"Where's the next stop on the tour?" I heard Rev ask.
"Atlantic City, New Jersey." Shads replied.
"Sweet, casinos here we come." He said rubbing his hands together vigorously.
"So Evy does it feel weird being back in Jersey?" Zacky asked me. He was sitting across from me at the table in the little kitchenette on the tour bus.
"Yeah definitely." I said taking my eyes off the endless pine barrens to answer him. "Never thought I'd miss Jersey so much."
"You're glad you moved to Cali though right?"
"Of course, then I wouldn't have met that one." I said pointing to Syn.
"What about me?" He asked coming over to sit down next to me.
"Zacky asked if I was glad I moved to Cali and I told him yes cause I met you."
"You're too cute." He said quickly pecking me on the lips. My gaze returned to staring out the tour bus window as we drove down Route 70 heading towards Tuckerton.
"Wow there is absolutely nothing out here." Johnny said surveying the landscape as well.
"Yup, welcome to the New Jersey Pine Barrens boys. A long, lonely, desolate strip of land complete with bogs, swamps, sand dunes, and nothing but pine trees that covers more than half of New Jersey.
"You definitely wouldn't wanna break down out here." Johnny said. As if on cue the bus started to sputter.
"Shit." We heard Jay Berry say from the driver's seat.
"What's wrong JB?" I yelled.
"I think we're out of gas." He said pulling off to the side of the road.
"That's impossible." Matty Berry said. "The gauge says we still have half a tank." JB tapped the gauge and the needle fell.
"The gauge is broken."
"Shit, what do we do now?"
"Don't worry boys, I have a AAA card. I'll call them and they can bring us some gas and we'll get the bus fixed when we get to A.C." I said.
"Sweet, this girl's got it all figured out." Matty said.
"Yup, and that's why I'm with her." Brian said as I dug my card out of my wallet and dialed the phone number. I punched in my account number and when someone answered I told them the problem and where we were.
"What did they say?" Brian asked when I hung up.
"They have no tow trucks in the area and probably won't be able to get one to us for a few hours."
"Shit." Shads said.
"See, aren't you glad I said let's leave today instead of tomorrow, you would have missed the show."
"Yeah, yeah miss smarty pants."
20 Minutes Later
"It's getting hotter by the second." Johnny whined.
"Yeah, it is." I said. "I'm going outside." I said getting up and stepping off the bus. It was noticeably cooler. Brian followed me out, soon everyone else came out as well. We sat in the grass along the roadside. I looked around. Nothing but trees, trees, and more trees. "I hope they get here before it gets dark. The sun's almost set and it's never a good thing to get stuck in the dark in the Pine Barrens."
"Why's that?" Rev asked.
"Well, for one it's dangerous. It's full of bogs, snakes, bears, cougars, and stuff like that. Then for the more imaginative there's ghosts, witches, bottomless pools said to lead to hell, and of course there's the Jersey Devil." I said crossing my arms behind my head and laying back.
"Oh no, Evy not one of your crazy ghost stories." Brian teased.
"I love Evy's crazy ghost stories." Johnny said. "Tell us the story Evy, please?" He begged acting like a little kid. I laughed.
"Alright. Let's see. There are several different versions of the story but I'll tell you the most popular. It was the year 1735 and a woman by the name of Mrs. Leeds , who lived here in the Pine Barrens, found she was pregnant with her thirteenth child. "Let this one be a devil." She said. It was born on a dark stormy night. At first it looked like a normal baby but then it started changing into a monster. After the mutation it killed most of it's own family and escaped up the chimney into the pines where it's lived ever since. People still report sightings of the creature today."
"What did the creature look like?" Zacky asked eagerly.
"About 7 feet tall, bat wings, head of a horse, body of a man, hooves for feet, razor sharp teeth, claws, and horns." Rev replied.
"That's right Jimmy. How did you know?" I asked.
"It's standing right over there." He said pointing across the street. In the dim light we saw something standing just below the tree line. It's glowing red eyes staring back at us.
"No fucking way." I said slowly standing.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Shads asked slowly getting up with the rest of the group.
"Your guess is as good as mine." I laughed nervously, it almost turned into a cry.
"Everyone on the bus, but move slowly." We all started slowly walking toward the bus door. The Jersey Devil shrieked, took a few running steps before it opened it's wings and flew straight at us. We ducked out of the way before running up onto the bus and closed and locked the door. We heard another shriek and it landed on top of the bus so hard it dented in the ceiling.
"Evy, I thought you said it was just a story."
"I thought it was too." We heard it's hooves walking on top of the bus, then scratching noises.
"You think it's trying to get in?" JB asked quietly.
"I don't know." Shads replied.
I was standing with my back to the window in the kitchen and I saw Zacky turn his head and look at something behind me with a sheer look of terror. My body turned ridged but I slowly turned around and came face to face with the creature. It was hanging upside down from the roof of the bus, nothing but a thin piece of glass separated us. The glowing red eyes bore into mine. I could see the razor sharp teeth in it's horrid mouth. With a screech the Jersey Devil smashed his head through the glass and grabbed at me with it's claws. I screamed trying to get away, the boys tried to beat it off me but it was too strong and it grabbed me by both arms and pulled me out the window up into the night sky.
"Evy!" Brian yelled. "Evy, wake up." His voice commanded, he sounded worried. I opened my eyes. He had me by the arms shaking me awake.
"Brian. " I gasped sitting straight up into his arms pulling him close.
"You alright baby? You were screaming in your sleep."
"I'm fine, I was just having a nightmare." I said noticing that we were still outside, the sun barely set.
"The tow truck's her so we can go."
"Good, I need to get out of here." I said standing and we went a joined the rest of the boys.
"Evy, you never told us what the creature looked like, you fell asleep before you got a chance to." Johnny said. I looked around.
"I'll tell you when we get to A.C." I said climbing up into the bus.
In the shadows, just below the tree line across the street, the Jersey Devil stood and watched the tour bus pull away before stalking back into the woods.