Chapter 1 (Full Story)

The way he bragged to Cindy over the phone about his new promotion, I thought he would have responded more receptively to my congratulations the next day. Confusion, his only response. Monday, after he had called me, over the moon about landing a Nashville client, I shared his emotions and told him that I would take him out to get drinks Friday. On the day of, I reminded him about our plans. His response, confusion once again. Apparently he had already made plans with friends he met at work and bailed before I explained why we had made plans at all. Seeing his name on the caller ID brought my vision to focus.
“Can you please help me, man?” The voice came through my cellphone’s speaker like it sat inside a Rice Krispies bowl. After I had flicked the light on and saw my watch face, I groaned and sat up on the mattress’s edge, rubbing my palm against my face.
“Chris, is that you? Man, it’s twelve AM.”
“I know, I know. Got a late start on my trip tonight. I’d have been there by now, but I misread the damn map and ended up down some back roads.” The voice slammed against my ear. “I must have ran over something. My back tires, they blew out. I can’t fucking believe this! Look, I’m sorry to bother you, but I need help.”
“Trip? Chris, what’re you talking about?”
“The trip to Nashville. I told you about this. Look, I checked, and I don’t have the tools to change a tire. Please.” Windyke Road. The last words spoken before the call dropped. No matter how many times I attempted, no callback went through. Rain slapped against my windshield as I sped down the interstate. According to my friend, I should come across the road somewhere off Exit 56. My vehicle sloshed along, solitary within the night, while I wondered why AAA took second fiddle when brought against me. Why the hell didn’t he have any tools in his damn car?
Exit 56. I eased my foot off the gas pedal. The short ramp came and went, and upon reaching the top, off to my left a gas station’s fluorescent lights glared. I turned on my hazards and rifled through the glove box, withdrawing a road map. The past hour I had spent driving appeared as a mere three inches on the slick paper. No matter how many times I scoured over the winding crisscrossed lines, no street named Windyke revealed itself to my reddened eyes. Folding the map back up and tossing it onto the passenger seat, I drove into the gas station parking lot.
A white truck, parked beside the building, signaled life within. My shoe stomped through puddles that reflected the neon signs advertising beer and pizza. An electric chime rang overhead as I pushed open the heavy barred door. A classic rock radio station played through the speakers, its DJ taking a moment to remind the listeners that he goes all night long.
“Do you know where Windyke Road is?” I slapped the map upon the counter. The shrill clerk behind it studied the road map intently, running a yellow-tipped finger along the area surrounding Exit 56. When he muttered something and picked the map up, intensifying his search, I stepped away, trying to call Chris again. The four little bars at the top left corner had vanished, and no matter the aisle I stood in or how my hand twisted the flip phone around, they refused to return.
“There.” The man popped the back of his fingers against the map. “Damn, boy. What’ s got you goin’ out that way this time o’ night?” I craned my head over to where he had signaled on the paper, a black line bending off to the right an entire half inch before coming to an abrupt stop. Brown squares and oblong green splotches surrounded the road. Black lines crisscrossed between Windyke and where I currently stood. It would take another twenty minutes to get to the street itself. How the hell did Chris end up all the way out there? I circled the area with a red pen, courtesy of the clerk, thanked him, and headed back out once more. After one more attempt to find service, I started up the car and continued my drive.
The twolane roads gradually lost the dividing yellow paint and narrowed two feet on either side. Forest fell away to farmland, and my progress slowed as the headlights became smothered beneath the downpour. Fields on either side stood thick with vegetation. The wide leaf plants covered the acres with several thousand knee high rows that were cut off at the property line, signaled via a tree wall running perpendicular to the road, filled the night. Whenever my car reached these trees, a tiny concrete bridge would carry me over a ditch that remained hidden behind their wall and, after, would place me at the start to another field only to repeat the process all over again before finally making my first turn. At each street that crossed my path, I brought my car to a halt and reviewed the map. Despite seeing no other drivers on the roads, my exposure within the great open space enclosed on my mind. Each time, I succumbed to the urge to peer out through the windows as I shifted the vehicle back to drive.
When the green sign ahead reflected in my headlights, and the white letters spelled out Windyke, I pulled the car fully parallel to the street. Looking through the driver side window down its stretch where, within, Chris sat waiting. I picked up the cell phone once more and looked at its screen. No change. With a sigh, I snapped it shut and turned down the street.
Pine trees to the left and the right completely enclosed my view before thinning away, around the bend, where two more fields opened on each side. Midway between the road and the treeline to my right, a house stood. Two stories, eight windows, and a sizable front porch looking down the hill toward me. When my car came parallel with the structure, a gravel driveway came into view, connecting with the road and winding up towards the home. I ducked my head to gain a better view, not realizing my car had come to a complete stop.
Rain splattered onto the home’s slanted tin roof, pouring over its side, further obscuring my vision. A glass lantern sat on a wooden railing near the house’s corner, dazzling its orange light through the water, revealing its surrounding space. Squinting, I scanned along the railing, stopping at the door a few feet beyond the wide front steps. Within its tall rectangular frame, behind the screen mesh, a figure stood. It took a solid minute, as I strained to understand the form, before a singular tiny red glow near the shape’s top puffed in and out, and self awareness smacked my chest.
Someone stood within the door frame, smoking, watching me watch them. They had seen my car come around the bend and slow to a full stop, only for the driver to spy upon their house, and not once in any of that had they turned on a light or coming outside. Embarrassment flushed to my face, and as a response to this arousal, I shoved my foot upon the gas.
A pothole, directly ahead of my right tire, had gone completely unnoticed, and the rubber wheel, with a slam, became halfway engulfed before resurfacing. My whole car jolted down and up, sending every item within, myself included, to ceiling, then back to seat, then rolled forward several more feet. Once my mind overcame the sudden invigoration, I immediately leaped from the car and rushed around to the passenger side wheel. Through a miracle, my tire had escaped the same fate as my friend’s. With thankful exaltation to God after finding nothing damaged, I stood back up, now facing toward the distant crops making up the property.
At that moment lightning illuminated the world around me. The far stretch revealed itself under the white flash. Between the shimmering fluttering crop rows, something else moved. Hunched, stooping low to the ground with its head. Far away, it shuffled towards me. The light dissipated immediately, followed by a thunderclap. My body and the world shook as the rumbling carried on overhead, rolling across the sky dissipating somewhere beyond the trees. The rain’s pitter-patter regained its totality over the road. A screen door sounded off, creaking open and clapping shut. Boots descended porch steps far behind me at a rapid pace.
A shiver went up my spine, breaking my stupor. With a bound, I moved around the car’s hood, slipping several times before landing at the driver side door. Slamming it behind me, I looked out the passenger window once more as my hand automatically went to the gear stick. Something stomped down the gravel path. My tires spun on the slick pavement before the entire vehicle jolted forth down the road. Glancing at the review mirror, two legs stepped behind my tail lights red glow moments before the night swallowed them. Twice more I looked back through the mirror and saw nothing. The world behind had gone black again.
“Jesus.” I repeated the word over again to myself with every exhale. My heart thumped within my ears. Fields fell away, overgrown with pine forest walls on either side, their branches looming high out of sight. The water within the roadside ditches reached over the brim and seeped across the asphalt. As the world around transitioned, so did my fear and excitement turned to frustration and anger. I flipped open the cellphone once more, glancing between the screen and the road. “Damn it Chris, where the fuck are you?” The words left my mouth as I looked up. My foot lifted off the gas and gently began its descent upon the brake.
The dead end shown to me back at the gas station, a mere hundred feet ahead, brought my car to a halt. Rain continued to come down upon the windshield as my headlights reflected against the distant trees. I blinked three times and looked over at the map, checking the street once more before putting the car back in park and unbuckling my seat belt.
Opening the glove compartment, I fished out the flashlight and stepped out to the night. Rain pattered my head and shoulders as I sloshed through the uneven road. To each side I went, zigzagging my way down the road, all the while calling for my friend. Every time I reached the opposite side, I halted and listened, straining my ears to catch any noises beyond the rain.
Reaching the end, I found that the asphalt dipped down and disappeared beneath a muddy circle with a diameter no more than twenty feet. All around it, thick tufts of grass grew before connecting with the treeline. I knelt, inspecting the circle that had filled to a point that it now resembled a basin, whose water obscured any ability to read potential tire or foot markings. Walking its edge, I shone my light through the pine trees. My eyes darted from one trunk to the next as I made my way around, as if I’d see Chris shivering between them. After completing the circle, with a huff, I stuck my free hand back into my coat pocket and withdrew the phone, flipping it open.
One bar blipped onto the screen. My heart skipped, and my other hand released the flashlight as all ten fingers rushed to type. The light clanked to the ground, splashing the shallow water onto my pant cuffs, its beam now washed away. I did my absolute best to shield the LCD screen against the weather as I navigated to the recent calls.
“Hello?” Choked with static, his voice came through.
“Chris? Chris, can you hear me?” I plugged my other ear as I shouted. “Chris, it’s Nathan.”
“Nathan?” His now voice deep and distant, contrasted to the wakeful, panicked tone he had called me with earlier. I heard a scuffled noise on his end.
“Yeah, man. Look, I drove down the whole street, and I can’t find your car anywhere. You sure you gave me the correct street name?” Splashing water echoed down the road. I turned around and squinted my eyes in the headlight’s illumination, obscuring any view beyond the car. “Chris? You there?”
“Nathan, do you know how late it is?”
“I know, but I couldn’t get here any faster, the weather’s got me held up. Any way you can double check the street name?” The splashes continued, slowly getting louder, although still distant. “Look, its raining hard out here and I pretty much have no service, so I probably won’t be able to call you back if we don’t get it right this time.” Keeping my eyes up, I squatted, scooped up the flashlight, and pointed it down the road. The splashing halted.
“What are you talking about? Where are you?”
“I’m on Windyke Road. That’s the road you said, right?”
“What? Nathan, I’m at home. Jesus. The hell are you doing?” Pulling the phone away, I double checked the caller ID only to find it correct.
“What do you mean you’re home? Did you get a tow truck?”
“Nathan, I’ve been home all night.” My arm holding the flashlight sunk down to my side. I stood stupidly, downpour thumping upon me, headlights reflecting off my wet body. “Nathan?” I shook my mind free and recounted to Chris the call I had received earlier about his business trip. “How? No, wait. How did you know about that? Like, really, how did you know?”
“Like I said, you called me.”
“Nathan, I didn’t find out about the Nashville client until I got home. It was in an email. We haven’t even decided who’s supposed to handle that client, let alone if they’re gonna driving out there next week-” The call dropped, and the single little bar that had struggled on so long disappeared. I stood, gazing at the now black screen. The trees, the mud circle, and the road hazed around me as my vision clouded. A feeling that I might wake from a dream at any moment crept up my back, that the massaging water upon my head and shoulders would envelop my body and fade me once again to my bed. But there I stood.
The rain splattered heavily on me as I flipped my phone closed and sloshed back over to my car. Once inside, I pulled down the visor mirror and viewed myself, finding my pupils at a normal size. My pulse shared their normalcy. Flipping the screen open once more, I navigated through the cell phone’s call history, where only one name came up. Once a few minutes ago, and once two hours before. On the window’s opposite side, movement caught my eye.
The splashes stomped past the driver side window, stopping at the circle. The rain had increased its assault upon my windshield, and the world beyond it melted together. I lifted my head. A large brown shape waddled down the road and began rounding the circle in the same direction I had taken only moments before. Every few steps it moved low to the ground, remaining there shifting back and forth, before standing back up to continue. Once at the beginning again, it stooped but this time did not rise. Long shaggy arms reached before it along the road as it crawled its way towards the car. My hand shifted the stick to reverse, and a click rang out as the car jolted itself backwards a tad and began to roll as I lifted my foot off the brake. The crawling halted.
I spun the wheel to one side and proceeded to turn the vehicle around. When I had gotten the car positioned perpendicular to the road so that it only needed me to cut the steering wheel to the left and pull away, I grabbed the flashlight once more and rolled down the passenger window. My whole body clenched. Rain sprayed through onto the seat, soaking it. The flashlight clicked on, its beam struggled against the downpour and dissipated only ten feet away. The white beam reflected pale on the droplets, creating the only visual contrast against the black road ahead. My eyes lost and regained focus as they strained against the mist. Again the splashing came, this time at a rapid pace, making its way towards the car. Cutting the wheel with all my might, I slammed my foot upon the gas, and, for an instant, my tires spun upon the wet road. As I glanced back through the passenger window once more, two long, hairy outstretched arms moving to the car and a long snouted face between them came through the darkness. The wheels gained traction, and the car lunged forth, peeling off to the left and down the road.
The water filling the two ditches had finally hit their limit. My newfound speed jolted into a shocking halt right as I had made it out and back to the fields once more. My heart pounding, I glanced in the mirror and out all windows, expecting to see fingers gripping at my vehicle. Through all views, nothing could be seen except the ho, and once my eyes caught sight of it, my head snapped to position. A yellow glow now lit every last window, and within their square panes a person silhouetted against its orange background. I turned to gaze out the window as I passed but did not slow. At the front door, backlit like the others, a man stood with hands on hips. Seeing this, I hid my face away from them and pressed harder upon the gas pedal.
As I came to the road’s end, my mind not sure which way to turn, my subconscious took me right. One lucky stroke followed another with each turn. Half an hour later, white lights appeared down the street, and I parked at the gas station’s lot and tried to breathe. The breathing became screaming, the screaming became cursing, and the cursing became questions until only one remained. I snatched up the phone and flipped its screen open. My fingers halted when an icon popped up. I had two new voicemails, both from twenty minutes ago, both from Chris I tapped the center button and opened the number.
“Nathan, man where the fuck are you?” He kept his voice at a whisper, shaky, on the verge of crying. I leaned forward, pressing the phone tight against my ear. “Its been hours now. You’ve got to get me out of here please. Something’s out here. Its looking through my window.” His voice cracked on the last word, and he took a shaky breath. “Please hurry. Don’t leave me here.” His breathing sped up. “Oh God, oh Jesus!” The glass smashing in made my heart jump as my friend’s bloodcurdling screams sent a shock through my body. Crunching shards joined with his cries. His voice became distant, and splashes and gurgling tones joined in. After a time, only rain and wet fabric shredding came through the speaker. The call ended.

Slowly I turned to look at the screen. One more message, left a few minutes ago. Only a few seconds long. I pressed the play button. Rain splashing against metal. I sat listening to the rhythm, hand pressing the phone against my wet ear. Boots clacking against wood, step after step, then a screen door creaked open and slammed shut. The call ended, and the parking lot went silent. The rain had stopped. silent. The rain had stopped.