"GHOULS NIGHT OUT"
HALLOWEEN 2007 HARDY BOYS CONTEST ENTRY
GUARDIAN ANGELS
by
Author F
Chapter 4
The Chapters
Frank paced the small pathway in front of the now darkened ticket office. The only people still at the orchard were the SWAT teams, a contingent of Bayport police officers led by Con Riley, and Frank, Callie and their group of friends. The maze had been searched – several times – and everyone had been found… Everyone except Joe and Vanessa.
Frank had been calling Joe’s cell phone repeatedly and getting voice mail every time. The air was thick with tension as the head of the SWAT team, in a heated discussion with Con, was very vocally suggesting that Joe and Vanessa left without telling anyone.
“They’re hormonal teenagers for God’s sake!” he bellowed. “Why am I the only one who finds it easy to believe they snuck off by themselves for a little action.”
“You saw the security tapes!” Frank snapped. “They went into the maze with the rest of us and never came out! If they left, we would have seen it!”
“You and your brother have been following in your father’s footsteps for years,” the man said heatedly. “You said it yourself – your brother and his girlfriend ditched the two of you,” he waved dismissively towards Callie, “shortly after you got in there so they could be alone. I have no doubt if he wanted to sneak out completely without being seen, he could find a way to do it!”
Frank felt himself shaking, rage threatening to blot out all reason and common sense. He took a deep breath and then another one and stared at the man. “You’re right, he could…but he didn’t. And why would he? If they wanted to leave to be alone tonight, all they had to do was say so! No one would have stopped them!”
The SWAT team leader swore under his breath and whirled around, stalking back towards Con. “This is ridiculous. We’ve searched every square inch of that maze repeatedly! They are not in there and there is no sign they were forcibly removed. I am not wasting taxpayers’ money on a couple of kids who got a little too hot and bothered. My team is done here.” Whistling, he got the attention of his team members who immediately fell in step behind him. Minutes later, they were gone.
Frank watched with smoldering fury as the men left, then he too approached Con. His voice was low and controlled and filled with resolve. “We’re searching again. And again and again and again until we find them.”
Without waiting for an answer, Frank took Callie’s hand and disappeared through the entrance of the maze, their small group of friends trailing behind.
*****
“I can bring Vanessa back to you…and I will.”
“You…you can do that?” Joe asked, wanting so desperately to believe it.
“Yes,” Iola smiled, “I can.”
Joe blinked and looked at her, a little wary. His relationship with Iola had been a lot of things including volatile and intense. He had loved her deeply and she’d felt the same but they were young and it was the first relationship for both of them. They were both flirts, Joe more so than Iola, but when it came right down to it and jealousy reared its ugly head – which it sometimes did – she could give as good as she got.
And if Iola was indeed being truthful with him now, she probably knew he felt much differently about Vanessa than he had about her. Iola was his first love and that meant she would own a piece of his heart forever. But Joe was coming to the realization that Vanessa could very well be his true love. He was pretty sure had Iola lived, he still would’ve ended up with Vanessa and he sometimes wondered how Iola would have handled that. Was he about to find out? Maybe Iola could bring Vanessa back to him…but would she?
Taking a deep breath he asked, “You’d do that?”
“Oh, Joe,” Iola murmured, reaching out to touch his cheek tenderly, an eternity of patience and understanding reflected in her eyes. “When I chose her to be your partner it wasn’t for a few months or a year…it was for a lifetime,” Iola smiled sadly.
‘When you chose her?’ Joe was stunned but had no time to express his surprise and confusion as Iola continued.
“I wanted to be the one…your one, but it wasn’t meant to be.” She let out a soft, heartbreaking sigh and for a moment Joe could see the memories flash in her eyes. “I know it’s been painful for you, but everything in your life has happened exactly as it should have.” She scooted closer to Joe and hooked her arm through his. “You were my first love, Joe, and my only love. It was pure and true and it gave me an insight into you that no one else ever had, or ever will have.” She sighed wistfully and laid her head on his shoulder.
“I knew before I died that while we were meant to be for a while, we were never meant to be forever. I didn’t want to accept it but it wasn’t my choice.” She looked up now, her eyes filled with sorrow. “You changed so much after I died. Your guilt and grief took you down a very, very dark path. One that would have led you to an eternity in the fiery hell you were so sure you deserved. Your heart and your mind and your soul were so broken it was changing your destiny. The dark forces were feeding on that, feeding on you and leading you straight to them.”
Again she touched his cheek and this time he leaned into her touch, mesmerized. He’d never told anyone how he felt during that dark, dark time in his life. How could she know? “I knew then you weren’t strong enough to pull yourself out. You were so sure that was your true destiny, so sure my death was your fault…. It wasn’t, Joe. And you wouldn’t let anyone who knew you, anyone who had known us, close enough to help you. You needed an angel to guide you, to show you the way and guide you back to the life you were meant to live.”
“You?” Joe guessed.
Iola laughed and it sounded like music. “I wish it was me but no, it wasn’t. However it was my destiny to choose your angel. Something I couldn’t do until I left your world and entered the one beyond. I’m sorry you had to suffer the way you did, but it took me longer than I thought it would to find her.” Her eyes shone with tears and she turned and looked down at Vanessa.
Joe sucked in a breath as it slowly sank in. “Vanessa? You…you chose Vanessa? For me?”
“Yes,” Iola said softly. “Everything you needed – everything you ever will need – can be found in her soul.” She looked up at Joe and a tear slid from her eye. “She is your angel, Joe.”
He returned his gaze to the limp body in his arms and choked on a sob. “But…she’s dead.”
*****
Vanessa felt as if she were walking on air, floating weightlessly. She understood that she was dead; she didn’t know how, but she just knew. She was sad that she didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to her mother, her friends. And then there was Joe…thinking of him, her heart ached. Vanessa hoped he could find a way to cope with her death and move on, but knowing somewhere in the dark part of her soul, that he wouldn’t. Part of her wanted to stay with him – she could still feel it, how much he needed her – but there was a beautiful, brilliant light in the distance. Like a magnet it was beckoning to her, drawing her closer and closer. She’d be happy there, she knew it with absolute certainty. ‘Only a little ways to go,’ Vanessa thought, trying to hurry, eager to reach the destination that offered such peace and serenity.
Suddenly a shape appeared in front of her, startling Vanessa. She stopped and stared as the image shimmered, faded and then came back strong. It was a woman – no, a girl – with dark hair. She was maybe a year or two younger than Vanessa and she was blocking Vanessa’s way.
Vanessa stared, confused and the girl smiled at her. Vanessa was sure she didn’t know this girl but still she seemed vaguely familiar.
“You need to go back,” the girl said.
“Back?” Vanessa stammered.
“Yes. It’s not time yet.”
“But I…I died…”
“It’s a mistake.” The girl looked down and Vanessa automatically followed her gaze and gasped. There was nothing beneath them! No grass or dirt, no floor, nothing but wispy clouds.
As the clouds floated by Vanessa’s eyes filled with tears. “Joe…” she murmured. Far, far below Joe sat on the cold hard ground, cradling her lifeless body in his arms.
“Yes…and he still needs you. You have to go back….”
Vanessa looked up and the girl smiled.
“He still hasn’t really gotten over me yet. If you leave too…” Tears shone in the girl’s blue eyes and she wiped them away before they could fall. “…it’ll kill him. And he won’t end up here, with us.”
Vanessa stared at the girl when everything suddenly fell into place. She’d seen pictures…. In old Bayport High yearbooks, discreetly placed on an upper shelf of the bookcase in the Hardys’ living room, lovingly hidden away in Joe’s wallet… “Iola,” she gasped.
“Yes,” Iola replied simply. She took a step towards Vanessa. “Please, you need to go back. It took me so long to find you. I know there’s no one else out there for him. He needs you…. Please.”
Vanessa looked down at Joe, clearly seeing the tears on his face despite the distance between them, and then back at Iola. “I don’t understand. I’m already dead. How can I go back?” she asked, bewildered.
“I can help you. I can send you back…but only if you want to go.” Iola’s smile faltered. “If you choose to stay here, there’s nothing I can do.”
Vanessa was shocked. “I have a choice?”
“Yes. But you have to decide now. Tonight – this night – is the only night I can help you go back and time is running out.” Iola took another step forward, noting the way Vanessa was staring over her shoulder at the bright, welcoming light.
“Yes, it’s beautiful there. It’s perfect there. You’ll be happy there, we all are. But the people you leave behind…” Iola reached out and took Vanessa’s hand. A tear fell from her eye and Vanessa gasped at the fiery path it left in its wake. “…he won’t get over it this time. They’ll come for him again and this time there will be no one to show him the way back.” Iola squeezed her hand, a sense of urgency in her voice.
“They? They who?” Vanessa asked, thoroughly confused.
“The ones who live in the dark,” Iola whispered. “They want him and if you leave he’ll go willingly. You won’t be there to pull him back this time.” Another tear fell and Iola winced at the trail it left. “We’ll never see him again. Please! I’ve already searched; I know there’s no one else. It has to be you…”
Vanessa gazed at the light, mesmerized by the warm glow and the beautiful, haunting music she heard. She looked down at Joe one last time and could already see the dark clouds gathering, hovering over him in anticipation, sensing it was just a matter of time.
The light grew brighter, beckoning her, calling to her, begging her to come. Yes, she would be happy there…but she would never be at peace knowing the cost. Tearing her eyes away from the glow she looked at Iola and smiled. “Send me back.”
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.