Chasing Ghosts - Chapter 3
Sharp thuds rang out across the empty room as the bag crumpled under his fist, swinging on its chain. Virgil's face twisted in a snarl, arms a blur as he tried to focus on the growing burn in his muscles. This was a bad idea, he just knew it, but John was stubborn as any Tracy before him, and stopping a Tracy was damn near impossible.
Unstoppable forces, immovable objects.
that didn't mean part of him didn't want to call the whole thing off, drag his little brother home by the ear if he had to.
He pulled his arm back, eyes screwed shut as he fought the images. Felt the air rush as his fist flew towards the bag. When they collided, it didn't swing.
Virgil's eyes shot open, but relaxed as they found familiar green. She tipped her head, raising a brow with that usual smirk.
"You planning on breaking that thing down, Tank?"
Tanusha Kyrano - daughter of Officer Kyrano, top dog in 11th grade sports, enemy of every wooden plank in the state of Kansas and that douche bag Steve from maths. She wordlessly reached over to his water bottle, and Virgil grunted in thanks as he took it.
"So what's with Space-case in the lobby?" She asked, hopping up to sit on the half-wall that divided their little boxing ring from the rest of the room. Virgil took a swig.
"He barely says anything to anyone that doesn't have Tracy as their last name unless he has to."
Virgil reached up to comb his hair back with his fingers, froze, and resolved to guiltily run is down his sweaty face instead. Tanusha frowned.
"It's not important." He grumbled. His eyes flicked up to meet hers, and he groaned.
"And I don't buy it for a second." She narrowed her gaze, arms crossed.
"Be honest with me, Virgil, what are you planning?”
There was something about her expression that had him feeling small, and it didn't take long for a sigh to escape his lips.
"John wants to go check out the quarry."
"The quarry? But isn't that where-"
Virgil nodded. "He thinks they missed something."
Tanusha looked at her shoes, arms unfolding to rest on the wall either side of her.
She pulled a face. "What?"
"That's how many times he's checked online."
He slumped down, head in his hands.
"Tanusha, he's obsessed, and Dad's not sleeping and it feels like everything's getting worse. And with his birthday coming up…"
"18th…" She whispered. This year Scott Tracy would've become an adult. Graduating, going to college.
Virgil's head snapped up. "No."
The raven-haired boy opened his mouth, then closed it. Damn it.
Tanusha smirked, victory in her eyes.
"I know your family has been jumpy ever since… that day, but I'm a Kyrano. And you can't stop me."
"Seriously?!" John rolled his eyes. Tanusha put her hands up.
"Good morning to you to, John."
John scowled and Virgil winced.
"Come on John, we've known Tanusha for years. And her dad's an officer, she might know stuff!"
The older-middle Tracy didn't look impressed so he continued.
"We can trust her. You know that."
That sour look remained, but John didn't offer any more complaints, instead marching outside to grab his bike.
Virgil looked to their new tag-along and shrugged.
"He'll warm up… eventually."
The three of them cycled out onto the streets, following the grid as urban gave way to rural.
"So," Tanusha called over the wind, "anyone mind filling me in?"
"But that's a stupid story."
"I know, right?" John rolled his eyes.
Tanusha swerved to avoid a pothole, wheels crunching crumbling asphalt, and continued,
"First off, Scott was 13, and he never seemed interested in following that kind of crowd. He was a total Boy Scout!"
She paused, peering around the corner,
"Second, why would he fall in with a crowd of totally unknown people from out of town on the exact same day they supposedly crashed? People who no one in town ever met or even saw?"
"And were never searched for themselves."
Virgil couldn't help a slight smile. Even if he wasn't a fan of the whole idea, at least John was actually talking to Tanusha. But smiling didn't help the twist in his gut.
Quarry road was one less travelled. It's namesake had been closed almost 40 years according to Mr Jameson, and if there was one thing John could trust the man on, it was local history. That, and to always have the worst socks known to their species. For 35 of those years, it had become a known spot for what renegades their little town had to offer, until that day. Now no cars were allowed past the gates anymore.
No people either, but chains and locks didn't mean the fence wasn't an easy climb.
They ditched their bikes beneath a dense thicket, metal scraping through dirt. Virgil made an effort to push his own over the others, earning a glance from Tanusha.
"Orange and bright teal stand out too much." He said, nudging the branches back into place with his foot. "We can't let anyone find them."
The confusion never left her eyes, but she turned away and to the fence.
"Alright Mr Paranoia, give me a boost."
If Quarry Road was neglected, this place was the definition of abandoned. They picked their way along what remained of the track, pausing only for John, his eyes focused through the lense of his camera. Virgil's own gaze kept to the shadows, glaring at everything just beyond his line of sight. Tanusha took up the rear, her own head on a swivel as if the elder Tracy's caution were contagious from all the way up front.
"So what exactly are we looking for, John?"
"Signs a car really did lose control. I've been reading, if there really was a crash here, we'd see some sort of damage to the surrounding area. It wasn't that long ago, trees should have damage, the quarry walls could be marked still."
They began to fan out, formation loosening as hands trailed trunks and snapped pictures.
"No one's meant to have been here since the police investigated, right?"
"No one," she nodded, thinking twice as her hand let go of a low branch. "Whole place was locked up. It's not been touched since…"
She paused, instead returning to the track silently, glancing towards the boys who kept their own gazes distracted with anything but her direction.
"So no one to re-churn the gravel either." John mumbled. "And we haven't had many storms by Kansas standards."
Virgil scowled. He loved his brother, but god he could be a pain.
"Which means…? Cut the cryptic crap, John."
The redhead looked up from the device in his hands.
It was John's turn to scowl as he whipped around to look at their tag-along. Tanusha stood still in the middle of the track, staring at the ground. A stray leaf bounced along past her sneakers with the breeze. Her brow furrowed, a frown tugged at her lips.
"Tanusha!" Virgil exclaimed as she bolted past him, "What the hell?!"
The Kyrano didn't answer, the only sound being the crunch and scratching of loose stones beneath her feet. The Tracy boys could only follow, exchanging glances as she…
Is that a train impression or something?
"Tanusha! Tanusha!" Virgil yelled, feeling a burn in his throat. Damn it, she could ran as fast as Scott used to.
The offending girl skidded to a stop as the track met a wall of trees, panting as the wind blew in from their right.
Tanusha looked over her shoulder, keeping still as the boys finally reached her side
"The road!" She declared.
"What about it?" John huffed. She turned fully to face the two boys.
"They can't have gone into the quarry if they were going in a straight line because you have to turn."
Virgil looked between Tanusha and the quarry as wind whipped his face. "You're right, if they were gunning it with no turns or swerves, they'd have gone straight into the trees!"
He scratched the back of his neck, "Unless maybe they hit a tree and ricocheted?"
Footsteps echoed, and Virgil jumped a little, lunging to catch his brother as John stood halfway to the edge. The redhead hissed as the elder caught his wrist in that bear grip, and they locked eyes. He relaxed.
"Either we take the risk, or we never know."
Virgil felt his heart lurch.
"John, please… what if you fall? I can't take-"
One lithe hand curled around his own, gently prying its twin free. "I won't fall, I promise."
Virgil watched, heart pounding as John approached the lip of the quarry, peering down. He crouched slowly, then sat, and with a breath of relief the elder realised the precaution.
The younger was quiet for a long time, and he and Tanusha could only watch as he tensed. Then a sob rang out and Virgil surged forward
He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around John, head rested on his shoulder in a far too familiar way. How many times had they comforted one another like this in the last seven years?
John's hands dug in to his brother's arms, body shaking.
"There was no crash. Scotty never died here. They lied to us!"
The air was filled with his little brother's cries, and Virgil could no nothing but stare ahead in silence.
