Dead Man Standing

The sky was heavy with dark clouds, threatening rain but withholding it, as if nature itself hesitated, uncertain whether to weep or remain dry-eyed. A small line of mourners dressed in black walked along the gravel path leading to the church. Some of them mumbled to themselves as they walked in the cold winter’s air. Among them was Margart Ellis. Her face was pale and her eyes were a shade of blood shot red and hollowed by sleepless nights.

Her brother, Jonathan Ellis was dead. Or at least that is what she was told. The closed casket in the front of the church was adorned with an arrangement of white lilies and yellow roses. Alongside if it was a large funeral array, as Margerat would call it, of flowers arranged in a heart with the words sprawling across the front that said “Rest in Peace.” A viewing of the body was not permitted. The explanation that she was given was only that it was an accident and the body was unrecognizable and she was better off not seeing her brother that way. She never got to say one final good-bye. She knew that something was not right with every fiber in her being; she knew that she had to find out what it was before her brother could rest in peace, if he was really dead.

She reluctantly signed the paperwork and now all that was left to do was to lay him to rest. But something gnawed at her, a feeling she could not shake. A whispered thought in the back of her mind that kept repeating the same phrase over and over again.

John is not dead.

The service began and the preacher’s voice sounded like a distant hum of mumbled words to Margaret as she scanned the church making a mental note of the familiar faces of friends, co-workers and relatives. She saw a few strangers whose presence she questioned. Then her gaze landed on a man standing in the back of the church. He was standing alone wearing a black suit, and sunglasses covering his eyes. He had a striking resemblance to her brother, Jonathan. It was her brother. But, no, that was impossible. Her mind must be playing tricks on her.

She blinked her eyes hard and tried to concentrate on the man. Her fingers clinched the edge of the pew but in the back of her mind she knew that was her brother, standing there very much alive.

The man disappeared. When the service was over the mourners gathered at the cemetery. Margaret scanned the crowd at the cemetery. She stood apart from them but she didn’t see her brother, or the man who looked like her brother.

She watched as they lowered the casket into the ground. It felt unreal like it was a staged performance where she was playing the role of a grieving sister. She could not even cry. She felt detached and confused. All she could think of was the man standing in the back of the church.

As the mourners began to leave and offer their condolences, Margaret stood still by the open grave. The wind picked up, stirring the leaves from the trees and sending shivers through her coat.

As the last mourners left she heard it. A voice, low and familiar over her left shoulder.

“Don’t trust them. Don’t trust anyone.”

She turned around quickly but no one was there. Her heart pounded. She glanced around but there were no mourners left. The last ones were already in their cars a few feet away. Had she imagined hearing her brother’s voice now? Was she losing her mind? Had she lost all sense of reality?

A hand brushed against hers.

Margar gasped as she turned around sharply, but before she could speak a slip of paper was pressed into her palm. She did not recognize the man who gave her the note and as soon as the note was delivered he was gone. Her fingers trembled as she unfolded the note.

“Meet me at the old train station tonight at Midnight.”

There was no signature, but she knew who had written it.

The abandoned train station was on the outskirts of the city, long forgotten since it had shut down many years ago. Margaret parked her car a block away and walked the rest of the way. Her breath was visible in the cold chill of the night air. The silence was heavy and oppressive. She hesitated at the entrance, her heart pounding. Was she walking into a trap? Was her brother really alive?

A figure emerged from the shadows. Margarets stopped breathing for a second, stopped and caught her breath again, exhaled. It was him. It was her brother. He looked thinner, his face was pale but it was undeniably him. His eyes, his posture, the way he tilted his head when he saw her. Tears streamed down her face.

“You’re, you’re..”

“Shh.” He warned, glancing around.

He grabbed her arm and gently pulled her deeper into the darkness to one side of the station.

“We don’t have much time.”

Margaret barely felt the cold that was creeping through her coat. All she could think of was her brother was alive and standing right beside her.

“I thought that you were dead. I was at your funeral a few hours ago. What is going on?”

Jonathan’s expression darkened. “That’s what they want you and everyone else to think.”

Her stomach twisted into invisible knots.

“Who?”

He hesitated before he spoke. “People I work for. Dangerous people. People I trusted. Who I should not have.”

Margaret swallowed hard. “Are you talking about the people at the lab? The research lab where you work?”

Jonathan nodded. “Yes, but the lab is just a cover for something more dangerous. I was not supposed to ever find out what was really going on but I did. The lab is a cover for money laundering and drugs. That’s all I can tell you and probably should not have told you that much. They tried to kill me before I could go to the cops. I barely got out alive. But, I managed to escape and told the cops everything I know. Now, my only option is to disappear. I had to come one last time.”

Margaret’s mind could hardly comprehend what her brother just said. “If it was not you in the casket and you are not dead then whose body was it? Who did I just bury?”

“I don’t know.” He admitted. “But, obviously it was not me.”

“Will you ever come back?” Margaret asked her brother.

“I don’t know. I may have to be gone forever. All I know is that I need to disappear for now. I hope that it is not forever. I know that I am the only family you have left since mom and dad died. I hate to leave you but…”

“I understand.”

“Margaret, I have something to give you before I go though.” Jonathan took the Saint Christopher’s medal from his neck and handed it to his sister.

“But, that is the medal that mom gave you when you were ten. You never take it off. Are you sure you want me to have it?”

“Yes, and I need you to also hold on to this flash drive. It has all the information on there about what I saw and know. Just in case something happens to me. If it does you need to take this to Detective Jada Hunter at the police department. Only give it to her nobody else. Understand? Nobody else.”

“You really can’t stay?” Margaret asked.

Jonathan shook his head. “No, I wish I could. But it is too dangerous. If I stay they will come after me and you once they figure out that I am alive and I can’t take that chance of putting you in danger. Don’t worry sis. I will be fine. I will contact you when I can one way or another so you know that I am safe.”

Margaret bit her lip. She didn’t like it but she knew he was right.

“Maggie, don’t trust anyone. Understand? And remember if anything happens to me you give that flash drive only to Jada Hunter. Nobody else. I love you.”

“I love you more.” Margaret said as she watched her brother disappear into the night. She stood there for a few minutes still gripping the air where his and her hands had touched.

The funeral had been for someone who was dead but Johnathan Ellis was very much alive.