Author's note: I really have no idea what to put here. Guess I'll just say that I'm not really happy with the ending and leave it at that.
Disclaimer: I own only the characters mentioned here.
The Road to Hell
It was supposed to be a story. Just something the seniors at college told the Freshmen at Halloween to freak them out. For one Freshman, the story gave her hope. An inoperable tumor had been found in her big brother's head the year before, so since she was a believer in all things supernatural the story of the crossroad demon gave her an idea.
After that night, she didn't give any more thought to the matter. Or at least, she didn't until her brother's doctor called her and told her the news. Her brother's tumor had disappeared completely. When she got off the phone she did more research into the crossroad demon and two hours into her search she discovered the seniors that told the story had glossed over a very important detail. She had only ten years to live.
Graduation was bittersweet for her as it meant four years of her life had passed her by. The only reason she had stayed was because of her brother. When he had thought he was going to die, he had made her promise to go to college for him. Now that he was okay, he still wanted her to finish. So she smiled and accepted her diploma before returning to sit among her fellow graduates.
For a while, she was angry at her brother but that passed very quickly. Then she was angry at herself, an emotion which held on for a year. If only she had done more research she wouldn't be counting down the days until she died. (1,825 of them left now.) But if she hadn't done what she did, she wouldn't be sitting across from her brother in this dinky roadside diner laughing at his stupid jokes. There was no way she would ever change the past.
Five years seemed to fly by and before she knew it she was along in the dusty old cabin her family used to vacation in. She had mailed a letter to her brother, explaining when she had done and why she'd done it. By the time he got it she would be gone. She could hear them in the distance, toying with her, as she knelt in the center of the room with her head bowed. Even now, as midnight drew ever closer, she couldn't bring herself to regret what she had done. Because of her, her brother was a happy 35 year old with a beautiful wife that was 7 months pregnant with a baby girl.
The clock started striking the hour just as the baying of the hounds got unbearably loud. Her head shot up as the hounds burst into the room. There were three of them and they all leaped at her at once, jaws open wide. She screamed as they knocked her backwards and started tearing into her, putting deep gashes in her thighs, stomach, and chest. As she screamed, she remembered something she had heard once. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The old clock chimed its last, and the cabin fell silent. It was now 12:01 on October 31, 2011. The sole occupant of the cabin was a 28 year old woman lying in a pool of her own blood. She had a small smile on her face.