Limestone was a small town in the middle of the wilderness
Once you exited the highway, it was only accessible by a dirt road, some twenty kilometers long. For anything more than a tank of gas, you’d have to drive to the neighboring town Compton, whether it was to stock up your fridge or go to school; it wasn’t a town you just stumbled upon.
Old bikes, front porches, and dusty cacti seemed to be the common ingredients for the typical yard. Nestled in the heart of Limestone, a diner in classic, small, vintage, train car style served hungry customers. Murphy's Diner & Soda Fountain was an old-school diner, complete with old-school soda-fountains.
Sal pulled up in front of the diner and parked the bus. There were no street signs posted, so it was impossible to know exactly which street was which. The GPS had taken them as far as it could, leaving them stranded outside the diner.
Carl was disheartened. He was so close to Louise and yet so far.
Heads turned when the two brothers walked into Murphy's Diner and introduced themselves: a good-looking, young man with blue eyes, shoulder-length hair, dirty jeans, and a skull-faced t-shirt followed by a tall, muscular, outlandish-looking young man with pitch black hair and eyes.
“How can I help you two gentlemen?” a kind waitress asked when Sal and Carl approached the counter.
“Coffee, or perhaps a Limestone Special?” she pointed behind her to a picture of a huge burger.
"Two half-pound burger patties, cheddar, mozzarella, Swiss, bacon, onion straws. BBQ sauce. Lettuce, tomato & red onion. Served with fries and onion rings," read the description below the photo.
Sal nodded with a lively expression on his face as he studied the burger.
“Maybe later. I need to find Circle Drive. My friend lives there.” Carl showed the waitress the note.
“Yeah, I know this house. New people just moved in there. People usually move to Limestone to get away from something.” The waitress surveyed Carl suspiciously. “This town isn’t easy to come by.”
Sal stepped closer to the counter and gazed directly at the waitress. He was too tired for this bullshit, no matter how good the waitress’ intentions were. Sal leaned slightly forward, his black eyes unblinking as he locked onto the waitress like a missile locked onto a target. “I'd like the Limestone Special to go, please, and directions to Circle Drive.” He spoke softly, his hypnotic tongue seeming to enchant the waitress.
Carl was a bundle of nerves next to him, scared to attract unwanted attention.
The waitress looked animatronic as she stood behind the counter, nodding mechanically. She smiled, noted Sal’s order on her notepad, and placed the order with the chef. When she returned, she gave directions to the light blue house with the red door on Circle Drive.
“That was fucking reckless, Sal," Carl said when they were back in the bus and out of hearing range for curious ears. "We don’t need the town to chase us down with torches and pitchforks. What were you thinking, doing your voodoo?”
“I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry,” Sal apologized
“Well, it doesn’t seem like you disturbed the peace.” Carl gazed through Murphy's Diner's clean-scrubbed windows. The waitress was cleaning the counter, and the customers sat, happily eating their food. They looked a bit like cows chewing cud.
Circle Drive wasn’t hard to find, and the blue house with the red door stood out beside the other, less-colorful houses.
Sal parked the bus across the street from the house, which was in great contrast to where Louise had lived in Strong Edge. The front lawn was healthy and well-kept. Someone had taken the time to water it, mow it, and remove the weeds to increase curb appeal. The bushes around the house had been neatly trimmed, and the shadow of a beautiful apple tree was there to provide an inviting refuge from the sun. The house itself was well-maintained and surrounded by a white fence.
Carl crawled slowly out of the bus. He was nervous, shaking despite the hot summer breeze. Sal could sense his brain searching for any sign that Louise was home and that she was all right.
Sal carefully closed the car door as not to frighten his mesmerized brother. “Are you going to take a closer look?”
“Yeah." Card let it sink in a bit before he moved closer to the house. "Yeah.”
“You want me to come with you?” Sal asked his brother who was moving at the same pace as a turtle.
“No, I got this.” Carl finally reached the white fence and clenched it for a while.
Sal sat on the curb, eating his burger, watching Carl’s every move. After what seemed to be an hour—enough time for Sal to have chewed his way through half a burger—Carl finally reached the front door and rang the doorbell.
No one answered.
He tried again with the same result.
Disappointed, he drifted back to the bus, fighting a mixture of competing emotions.
Sal swallowed a chunk of burger and licked his fingers.
Carl collapsed next to Sal on the curb. “Wow, that burger didn’t stand a chance, did it?”
“If Jack were here, he'd say something like, 'You eat like you mean it. You should be the face of a sexy, new, Carl’s Jr. campaign.'” Sal said, and a smirk crept over his face.
“And Rosie would say something like, 'Is there an app I can download to make you go away?'” Carl added.
They laughed, and for a minute. Carl seemed less worried. The boys sat for a while, studying the house in front of them. The house held the answer to a heartbreaking mystery and redemption. “Arg! I'm going fucking nuts, Sal. We've ridden all day, through flat and uninteresting landscape, only to find an empty house.”
Sal studied the neighborhood. There had to be something they could do to pass the time until Louise had returned. If she returned. Sal noticed some ugly lawn gnomes, staring at him from the front yard diagonally across from him, reminding him of The Old Gnome back home.
“Come on: it looks like someone's having a garage sale a few houses up the street. Let’s check it out,” he said hastily and got to his feet.
Furniture, books, tools, clothing, and sporting and exercise equipment were lined up on a well-kept lawn. Sal picked up an old basketball. It had been well-used, and he felt sure it had made someone happy.
The game.
It seemed so long ago that he was supposed to have played in the big game. He felt different. At its heart, basketball was a simple game; things didn't feel so simple any more.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted an old basketball hoop hanging over a garage, and he couldn’t help himself. He jumped slightly forward and threw the ball. I made a perfect bow and went clean through the net.
He decided to buy the ball. As he went to locate the person in charge of the garage sale, he stumbled upon a stack of old newspapers. For some reason, an article on the front of one of the papers caught his attention:
House burned to the ground. Was it accidental?
The Estate Gazette, 2000
A small town was in a state of unimaginable grief Tuesday, as investigators tried to determine the cause of a house fire that killed two people. Firefighters were called to the house on Friday, shortly before 3 A.M.
The family lived in a single house that has now been blackened and badly burned, leaving the townsfolk wondering why they couldn’t get out alive. A baby had been saved from the fire but died sadly later at the hospital as a result of smoke and soot inhalation.
The fire moved very quickly, and the loss was horrendous. Many people are questioning why the fire department was not alerted sooner and what could have possibly ignited the deadly flames. The family had not been alerted by smoke detectors, which only adds to the mystery since there were five of them in the house.
The Fire Marshal is currently investigating any issues related to the performance of the smoke detectors. They stress how important it is to ensure that your smoke detectors are properly maintained.
“The family were newcomers and had renovated the home themselves. They were always polite and kind when they were in town, but they mostly kept to themselves. Nevertheless, they didn’t deserve a fate like this,” said one of the townspeople, a Mr. Jacobsen.
It’s not the only tragedy the town has endured, as two weeks prior to the fire, a middle-aged couple was found lifeless in their house. Whether they were victims of a crime is still uncertain.
That was when Sal remembered the awful dream he'd had that had terrorized him: an old barn, blood spatter on the wall, and people yelling and screaming. Something was burning, and he was suffocating. Had it been a coincidence?
An alarm sounded inside of him. He just couldn't seem to gather his thoughts. His mind was preoccupied by the article, and he couldn’t seem to shake their screams inside of him.
“May I help you?” An older, friendly-looking man smiled at him.
“What?” Sal answered. He was at a loss.
“The basketball,” the man said with kind interest. “You have great talent, and you're a good height for basketball. Do you play?"
“Yeah, I do. How much for the ball?” Sal asked.
“Take it. It deserves a good home. It was my son’s.” The man's eyes took on a distant look.
Images flashed, forcing Sal to cover his face with his hands—the boy had been fourteen when he was killed by a drunk driver.
“Are you all right?” The man looked concerned.
“I'm fine. I just got dizzy for a second.” He had to learn how to control his mind-hacking. It was only getting stronger, and he couldn't let it get out of control.
“Let us get you some water." The man hurried back to his house.
Sal gazed over at Carl who was standing on the sidewalk, staring desperately staring at the blue house.
The man returned with a glass of water.
“Thank you, sir,” Sal said politely.
The man chuckled. “The name is Ned.”
“Nice to meet you, Ned. I’m Sal.” Sal hesitated for a minute, but he had to ask. “Ned, this paper…is this a local paper?”
Ned looked at the paper. “Yes, only they closed down about seven years ago.”
"The fire…” Sal didn’t know how to continue.
“I remember it. It was horrible. The poor family was burned alive: a woman, her sister, and a poor baby.” Ned shook his head. “It was a tragedy. The father was badly burned when he tried to save them.”
“The father?” Sal asked with thoughtful attention.
“Yes. Charlie. He still lives here, in Limestone. He lives in an RV on an old camping spot outside of town.” Ned went silent and looked around him.
“Thank you, Ned. I’m not here to cause any problems, I promise,” Sal reassured Ned who he thought resembled a skeleton.
“I know.” Ned smiled. “You just remind me of something.”
“Carl? Oh, my God, it is really you!”
Sal and Ned were interrupted by shouts of joy from Carl and Louise who were running toward each other with outstretched arms. It was like a scene from a movie, Louise being bundled into Carl’s arms, and Carl caressing her gently. Everything on the small street stopped as people watched the two lovers reunite.
As a mechanical response to the situation, Sal reached for his phone to check his messages. He had a few texts, but none of them from him.
Sal was being ridiculous, opening an invitation for mockery. Rosie’s voice echoed inside his head, "You might as well pour a bucket of glitter over you and stand in the sun." He jammed the phone into his pocket; it was time to pay Charlie a visit.