Back to Be Mr. Green

3. On the Way to McKenly Street

In the empty street of McKenly, a van quietly made its way.

McKenly is a ghost town, and it’s been years since people left the place. Many feared visiting, especially at night because of the rumors that ghosts have appeared recently in this area.

However, for criminals, this is the perfect pathway to use for transferring dead bodies.

“This place is scary,” John, who was sitting in the passenger seat, complained. “It seems that any time, a ghost will appear. They said this town was cursed.  If you bring a corpse here, then the corpse will haunt you forever.”

The driver, Bradport, laughed so hard while driving.

“Are you telling me that Xavier will stand up and eat us? Stop being a wimp. That won’t ever happen.”

Taking a deep breath, John looked behind the van and stared at the corpse inside the cadaver bag. Clutching the seat belt, John stared at the road again.

Certainly, the curse of the town is just a rumor. But tonight something will happen that can make everyone believe it might be true.

Inside the cadaver bag, Xavier’s body began to move. His chest elevated up and down, as he faintly breathed. Opening his heavy eyelids, Xavier saw nothing but pitch black. 

‘Is this life after death?’

The faint breathing from his lips, the numb flesh of his body, the sweats on his forehead, and the bumpy ride on the road. He heard and felt everything vividly, as if he was still alive.

‘I am alive,’ he realized. ‘But how did it happen?’

Xavier remembered when Cesar forced him to swallow a weird drug.

‘And that’s how my life ended,’ he thought.

‘How can a man, who has already died, be resurrected?’

He looked at his surroundings. Soon, he figured out that he is inside the cadaver bag and being transported.

‘I had to get out of here.’

Hastily, he raised his hand and tried to open the zipper of the bag. But he couldn’t. It can only be opened from the outside.

‘Sh*t.’

While he was thinking ways to open it and escape, he heard voices alternating between left and right inside the van.

“Xavier is an idiot. He thought that admitting the crime would save his family.”

“He should have known that even if he died, Cesar would still search for his wife and son.”

  

“Do you really think that Xavier tried to rape our Madam? I heard that Xavier accepted this dangerous job because he wanted to pay his wife’s debts. What kind of husband would be ready to pay his wife’s debts if he didn't love her?” 

“Who knows? I am more curious on how Xavier's family fled before the boss looked for them.” 

“I heard it was Frederick who informed Xavier’s wife to escape immediately. Why would he do that?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Frederick had an affair with Xavier’s wife.” 

“Really?! Frederick and Xavier’s wife are in a relationship?” 

“If not, then why would Frederick risk his life to protect Xavier’s wife? His wife was pretty and sexy after all.”

“That’s a great ability. I should have asked Frederick’s technique on how to take someone else's beautiful and sexy wife to bed.” 

The laughing of the two men rang in Xavier’s ears. Great fury molten inside his body, as if he swallowed a ball of fire that ignited his whole system. 

How could they accuse his wife and say that she had an affair with his friend?

Xavier knew more than anyone else that his wife wouldn’t ever do that, and that his friend risked his life to protect his family. Yet, they dared to make such an awful joke!

In anger, Xavier’s body trembled. Great resentment clouded his thoughts.

  

He endured it when everyone accused him and tried to kill me. But to hear insults from his wife and friend, Xavier couldn’t endure this anymore!

With the ball of fury weighing on his fist, Xavier slammed the floor. 

Thud!

John and Bradport ceased when they heard the sound behind.

Then silence cut through.

“Did you hear that?” John asked.

“Y-Yeah,” Bradport answered.

Alarmed at the sound, Bradport parked the car beside the narrow road. “H-Hey, go and check the back of the van,” he told John.

“Why me?! I only accompanied you tonight, but it was your job to deliver the corpse. You should go and check it out instead.”

“You are really such a wimp. Alright! We will check it together! Damn it.”

Bradport unbuckled his seat belt and went out of the car, and John followed him.

  

The town is really quiet. They could only hear the sounds of the night cricket and the whooshing of the wind outside the van.

“Go and check what’s wrong with our van. I will stand here and be a look out,” Bradport suggested while standing in front of the van.

  

Having no choice, John sighed while walking towards the back of the van. He got his knife out of his jacket as he went closer to the trunk.

Breathing heavily, John opened the trunk. Knife in his right hand and flashlight in his left, he looked at the cadaver bag that wasn’t moving.

  

He sighed in relief. At ease, John opened the zipper of the bag. After pulling the zipper down, he pointed the light to the corpse. And as soon as he saw the face of the corpse, John’s eyes widened.

“T-This is…” John stuttered in shock.

The van shook.

Standing in front of the van, Bradport looked behind him.

Was it his imagination that the van shook?

“John! You okay?!” Bradport asked.

But his partner did not answer.

“Why aren’t you answering, wimp?”

Only silence settled.  Finding it odd, Bradport walked towards the back.

“John?” he called.

When he arrived behind the car and saw nothing but the flashlight on the ground, his heart skipped a beat.

John disappeared.

Where did he go?

Slowly, Bradport picked up the flashlight on the ground. Then suddenly, the engine of the van roared.

“What the…” Bradport uttered while looking at the tail-lights of the van.

  

Who will start the car when there is no one inside it?!

Before Bradport could run and shout, the van reversed at full speed and hit him hard.

“Ack!”

His body fell on the ground and the wheel of the van rolled onto him.

Bradport felt all the pain in his body. From his broken arms, twisted legs and cracked skull on his head. Blood trickled from his nose and mouth. Breathing heavily while swimming in his own blood, Bradport looked at the tail lights of the van. He remembered the curse in this place.

‘If you bring a corpse into this town, the ghost will haunt you forever.’

Before he breathed his last, Bradport realized that if you brought the corpse, it wasn’t the ghost who would haunt them. It’s the corpse itself.

It is Xavier.

A moment ago, when  John opened the zipper of the cadaver bag, Xavier pulled him inside the trunk and strangled his neck to death. He then closed the trunk of the van and went to the driver’s seat. Luckily, the key was still there. Then, he reversed the van and killed Bradport.

The first thing that came to Xavier’s mind after he killed them was that he avenged his wife and his friend.

‘They insulted my family. So they deserved this,’ Xavier told himself while quivering in fear.

Then, the second is that he only did this to survive.

‘I had no choice,’ Xavier thought.

If he does not do this, they will kill him instead!

And what about his family?

“Bridgette. Simon. I need to save them,” Xavier uttered before he drove the car forward without looking behind the men he killed.

   

Xavier does not know how the hell he came back alive and what kind of miracle happened that he survived. But if he saw his family alive, he thought everything would be okay.

  

Or so he thought.

It was so quick. But when Xavier glanced in front mirror of the car, he was sure he saw something very odd.

Gradually, Xavier lifted his head and looked at the reflection on his face.

In the dim, he saw a man looking at him through the mirror.

His red eyes are sharp and fierce, like the mad wolf of the night. He has a face that he hasn’t seen in his whole life.

When he blinked, the man blinked too.

When Xavier opened his mouth, the man mimicked both with the same movement for seconds.

For a moment, he remembered John’s reaction when he saw his face. And now, he had the same expression.

A strange feeling rose in his chest. While looking at his reflection, he opened his lips and asked.

“Who… are you?”

Xavier’s low voice that came from his mouth felt very unfamiliar.

When his gaze met the man’s gaze, it was then I realized who he was. 

‘He is… me.’

The man with a sharp gaze and low voice was no other than him.

Xavier realized that his face changed into someone else.

Was it because of the drug he drank?

Or did his soul went to a different body?

Xavier could not answer the question. 

“W-Why?” he mumbled in disbelief while looking at the mirror. “Why d-do I have this unknown face? Who are you?! Who are…!”

Suddenly, he felt a throbbing pain in my head. 

“Ugh…!”

It was so painful that he thought his head would crack open!

“Ahhh!” 

He held his head with one hand, while the other held the steering wheel tightly. 

“Ahhh!” 

‘It’s painful.’

It was as if a sword thrust inside his brain in and out. 

Xavier was getting dizzy, and the surroundings have turned blurry. As he couldn’t focus on the road, Xavier heard a deafening sound.

Beeeeeeeeeeep!

Loud horn coming from truck rang in his ears.

When he looked to the right, the headlights blinded his eyes.

Bam!