The Phantom of the Bridge

He loved this time of night. There was no traffic and he could run along the beams and girders, jumping from one span to another. ‘Spiderman, Spiderman, does whatever a spider can. Spins a web, any size. Here he comes, watch out guys’, he thinks to himself. Of course he couldn't spin a web, still it would be cool to be able to shoot out a web and swing from it. He was thinking about that when he felt a familiar urge grow inside him.

Uh, oh, he thinks. Playtime is over, back to work. Running over the girders he sees a figure at the far end of the bridge. It looks like a young kid. Jeesus! Why does someone with so much ahead of him want to throw it all away? Jumping down, he slowly walks to the boy standing there by the railing. “Hello.” he calls out.

Startled, the boy turns around suddenly. “Where did you come from, man?”

“Nowhere in particular. Are you okay?”

“Just stay away from me man! Don’t come any closer! I’ll jump! I swear I’ll jump!”

He stops about twelve feet away from the young man and rests his arms on the railing. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, sure. Just don’t come any closer.”

“Okay, you want to talk?”

"Talk? Man, you don’t know what it’s like. The booze, the drugs. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Tell me,” he says gently.

He stood there on the bridge beside the young man, listening to him tell his story. While the man talked he looked at his psyche. Probing gently he saw the blackness like a malignant tumor and like a brain surgeon, he carefully removed it. The young man never realized a thing.. He didn’t even realize that the whole time he had slowly moved next to him while he talked. Together they watched the sunrise over the bay. It was really quite beautiful.

“Wow, look at that,” the young man says.

“Something, isn’t it?”

“I feel much better, man. Thanks, you listen. I mean really listen. Most people don’t listen even when they say they are. They’re thinking about something else, but you listen.”

“It’s a gift.”

“I guess I’d better get going. Are you going this way?” he says, pointing down the bridge.

“Sorry, no. My business is in the other direction. You’ll be okay now, just remember what we talked about.”

He stands there and waves goodbye as the young man walks away. Another day, another dollar he thinks to himself.

******

“Chieeeff! You can’t do this to me!”

“C’mon, Lois. It’s only for a few weeks, until Lana comes back from maternity leave.”

“She does fluff pieces, garden parties and feel good stories!”

“And is very popular with our female readers.”

“I’m right in the middle of the city hall bribery scandal!”

“And I’m sure that someone like you can handle both assignments. Here is your first story, it’s a drug and alcohol rehab place,” he says, handing her a piece of paper. I need the story for the Sunday edition.”

As he turns back to his work, Lois realizes she has just been dismissed. Growling under her breath, she walks out of the office.

******

Later that day at the rehab center, Lois is talking with one of the staff.

“As you can see, we have a lot of people here that we help to get back to a normal life, free of alcohol and drugs. There are several counselors to talk to the people who come here. Why, just today a young man came in, said a stranger had talked him out of suicide and helped him get his mind straight. We have him in a self help program and we are very hopeful.”

“Uh, huh,” Lois says, thinking that if she can cut this short, she can still meet her contact at city hall. “That's very interesting. This place does a lot of good. I’ll put that in the article. Thank you for the tour.”

The counselor says goodbye and Lois heads out the door.

******

A few months later, Lois is busy typing out the latest news on the bribery scandal when her phone rings

“Hello, Ms. Lane? This is Jeri Taylor from the Eastside Rehab center, you were here a while ago, remember me?”

“Of course,” she replies. Not really, she thinks.

“Well, I wanted to call you because something unusual happened here the other day.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, a couple of months ago, we had a young man come in saying a man he met on a bridge had talked him out of jumping.”

“Yes,” Lois replies absentmindedly, scanning her schedule.

“Well, yesterday another person came in, a young girl. And she had the same story.”

“So what you’re saying is that two people met a stranger on a bridge a couple of months apart, who then talks them out of jumping? Is that it?” Suddenly her interest is piqued.

“Yes, exactly. And I thought you might be interested.”

“Hmm, can I see you in about an hour or so at the center?”

“Sure.”

******

In an hour Lois is back at the center, talking to Jeri. “So their stories are almost identical?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we still have the young girl here now. Do you want to see her?”

“Yes.”

“Try to go easy on her, she’s still in a fragile state, and no names please.”

Jeri took them to a room where several people were sitting around, some watching tv, some doing nothing. In a corner a young girl sat, arms wrapped around herself, slowly rocking back and forth.

Jeri approaches her and speaks softly, “Julie, this Lois, she’s from the paper. She’s interested in your story.”

“Hello, Julie,” Lois says, extending her hand to shake Julie’s. Julie just sits there, her arms around herself.

“I don’t want no papers, no reporters.”

Jeri sighs and looks at Lois and then back at Julie. “She’s different, she just wants to know about this person you met the other night.”

“Nothing to say. My life was just so messed up I just wanted to end it. I couldn’t take the pain anymore. I wanted it to be quick and clean so I thought about jumping off the bridge. I was about to do it when this guy appeared out of nowhere.”

“What was he like?” Lois asks.

“Just a guy, middle aged or something, nothing special.”

“And then what?”

“Well, he just talks to me and he listens, you know like really listens to me. And after a couple of hours I felt much better and I came here,” Julie then turns away from them and is silent.

“I think we should go now,” Jeri says to Lois. Do you think there is something going on?”

“Could be, I gotta get back to the office,” she says, waving goodbye.

******

A month later, Lois corners her friend in the newsroom, “Hey Jimmy, listen to this.” Lois says.

“Whassup?” he says, barely glancing up from his magazine.

“I’ve been doing some research. Did you know there have been no recorded suicides from the 10th Street bridge in the last thirty years?”

“So? What’s that mean to me? How do they know?”

“People who jump from bridges sometimes leave a note or their clothes behind. Like they don’t want to get them wet. Strange, huh?”

“Okay, so still what?”

“The other bridges next to it have had suicides, but not this one.”

“Maybe they don’t like the location,” he says, returning to his magazine.

“Well about a month ago, I got a call from the woman at the rehab center I did a story on. A young girl said a guy on the 10th street bridge convinced her not to jump.”

“So?” Jimmy replies, still reading his magazine.

“Well, the woman at the center said the same thing had happened a few months earlier to a guy who said he met a man on the bridge who talked him out of jumping.”

“So what you’re saying is, that there is some guy on the 10th street bridge who talks people out of jumping off the bridge or what?”

“Yes, well maybe, I don’t know. I want you to help me investigate it. This Friday night.”

“I’m busy,” he replies tiredly.

“Okay, Saturday night then.”

“I gotta get up and go to church!”

“You don’t go to church!”

“Well, I could!” he exclaims.

“C’mon, work with me.”

“Alright, alright! I’ll come Saturday night! When?”

'Ten pm.”

“Jeezus!” And he walks away, muttering stuff about crazy ass white women.

******

He’s back on the girders, running and leaping along them when he sees two people walking along together. Curious, he watches them until they reach the center of the bridge where they stop. They stay there and don’t move. He sits down on a beam and watches from above. An hour passes and then another, but they stay in the same spot. What’s going on, he wonders. He feels no pull, so he knows they aren’t going to jump. Still he wonders.

“How much longer are we going to stand here? I’m freezing my damn ass off. We’ve been here for over two hours and we haven’t seen a single goddamn thing!”

“Just a little longer, Jimmy. Don’t you feel it? It’s like someone’s watching us.” She glances nervously up and down the bridge, but sees nothing.

“All I can feel is my ass, which is freezing now! I’m out of here!”

“Wait! Don’t go!” she pleads. “Just another hour!”

“Bye!” he exclaims and leaves her.

Lois watches him leave, but stays. Alone now, her apprehension rises. Maybe she should go now too, she thinks, and she starts walking back to her car. She takes one last glance back in the direction she came from and sees something in the distance. Far away under a flickering lamp, she thinks she sees a figure standing under it, that appears and disappears in the flickering light. She quickens the pace back to her car.

******

Next week back at the paper, Lois is talking to her bored friend.

“I tell you there was someone there! When I left I thought I could see someone in the distance on the bridge!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jimmy replies disinterestedly.

“I want to do it again this weekend!”

“What!” He exclaims, “You’re not dragging my ass out there in the freezing cold again. No how, no way!”

“Look, I think this person was scared away by seeing two people together. I’ll go out by myself and you can stay in your car and keep warm. We’ll stay in contact by phone.”

Jimmy looks at her for several moments. “Just you, by yourself on the bridge and I stay in my car, right?”

“Right! I’ll leave my phone on and you’ll be able to hear everything.”

“Okay, okay. I must be crazy. When?”

“Saturday night at eleven.”

“Jeezus. I hope you realize I’m losing beauty sleep because of you!”

“It’s not helping.”

“Smart ass,” he replies and walks away.

******

It was cloudy that night and a fog came in from the bay. The bridge seemed exceptionally gloomy with the lamps only putting out a little light in the darkness. That’s when he sees the figure of a woman walking along the bridge. He recognizes her from the other night, only this time she is alone. She walks to the center of the bridge and stops. He watches her take out her phone and talk into it.

A reporter, an investigator or something he thinks. But investigating what? There is nothing here. Except for him. Is that what she is looking for? Suddenly he feels a familiar urge inside him.

Oh shit! Not now, not tonight! Not now! But the urge couldn’t be resisted. In the distance he sees a figure walking along the bridge from the other end. The person stops at the rail and looks around. I’ve got to take care of this right now somehow, he thinks desperately. The woman stays at the same spot, unaware of the other person walking towards them. He stretches out his hand and the lamps around the newcomer dim. Hopefully this will hide them from that woman’s prying eyes. He runs over the girders and slowly walks to a young girl standing at the rail, who suddenly looks at him. She is startled by him and starts to put her leg over the rail. Speaking gently, he walks slowly over to her. He stands next to her and tries to calm her down. Fortunately the darkness hides them from the other woman and he can give this girl his full attention without interruption.

After an hour or so of talking, the girl says she is feeling much better now. She says goodbye and walks back toward the city. He bids her goodnight and watches her walk away in the fog. He then turns his attention back to the other woman. Running over the girders, he sees she is still in the same spot. He sits down and watches her below him. Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she starts walking back to where she came from, talking on her phone as she goes.

Lois walks back to her car, angry and frustrated by the lack of any progress. She is cold and she can’t feel her feet anymore. All she wants to do now is get back into her car and get home. Jimmy has already gone and she feels scared, walking alone in the fog. Suddenly in the pavement before her she sees the words, ‘leave me ALONE’ in glowing letters. She takes a picture of it with her phone and then runs toward her car.

******

The next day at work, Lois runs over to Jimmy with her phone in her hand. “Look Jimmy, look what I saw! I saw this on the pavement when I was leaving the bridge! There is something strange going on there!” She holds up the phone with the picture for him to see.

“See what? I don’t see nothing.”

“It’s right there, don’t you see the words?”

“All I see is a picture of some pavement.”

Lois quickly turns the phone around and sees a picture of the sidewalk, no letters or words. “It was there, I swear! I saw it!”

“Sure you did,” he replies and walks away.

Lois can’t understand what happened. She checks all the pictures in her phone but it’s gone. It’s the same section of sidewalk, but it’s blank now. Something strange is going on. Determined to find out what is happening, she makes plans to return to the bridge that night.

******

It’s ten pm and she is back at the same spot she was the night before. Is it her imagination or does the night seem darker than before with the lamps only putting out a little light? The wind off the bay chills her, but she is more chilled by what she thinks is out there. In desperation she puts one leg over the rail to make it look like she is going to jump when she hears a voice behind her and freezes instantly.

“Don’t move. Don’t turn around!”

“Don’t hurt me, please! Take my money and let me go,” she pleads, staring out at the water.

“I’m not going to hurt you and I don't want your money.”

“Who are you?”

“That’s not important. What is important is that you are interfering with my job and I want you to LEAVE! Leave tonight and never come back!”“Who are you? You’re helping people aren’t you? You keep them from jumping off the bridge, don't you?”

“A person came here the other night that I had to help while you were here too. You could have really screwed things up!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. Let me help you!”

“You can’t help me. Now, just go and never come back!”

Determined to know who this person is, Lois suddenly turns around to face the man behind her. But she sees nothing. The bridge is empty as far as she can see. There's no way he could have disappeared that quickly! Scared, she runs to her car and goes straight home. Once there she gets into bed and pulls the covers over her head and stays like that till it is daylight out.

******

The next day at work, Lois stays mostly by herself, trying to sort out what happened the previous night. She doesn’t even tell Jimmy what happened. A few days later, she works up the nerve to go back and find out more about the strange man on the bridge.

******

That night she is back on the bridge, staring out over the water, wondering what is going on when she hears a voice behind her.

“Don’t turn around!”

“Who are you?”

“I asked you to stay away! Why are you here? You have no business being here.”

“I just need to know what is going on here.”

“So you can write a big story in your newspaper and get all kinds of publicity for yourself?”

“You know I’m a reporter?” she asks quietly.

“I know everything about you. I can see the way you clawed your way over everyone to get you where you are now. I see the failed relationships, your estrangement from your mother, the borderline alcoholism. I can see it all. I can see that you’re not too different from the people who come to this bridge.”

She puts her face in her hands and starts to cry softly. “I’m sorry, you don’t know what it’s like out there, what it’s like for a woman in this job. I have to work twice as hard to be thought of as half as good.”

“I don’t judge people. If I can, I try to remove the things that are causing them pain. Make them feel better. I can see your pain.”

“What can you do?” Lois asks softly.

“I can … wait! Something is happening. Don’t move!”

From the other side of the bridge, two young men approach them.

“Hey, man! Look what we got here. Hey, what’s up old man? What'cha you doing out here on a night like this with this pretty girl?”

“Yeah, she’s a looker. Wanna come with us? We can show you a good time. Better than what this old geezer can,” the other says.

Lois feels the man behind her put his hands gently on her shoulders and then speaks to her. “Close your eyes, don’t move or open them until I tell you, okay?”

“Y… yes,” she stammers in fear.

“Look guys,” he says, talking to the pair. “I don’t want any trouble. Why don’t you just move along and everything will be fine.”

“Oh ho, looks like we got a hero here. Whatcha going to do gramps?” one youth says.

“Please, just leave us.”

The teen facing him turns momentarily away, whips out a switchblade and holds it below the man’s throat. “Yeah, grandpa, whatcha going to do,” he says waving the blade before the man’s face. The other one also takes out his knife and approaches him menacingly.

“Keep your eyes closed!” he shouts out to Lois.

“Oh, yeah, that's good advice. So she can’t see us cut you up.” In a flash his hand moves and the teen sticks the blade into the man's chest.

The man just stands there, looking at the blade and then his attacker, who quickly pulls it out and stabs him again and again. The young man steps back in uncertainty, with his companion beside him.

“What the hell is going on, why don’t you die?”

“I asked you to leave, now it’s too late.”

The teen looks at him and screams in horror at what appears before him. What was once a middle aged man is now something else. It is a body that has laid in the cold depths of the river for over thirty years. The body is partially preserved from the cold, all pale, pasty and white. The soft parts have long since been eaten away and the flesh now hangs limply from the bones.

The attacker and his companion scream and they both start running away, fleeing the horror behind them, glancing back to see if it is still there.

Suddenly the man appears before them. Cold, clammy fingers grab them by the throat and squeeze, drawing their faces close to his. They see empty eye sockets staring at them and a rotted mouth opens up, with dark, muddy water spilling out. They open their mouths to scream, but make no sound.

He looks at their psyches, he sees the darkness twisting all around it like some malignant spider. He sees the brutal beatings they have given to their victims. He sees the terror that they are feeling now. It would be so easy to get rid of them now. Fling their bodies over the rail into the cold water below. But he once swore no one would ever die on this bridge again.

Instead, he takes their terror, twists it around and thrusts it deep inside their being. They will never attack another person again. They will always be afraid of the dark, living the rest of their lives in fear. He then releases them and they fall to the ground, desperately scrambling to get away from the horror in front of them. He turns away from them and they run off into the night.

He goes over to Lois, still standing by the railing, her back to him. “You’re safe now,” he says.

“Is it over?” Lois asks nervously.

“Yes.”

“Who are you? What are you?”

“Many years ago I was just like you and then I lost everything. My job, my family, everything. I couldn’t stand the pain. I wanted to end it all and I came to this bridge to jump off it. I jumped and while I was falling I realized that everything I thought that was fixed in my life could be changed. The only fixed thing was my fall towards the water and death.

“I cried out to God, ‘Spare me and I swear no one will ever jump off this bridge again!’ and suddenly I was back on the bridge. I don’t know what happened, was it all a dream? I then walked to the end of the bridge and there was an invisible barrier of sorts that I couldn’t penetrate. Same on the other side. Then I thought, ‘Okay, I'm dead, and this is my punishment, to stay on this bridge forever.’

“The days and nights passed. I didn’t get tired, hungry or cold. No one noticed me. Then one night I felt a strange urge in me, pulling me towards the end of the bridge. I saw a person about to leap over the railing. I cried out to him and he stopped. I talked to him and convinced him not to jump. After he left, I realized I’d been given what I had asked for. Ever since then I’ve been here, stopping people from jumping. I don’t know if this is Heaven or Hell or what, but I’m happy. But I have to do this alone, you understand?”

“Y…yes, I understand now,” Lois replies sadly.

“Good. Now, I want you to count to ten slowly and then open your eyes and go home, never to return.”

Lois starts counting and while she does this, he removes the darkness from her psyche. By the time she reaches ten, he is gone.

Lois never mentions the bridge again to Jimmy. A week later she is back there at midnight, carrying a dozen yellow roses. She stops in the middle of the bridge and slowly drops them one by one into the dark, cold water below. She looks around her, but sees nothing. But she knows he is there, watching her. Walking back to her car, she sees some glowing words on the pavement and a single yellow rose next to them. The words say ‘thanks for the roses’. She picks up a rose, still wet from the water and holds it to her chest.

“How did he do that? She mutters and walks back to her car.

THE END

Bio: "I have submitted other stories for Aphelion as well as Schlock magazine. I have stories published in Of Poets, Spies and Unearthliness and Dickensian Steamfantasy-A very different 1800’s by Rogue Planet Press. I am now fully retired, and I can now write in my new home...

E-mail: Randolph Stuart

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