “Did she say what it looked like?” Scott noticed that Neil’s upper body was now fading, turning gray.

“Not really. It was very bright. That’s how she got burnt. I think she put her arms over her eyes and that’s how I could see the bones in her arms. I think her skin was changed.” Neil tossed the beer cap on the table and gulped his beer. “I don’t think she knew I could see her bones.”

“When was this? Did she give you a time?” Scott asked.

“No. She couldn’t remember time at all. Just the bright light and the craft. Then she was on her way to get me. She was so excited.” Neil drank some more scotch. “I don’t know how she could see with her eyes so swollen. Her burns looked bad. While I was getting dressed, she kept telling me to hurry up and come on. She didn’t want other people to find the stones before we did.”

“That stone that you showed me?” Scott said pointing to the stone on the table. “There are more of those?”

“Yes, lots more.” Neil said, putting the nearly empty scotch bottle back on the table.

“How many do you think?” Scott asked.

“Maybe 50 or more.” Neil said as his body began to shake. “I can’t believe it! 50! Or more. There can’t be that many. Can’t be.” He rested his beer on the table and dropped is head onto his chest. “I’ve got to get out of these wet pants.” Neil got up and walked to the bathroom, got a towel and went to his room.

Scott took his phone out of his jacket and checked the time, 4:45. Setting his phone on the table, he watched as Neil came back to the kitchen, barefoot and dressed in dry clothes. “Where were they? Just in a pile or what?” Scott asked.

“They were all over the place. On the road, in the grass, in the lake. They shone when the craft came, like there were part of it somehow.” Neil said as he sat down at the table.

“How did you get wet?” Scott asked.

Neil put a finger to his lips and motioned for Scott to be silent. He tilted his head in the direction of the park, “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Scott asked.

“I thought I could hear a sound or a vibration coming from the yard. You didn’t hear it?” Neil said.

Scott was silent for a few moments, “No, nothing. I can’t hear any sounds or feel any vibrations.”

“Okay, sorry about that. I must be hearing things. What was your question, oh, right, how did I get wet? The craft pulled me into the lake. Like I had become magnetized to it somehow. I had no control over it.” Neil said, as he sat back at the table.

“You saw the ship?” Scott asked.

“A craft, man. A spacecraft, not a ship.” Neil said rather loudly.

Scott gave Neil a quizzical look, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, its just loud, whatever that sound is.” Neil yelled.

“There is no sound dude. I think you’re hearing things.” Scott said, shifting in his chair.

Neil picked up his beer and drank. He began to shake, spilling his beer on his shirt and the table. His whole body was trembling as he put the bottle on the table. He covered his ears with his hands and doubled over. Neil screamed, dropping to his knees. Wide-eyed, Scott watched in horror as his friend suffered immense pain. Neil’s body twisted and torqued as an unseen force tore at him. Then, almost as quick as it had started, it stopped. Scott, still wide-eyed and mouth gaping open, watched as Neil stood up and grab the scotch. Seconds later a large vibration began outside around the house. The vibration moved into the house, searching for a focal point upon which to rest. The outer windows began to smash as the house shook on its foundation.

Scott stood up as he felt the house shake. The table began to bounce on the kitchen floor, the empty beer bottles fell over and rolled onto the floor. “What is this?” Scott asked in a shaky voice.

“I think it’s the craft.” Neil replied, as he drank the last of the scotch from the bottle. “They want the stone back.”

Scott looked at Neil and saw that he was completely still, unaffected by the shaking. Light filled the space around the outside of the house, forcing its way in through every opening. Scott could see the bones in Neil’s arms. A soft, “Holy shit!” left Scott’s lips. He turned and ran, grabbing his boots as he unlocked the door. He heard the house groan deeply as he launched himself from the porch. The air cracked behind him, causing him to twist in the air. He hit the ground with his chest and stomach. Rolling over, Scott saw the light that had engulfed the house, focus into a tight, bright beam that blinded him. He closed his eyes and covered his face with his arms. He felt heat on the unprotected parts of his face. Scott screamed. He pulled his knees up to his chest and rolled onto his side, away from the light.

The sounds and vibrations ceased. Breathing deeply, Scott moved his arms away from his face. The light was gone. He became aware of his heaving chest and sat up. He was still as he oriented himself as best he could. After catching his breath, he put on his boots. On shaky legs, he walked back to the porch and mounted the steps. Hesitantly, he pushed the door open. “Neil, you there?” He called out into the empty home. He slowly moved his way towards the kitchen, broken glass crunching under his feet. “Neil, can you hear me?” No response.

Then a soft glow began to emanate from the kitchen. Scott peeked in. Neil was not there. Nervously, he made his way over to the table. There were two stones, glowing in unison. He could hear a faint voice calling out, “Scott, you there?”