It was a dark, moonless night. The air was thick with fog, drifting over the road like a wet blanket. It was a poor day to drive and a poorer day to hitchhike, but for some there was no choice. A spark of fire briefly lit the fog, then guttered into a dull ember. The man slowly walking down the side of the road sucked slowly on his cigarette, savoring the taste of it. He didn't have many left.

Glancing down the road he grimaced ruefully, pushing a hand through bright red hair. He was regretting his decision to part company with the trucker who gave him a lift. But the man was going down to New Orleans, and Axel aimed to head towards the sunshine coast. He'd had enough of the South, for now at least. California was just the change of pace he needed. But that had put him on the road again and the redhead was beginning to wonder if anyone used this road. It was strangely deserted, even for a dark and foggy night. Shifting his shoulders, he was glad of the reflective strips he'd added to his black leather jacket. They really did look stupid, but they would at least give him a fighting chance of not being run over in the dark. And maybe someone would stop and give him a lift.

Axel walked up a hill and the mist parted for a moment, revealing a craggy landscape full of brush and small trees. He squinted then smiled as he spotted the incoming headlights. That truck was going the wrong direction so there would be no point in trying to flag it down, but it was still nice to see a bit of traffic. He continued to walk, the gravel crunching under his feet. Glancing down he saw frost on the stones and felt vaguely surprised. It really wasn't that cold out. Or at least, he didn't think so –

SCREEECH! Axel looked up in absolute shock at the sound of tires squealing across the pavement. He felt paralyzed as he saw the truck, a big eighteen wheeler skidding along the pavement. White lights illuminated a figure and Axel thought there was something wrong about it but there was no time to look. There was only time to run like hell as the out of control rig slid towards him.

He almost made it. Unfortunately, almost only counts in horseshoes. The mirror clipped his shoulder and Axel heard something snap before everything went dark.


Axel awoke to the taste of blood in his mouth and a strange absence of pain.

Shit. I am hurt really bad. Was his first, disconnected thought. Then he tried to sit up, expecting bolts of pain. He was more than surprised when he felt almost nothing. The hell? Checking himself over he found only a few scrapes and bruises. Running his tongue over his teeth, he found he'd bit his lip which was the source of the blood taste. But that was all. Extremely puzzled but not about to question his good fortune, the redhead slowly levered himself to his feet and looked for the rig that had almost killed him.

It was on its side, not far from the road. Axel began to walk over to it and looked down with a frown as his feet crunched on gravel. Blinking, he glanced down the road and saw nothing but more gravel.

"Oh." Axel vaguely wondered if suddenly coming to the end of paving and hitting a gravel stretch could send a big rig out of control. But why would an eighteen wheeler be going down a path like this? It hardly looked big enough. Axel was very vague on the details but he remembered glancing at a map in the earlier rig he'd caught a lift on. Certain routes had been marked in red and the trucker had told him it was because they were safe for a truck his size. Big rigs weren't cars, they had to travel certain routes. Then he frowned again. This road hadn't been small when he'd been walking down it. It hadn't been gravel either. "Pah." Tossing aside all the questions he went to see if the driver of the car was alive. Although if he was, Axel was tempted to fix that. The man must have been going too fast. Except… for that figure he'd seen. Axel quickly glanced up and down the road but saw nothing. It must have been a figment of his imagination.

Opening the door to the rig, Axel saw that his vague thoughts of revenge weren't going to matter anyway. The occupant was most certainly dead, judging from the vast amounts of blood splattered over the seats. The redhead swallowed hard as he looked at the mess, feeling the rising tide of unpleasant memories…

Antiseptic smell trying to drown out the stench of blood and hot vomit. Hands touching him, trying to be gentle but no touch could be anything but hurtful. Bright red hair darkened with blood and the screams…

Axel took a slow, deep breath and wished he hadn't as the smell of the freshly spilled blood clogged his nostrils. He put a hand over his face, firmly recalling himself to the present. The man was surely dead, but where was the body? He couldn't see it anywhere. Circling the truck he found no sign of it at all, not even a blood trail.

"Weird." He murmured to himself. Really unsettling too and he rubbed his arms, trying to gain some heat. It was cold now and the temperature just seemed to be dropping. Briefly he considered seeing if he could get the rig back on the road, although he flinched internally at the thought of sitting on those seats. But then he dismissed the idea. He knew how to drive a van, although he wasn't licensed for it, but this kind of rig was something else again. Glancing around one last time, he breathed in his hands a moment to warm them before walking down the road. Gravel crunched under his feet as he began the long journey to the next town.

The mist closed over the ruined rig and it vanished from sight.

The walk was long and the mist only kept building. Axel was shivering as he walked and watching his breath plume in the air. That was strange but not impossibly so... it was early spring and weirder things had happened. He could remember a snowstorm in June once. Not being able to see more than a few feet, though, was really disturbing. So was the lack of sound. All he could hear was the sound of his own feet on the road. There wasn't even an echo. No crickets, no birds.

"They must all be hiding." He muttered to himself as he increased the pace. "I wish I could too." Axel thought longingly of a warm bed and a hot cup of tea, sweetened with honey. A hot croissant for breakfast, spread with nutella. He could almost taste the chocolate nut flavor...

"...!" Axel stopped short and blinked as the mist abruptly parted. He was standing on the top of a hill and below him, there was a small town. Smiling in relief, he started down the hill. He had a few bucks, enough for a night at a cheap hotel. It wouldn't be hard to find some kind of job that involved a lot of muscle. At his last stop, he'd helped tear down a bunch of barbed wire fences and replace them with horse safe fencing. It had been a bit of a surprise to find out that barbed wire didn't cut it for horses, but when he'd torn one of his pants on it he'd realized why. Starting down the road to the town he wondered if he'd be doing that again. There were plenty of farms here and removing barbed wire was a pain so maybe.

His steps slowed as he reached the town. It was still misty, although he could see farther than before. The buildings were – old. Very old. Axel frowned as he glanced up at weathered wood and rusty steel. This wasn't some kind of ghost town, was it? But it seemed too big for that.

"Hello?" He said without thinking and cursed himself. It was either very late at night or early in the morning by now. Of course no one would be out and about. Walking through the mist he noticed that the roads here were paved. It was something of a relief. Axel glanced up at the signs as he walked down the main street, hoping to find a hotel. "Oh thank god." Axel felt a surge of relief as he spotted the Super 8 sign. Although it was out and badly corroded. "You'd think corporate would have something to say about that. I should complain." Axel quipped to hide his discomfort. This whole place was rather creepy. Especially with the damn fog...

Telling himself firmly he was being a sensitive idiot he opened the door to the Super 8. It groaned wickedly and he made a mental note not to expect much. Whoever ran this place clearly wasn't into basic maintenance. Axel glanced around at the lobby and frowned. It was worse than he'd expected, with dark stains on the walls and cracked and peeling paint. There was a lamp in the corner giving off a feeble glow but it wasn't much. Reaching into his back pocket he pulled out a small hand light and flicked it on. The little beam was strong but didn't have much of a radius and Axel sent it across the room, looking for the front desk. "..." The desk was empty and the chair behind it was smashed. More of the dark stains covered the walls and Axel could see a shattered coffee cup. No doubt that was the source of the stains. "Is anyone there?" He called out cautiously but there was no answer. Hesitating a moment he began walking up the stairs. Perhaps whoever was manning the desk had stepped out. He could always pay in the morning.

It was eerily silent as he walked up the stairs, except for the groaning of the wood and the fine shiver of plaster dust that dropped from the ceiling. It made him wonder if the building was abandoned, but it looked too sturdy for that despite the dirt. He opened the door to a room and hesitated, looking inside. There was a bed, a small desk with a chair and a mirror. The mirror was crusty with dirt and the bed didn't appeal to him. It was tight and well made but an appalling shade of yellow that made him think of urine. The blankets were probably just old but he didn't want to touch it.

Leaving that room, he began to look through the others. None of them were locked and none showed any signs of recent cleaning. Except for the last. The smallest room on the floor, it was tucked in beside the broom closet. To his surprise, the room was almost livable. The bed was messy and looked like the sheets hadn't been changed in years, but they were whitish and didn't look actively threatening. The mirror had been cleaned off a bit and there were only a few faint stains on the floor. There was a battered cup on the dresser and a pitcher of water. Axel licked his lips and went over to that, picking up a glass and filling it. He took a sip of the water. It was stale but good enough, and he'd lost his water bottle when the truck had nearly hit him. Taking another drink he glanced at the window –

"YAH!" Axel leapt back. Then he blinked and breathed deeply. "It's just mist. Just mist." The creepy way it had looked like a face was just an illusion. Shaking his head, he went to the window and yanked shut the curtains. "Maybe I'll just get out of town tomorrow." This place felt almost haunted. Axel didn't believe in ghosts or the paranormal. Still, that had been creepy...

Axel folded pulled off his shoes, folded himself in the blankets and tried to sleep. The blankets had a warm, musky smell that he found quiet pleasant. Soon he was dozing.

It would all be better in the morning.