The Net: Nightmare On The Highway: Chapter 2

Jacob waited and waited for what seemed like forever. He sat in one position, trapped in his car by the seatbelt which had saved his life. The belt was now jammed between the door and his seat. All he did was breath. He had even ceased to think by then.

A long time passed by until he finally heard sirens coming his way. They stopped somewhere nearby and he just barely heard a woman's voice screaming something he couldn't understand. Seconds later he saw several people running towards the car. He watched them, helplessly, as they sized up the situation. One of them ran back to their vehicle, and soon returned carrying some sort of machinery. Jacob then watched in horror as the guy began to saw through part of the door to his car. They pried the rest of the door off with a crow bar.

"Are you alright?" someone asked when the door was finally off and they were able to get to him.

"I think so. But what about the man I hit? The guy in the road?"

"There's no one out there anywhere or we would have seen them. Come on, let's get you out of here to a hospital. You've had a pretty bad accident here."

Carefully, they lifted him out of the totaled car and onto a stretcher.

Meanwhile, Angela paced the kitchen floor of her apartment, nervously, as she held the phone to her ear. "Walter, look, it's almost eleven thirty and he was supposed to be here over three hours ago! I tried calling his dorm but no one answers the phone. He hasn't called or anything. I tried his cell phone too, but no one answers there either. What on earth could have happened to him!"

"I'm sure he's probably just out partying with friends or something."

"No. He would have called. And besides, he was looking forward to dinner here tonight."

"Well, then, I don't know what to say."

"God, Walter, I mean, anything could have happened to him. Anything at all."

"I don't know what to tell you."

"Walter, you said that already." Suddenly there was a beep through the phone. "Oh, I've got a call coming in. I'll call you back," Angela said, hanging up with her boss to take the other call. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Angela Bennett?"

"Yes, it is."

"Hi, this is the Fletcher Memorial Hospital calling to tell you that we have a Jacob Resh here. He needs you to come pick him up."

"What! What happened to him! Is he alright!"

"He's fine. He was in a car accident but he only ended up with a few scrapes."

"Oh, thank God! I'll be right there."

Angela hung up, grabbed her keys, cell phone, and jacket as she ran out the door to her car. Once on the road, she called Walter and told him the news. Finally arriving at the hospital awhile later, she didn't even bother to lock the car door, as she ran into the hospital. A nurse showed her the room where Jacob was waiting for her. She ran to him and threw her arms around him in a thankful he was alive embrace.

"Angel! Boy am I glad to see you!" he exclaimed.

"And I'm extremely glad to see you too! Extremely glad to see you alive and OK! You have no idea how worried I was about you when you never showed up!" Jacob smiled briefly. "Well come on, let's get you home, so we can finally have dinner, and you can tell me what happened along the way."

After paying the hospital, they got into Angela's car, and began the long drive back to her place. Along the way, Jacob told her what had happened.

"Oh my God. Jacob, I just…..I can't believe he just disappeared like that. That no one saw him after you did."

"Yeah, I must not have hit him at all like I thought I did. And then he must have just left as soon as possible."

"I don't believe he didn't stop and help or even call for help before he left."

"Yeah, I'm just glad that woman came by and was able to get help. Yeah she didn't have a cell phone or anything, but she did go get someone, supposedly, anyway. That's what the hospital people told me."

"I just don't get one thing. You said all the road signs were gone? Because I know I'm seeing them now."

"I know. I don't get it either. But they were gone. I swear as sure as I'm sitting here!"

"Well, I don't care whether they were there or not, I want you to stay at my apartment tonight. You can have the pullout couch."

"Alright."

Angela turned off the main road onto a dark and very twisty back road.

"Angel, remember this is the road I told you about with…" Rounding a corner, they came upon the road block. "...that barrier," Jacob finished.

The only difference this time, was a man standing in front of it waving his arms to get them to stop. Blood covered his face and body.

"Oh my god! That's the guy I almost hit!" Jacob exclaimed. "I must have hit him cause he didn't have all that blood before!"

Angela braked the car to a quick stop.

"Jacob, you didn't get a good look at him before did you?"

The man started to stumble towards the car.

"No."

"Look now."

"HOLY SHIT! That's Sean Trelawney!...but…but….I thought he was….he was dead!"