8

"You don't have to go inside."

Jamie's voice broke into Mark's thoughts. And made him realize he had been sitting there behind the steering wheel, staring at the entrance to the store, for the better part of five minutes.

He looked at Jamie. She was not smiling. Her expression was completely serious, and he could see in her eyes that she was not going to push him. She would go in by herself. Hell, she would probably call it off if he said so. That was exactly why he could not turn back. Eventually Jamie would be just as isolated as he was if he did.

Mark sighed and opened the door, stepping out. Jamie followed his lead, looking thoughtful. He came to stand next to her and took her hand. "The main thing to remember…" Jamie spoke as they headed for the entrance. "Is to ignore them. If you hear or see them, just ignore them. You can't talk to them in a store full of people, obviously, so just ignore them."

"Right." Mark nodded. Surely it could not be that easy. Jamie did not let him hesitate, she kept on moving, through the doors and into the air conditioned store.

Mark knew as soon as he stepped over the threshold that Jamie's powers of perception had not fully developed yet. Either that or she was the queen of ignoring ghosts. They were literally everywhere. Some were just voices, coming from the televisions to the right, or the stereo systems to the left. They were quite possibly coming from the computers straight ahead for all he knew. And it wasn't the voices he had the most issue with. It was the spirits.

Jamie walked through one without so much as blinking, making Mark wonder if she honestly did not see them. She shot him a look and he realized with a start that she did see them. Maybe saw and heard them all. She just did not care. Mark glanced around, not letting his eyes linger too long on any one spirit.

The store was doing good business for a Saturday afternoon, but it was the ghosts standing around that made it seem packed. He never understood why they were drawn to appliances. He personally would have preferred haunting his own house rather than a store, but here they were nevertheless. There were so many he could not even begin to count them. And he realized with a start that he and Jamie were being watched. The spirits did not bother them, in fact they kept their distance for the most part. The voices coming from the televisions had lowered to a soft whisper, and he did not get the feeling that they were being talked to. It was just background noise.

Mark raised a surprised eyebrow at Jamie. She just offered an enigmatic smile and led the way into the heart of television land. He was content to let her do all the talking, and he figured the salesman she had found was wondering why he wasn't chiming in. It was all he could do to stand there. Even though Jamie did not seem worried, he was. And it was odd, because these were not really his kind of ghost. These were just people who had lost their way. More a job for Glen than himself. So why the hell did he feel so guarded?

Jamie picked over the TV selection until she found one she liked. As the salesman wrote up the sale, she informed him she wanted to look at the stereos to. The guy practically glowed. She toyed with the various models until she decided on a simple small unit. Jamie figured Mark was freaked out enough as it was without her bringing home an entire entertainment center.

She had seen this before. Several times. Especially when she had lived down south. While Jamie was confused about how many ghosts were packed in to a store, she figured they liked all the energy. Not just coming from the various gadgets that were running, but from the people shopping. And again, she had figured out that by ignoring the spirits, it made them less likely to bother her.

The salesman led them toward the front so he could ring up her purchases. He said the total and Mark tried to pay for it. Jamie pushed his hand away and offered her own card. "I don't think this is gonna break me." She said as the salesman ran her card.

"Yeah well." Mark put his wallet back in his pocket, still uncomfortable, but glad this ordeal with almost over. Jamie took her receipt as the salesman told them to pull their car up to the doors, and they would load in the TV.

Mark laced his fingers through hers again and gladly led the way outside. There were more spirits. Not just in the store but standing outside, looking in. Jamie went on ignoring them, and she squeezed Mark's hand as they stepped out into the sunlight.

He was quiet until they had gotten in the SUV, and he had parked right in front of the doors. "Ok I give up. Why were they leaving us alone?"

"I don't know." Jamie shrugged. "Maybe because we didn't acknowledge them first? I just know it works." She settled into her seat. "And really, if you want to keep them out of the electronics, you just tell them to go away."

Mark huffed. "And that works." It wasn't a question. He sounded sort of…angry. Jamie glanced at him, saw he was gritting his teeth and squeezing the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were white.

"Yes. It works. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." But it was something. Jamie followed Mark's line of sight and frowned, looking at the man who was standing in the middle of the parking lot. Except for the fact that the guy was staring back at them, he would have passed for another shopper. Jamie felt a chill go down her back. A car coming from the opposite direction drove right through him. Jamie looked at Mark once more. He had taken his eyes off the man, but he was still gritting his teeth. She could hear it.

A loud knock on her window caused them both to jump. Jamie laughed nervously and got out to go to the back and open the storage gate in the back. She watched as two young men grunted and huffed and put the TV and stereo in the back to their satisfaction. In five minutes she was back in her seat. Mark was still looking at the steering wheel but he had relaxed.

Jamie glanced around as she buckled her seat belt. "They thinned out." There were only a few ghosts and they showed no interest in Jamie or Mark as he dropped the SUV into gear.

"You saw him. He was one of them."

"Yeah. I know he was a ghost." Jamie did not have to ask which he Mark referred to.

"Not just a ghost. One of the bad ones." He glanced at her again. Not one I've seen around town before. I know there are a couple. I should have taken care of them a long time ago, but…"

"I know…" Jamie reached out and laid her hand on his leg. Mark gave her a distracted half-smile, but she could tell he was going to worry over it.

As Mark drove toward the parking lot exit, Jamie looked around. Whoever the guy had been, he was gone now. She squeezed Mark's thigh and relaxed against her seat for the drive back.

They were quiet for the first few minutes, and when they had reached the town limits, Mark finally heaved a sigh. "I said I was trying."

"And you are doing great." Jamie informed him.

"I just don't feel right about it."

Jamie looked at him for a solid minute before speaking. "You don't feel right about what? Shopping? Having a TV?"

"We cut ourselves off for a reason." Mark said, easing up on the gas as they got behind a slow moving tractor. "Did you notice how many there were back there?"

"Yes." Jamie had been in a few similar places when she had been shopping for her house by the lake. She raised her eyebrows. "There were a lot more here than there were before. Is that it?"

"Maybe. Yeah." Mark nodded slowly and tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. "They're attracted to us. Not to you, specifically, and not to anyone else I know. Glen and I. Everywhere we go…especially places like that…" He trailed off.

"Not having these things in your house…is that how you kept them out?" She lifted her hand off his leg and idly rubbed at the tattoo on her arm.

"We thought so. It doesn't hurt to assume on that point. We haven't had a problem yet."

"Ok. So why in hell would you let me bully you into this?" Jamie felt bad. If he had maybe come out and been honest about this in the first place, she would not have been so pushy.

"You bullied me?" Mark snorted. "I told you I was trying. And I am. A couple of people we talked to seemed to think that some kinds of electronics were doorways. We told you that."

"Yeah. But you caved in pretty easy." Jamie bit her lip and looked out the window.

"And again. I'm willin' to try." Mark reached over and took her hand, pulling it back toward him. "Hell, for all I know you can keep those things outta the house. You said you were doing pretty good on your own."

"I was. But you guys might be out of my league." And Jamie could have added that was in so very many ways. There was a lot more about him that she did not know. Or did not understand. And he wasn't making it easy, being as close-mouthed as he was.

"Worth a shot right?" Mark glance at her again, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"I guess. I just…don't want to make things harder than they already are."

"You never could." He squeezed her fingers, making Jamie smile. It felt forced, it looked forced. The pokey tractor finally turned off. Mark got the SUV's speed back up. Their turn was a few miles away yet. Mark looked at her again, just a quick flick of his eyes from the roadway.

And it was from the corner of his eye that Mark saw him.

The man from the parking lot. Or rather the thing from the parking lot. He was dressed entirely in black, from his shoes on up. Even his hair was black. And he just appeared, from thin air.

Mark heard Jamie gasp and knew she saw him too. Instinct caused him to use the brakes, but even as he did he knew he was pushing too hard. Tires squealed on hot pavement and found a slick spot from some other vehicle that leaked oil. He felt the steering wheel jerk in his hands and then he saw other hands on top of his. The wheel spun again, hard to the left, and the SUV, top heavy to begin with, flipped. Jamie gave a breathless scream next to him. And that was the last thing he heard before his seatbelt snapped and his head slammed against the windshield.

Jamie, being the lighter of the two, was a bit luckier. At least her seatbelt held her in. Unfortunately she got slammed from side to side like a rag doll before the SUV came to rest on the driver's side. Jamie dangled there, feeling dizzy and nauseous, smelling gas and scorched rubber. And blood. She saw Mark, lying against his door, his forehead gashed open from meeting the windshield. His face was entirely covered with blood.

She tried to take a deep breath and winced, moaning as the seat belt dug into her side. "Mark?" She managed to ask, but her voice was so low she almost could not hear it herself. He stirred a bit though, moaning a little himself. Jamie felt relief flood her. Until that small shift and noise, she had been almost sure Mark was dead.

Jamie reached out and hit the button to lower her window. Of course, it did not work. The engine wasn't running now, and she could hear something liquid dripping from the engine. With a low grunt, she twisted, getting her left hand up and gripping the headrest behind her. She pulled and kept twisting, bracing her feet against the dashboard and center console. She got most of the way around and had to stop to shift her footing and catch her breath. Her sides were sore, and her shoulder hurt, but if that was all that came of this she would count her blessings.

Now Jamie reached for her seatbelt release. It snapped open, and she was standing, bent a little, one foot on the side of the driver's seat, the other on the console. It was not comfortable but hell, she was alive so she would deal with it.

Her cell phone was in her Jeep. She hadn't bothered much with it, so now she cursed her forgetfulness. Brushing aside the urge to feel too sorry for herself, Jamie had to figure out how the hell to get out of the SUV. She eyed the cracked windshield, and watched as steam occasionally puffed out of the engine. At least she hoped it was steam.

She checked her footing one last time. The last thing she needed was to fall and land feet first on Mark. She gritted her teeth and kicked at the windshield. She could not seem to get enough leverage behind her kicks, but the roll had loosened the safety glass enough. She kicked one last time, uttering a grunt of effort and was rewarded by the glass cracking. A few more kicks, and the glue holding the glass was a series of breaks. Her foot went through and she pulled back, shaking bits of safety glass off her leg. She reached out and pushed on the corner of the windshield, using all of her strength against the cracks of glass. And finally it began to crumple, falling piece by piece. Some of it came in the SUV and landed on Mark, but she figured that would be the least of his worries if he didn't get out of the car. She finally made a hole big enough, and after finding more places to plant her feet, she crawled through the windshield. Glass rained down around her, and outside of the SUV the smell of gas and coolant was almost enough to make her gag.

Jamie debated once her feet touched the ground. She could run up the small embankment, and try to flag down a car. But this road was not heavily traveled in the best of times, so she might be waiting a while for help. Or she could try to drag Mark out herself. There was a thought. He was too damn big. Even as she thought it, she was turning, and pulling at the remaining glass. She cleared the way and saw that he was still in the same position. That cut was oozing blood still, and his hair was tacky with it. She had no idea how she was going to get him out around the steering wheel, or even if she could. His legs could be trapped, or broken, or…

Jamie made herself stop. She could feel panic trying to settle into her, trying to replace the shock of the wreck. She went backward, away from the SUV, and took huge gulps of the clear air, untainted by the fumes up close. And then she returned, crawling forward into the space above the steering wheel.

There was definitely no way she could move him. She had to wake him up. "Mark!" Jamie was almost screaming in his face, but he did not react this time. She slapped his cheek, not hard enough to sting. "Mark! Hey…wake up!" Still talking, Jamie felt along his neck, closing her eyes and trying to feel if there had been a neck injury. There was no swelling. Relieved she pulled her hands back and saw they were covered with blood. She paused for a moment, looking at them, before resuming talking.

"You are so gonna hate me for this one." She wiggled a little closer and put her hand against the cut on his head. It slowed the bleeding more, but more importantly it held him still. With her other hand she grabbed his earlobe and twisted it. Unlike the little smack to his face, this time she put some force behind it, twisting hard and pulling at the same time.

Mark jumped and probably would have cracked his head against hers if Jamie had not been pushing him back. His eyes flew open and he uttered a loud curse as he tried to bat her hand away.

Jamie let go and watched him as he rubbed his ear. He looked dazed but he was awake. She had to get him out while he could.

"Mark?" His eyes met hers she saw how very confused he was. He groaned and shifted, muttering another curse.

"What the hell…" Mark muttered and raised his hands, rubbing the blood from his eyes. He looked at the mess blankly, not understanding yet what was going on.

"Come on. You have to move, and get outta there. Now." Jamie grabbed for his arm and tugged, getting another moan from him.

"I can get myself loose." Mark said, shaking her off. Jamie wasn't put off by that, she had seen it and had it happen quite a lot in her career as a nurse. So she moved back, giving him space. She waited and watched though, just in case he needed a hand.

It took a lot of maneuvering but Mark finally managed to crawl out of the SUV's broken windshield. Once outside Jamie tried to help him stand, but his legs refused to hold him up. Mark grumbled that he was dizzy, so Jamie let him lean on her as much as he could as she guided him up the slope to the side of the road. They were well away from the fumes, and she took big gasps of fresh air, never so grateful in her life to be breathing.

Mark had closed his eyes again. He was gingerly touching his forehead and the bump that had appeared. "Fuck…" He hissed out, wiping more blood from his face. He eyed the blood on his hand and almost fell backward he was so lightheaded. "I think I'm gonna be sick." He said it in a matter of fact tone and detached voice, as if he were telling her he thought it was going to rain. Jamie brushed his hair back from his face and rubbed his shoulders lightly as he threw up by the road. She figured it was the after-effects of the shock. And of course he was dizzy. If he didn't have a concussion she would eat one of the SUV's tires.

Mark complained about being sleepy shortly thereafter. Worriedly, Jamie got him up on his feet and paced him back and forth along the road's shoulder. He complained but he did as she told him. The wait felt eternal but it had not been more than fifteen minutes after she'd gotten him up to the road before a car spotted them. The woman inside, well into her sixties, with snow white hair and a pair of aviator style sunglasses, pulled out a cell phone and dialed 911 without any prompting from Jamie.

And the sound of the ambulance siren was the sweetest thing Jamie had heard in a long time.

The woman, Francine, stayed with Jamie and gave her a bottle of water. She tried to get Mark to drink but he still looked a bit green. He tried to refuse help from the paramedics, but Jamie got him into the back of the ambulance. After taking a precursory look at her and deeming Mark the more urgent case, they quickly began getting him ready for his trip to the hospital.

A police car pulled up shortly. He took one look at the SUV, on its side in the ditch, and came to find Jamie. His name tag identified him as Frank Wilson. Mark was being up on oxygen, and he was blacking out again, which caused the paramedics to exchange a worried glance. Jamie told them to go. She would find another way to the hospital.

As the ambulance sped away, Jamie stepped aside with Officer Wilson. He had already radioed in for a tow truck. He asked Jamie to walk him through what had happened.

She did. As much as she could anyway. The cop gave her a pointed look when she said that there had been someone in the road. Jamie looked steadily back at him. "And neither of us was drinking. Or doing drugs. We weren't even going the speed limit yet, because we had been behind a tractor that had just turned about a half mile back. The guy just ran out into the road and Mark tried to avoid him."

That was as close to the truth as Jamie was going to get for now. Wilson asked a few more questions and then offered Jamie a ride to the hospital. She accepted gratefully. They watched as the tow truck appeared. It took them nearly half an hour to get the SUV back on its tires and on the back of the truck.