David Clark [Clark - The Ghosts of Miller’s Crossing

THE GHOSTS of Millers Crossing

David Clark

The Ghosts of Millers Crossing 2019 by David Clark. All Rights Reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Cover designed by Milan Jovanovic
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
David Clark
Visit my website at www.facebook.com/davidclarkhorror
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing: Aug 2019
Frightening Future Publishing
ISBN-13 9781096895640

This book is dedicated to my buddy, my friend, my dog Chip. He was always there to listen to me, no matter what I was talking about and never complained. Instead he gave unconditional love. Your loss has affected me more than I ever expected, but your life has enriched mine in ways I will never be able to explain. I will never forget you.

CONTENTS

This room needs some color, Edward Meyer said. The old leak stains on the white drop ceiling and scuffs on the floor were the only signs of character. The simple plastic white chair Edward sat on resembled one you might find on an outdoor patio. This was in contrast to the stainless-steel table bolted to the floor and the large two-way mirror on the wall in front of him.

He mumbled with a chuckle, Looks slightly institutional to me, then remembered he needed to be careful. You never knew when someone might be watching.

Today was his eighteenth birthday and he sat alone in a green cotton shirt, drawstring pants, and slippers. This was no birthday celebration. He was there for an important discussion with his doctor. In truth, it was more of an evaluation; one he had high hopes for.

He thought about the first time he waited, alone, in this room. The table and chair were the same, but his attire and reason for being there was different. He wore jeans and an Iron Maiden t-shirt and sat there confused as to why he was there. He was only fourteen, and things had been rough with his foster parents. OK, rough might not be the best word. Horrendous, yeah, thats the correct term. He wasnt beaten or neglected. Food, care, clothes, etc... nothing was withheld. In fact, to those looking in from the outside, hed had a great childhood with supportive foster parents that gave him all they could to make sure he had a wonderful loving home.

When he turned nine, they encouraged him to sign up for little league, which he jumped at. He loved baseball. They traveled around to every practice and game, ensuring he always saw two parents supporting him. The same for every school event. To some extent, he felt they were trying to overcompensate for him having lost both parents in a horrible tragedy at age seven.

The door clicked and Edward saw the tall, slender forty-something frame of Doctor Law enter. His nose buried in papers as always.

Good morning, Edward. Doctor Law said. His name was always the source of a few jokes among Edward and the other patients. With a name like that, he should be a lawyer . But Edwards favorite was, he was the Law around this place . He liked that one, because it was true, and it was his joke.

Doctor Law pulled a chair away from the table, and then stopped with a bewildered look on his face. He frantically studied the folder in his hands. Without looking up he said, I will be right back. I have the wrong folder. He walked back out the door, flipping through the pages with the look of confusion growing the whole time.

Edward always wondered if these types of mistakes were legitimate or some kind of experiment, with someone observing the subjects reactions through the two-way portal in the wall. He played it cool, sat, and waited for the doctor to return.

The two-way mirror grabbed his attention during his first visit as well. They didnt hide what it was, just who was behind it. He remembered sitting there, focusing as hard as he could to see through it; hoping his foster parents were on the other side and would be in soon to take him home. That was not the case. Instead, only Doctor Law entered the room.

They talked for hours about many topics. He asked about his relationship with his foster mom, and then about his foster father. To both questions, Edward gave glowing answers about how close he felt to them and how great his life was going.

The conversation moved to school and friends. He wanted to know if Edward was being bullied or harassed at school. He suggested that kids sometimes single out a child who has been in a foster home or has had a traumatic past. Well, the answer to that was most definitely not. Edward had lots of friends, both in and away from school. Other than the normal ribbing you give each other during a baseball game or in the schoolyard, he remembered nothing like bullying. He couldnt think of any time he may have bullied anyone else, either.

Doctor Law asked him if any of his friends tried to get him to take or experiment with any kind of drugs. That answer was a very loud, Absolutely not! His foster parents asked him about drugs once before too. They even took him to the doctor for testing. Edward tried everything he could to convince them. Two days later, the results were in, and his foster parents were apologetic. They explained they heard rumors from other parents about drug use among his friends, and wanted to be sure. Doctor Law listened to his answer while consulting a file laid out on the table before him. He didnt challenge Edwards answer, or ask him any more questions about it.

Next, he asked about his real parents. Edward thought for a minute about how to answer, since he was still unsure why he was there. He could have said he never thought about them or what happened to them anymore, but that would have been a lie. He thought about it daily. Sometimes hourly. He told Doctor Law how he felt, and how bad he missed them. Edward then felt the need to explain. He loved his foster parents, but he missed his real parents. Doctor Law interrupted his explanation to tell him that was normal, and they understood that. Hearing that made Edward feel less guilty, though it was not really bothering him much.

Doctor Law asked delicately about the moment he found them. Edward shifted in his seat and explained, Something woke me up. I laid there for a few moments and heard several loud crashes coming from the kitchen. I called for my mom and she never answered. I heard another crash, and she screamed. I walked downstairs and pushed open the door. Thats when I saw both lying on the floor. Edward sighed heavily. Shortly after that a police officer came in and rushed me out of the house.

This was a memory Edward wished he could lose. For months, he woke up screaming as the image of his dead parents invaded his sleep. His foster mother would storm in and hold him for hours, trying with all her might to protect him from the memory, but nothing drove it away.

Moments after Edward walked in, Officer Tillingsly grabbed and rushed him out to his patrol car. He left him there for the longest minute or two of his life. When he returned, he took Edward to the police station. The officer was a friend of Edwards father, and was always around. He could tell Officer Tillingsly was in as much shock as Edward. He sat Edward in the chair behind his desk and gave him a soda to drink. Sitting in a chair beside him, they talked about anything and everything, including a fishing trip hed taken with Edward and his father over the summer.

Theyd been out there for hours with no bites, if you didnt count the bugs. Officer Tillingsly thought he had a bite on his line once. He reeled it in close to the boat, but when he looked, he leaned over the side a little too far. Flapping his arms like a back-pedaling turkey, he hung there for a few seconds until gravity won and he entered the water with a splash. Edward remember hearing his father laughing while saying, Well, Lewis, if we werent going to catch anything before, we wont now. You scared them all off.