Die on me. Die on me. Die on me.

The words echoed in his head and he saw the light again. Peaceful, pure, bright but somehow soft. It didn’t hurt to look at it. As a matter of fact it was beautiful.

All of a sudden his dad and mom appeared beside him. “No,” his mom said. “Go back.”

“Live, son,” his dad said. “Live for us.”

“I don’t want to,” he said. “I … I don’t want to be alone.”

“Take him back, damn it!” his father roared, staring back into the tunnel of light as if someone else was there. “Please, it’s not fair.”

Something started pulling him away again. “No,” he begged. “I like it here.”

He stopped moving. He heard the bark again. Baxter.

Turning in circles, he looked for his dog. “Come here, boy. Come here.”

“Chase?”

The fine voice had him swinging back around.

Tami.

She looked even more beautiful than he remembered. Her dark hair glistened with the light. Her smile lit up her face. Angelic. That’s how he would describe her.

She moved to him. Her presence so sweet his chest ached.

All of a sudden she looked back over her shoulder as if someone called her. “It’s my brother,” she said when she turned around. “He’s here. And he looks so good. He runs and can play ball like he loved to do before he got sick.”

Chase tried to look over her shoulder to see him, but he couldn’t. He could only see her. He let his gaze fall back on her face. On her eyes that seemed honestly happy.

But then her smiled faded. “You have to go back, Chase. Don’t you remember what she said?”

“What who said?”

“You can’t turn your back on a challenge, Chase. That’s what the palm reader said. I bought the dog collar with the saying on it, remember? It’s in your pocket. In your jacket. You have to face this challenge.”

“No, I don’t want to go back. I’d be alone. It would be unbearable.”

“You’ll be sad for a while, but not forever. It’s not like it will go away, you just learn to go on and then you realize that life hasn’t ended. I did it with my brother. And you’ll do it, too. Go, Chase, go face the challenge.”

He shook his head. “You were my challenge.”

She grinned. “Are you kidding? I wasn’t a challenge. You had me in the palm of your hand the first time I saw you playing baseball. You looked so good in the uniform.” She glanced back again as if she was being called. “Go back.”

“No,” he said.

She looked sad. “Look, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you this, but you can see things up here. Glimpses of the future. And I know for a fact that you’re going to be okay. You’re going to meet someone.” She laughed. “You only thought I was a challenge. This other girl you’ll meet is the real thing.” She sighed. “Oh, Chase. You have so much life to live. And you can do it. Don’t turn away from it.” She looked back one more time. “I have to go. My brother is calling.”

She faded. Disappeared right in front of him. The place where she’d stood held snowflakes and tiny pieces of frozen ice. Slowly it all floated to the ground.

“I’m not going back!” he muttered.

November 1, 7 p.m.

News Flash: Update

All five bodies have been recovered from the crash of the Cessna 210 in the Jasper Mountain Range

The Search and Rescue (SAR) crew found the last victim of the fatal crash among the charred remains of the Cessna 210. Family and friends of both the Tallmans and the Collinses are waiting for the bodies to be released from the morgue after autopsies so they can be taken back to Texas for burial.

Tom Phillips, Search and Rescue volunteer, was quoted saying it was “still too early to speculate as to what caused the crash, but weather could have played a part in the accident.” Phillips added he “could not imagine the heartbreak of the families involved.”

More updates will be made when available.

Oct. 31, 5 p.m.

Chapter Eight

Chase started to walk farther into the tunnel of light. He didn’t want to be alone. To be without his father, his mother, and Mindy. She was a pain in his butt, but he loved her.

Then he heard it again. Baxter. His barking was even more persistent. He looked left, then right. Called the dog’s name. “Go get Baxter,” he heard his sister say. She stood next to him. “Go, Chase. Go.”

The dog continued to bark.

He turned to look behind him, away from the light, and that’s all it took. The power, some unknown power, pulled him back.

All the way. Back to the snow. Back to the voices. The two strange men.

Chase didn’t open his eyes. Didn’t want to. He hurt. Hurt everywhere. His head throbbed. His leg throbbed. His back ached like a charley horse.

Now he could feel below his chest, but it hurt so bad, he wished he couldn’t. You can’t turn your back on a challenge, Chase. He heard Tami’s voice in his head and remembered what she’d said about the dog collar. Slowly moving his arm, surprised he could, he found his pocket. With eyes still closed, his fingers curled around the gift Tami had given him. He traced his thumb over the words cut out in the leather.

“Told you he would make it,” someone said as if they’d seen him move. “I’ll stay with him, you go get us a body.”

Chase’s head throbbed, surely he’d misunderstood.