Napa
Highly Polished Bronze
Jovel hung the security panels on the liquor cabinet, turned off the lights and tossed his towel in the bin on his way to clock out.
Rick came around the corner almost bumping into him. “Hey. Are you guys playing tonight?”
“Yeah, but I’m going to take a few corners before I go. . . My new tires came this week.”
“Nice. It’s a good night for it.” He waved a handful of receipts for Jovel to see. “It’s a race then. Maybe I’ll see you guys in an hour or so.”
Jovel raised his eyebrows at the receipts. “Ooooh, I don’t know. Hopefully we’ll see you there.”
“Just save a beer for me. Now punch out and scram so I can lock up and go to the office.”
Jovel clocked out and grabbed his jacket. Outside he lit a cigarette, and took a casual walk around his car, admiring the new tires. A flickering light from a few spaces away made the raised white letters blink on and off in the dark. He rubbed his chin, mumbling. “Wow… I don’t know Seth? How did you talk me into white letters?”
He pinched the cherry from his cigarette and put the remaining half in his shirt pocket. While reaching to open the door he saw something move behind him in the reflection on the window. He turned to find nothing unusual, so he dismissed it and jumped in.
With one turn of the key the Miata’s engine jumped into life. The torque rocked the car with each rev on the gas. He double-checked every gage. At the same time, he opened a new pair of racing gloves. They fit nice and tight. The leather stretched as he spread his fingers and made a few fists. He grabbed the wheel and squeezed, rubbing his palms into the leather. “Nice…”
Jovel reached to release the parking break, but paused. A smile grew across his face. “One more adjustment to make. It may be nippy, but I want the open air tonight.”
He jumped out and peeled the soft-top back. “Now I’m ready.”
The Miata rolled by the front of the Oak Barrel Cafe. Jovel saw his reflection in the windows, floating in a bubble of green light from his interior lighting kit. The white letters on the tires picked up the greenish hue and blurred into illuminated rings floating a few inches above the ground.
Jovel nodded in approval. “I guess Seth’s idea wasn’t so bad.”
The rear tires spit gravel when he shot straight across the highway. Accelerating toward the marina on a long straightaway, he reached fourth gear before taking a second to turn the heater on high, pop in a CD hanging halfway from the deck, and turn the volume up enough to feel the bass through his seat. The leather gloves fit great. The tires sticky even in the cold, and the engine purred better than ever.
The glowing cockpit flew through the darkness. The lights from a few houses sprinkled here and there, but when it gets dark the people around here withdrew to the vicinity of their lit homes, or docks. There were no streetlights or traffic signals in these bay area back roads, Jovel’s roads, even more this late at night.
A third of the way through the first sweeping turn Jovel downshifted and punched it enough to break the back tires loose. His headlights swept off the side of the road into a field, but the double yellow line guided him around the bend. “Whooo hoooo! Smooth as butter baby!”
By turning the wheel just a bit, and paying careful attention to how far he let the back of the car come around, Jovel executed a perfect power-slide drifting through the turn, finally letting off the gas enough to ease the car straight without fishtailing.
In the rearview mirror, Jovel saw the reflective cloud cover above Napa. It faded to a dark and quiet blanket down here by the water. He flew past a yellow ‘curve’ sign, downshifting several times trying to get his speed under control, but entered the turn too fast. While he fought for control, something above the nearby trees flashed and caught his eye. He tried to ignore it, but the hair on his neck and arms stood at full attention.
The Miata’s rear tires spun on the dirt shoulder, kicking a cloud of dust and shooting gravel against a nearby fence. Once back on the road Jovel accelerated through the turns. His tires stuck to the road like a toy on a track.
After a little swoop and dip in the road, he started to climb a knoll. The dry docked boats lining the marina came into view. At first sharp little shadows, but they grew as he approached, their masts pointing high into the night sky like knives.
At the top of the knoll, Jovel watched the rows of towering sea vessels take shape. They brought back a flood of memories. He used to come here during high school with his buddies when they wanted to scare each other. In his reminiscence, he turned the stereo off and hit the kill switch to his lights. His glowing presence disappeared into the night. He shifted the car into neutral and coasted beside the dry-docked boats.
Most of the boats were white with white sails. Some created a ghostly mood with their open sails flapping in the wind, but most looked like skeletons with bony masts. Jovel saw plenty of motion and heard noises, but no life. A breeze picked up making all the lines on the masts whistle in unison. The howls came from everywhere, sending a shiver up his spine.
He mumbled. “It sure is a lot different without my top on.”
Jovel couldn’t stop staring at the boats, even though he always feared seeing a face in one of the portal windows. Tonight he tried to avoid them, but something flashed! He turned his head straight, gripping the wheel, and swallowed hard when he realized it wasn’t from the boats. The reflection came from something behind him. At the same time, a cool breeze swept through the car, and the boat masts sang their ghostly chorus.
Jovel coasted to a stop in the middle of the road, and slowly turned his head. Something flashed on and off in the low clouds by the trees. A little further, up valley he saw the clouds parting in his direction. It was the same thing he saw in the sky at Seth’s birthday party.
“No!” Jovel slammed the stick shift in gear and punched it. The Miata jumped into life and flew down the road. He left his lights off hoping to hide as he chased the double yellow line. He tried his best to keep it in the middle of his hood, but the adrenaline made his hands shaky.
Jovel pushed the Miata for all it had, speeding through the night on gut reaction and instinct, with his eyes darting between the dark road and his rearview mirror. Off to his side he noticed another part in the clouds moving toward him.
With the bay fast approaching, Jovel was going to run out of road soon, and the only way out was back the way he came. He spotted a small row of riverside homes, most of them with carports, and quietly stopped in front of the last one. It wasn’t big enough for two cars, but Jovel squeezed into tighter spots many times. He backed in and turned everything off.
Dead silence surrounded him, except for his heart pounding, and he couldn’t get the sound of the masts out of his head. His hands started to hurt when he realized he was clutching the wheel as hard as he could. He let go and shook his head a bit, trying to regain his clarity with a deep breath. He leaned forward to look into the sky, but the carport and tree blocked his view.
Very slowly, Jovel stood up on his seat, grabbing onto a support beam in the carport to get a better view. With a little effort, he managed to see the distant trees that scared him earlier. He watched the clouds part above them, and head toward his hiding spot. He turned and leaned, stepping on his tiptoes to look for the others. He managed to see them reach the end of the road and circle around, backtracking in a sweeping pattern! Gasping, he slipped and fell in the passenger seat. He tried to climb back to the driver’s side, but rolled and fell against the horn. It took him a second to get off, but echoed like an eternity. Dogs barked down the street. Lights came on in a few of the homes. He started his engine and pulled back into the street.
Jovel saw the two distant parts stop with their sweep, and turn straight toward him. He looked up to find the one from the trees now centered directly above him. He froze, but the sound of approaching toenails and growls from several angry dogs snapped him out of it. He looked around at the open cockpit and realized he had no choice, so he decided to make a run for Napa.
With the lights off, the stereo off, and nothing on his mind other than the distant glow of Napa, he raced for his life. In the rearview mirror, he saw the dogs give up, but above them the two parts in the clouds were gaining on him, and above him the third parting in the clouds followed his path winding around back by the marina. He looked at the distant reflections in the sky above Napa, so far away. The dark clouds above him a testimony to the solitude of his position.
The other two parts caught up with Jovel at the marina, flanking each side of the one above him. The marina howled beside him, making goose bumps rise all over his body. A blue flash shot from one of the outer parts to the center one. It had a synthetic laser type sound. Jovel looked up in time to see it hit, dissipating in electrical shocks, and revealing a craft with a dome like shield projecting from it.
The dome lit like a strobe light with each hit. It covered Jovel. “No way! It’s protecting me!”
From the center craft, a thin yellow ring burst outward like a ripple in a pond. It reached the two attackers, and the violent impact knocked them so hard they skipped a mile across the sky, losing their cloak for a moment. They were too far away to see any detail, but sure did light the clouds around them. Darkness returned when they disappeared behind their cloak, and started back toward him.
Jovel glanced in his mirror at the marina disappearing behind the knoll. He pushed the pedal to the floor, his grip tight and eyes locked forward. “Come on baby…” He heard every time the outer partings fired on the center, and each hit flashed brightly while sending little blue flashes around the shield.
A low frequency thump shook the Miata when the center part shot a double yellow ring, knocking the others two miles this time. The skies around them flashed and thundered.
Jovel saw the silhouettes of the Oak Barrel and maintenance building on the horizon in front of him and let out half a sigh. He could try and get back into the Oak Barrel, or he could try for Napa. At the last second he chose Napa, and barely made the corner at the highway, ending up on the wrong side of the road heading east toward highway 29. He looked over his shoulder to find the partings in the clouds closing in fast. This time accompanied by several others. They were off in the distance, but heading his way!
Close to the intersection, the light changed to red, but Jovel didn’t see any other cars, so he planned to slow down only enough to make the turn. He downshifted hard, causing the tires to screech, but before he reached the intersection, he noticed he was surrounded… not on the ground, but in the sky. Partings in the clouds came from every direction. He swallowed hard and skidded to a stop. He had no reason to go forward. They looked like the spokes of a wheel, and he was sitting directly in the hub.
The parting above him dropped its cloak for an instant, but long enough that he saw it… and he took it all in.
Jovel remembered Seth’s description and mumbled. “Ezekiel…”
In his peripheral vision, he saw a barrage of blue firepower come from the tips of the approaching parts. He grabbed the cross on his necklace and stared at his fate. The onslaught of blue destruction closed in. He started to close his eyes in a final prayer. Just before they shut the vehicle above him pulsed from a highly polished bronze to a radiant burst of light. His mouth dropped open as he counted several low frequency thumps in rapid succession, each one sending a thin ring expanding outward.
The outermost ring was red. It stopped the blue fireballs in their path, turning them red. The second orange ring hit within a half a second, everything turned orange, followed by a yellow ring, green, blue, indigo, and the last ring was violet. It turned everything to ashes that fluttered into the nothingness of the night sky.
Jovel lifted his necklace to his mouth and kissed it, while keeping his eyes glued to the rings. They kept going and hit the partings in the clouds. Each wave illuminated the outline of similar vehicles to the one above him. He watched them go through the color cycle before everything turned dark. The vehicle above him disappeared. After a moment, he looked around himself to take inventory. Sitting alone at the quiet intersection he started to shake. Violet ashes fell like a freak winter snowstorm.
A green glow appeared, reflecting off the ash. Jovel winced as he looked up, but only to find the traffic signal changed. He popped the clutch and made a straight path for Seth’s house. Halfway down the highway it stopped snowing ash. By the time he reached Seth’s exit all the other ash had blown from his car.
Jovel pulled into Seth’s driveway too fast. His screeching tires came to a stop, but the front tires left deep skid marks in the grass. Cruz, Seth, and Cammy, stood on the little cement porch staring at his arrival.
Seth pointed at the tire marks on his grass. “Whoa! What’s up with that?”
Jovel sat there holding the wheel, staring straight ahead. He slowly let go of the wheel and turned his car off. The smell of brakes and hot rubber filled the air, and his overheated engine clicked and pinged. He walked over to the stunned group, reaching for Seth’s half cigarette. “I really need that.”
Seth handed it to him. “Are you alright man?“
Jovel looked around. He took a deep drag and held it for a minute, before blowing out a long, slow, plume of smoke. “Didn’t you guys see the skies tonight?”
Seth leaned from under the porch and looked up. The sky flittered in some colors for a second. He shrugged his shoulders “They’ve been doing that a lot lately. What’s up dude?”
Jovel took another drag. “Let’s go inside. I need a drink.”
He told them everything that happened up to the part where the ashes flew from his car. Cammy reached behind his neck and pulled a piece of ash from of his collar. She placed it on the coffee table. It looked like a snowflake the size of a quarter. Cruz pulled a penlight from his pocket to get a closer look. Everyone leaned in and admired the beautiful details in the design, but something from the light made it fall apart, leaving only a dusty outline.
The front door burst open, hitting the wall hard and bouncing back. Everyone jumped back and turned to the door. Rick stepped in. He stood there white as a ghost, his hands shaking. His face showed no expression.
Seth asked. “You too?”
Rick clenched his fists and closed his eyes tight. “You have no idea what just happened to me!”