September 3rd, 2010.
The rain flooded the cracks and crevices of the sidewalk. A red truck's windshield became a blur of darkened blues and reds, and Loui leaned on a wall outside the corner store. A cigarette in one hand, his other in his pocket, his white wet hair had fallen in front of his face, he felt no need to push it away. within the early morning moonlight, just beyond the edge of the forest, he saw them.
Their eyes and clothes had always been whispers and streaks of grey, Loui never remembered the colors very well. He couldn’t even figure out if he was just seeing things, or if the things he saw WERE spirits. He didn’t truly care. These ones didn't cause trouble or try to hurt anyone. His job was never with them. Loui lifted his hand from his pocket to check his phone, no messages. he took a puff of his cigarette.
“Pricks” he said, shoving the phone back into his pocket. Loui closed his eyes as the sound of rain on metal barricaded his mind from everything but itself. For some unexplainable reason, despite having told himself multiple times he would never try, Loui found himself wondering what it would be like to settle down. His thoughts wandered to his parents, how far-gone his dad was when his mom passed. How their family was torn apart by the loss of his younger brother.
His phone vibrated in his pocket, the message he’d been waiting for. The town Loui was currently in had been home to over a dozen missing person cases, in which the Hynes foundation suspected might've had some involvement with the dead. After checking the message, he tossed his cigarette onto the ground, stomped on it, and climbed into his truck. Loui had been sent an address that led him out into the nearby forest, local authority not too far behind him. Something had felt off, he’d traveled this road before despite never having been in this town.
Loui’s mind blanked and his head began to hurt. The spirits still lingered, yet one stood out amongst the rest. He’d parked outside the location, an old shack house that looked run down and deteriorated, yet also recently used. His vision became hazy as he stepped out from the truck, his eyes climbing around until he spotted the spirit that stood out on his drive over. The others hadn’t arrived yet, or perhaps they didn’t know where to go? It didn’t matter. All that did was that he had a job to do, to which he also had the authority.
“Don’t.” Loui heard the voice come from the spirit. He wasn’t just imagining this one, this one was real. And it looked distinctly similar to him. While Loui wore a black trench coat, this one wore white. “I wouldn't go in there.” the spirit spoke again. Their glasses were similar, yet Loui’s white hair was shorter, the one in front of him had longer hair.
"do you know something?” Loui asked the spirit, rubbing his head with his palm as he squinted. He’d usually never talk to the spirits.
“she's already dead.” the spirits voice was monotone.
“I’ve seen corpses, I've seen death, this shouldn't be any different.” Loui said, finally choosing to look away from the spirit and walking towards the shack.
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The spirit refused to look towards the door himself, a pained expression marking his blurred face. “The date is September 3rd, the time is currently 2:33 am. about an hour after you open that door, you’ll be shot in the chest, the right shoulder, and the leg. The woman inside is Laurien Cougars.”
Loui paused, his thoughts halting as he realized that Spirits didn’t have an easy concept of time or dates. And if they did, it was out of spite that they counted. “You’re not a Spirit are you?” he didn't look, not yet, but his head throbbed.
The spirit seemed to ignore his question. “Laurien Cougars lived life slowly, every morning she’d take her time brushing through her hair, drinking her coffee until it was cold, and then huddling under a blanket until it was time for work. She was always in bed at 9 PM sharp. She’d occasionally go on hikes, and never allowed herself to be too gloomy”. Loui stayed silent, he didn’t understand why this anomaly knew so much about her or why he was continuing to talk about her as if he knew her.
“You know who the killer is, and where?” He turned his head to the anomaly now.
“He’s behind the door, he knows you're here. His name is Mickey Thomas. if you open it, you will be shot.”
“Go figure..” Loui remarked, letting out a stressed chuckle. “It’s always the old bastards.” he finally turned back fully to the Anomaly. “So who are you, if you aren’t a spirit”
“if you don't open that door, you should seek a man named Emmet Brown.” The anomaly said. Loui gave him a perplexed look, as if someone had said an entire sentence out of order, recognizing the name from a movie. “He’ll be in a place called Hudsville, working as a school teacher at an elementary school, though you can also find him at the bar during the weekends. You’ll know it’s him by the red truck parked outside.”
Loui couldn’t find the right words to speak, he was starting to get annoyed instead. “A vague location and a name of a character?” he could see the police cars starting to pull in, despite the darkness. “I’ll ask again. Who are you?”
“Someone you were never meant to be.” The anomaly spoke, Police cars pulling in near his truck. The anomaly disappeared into fog, leaving Loui more annoyed than he already was by the rain.
Loui hadn’t opened the door, not this time. He didn’t see the scene he would’ve, he didn’t know how the corpse looked this time. Police circled the area, and the man inside who hid just behind the door managed to run. Loui and and another officer gave chase. And roughly an hour later, they arrived at the edge of a cliff above the lake where they had found a body previously. Sarah Chester's body was washed up on the outer edges of the lake near the cliff, he remembered that. He remembered the corpses hanging from the trees with their limbs still missing, even after investigation. And at the edge of the cliff, 6 gunshots rang out as Mickey lifted his own gun.
Yet only 3 bullets hit. One to the shoulder, one to the chest, and one to the leg. Mickey fell from the cliff down onto the rocks below. Loui didn’t approach the cliff this time, he didn’t bleed this time. After all was said and done, after all the paperwork was filed and the corpse of Mickey was found and confirmed him dead, Loui sat in his red truck. No spirits bothered him now, not even the white haired one from earlier. He’d heard the report of the women found inside the shack, it’d made him dizzy and uneasy, he didn't understand why. Loui finally shut his eyes, most annoyed that this job had nothing to do with spirits, demons, or the undead, despite suspicion.
