There Is A Place On The Mountain Called ‘Borrasca’ Where People Go To Disappear

Underneath the Triple Tree there is a man who waits for me and should I go or should I stay my fate’s the same either way.

“Good morning.”

The words faded back into the ether and I awoke with a start. Jimmy Prescott was lounging against the wall near the door, an amused yet slightly disapproving look on his face.

“Shit, sorry Mr. Prescott. I didn’t hear you come in.”

“You know I worked here when I was a kid, too, Sam. I installed the bell on the front door for this very reason. Didn’t seem to wake you up, though,” he laughed. I mumbled another apology and idly straightened a stack of business cards in front of me.

“Late night?”

“Ah…kinda.” Very.

“I hope you weren’t out at the bonfires with all the other underage drinkers.”

“No, sir.” Of fucking course.

“Good. Anyway, I’m just here for my lunch. I’ll take a parmesan chicken with avocado on rye.”

“Yes, sir.” Happy that the conversation was over, I walked over to the sandwich counter and unwound the twisty tie from the rye bread.

Jimmy Prescott stepped back from the counter and idly studied the pictures on the wall, though I knew he’d seen them a thousand times before. Most of the photos were of the Prescott family, taken over the last half. I’d always though it odd décor but then the shop did belong to the Prescott’s after all.

“Is Meera here?” Prescott asked as I wrapped up his sandwich.

“She’s in the back.”

“Ah, I thought she’d still be in St. Louis. Well, when you’re finished would you mind getting her for me?”
Shit.

“Yes, sir.”

I handed him his sandwich and went to the back to find my boss. She was in the office, furiously punching keys on her accounting calculator.

“Uh, Meera? Jimmy Prescott is out front. He wants to talk to you.”

She turned and gave me a dubious look. “Did he say what about?” I shook my head.

“Okay,” she sighed. “You can go home for the day, Sam.”

”Oh…are you sure?” I still had three hours on the clock.

“He’s the only customer we’ve had since we opened. Don’t worry, I’ll pay you for a whole day, kiddo.”

“Thanks, Meera. Um, good luck I guess.”

I gave her a sympathetic shrug and she patted my arm. I don’t know how she did it. Meera was perhaps the most burdened and stressed out woman in all of Drisking but she never failed to be unbelievably kind. There was a hopelessness about her, a sadness that she hid very well.

I left the store out the backdoor so I wouldn’t have to see Jimmy Prescott again. His weird, yellowed amber eyes always set me on edge. Not to mention he was a total tool.

I hopped in my car and texted Kyle that I was off work. He answered immediately and told me where to meet him. I happily whipped my apron off over my head and threw the car into reverse. Crystal Lake was my favorite place in all of Drisking.
I had to park almost a mile away since the lake was so packed. I eventually found Kyle and Kimber sitting on a rock that jutted out over the beach.

Kimber was sunbathing in a blue, floral bikini and Kyle was wearing his ‘you can’t tell where my eyes are looking’ sunglasses.

“What’d I miss?” I asked, sitting down next to Kimber.

“Not much,” she answered, stretching and sitting up. “Just more beer.” She dug into the cooler behind her and tried to hand me a Blue Moon.

“Ugh, no.” I waved it away. “Got any Excedrin?”

“Oh no,” Kimber gave me her pitying pout.

“Okay, then I’ll just take those sunglasses.” I held my hand out to Kyle who looked back at it in horror.

“What? No, fuck off!”

“Oh, come on, Kyle, give him your sunglasses. Sam didn’t get to sleep off his hangover like we did!”

I smiled at Kyle and he tightened his lips. We both knew exactly what I was doing. Kimber stroked Kyle’s arm in encouragement. ”Please?” she asked.

“Fine,” he said and shoved his BluBlockers at me. I put them on and sat back, turning my head to watch the girls on the beach below. Phoebe Dranger – the Dark-Haired girl – was there lying on a towel next to Round Face and giggling. It still seemed unnatural to me to see the two of them without Rude-Nose. Those three had been inseparable for years, working as fluidly together as the gears in a watch until Kristy had fallen in love with some college kid and run away.

“So why’d you get out of work early anyway?” Kyle asked.

“Prescott came in.”

“Eww,” Kimber squirmed. “He totally freaks me out. He’s been staring at me since like 7th grade.”

“Next time he stares at you let me know and I’ll knock him the fuck out.” Kyle had always been protective over Kimber but ever since they’d started dating he’d gotten 10 times more unbearable.

Kimber winked at him. “So what did he want, Sam?”

“He wanted to talk to Meera. Probably about the shop.”

“You mean about how no one goes there and the business should have closed years ago but it won’t because the Prescott’s are stubborn and vain?” Kyle said.

“Yeah, probably, I mean she looked pretty worried. I can literally count on one hand how many sandwiches I’ve sold in the past month. “

“Ouch.” Kimber grimaced.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure she’s going to get chewed out. I really don’t like that guy.” I thought about the squirmy, yellow-eyed freak yelling at the sweet, kind-hearted Meera and it made my blood boil.

“You should have met his dad,” Kyle snorted. “He was a piece of work.”

“His dad?”

“Yeah, Tom Prescott.,” Kimber said. “The family put him in a home a few towns over.”

“Really? Why is he in a home?” I asked.

“I heard that he got dementia and he was embarrassing the family in public.” Kyle said.

“I heard that, too,” Kimber brushed her long curls off of her shoulders. “I always liked Tom Prescott. It was a pretty shitty thing to do.”

“Hey kids!” We turned in unison so see Phil Saunders come stomping out of the bushes behind us with Patrick Sutton following behind. “So this is where the cool people hang out. High above the kingdom on Pride Rock.”

“Sup Patrick,” Kyle said ignoring Phil, whom he’d disliked ever since Phil had briefly dated Kimber. Phil was either unaware of or uninterested in Kyle’s feelings. Of course, it may also have been because Phil was stoned out of his mind most of the time, and today was no exception.

They sat down next to us and Patrick offered me his pipe.

“Wanna hit this?”

I did want to hit it, and pretty badly too. I reached up to grab it but Phil swatted my hand away.

“Careful, guy, you don’t want to get the Sheriff’s son high. For fucks sake, Patrick.” Patrick nodded knowingly and shoved the pipe back into his pocket.

I scowled. “Really?”

“Sorry, Sammy. Hell, the only reason I’m even smoking around you is because today is my cousin’s Deathiversary and I don’t give a shit about anything else.”

“Your cousin Hannah?” Kimber asked with a sympathetic look.

“Yep. 5 years she’s been gone.”

“Too many people disappear in these woods, man,” Patrick said as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

“Yeah, man,” Phil nodded. “You know sometimes, when I’m high, I can see them all. And I feel like I know the answer to the mystery, man. Like I’m so close to solving it. It’s just something I can see. Like they’re all puzzle pieces and in my mind I see the puzzle put together but I can’t tell what the picture is of, you know?”

“You’re fuckin’ high, Saunders.” Kyle said.

“We all are, man. We all are. Everyone in this town is drinking the fuckin’ Kool aid.”

Kimber raised an eyebrow at him but said nothing.

“Everyone except the dead ones. I can see what they looked like before they went into the ground. Or is it the grounder?”

“Shit’s fucked up, Phil.” Patrick said to the space in front of him.

“Yeah. I see all those people. Hannah. Paige. Jason Metley. Hell, I ever see your sister, Walker.”

Kyle, who I knew had been monitoring the conversation for any mention of Whitney, sprang to his feet and opened his mouth to yell at Phil.

“Nah, the Walker girl ran away to St. Louis, remember?” Patrick said before he could.

I saw Kyle and Kimber exchange a quick look as I tried to remain impassive from behind the BluBlockers.

“That true, man?” Phil asked. And there it was.

I knew Kyle and Kimber had always wondered what I thought about Whitney and if I’d ever accepted the official statement that she and Jay had run away together. They were kind enough not bring it up but I knew they wanted to know what I believed, what I thought had really happened.

I loved them both and I wanted to talk to them about it but I just couldn’t. Everyone thought that I had spent the last five years quietly grieving and that I’d put the pain behind me. At least, that’s what I’d tried to show them had happened.