Chapter 5: Drive and Dine

A couple of hours later, we were leading the cops back to the church, much to my dismay. I was still on edge about my clothes, but tried to think about better things, like how the hell we were going to explain this to our parents. Darry and Trish were talking about the clothes incident, but I wasn't really wanting to relive that moment. I was able to hear the cops' conversation with their dispatcher and what I heard was like a punch in the gut. They were talking about how the old church was on fire and that nobody would be able to go inside for a very long time. 'He must have set the church ablaze to ensure we wouldn't find anything,' I thought as it was the only logical explanation even though this whole situation was lacking logic. I try to think rationally about everything that's happened so far, but it was still a lot to take in. I tuned in to Trish and Darry's conversation for a moment; they were talking about how this state is the incest capital of the world, which made me giggle. I saw Trish look into her rear-view mirror, looking back at the police car. Darry sees this and gives a slightly grossed out look.

"Don't tell me you actually like him." Darry said. Trish looks back to Darry a little confused.

"Huh?... Who?" She asks. Darry simply indicated with his eyes and head to the cop car behind us. I was a little curious and grossed out too. Trish didn't really like guys much older than herself or anyone with a cocky attitude. Though he didn't show it, Trish and I could see it in his eyes.

"Oh, please. When he walked in, I thought the waitress had dialed the wrong number. The guy looked like a strip-o-gram cop." Trish said, with disgust before giggling. We all giggle, and Darry said something along the lines of 'like the missing link,' making all of us widen our smiles. At this point Trish started messing with the radio again to try and find a decent music station. She scrubs through different stations, that actually have better music than earlier that day, but something catches mine and Darry's attention in a heartbeat. We distinctly heard the word 'Jeepers,' which was in the song the lady on the phone made us listen to. Darry quickly grabbed the dial and goes back to that station and sure enough, it's the same song, just in a different style.

"That's the song!" Darry says in surprise and I nod in agreement. Trish looked at us, stunned. We try to explain to her that this was the same exact song that the lady on the phone was playing, since she couldn't hear it. Trish still looked confused, and we tell her how the lyrics are almost identical to the original song. All of a sudden, something hit our hood and Trish slammed on the breaks, sending me flying into the back of the seat and Darry into the dash. We swerve and do a full 360 before coming to a stop and I noticed that we lost both front hubcaps in the process. I managed to straighten myself and look at the shocked faces of my siblings. They were looking out the back window, at the police car. I look with them and notice that there is only one person in the car; 'where did the other one go?... And why is he just sitting there?' I asked myself. I would have thought an officers' first thought would be to check and make sure we were all right, but this guy just sat there.

Against our better judgment, we all got out of the car to investigate what happened. Trish and I were slowly making our way to the police car, while Darry stayed by our car. Trish asked if they were ok, but she got no response from them. Darry started to call us back to the car, but we pressed on. We walk closer and I started to notice the smell of earth again, only this time, it was a lot stronger. I should have stayed at the car with Darry because what we saw next was awful. As we rounded the corner of the car, we saw what was, unmistakably, the severed head of the male police officer. At the same time, we noticed this, the driver-side door opened and the man from the church stepped out. Trish and I bolt back to the car and jump in as fast as we can. Trish tries to start the car, but of course, it starts having trouble at the worst time.

Trish stops messing with the ignition and gear shift so as to not attract the man's attention. We see him step out, close the door, and start walking to the head lying in the road. I noticed he was whistling the same song we were just listening to, but in its original form. As the last note fades, he bends down and picks up the head. We watch as he starts to smell it, I found this extremely creepy. I hear Trish try to convince herself that she is not seeing this, but unfortunately, we are all witnessing this. We see the man flip the head around and appear to bite it, hard. After a minute, he flips it back around and brings it to his face. Trish voiced my thought of 'what… is he… doing?' And then we see him pulling the guys tongue out with his teeth! This is where we all panic and start yelling at Trish to go, but the car stalls. Darry and I keep repeating GO, GO, GO, in increasingly panicked voices, while Trish tried to get the car to start, which it thankfully does after a few more tries. With the pedal to the medal, we hightailed it out of there like bats out of hell.

As we speed away, I was so shocked that I couldn't even make a coherent thought. I had just seen a psycho rip a man's tongue out with his teeth. The thing that bothered me the most though, was the fact I could smell earth coming from him, the same scent from the church and the diner. 'Why does he smell like earth?' I thought to myself. I found it very unusual; you would think a murdering maniac would smell like death or blood, but no, he smells like earth, a very natural scent. Wanting to put that thought behind me, I decide to lay down and rest my eyes. Somehow, I fall asleep even with Trish flooring the gas pedal.

~Dream~

I open my eyes and I find myself lying in a field, similar to the one from the first dream, but this one was slightly different. I didn't see anything besides corn stalks, wheat, and a couple of scarecrows. I quickly stand up; something didn't feel right. I look around, trying to find any signs of the road or a nearby farm, but all I saw were open fields. I start walking in a random direction, hoping to find someone who could help me. I continued to walk for what felt like hours but had only been a few minutes before seeing something ahead. I got closer and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw that it was a person, a woman to be exact. She was facing away from me and had on a lovely white dress that bellowed in the wind. She also had tan skin and very light hair; almost white.

"Excuse me?" I said as I approached her. She turns around and I immediately stop and stare at her in shock. She looks exactly like ME! Only she looks a lot older. She had her own look of shock when she saw me, like she couldn't believe what she was seeing or rather she looked like she had just seen a ghost.

"You shouldn't be here." She said in a calm but worried tone.

"Who are you?" I asked.

"There isn't much time. You must leave this place!" She said with more urgency.

"Why? What is this place?" I asked. I had to know because this is the second time I've been here.

"You are in grave danger. This place was meant to draw you out and locate you in the waking world." She said very cryptic.

"What?" I said. I was more confused than ever before. But before I could ask anymore questions, dark clouds started rolling in and shrouding us in darkness. I also see a murder of white crows flying above us and away from the clouds.

"He's here." The woman whispered.

"Whose here?" I asked, wanting to know what was happening. Suddenly, one of the white crows flies down and lands on the woman's arm. She looks at it and then looks at me with fear in her eyes, not fear of me; I felt that she was fearful for me. Without a word, she grabbed my hand and started running. I stumbled a bit before getting my footing and running with her.

"What are you doing!" I shouted.

"I must get you away from here!" She said.

"Why! I don't understand, what's going on?!" I demanded.

"There's no time to explain! I must keep you out of his grasp!" She said as we kept running through the never-ending field.

"Whose grasp? Who are you talking about?!" I shouted. All of a sudden, she stopped, and I almost bumped into her. I looked at her and saw her fearful expression. I followed her gaze and jump slightly, a few feet in front of us was the man from the church.

"Him…." The woman whispered to me. I could now see the man in more detail and realized that he was in no way human. He stared at both of us, but when his eyes landed on me, he smiled, showing his sharp dagger-like teeth. It sent a cold shiver down my spine and I wanted nothing more than to be back with my brother and sister.

"What is that thing?" I asked, terrified.

"A monster." Was her simple reply.

"What does it want?" I asked to her in a whisper, but the answer I got was not from her.

"You." The creature said in a raspy, gurgle-like voice while pointing at me. That made me start panicking, he wanted ME? WHY? I couldn't comprehend what had just been said. He was still smiling and started towards us. I started backing up only to have the strange woman let go of my hand and stand in front of me. This confused me, 'why would a complete stranger stand in harms way to protect me?" I thought to myself but was glad I didn't have to face this beast alone.

"You will not have her!" The woman shouted.

The monster laughed, a very unnerving sound and continued forward.

"Karen, I need you to run as fast as you can. I need you to wake up." She said, turning her head towards me. I didn't need to be told twice and took off in the opposite direction faster than I thought possible. I heard a loud roar behind me but was too afraid to look back. I kept running and looked to see the white crows flying around me, almost acting like a shield. As I noticed this, I suddenly tripped over a rock and landed face first on the ground. I started to black out but was still aware enough to see the crows were still flying around me and some were even on the ground next to me, like they were protecting me. I heard a loud thud and barely made out the taloned feet coming towards me, but thankfully my feathered guardians were swarming the creature; making it extremely difficult to get to me. I suddenly felt a soft hand on the side of my head; I looked up to see the woman who tried to protect me.

"Karen, please wake up. You have to wake up." She pleaded.

I was about to say something when I was suddenly thrown out of the field and into darkness.

My last thought before I was thrown back into reality was, 'how did she know my name?'

~End Dream~

I am jerked awake by Trish slamming on the breaks. I lift myself up to see that we've stopped in the middle of the road and next to a house. I listen to Trish and Darry argue briefly about getting to the next town, but ultimately, we turn into the driveway. Something about this place was unsettling to me, but I brushed it off thinking more about finding a phone and calling the police. We pulled up to the house and get out of the car. I walk behind Trish and Darry as they bicker about what the hell, we were going to tell the cops. To be honest I had no idea how we were going to explain that we had just seen a guy murder two officers and then tear ones tongue out with his teeth.

"Who are you?" an elderly sounding voice called from the porch.

We all look up to see who spoke. It was an elderly woman in a night gown and robe.

"I said who are you?" She asked again. This time Trish spoke up.

"Um… Patricia Jenner… this is my brother Darry and my sister Karen." She introduced. The lady then asked what we wanted, and Trish explained that we needed to call the police. The lady said she didn't have a telephone and started telling us to forget about bringing the cops out there because they tried to tell her how many cats people can have. This caught my attention, but I decided not to say anything until, I was sure. Trish then yelled that someone was just killed. This gets the woman's attention, but she thought we were referring to one of her cats. Trish stared at her in disbelief, this lady was more concerned for her cats than the fact a police officer was just murdered.

After a little bit she finally gave us permission to call the sheriff's station on the condition we don't disclose her address and tell them to stick to the interstate.

"My babies don't like strangers." She said, picking up one of her cats. I got an uneasy feeling and just had to know if the lady on the phone at the diner was on to something. I looked to Darry and knew that he was thinking the same thing.

"Um... how many babies do you have?" I asked.

"More than a couple." She said.

"We need to get out of here right now." Darry whispered to Trish with great urgency. Suddenly the power in the house went out and for some reason the wind stopped. We all look around thinking the same thing, 'I hope this happens all the time'.

"Please tell me this happens all the time." Trish voiced our thoughts.

I suddenly caught a familiar scent, earth. We all whipped around to see the same man from the church and the one who murdered two cops standing as still as a statue in front of a scarecrow. I felt incredibly uneasy, that image reminded me of the dream I had from when our journey began. I heard the lady mutter something about it not being her scarecrow and walk into the house to get something. She came back out with a shotgun and pointed it at the man yelling at him to leave and warning him that she wasn't going to tell him again. I got the sense that this guy didn't give two shits about her threats and I knew I had to get us out of there.

"Get the hell away from him." I tell her.

"Karen." Darry said.

"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM IT!" I shouted as she fired her gun. She only managed to blow away her actual scarecrow. The guy moved so fast we only saw a glimpse of him as he went to the roof and into the house, evident by all the crashing and yowling cats. Apparently, the screaming cats were enough for the lady to disregard her own safety and go back into the house. We tried to stop her and explain that she needed to leave, but she only looked at us with hate, kicked Darry in the crotch and went back inside letting most of her cats out in the process. As Trish and I help Darry to his feet, we hear a loud shot, then another, and then, silence. We peer around to get a better view of the porch. We see the lady standing there but she's not doing anything; this makes me nervous.

"Hello?" Darry asked, very unsure. Next, we heard, what sounded like, boot steps walking along the porch and the lady moving forward. I knew it wasn't the woman walking because she had on slippers, so that left only one possibility of who those steps belonged to. The screen door opened, and we see the woman being held by her neck and seemed to be struggling to breathe. In that same moment she is pulled out of the way to reveal who was holding her; the man, or should I say creature. This thing was in no way human and what terrified me the most was that it looked exactly like the monster from my earlier dream. As it held the poor lady, it looked out at us, but more specifically, me. I had a strong gut feeling that it was looking solely at me; because I felt its eyes on me when it smiled wide, revealing its sharp dagger-like teeth. Needing no further motivation, all three of us booked it back to the car and against my better judgment, I looked back to see the creature toss the woman aside, roughly and start marching towards us. Trish wasted no time starting the car and throwing it in reverse and floored it out of the driveway.

Unfortunately, once we were back on the road the car got stuck in reverse. Trish tried to make the car move forward, but the gears were sticking. Darry grabbed the shifter to try and unstick it, but Trish yelled that he was going to break it. Just then, the creature jumped on the hood and stared through the windshield. I could see that it was looking directly at me, evident by its creepy smile.

"TRISH, MOVE!" I shouted.

"IT'S STUCK IN REVERSE!" She screamed.

"THEN GO IN REVERSE!" Darry shouted.

Trish floored it in reverse and as we moved, the creature did a backflip off the hood and landed on the road. We stopped several feet away from it and watched as it stood in the middle of the road for a moment before pacing back and forth. It was like it was waiting for us to make a move.

"What do we do?" I whispered.

"Hit him. Hit him, Trish… hard. DO IT!" Darry demanded.

Trish unstuck the gears and floored it straight toward the monster; in an attempt to run him over. Unfortunately, it seemed to predict that we would try to mow him down and jumped to run across the car and land behind us; and he looked back at us as we moved ahead. I looked back in disbelief, and saw him stand straight again, as if waiting for us to try again. We attempted to hit him going in reverse, but it had the same result with him jumping and running across the car. We all look at him standing in the middle of the road. It really freaked me out that he just stood there as Trish tried to run him down and I couldn't help but feel that he would either wait for the car to run out of gas, to break down, or for us to just surrender.

"What is that thing?" I asked in a whisper. None of us say anything for a few short moments before Trish starts grinding the gears.

"What are you doing?!"

"What the hell are you doing?!" Darry and I yelled in panic simultaneously.

"Come on you son of a bitch." Trish whispered through gritted teeth.

I look to see the creature start walking towards us and that sent me into a panic. All of my instincts were telling me to get as far away from this thing as possible, but I couldn't leave the car. Trish kept grinding the gears and the creature started to walk more comfortably, like the cat who caught the canary. It was then I realized what Trish was doing; she was grinding the gears on purpose to get him to come closer so she could actually run him down. This realization calmed me somewhat and prevented me from going into full blown panic mode.

"That's right, walk that ugly face right over here." Trish said as he got closer.

"Come on, Come… ON!" She exclaimed as she hit the gas pedal. The look on the creature's face was one of surprise and he tried to avoid us, but it was too late. We hit him dead on, shattering the windshield, and sent him flying into the air. He made the loudest, inhuman screech I had ever heard and a second later, a couple of knives landed on the hood followed by him hitting the trunk on his way down to the ground. We looked back and then at each other, all thinking the same thing.

"Do you think he's dead?" I asked.

"They never are." Trish said simply as she put the car in reverse and ran over the monster. She continued to go back and forth, running him over each time, for a while before Darry grabbed the steering wheel and told her that it was enough. We look out to see the, mostly, flattened thing. It didn't move and I wanted to assume it was dead, but my instincts said otherwise. The sound of tearing caught my attention, and it was then I saw movement underneath the coat it was wearing. More tearing sounded and suddenly a giant wing appeared from underneath the coat. I sat there in shock, this thing was like me, yet, completely different. I just stared at the sight in front of us that I didn't even notice Darry and Trish looking at me with concern. The wing started to flap around furiously for a few seconds before falling to the ground. I guessed that in his weakened state, he couldn't lift himself off the ground with only one wing, we must have crushed the other one.

Trish was staring at the injured creature with the same intensity as me, but with less shock. It was then Darry started saying our names to try and snap us out of it.

"Karen? Trish?"

"Karen! Trish!" Darry shouted, finally getting our attention. Trish took this as the cue to get the hell out of there. The gears groaned before she got the car going forward.

"I'm not sure how much further this car is gonna go." She said with concern.

"Not far enough." Darry and I said at the same time. Trish floored it and ran over the creature one last time before we went straight ahead and not looking back.