Chapter 49
"Oklahoma!" said Monroe jubilantly as a silver truck passed us by.
"Are you still playing that?" asked Nick with a groan.
"Yeah, man. It's a road trip." He added a hash mark on the notepad in his lap. "The license plate game is classic. And so far, I have eighteen points," he added smugly as he did a quick tally.
I grinned in spite of myself. At least Monroe knew how to have fun. The sourpuss in my back seat was a bit of a killjoy.
Just then, a station wagon with Nevada plates merged from the on ramp.
"Nevada!" Monroe called out. "That's nineteen!"
Nick scoffed. "I'll be sure to get you a trophy." He shook his head in the reflection of my rearview mirror.
A big, blue sign with yellow flowers and the words 'Welcome to California' greeted us on the side of the road.
"What kind of flowers are those?" I asked aloud.
"That would be eschscholzia californica, or more commonly known as the California poppy, or golden poppy to those not native to the area," Monroe explained. "It's their state flower."
I beamed at Monroe. "I knew you would know." I was going to get him on Jeopardy. That was my new goal.
"How much further do we have?" Nick asked.
"Forty-one miles to go from here," I replied. After the incident at lunch, we were now two and a half hours behind schedule. Yay.
I changed the music to 'California Dreaming' as we edged on. Much like the song, I was tired of gray skies and brown leaves. But here the sky was blue with white, puffy clouds. And the sun… Oh, the sun. While it was low on the horizon, it was big and bright off in the distance. If we weren't already behind, I would've stopped and taken it in. The trees were budding, all colorful and alive, and the grass was a vibrant green, awakening from its winter slumber. I was falling in love with California already.
Once we were in Crescent City, I turned on Walker Road. More trees on either side of the road enveloped us as we continued on. The road twisted and turned while we drove deeper into the woods. Was my GPS taking us in the wrong direction? Surely this couldn't be the road we were supposed to be on. The dense trees crowded around us as my trusty Malibu edged further into the thicket. This patch of forest was lush like summer instead of spring. Centuries old giant redwoods towered over us and blanketed the sky, darkening our path. My headlights came on, allowing a beam of light to guide the way along the narrow road.
"It got dark back here pretty quick," Nick commented with a bit of unease in his voice.
"Not scared of the dark, are we, Detective?" I quipped.
"Of course not," Nick shot back. "I was just making an observation."
I chuckled. "Just making sure."
"Now these are woods," Monroe remarked, giving me a devilish grin that I hadn't seen in a while.
I smiled in spite of myself. I had to agree, and I wanted to go exploring. Never had I seen a forest this massive before, and I was practically awestruck. I rolled down the window, letting the crisp air in. There was something wonderful about the smell of the outdoors. Even in the confines of the car, I was flooded with an amazing sense of Zen, and I sighed outwardly. The joy brought a few tears to my eyes.
"I wish we could stop the car and take a look," I replied with a grin.
"What's with the green lights?" Nick asked.
I looked forward. I didn't see anything. "What are you talking about?"
"I just saw a flash of green light. You didn't see it?"
Monroe angled his head back toward Nick. "You're probably just seeing the green dashboard lights. It's reflecting all funny up here." He turned back to me. "The lights are bouncing off your eyes all weird."
I rubbed my eyes where the tears still hung. "Sorry."
My GPS alerted the next turn, but as we approached, there wasn't a road. I slowed the car at the turning point and then stopped.
"Now what?" asked Monroe.
"I-I don't know." I looked down at the GPS again. "It says turn here."
"Uhh… There's no here to turn."
It was completely dark, and the red glow of my taillights illuminated the trees in my rearview. At least no one was behind us.
"Let's get out and check it," suggested Nick, opening the door.
"What? Go on foot?" Monroe griped as he unbuckled his seat belt. "We can't leave Renée's car here, you know, with Renée in it, while we go find her grandma."
"We aren't walking," Nick replied. "Perhaps there's a way to get the car through." He pulled out a flashlight, waving it over the trees. "If someone lives in here, then there's gotta be a road... somewhere."
"Fine, let's search, but let's make sure we can keep an eye out on the car while we're searching."
Both Monroe and Nick got out as I rolled up the windows and remained in the car. Maybe Chloe was wrong, and we'd just gone on a wild goose chase. I shook my head. With Nick's flashlight they searched the path, eventually pulling away two large branches. It was a road. A hidden road. Well, sort of.
"You see that?" Nick pointed at the dirt path as he closed the door. "The car should be able to go through all right."
I nodded, rolling down the window again. The path was narrow as trees came dangerously close to my side mirrors. It was even darker on this path, if that were even possible. Branches hung low across the road, forming into deep, ominous shadows. The woods were alive with noises of its inhabitants. Faint howls echoed in the distance. I slowed the car again, looking toward Monroe.
"Hey, I don't know them, dude." He shook his head as he sighed.
I suppressed a chuckle. "I didn't say anything."
I changed my MP3 player to 'Thriller' as we continued through more twists and turns, humming along as I drove.
"'Cause this is thriller,
Thriller at night.
And no one's gonna save you,
From the beast about to strike…"
"Really?" Monroe asked disdainfully. "You couldn't find a better song than this?"
"Sorry, but it adds to the ambiance." If this were a movie, it would the background music, for sure. In the soundtrack of my life, this song fit for 'creepy woods in the darkness.'
Vincent Price's eerie words filled the car as a patch of light appeared up ahead.
"And though you fight to stay alive,
Your body starts to shiver.
For no mere mortal can resist,
The evil of the thriller…"
A/N: I could see Monroe playing the license plate game. LOL!
One more chapter for now, then five more later. (: