Chapter 1 Road Trip
The cloudless night skies were filled with so many bright stars it resembled a curtain of black Velvet sprinkled with glitter, the light from the stars supplied the only illumination available along the desolate landscape of the black tar highway, she watched the white lines as they were swallowed up by the front end of her 2010 Jeep Liberty and her mind began to wander. The phenomenon she remembered was called "white line fever" and it had caused many truck-related accidents as a result of its mesmerizing effect. After eight hours on the road her focus began to drift off, the same feeling as daydreaming but at night, so instead of adding to the stats, she decided to find a rest stop.
The neon road signs announcing gas, food, and restrooms for the weary road warriors began to appear a few miles down the road and a few minutes later the main building of the restaurant materialized from the surrounding woods, as she turned into the lot the rest of the strip mall came into view.
She pulled into a spot away from the entrance of the building, not wanting to be disturbed by the people traffic, her right hand resting on the butt of the 9mm she had tucked into the waistband of her jeans "better safe than sorry" she thought. She stepped out of her vehicle for a nice stretch and then made her way to the back of the truck, she'd put the rear row of seats down and made a makeshift bed with some pillows and a blanket, within minutes her head was comfortably resting on the pillow and as the fogginess of sleep took over she found thoughts drifting back to the events of that and horrific day at the farm when their paradise came crumbling down around them.
February 24th, 1999
The day had started out as normal as could be, Mae and Sarah had made some fried chicken, fresh corn, coleslaw, and some Mac and cheese followed by some peach cobbler which was her brother's favorite and after they'd relaxed in the living room to just enjoy each other's company. Sarah couldn't believe her older brother was actually getting old now, "Thirty years old! is that some gray hair sprouting out on the sides I see?" She flattened out her right hand and placed it on her forehead as if looking out a log distance, in response she received a flying stuffed donkey to the temple, "You respect your elders', young lady!" And with that Caleb burst out in laughter "turning Heeeey! Watch that! Mr. Tumbles is a family member." They both stared at each other momentarily before bursting out in laughter. I think it's time for a challenge race, bikes not horses, how bout it? Mae looked at them both "I want in on this too!" Caleb smiled, "That's not a problem, let's go! Dad, can you be the starter? " His father smiled and got up from his recliner " ok, I'm way too old to be racing anyway. "
Caleb, Mae, and Sarah looked to one another as the cold wind picked up a bit, the snow had fallen and the fields looked pristine, as not a single flake was disturbed on the ground. The quiet though was soon disrupted as all three kick-started the dirt bikes they mounted, the engines came to life and filled the air with a sputtering reminiscent of the sound made by Leatherface's chainsaw being swung about in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" movies, each rider twisted the accelerators and held the brakes to Rev up the engines even more as they prepared to start the race.
Caleb yelled out to the girls "first one to the tree line and back wins!" Sarah smiled and responded back "Alright old man! try not to hurt anything on the way there, losers have to do the winners chores, I don't want Mae to be stuck with all the work!" Mae's laughter filled the air "don't count on that win just yet short stuff, I've ridden motorcycles almost as long as I have horses." Flashing a bright smile at Sarah and Caleb she gunned the engine for emphasis. They all watched the yellow flare gun Loy Colton held high above his head on the opposite side of the field and waited for the flare to erupt from within and light up in the blue skies like a makeshift firework, he'd searched in his barn for something to make a flag but had spotted the gun which had fallen behind a cabinet and decided it would be a better alternative, finally, when he saw them ready he gently squeezed the trigger and with a woosh, the flare was ejected and launched 1000 feet into the space above Loy's head.
The three bikes released their brakes at about the same time, all three bikes rocketing towards the tree line that was just about three new york city blocks away, and the distance was closing fast. Caleb had the lead for a bit but Sarah and Mae weren't very far behind, inches separating the leader from the rest, halfway there Mae pulled ahead with a twist of the wrist and a shift of her gears, the sudden burst surprising the other two who now found themselves a good foot or so behind. Caleb watched and chuckled to himself as she lifted off the seat, turned and smiled at him and Sarah then shook her butt at them in a gloating manner, but the smile quickly faded as he caught a glimpse of sudden motion in front of her in the spot he knew his father would be waiting for them. Mae was still smiling as she sat back down onto the leather seat of her bike and shifted gears yet again, this was also the precise moment the world of happiness she'd come to know ceased to exist once again as the nightmare world made it's ugly presence known.
The three strangers stood right at the edge of the field underneath the shadows created by the trees, each clad in black and donning cowboy-style overcoats and hats looking every bit like the outlaws in a western except for the fact that each of them was barefoot, and their long black shoulder-length hair made them look more like an 80's country-rock band. She felt the terror begin to crawl over her as she realized that Loy had no idea they stood a foot or so behind him, that in itself was not an easy task to accomplish, knowing that they were more than just three "cowboys" come to visit she waited for "the other shoe to drop" and the wait was not long at all.
Caleb and Sarah were both aware of the "visitors" by the time they'd caught up to Mae who had stopped her bike and was waving her arms frantically in an attempt to warn Loy who was still oblivious to the strangers presence, both wore the same look of restrained terror as they joined in Mae's attempt and began to gesture for their father to come to them "Dad! Run to us! Come here!" Sarah tried but neither her voice nor her brother's who had begun to yell as well would save him from the inevitable.
Loy Colton had lost his wife to a dreadful battle with cancer which had drained both of them and left him with a three year old little girl and a fifteen year old teenage boy to bring up on his own, in turn, had been the catalyst responsible for giving him the strength he needed to not only track down his son, but to also accept the existence of those vile creatures who had taken him and rescue Mae in the process as well from the hell she had endured for so long a time. He admittedly had little trust in Mae at first, knowing that she'd been a part of and done things with that group that would raise the hairs on the back of anyone's neck, but he also reminded himself that she had done so in order to survive and had risked her life to help Caleb.
The atrocities dished out by them had not been because of what they had become, but instead because of who they had been before the transformation in the first place "A dark heart will always be dark, just as a kind heart will always remain so." He had told Mae when she'd confessed her fears of reverting back and hurting the very family she'd come to love. After a few years the events as well as the nightmares they all had faded to the far recesses of their minds, not forgotten but set aside to allow new happy memories to form, in those years it seemed as if everything would be normal yet again.
Loy watched the trio in amusement as they waved frantically at him and called for him to join them, "now what the hell are they up too? Race isn't over yet we agreed to here and back." That was the precise moment his mind and body went into a paralyzing "deer in the headlights" fear as the sound of several twigs snapping reached his ears and he realized the origin of the sound was directly behind him. He never had the chance to turn completely as the impact took him by surprise, just before it his peripheral vision glimpsed a very wide and tall form towering above him and covered by thick black fur, just as his eyes looked forward and registered the huge paw with razor-sharp claws swinging towards him and giving him his final thought "bear?".
All three riders sat in silence for a few seconds that felt more like hours, all motions had stopped as did their bikes and the screaming, while their minds tried to comprehend what their eyes were taking in quickly realizing that the "other" world was saying "we're back!". Loy's head was detached from the rest of his body with just one swipe of the beast's claw, it literally flew through the air trailing a gory stream of blood like some human comet sailing across the skies, it's journey stopping prematurely only due to it being snatched up out of the air by one of the strangers.
Caleb's vocal cords seemed to have disappeared as he attempted to scream out yet couldn't utter a sound, it may have been the shouting he'd already done, but it was more than likely that it was the shock of looking down into the lifeless eyes of his father's severed head, as it settled upon a spot on the ground directly in front of his feet. The stranger to the right of his father's lifeless remains had a Cheshire grin upon his face which showcased very large sharp teeth that were evident even from the distance they shared, he was the last to "change" as the other two stood tall and menacing on their hind legs in their full werewolf forms, the middle one still had blood falling from the very claw that had sliced through his father.
"WEREWOLVES?" His mind tried to comprehend it all and even with everything that he and his family had been through it wasn't an easy thing to take in, "Of COURSE FUCKING WEREWOLVES!" He let out a manic laughter that startled the girls out of their uncontrollable crying/screaming fit, "NEXT WEEK THE MUMMY WILL PAY A FUCKING VISIT!" as her brother lost his hold on his sanity for a bit, Sarah Colton held on to the burning rage building up inside as she looked upon her deceased father's face, which still wore a look of surprised horror upon it. The sudden sound of a bike engine exploding into life knocked Caleb back to reality as he watched the bike and it's rider jet off in the very direction the beasts still stood, he was about to yell out in an attempt to call his sister back but in catching a glimpse of the "Hello Kitty" painted on the back of the rider's helmet he knew it wasn't Sarah "NOOOOOO! DONT DO IT MAE!" He knew it was too late though, once she set her mind on something it was difficult to convince her otherwise. He revved up his own engine and Sarah followed Suit as they tried to catch her before she reached the awaiting beasts, but as they watched they soon discovered that their attempt was for naught.
The sound of the semi making its way into the rest stop woke Sarah from reliving the events of that cold day, "I fucking wish I could forget all this shit!", Within a few minutes, she was back on the road and heading to her brother, who she hadn't seen since their argument about her plan for revenge on those responsible for both Mae and their father. "Mae." Sarah shook her head, at least their dad never knew what had killed him, but with Mae, she had chosen it to try and save them, buying them precious time, if not for her actions they would have all shared their father's fate. She couldn't help but drift back in her eyes mind to that day yet again.