Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Since you've taken a look at this story, I'm guessing it's safe to assume you enjoy spooky stories. The creatures lurking in these chapters, lurk also in the shadows along a deserted street, or are glimpsed in a lightning flash outside your window on a stormy night, or have just put a claw on the knob of the door to your home. Before you go any further, you might want to turn up the lights a bit or hang a clove of garlic on the wall........................................................................ ........................................................................... . ............................................................................ ........................................................................... . .....................................just in case..........
Welcome to the night.
*****
Chapter 3: The Warning
*****
Mariah was planning to drive through the night to a city several hundred miles away. She was traveling alone which made her mother nervous.
"Be careful," cautioned her mother. "Don't trust strangers. There's a maniac on the loose, you know, and he preys on single women like you."
Mariah was quick to dismiss her mother's fears, it was true that there was a man who had escaped from a nearby prison, and it was true that he had abducted two young women and brutally murdered them with a large butcher knife, but what of it? As long as a person was street-smart and kept her wits about her they'd be fine.
"Don't worry about me, "she told her mother laughingly. "I'll be fine. I know how to take care of myself."
Mariah had meant what she said, but the warning lingered on her mind.
The sun had already set when she stopped at a lonely service station by the side of the highway. Heavy clouds obscured the moon and stars, and a rainstorm threatened.
Hurriedly she filled the gas tank and made use of the dingy little restroom. When she approached the counter to pay her bill, the attendant smiled in a friendly fashion.
"Looks like it's going to be a nasty night," he said as he used a grimy thumb to point at the way his out-door signs were whipping in the wind.
Mariah nodded but said nothing. In the gloom of night, away from the comforting lights of town, she didn't feels as courageous. The service- station attendant might have been a perfectly fine person, but she had no way of knowing that for certain. He was a stranger to her, and she had been warned to not talk to strangers. As she thought of this, she took her change from the man and hurried out the door, toward the safety of her car. She was almost there when she heard the bells of the door jangle behind her.
"Wait a minute!" the attendant called after her.
Mariah didn't turn. Instead, she quickened her pace.
"I'm in a hurry!" she lied as she ran around the front of her car and yanked open the driver's side door. She slid in behind the wheel, closed the door and locked it. When she looked up, she saw the attendant standing inches away.
Inside the well-lit station, he had appeared to be only a little grubby and disheveled. But outside, under the arc of unnatural fluorescent bulbs, the attendant had taken on a decidedly unsettling countenance. His face was pale and unshaven, and his eyes were wide and darting. When he spoke, even his voice had a different quality.
"I made a mistake," he said to her. "I gave you the wrong change. Just come back inside for a minute and we'll sort it out."
A dense, cold knot formed within Mariah's stomach.
"I have to go! I don't care about my change!" she yelled through the closed window. She turned the ignition key and breathed a silent prayer of thanks when her occasionally unreliable car roared to life.
But the attendant was insistent.
"No, it's you who owe me money," he said. "It'll just take a minute. Then you can be on your way!"
He stepped in front of Mariah's car then, blocking her way. More than his nervous gaze or his obvious lie, this frightened her. She fumbled in her purse for a handful of coins, and opened her window just wide enough to throw the money out.
"Here!" she cried. "That's more than enough! Now, let me go!"
The attendant leaned forward. He placed his hands on the hood of the car and looked directly into Mariah's eyes. Slowly, he shook his head. Silently, he mouthed the word 'no'.
It was so threatening, so loathsome, Mariah was jolted into action. She put the car in gear and stepped on the gas pedal. The attendant jump out of the way barely in time. The front fender of the car still managed to brush his thigh with enough force that he was knocked down and sent rolling across the pavement.
As her car swerved wildly onto the highway, Mariah risked on backward glace. To her horror, she saw the attendant making a limping run for the pickup truck that sat parked in the stall marked 'employees'.
She pressed her foot into the gas pedal, pushing the car to its limit. But the car's limit was less than enough, and soon there were headlights looming behind her. In the darkness, Mariah couldn't see that it was the attendant's truck following her, but she knew. The driver repeatedly flashed his headlights on high beam and blasted his horn insistently.
'Oh my god!' Mariah thought, 'he's trying to drive me off the road!'
The truck advanced until it was scant inches away from the car's bumper, and it's horn blared out with deafening persistence. When the driver backed off slightly, it was only so that he could blind her with a staccato flashing of lights. Between this terrifying interference and her own state of panic, Mariah feared that it wouldn't be long before she misjudged one of the twists and turns of the dark highway.
As she was thinking that, she sped past a familiar sign. "U-Pick Produce, ½ Mile," it read, and Mariah remembered the farm where she had once filled a gallon with fresh blueberries. She knew that the drive was coming up on her right; it was a sharp turn that drivers were apt to miss, unless they were prepared...
Mariah saw the gravel lane and cranked hard on the steering wheel. She felt the car go up on two tires, where it wobbled briefly before coming down with a spine-compressing thud.
There was noise then, a violent noise that began with a squealing of rubber on pavement, as the pickup truck tried too late to follow the car. The noise was followed by the brittle snapping of tree trunks and the scream of twisting metal. Finally, there was the soft whoosh of flames. The truck had left the road and torn a destructive path down the shallow gully that divided the highway and the U-Pick Produce drive.
Mariah felt overwhelming relief wash through her. She slowed the car, turned it around, and shifted it to park. For a moment, she watched the flaming wreckage that imprisoned the maniacal service-station attendant. Then she closed her eyes, leaned forward until her damp forehead was touching the steering wheel, and waited for the tears to come.
But they didn't. In their place, there was a strange sensation of triumph.
'I was right,' Mariah thought, 'I know perfectly well how to take care of myself! There's never a reason to be afraid, as long as I keep my wits about me!'
When she finished congratulating herself, Mariah sat up once more and opened her eyes. Some small movement in the rearview mirror captured her attention, and she glanced up to see what it might be.
It took only a split second for her to realize that she had been wrong. Wrong about her cocky beliefs, and wrong about the poor dead service- station attendant. He hadn't been trying to kill her; it was suddenly clear that he'd been trying to warn her.
For there, in the deep shadows of the back seat, sat a large man with a leering eye and an evil smile. When he noticed her looking at him, he smiled more broadly and held something up.
The flickering orange flames of the burning truck wreckage reflected so beautifully in the polished razor-edged blade of his very large butcher knife.
*****
~End~
*****
And if you think you hear something scratching at the window or a footstep in the empty room overhead, just remember it's only your imagination ............................................................................ ............................. ............................................................................ ........................................................................... . ............................................................................ probably.
Good Luck and Good Night.
Pleasant Dreams.
Since you've taken a look at this story, I'm guessing it's safe to assume you enjoy spooky stories. The creatures lurking in these chapters, lurk also in the shadows along a deserted street, or are glimpsed in a lightning flash outside your window on a stormy night, or have just put a claw on the knob of the door to your home. Before you go any further, you might want to turn up the lights a bit or hang a clove of garlic on the wall........................................................................ ........................................................................... . ............................................................................ ........................................................................... . .....................................just in case..........
Welcome to the night.
*****
Chapter 3: The Warning
*****
Mariah was planning to drive through the night to a city several hundred miles away. She was traveling alone which made her mother nervous.
"Be careful," cautioned her mother. "Don't trust strangers. There's a maniac on the loose, you know, and he preys on single women like you."
Mariah was quick to dismiss her mother's fears, it was true that there was a man who had escaped from a nearby prison, and it was true that he had abducted two young women and brutally murdered them with a large butcher knife, but what of it? As long as a person was street-smart and kept her wits about her they'd be fine.
"Don't worry about me, "she told her mother laughingly. "I'll be fine. I know how to take care of myself."
Mariah had meant what she said, but the warning lingered on her mind.
The sun had already set when she stopped at a lonely service station by the side of the highway. Heavy clouds obscured the moon and stars, and a rainstorm threatened.
Hurriedly she filled the gas tank and made use of the dingy little restroom. When she approached the counter to pay her bill, the attendant smiled in a friendly fashion.
"Looks like it's going to be a nasty night," he said as he used a grimy thumb to point at the way his out-door signs were whipping in the wind.
Mariah nodded but said nothing. In the gloom of night, away from the comforting lights of town, she didn't feels as courageous. The service- station attendant might have been a perfectly fine person, but she had no way of knowing that for certain. He was a stranger to her, and she had been warned to not talk to strangers. As she thought of this, she took her change from the man and hurried out the door, toward the safety of her car. She was almost there when she heard the bells of the door jangle behind her.
"Wait a minute!" the attendant called after her.
Mariah didn't turn. Instead, she quickened her pace.
"I'm in a hurry!" she lied as she ran around the front of her car and yanked open the driver's side door. She slid in behind the wheel, closed the door and locked it. When she looked up, she saw the attendant standing inches away.
Inside the well-lit station, he had appeared to be only a little grubby and disheveled. But outside, under the arc of unnatural fluorescent bulbs, the attendant had taken on a decidedly unsettling countenance. His face was pale and unshaven, and his eyes were wide and darting. When he spoke, even his voice had a different quality.
"I made a mistake," he said to her. "I gave you the wrong change. Just come back inside for a minute and we'll sort it out."
A dense, cold knot formed within Mariah's stomach.
"I have to go! I don't care about my change!" she yelled through the closed window. She turned the ignition key and breathed a silent prayer of thanks when her occasionally unreliable car roared to life.
But the attendant was insistent.
"No, it's you who owe me money," he said. "It'll just take a minute. Then you can be on your way!"
He stepped in front of Mariah's car then, blocking her way. More than his nervous gaze or his obvious lie, this frightened her. She fumbled in her purse for a handful of coins, and opened her window just wide enough to throw the money out.
"Here!" she cried. "That's more than enough! Now, let me go!"
The attendant leaned forward. He placed his hands on the hood of the car and looked directly into Mariah's eyes. Slowly, he shook his head. Silently, he mouthed the word 'no'.
It was so threatening, so loathsome, Mariah was jolted into action. She put the car in gear and stepped on the gas pedal. The attendant jump out of the way barely in time. The front fender of the car still managed to brush his thigh with enough force that he was knocked down and sent rolling across the pavement.
As her car swerved wildly onto the highway, Mariah risked on backward glace. To her horror, she saw the attendant making a limping run for the pickup truck that sat parked in the stall marked 'employees'.
She pressed her foot into the gas pedal, pushing the car to its limit. But the car's limit was less than enough, and soon there were headlights looming behind her. In the darkness, Mariah couldn't see that it was the attendant's truck following her, but she knew. The driver repeatedly flashed his headlights on high beam and blasted his horn insistently.
'Oh my god!' Mariah thought, 'he's trying to drive me off the road!'
The truck advanced until it was scant inches away from the car's bumper, and it's horn blared out with deafening persistence. When the driver backed off slightly, it was only so that he could blind her with a staccato flashing of lights. Between this terrifying interference and her own state of panic, Mariah feared that it wouldn't be long before she misjudged one of the twists and turns of the dark highway.
As she was thinking that, she sped past a familiar sign. "U-Pick Produce, ½ Mile," it read, and Mariah remembered the farm where she had once filled a gallon with fresh blueberries. She knew that the drive was coming up on her right; it was a sharp turn that drivers were apt to miss, unless they were prepared...
Mariah saw the gravel lane and cranked hard on the steering wheel. She felt the car go up on two tires, where it wobbled briefly before coming down with a spine-compressing thud.
There was noise then, a violent noise that began with a squealing of rubber on pavement, as the pickup truck tried too late to follow the car. The noise was followed by the brittle snapping of tree trunks and the scream of twisting metal. Finally, there was the soft whoosh of flames. The truck had left the road and torn a destructive path down the shallow gully that divided the highway and the U-Pick Produce drive.
Mariah felt overwhelming relief wash through her. She slowed the car, turned it around, and shifted it to park. For a moment, she watched the flaming wreckage that imprisoned the maniacal service-station attendant. Then she closed her eyes, leaned forward until her damp forehead was touching the steering wheel, and waited for the tears to come.
But they didn't. In their place, there was a strange sensation of triumph.
'I was right,' Mariah thought, 'I know perfectly well how to take care of myself! There's never a reason to be afraid, as long as I keep my wits about me!'
When she finished congratulating herself, Mariah sat up once more and opened her eyes. Some small movement in the rearview mirror captured her attention, and she glanced up to see what it might be.
It took only a split second for her to realize that she had been wrong. Wrong about her cocky beliefs, and wrong about the poor dead service- station attendant. He hadn't been trying to kill her; it was suddenly clear that he'd been trying to warn her.
For there, in the deep shadows of the back seat, sat a large man with a leering eye and an evil smile. When he noticed her looking at him, he smiled more broadly and held something up.
The flickering orange flames of the burning truck wreckage reflected so beautifully in the polished razor-edged blade of his very large butcher knife.
*****
~End~
*****
And if you think you hear something scratching at the window or a footstep in the empty room overhead, just remember it's only your imagination ............................................................................ ............................. ............................................................................ ........................................................................... . ............................................................................ probably.
Good Luck and Good Night.
Pleasant Dreams.
