Goodbye, Grandma

The storm came earlier than what the radios said.

Wind clawed at the car as sheets of rain swallowed the narrow road leading to Aklan. The wipers flung water aside in rhythmic, useless slaps. The headlights cut through the mist like dull knives, barely illuminating the slanting trees. The slick, black ribbon of asphalt that led to other villages long gone behind. 

‘You said it was a right turn!’ Karina’s knuckles whitened against the steering wheel.

‘It used to be!’ Winona snapped, clutching the dashboard with trembling hands. ‘They might have changed the paths to mislead us.’

‘They? Oh, don’t start that again!’ Karina hissed, squinting through the fog. ‘You were waving at one of them just last night.’

Winona once more fell silent. The beaten up car shuddered as the tires hit another pothole. The GPS was useless, the torn map on Karina’s lap a soggy mess of ink.

‘The whole day you won’t tell me who you are waving to! I thought you said these things aren’t to be trusted?’ Karina finished the sentence before Winona managed to reach out and cover her mouth.

‘Shhhh!’ Winona warned.

Oh right. Don’t acknowledge them or some bullshit, Karina thought. But it was a realization that came a little bit too late.

Lightning flashed. Within a blink of the eye, twisted silhouettes lined the road, tall and crooked, like watchers. Lighting flashed. Then, nothing.

Karina bit her lip. She didn’t want to acknowledge the shapes she saw. ‘Grandma, we’re almost out of gas. We need to…’

‘Drive. Just drive.’ Winona’s eyes flicked to the window. Her hand tightened around the rosary she wore beneath her coat.

They crested another hill. The world below was a churning sea of fog. The road disappeared into it. Karina hesitated, her foot hovered over the brake.

‘Go,’ Winona said urgently.

And so Karina did. The car plunged into the mist.

The air instanlty changed, becoming colder and heavier. It pressed against the car, muffling every sound but the growl of the engine and Winona’s prayers. The forest around them dissolved into shifting gray shapes.

After pushing the car to the maximum…

‘There!’ Karina cried. ‘See it? A light! That’s Aklan!’

Far ahead, through the fog, a faint soft, golden glow appeared. Like a lantern in the dark.

‘Thank God,’ she breathed, but Winona didn’t look relieved. Her hand gripped the dashboard tighter.

‘Don’t thank anyone yet,’ Winona muttered.

They kept driving. The light grew brighter, but the mist thickened, swallowing the road in white swirls.

Karina leaned forward, squinting. ‘I can barely…’

Winona gasped. ‘Keep your eyes ahead. Don’t look at the sides!’

Karina grimaced. ‘What?’

‘Just drive!’

But curiosity betrayed her. Karina’s gaze flicked to the side mirror.

Something moved…?

At first, it looked like the mist itself was inching closer, wrapping around the car. Then she realized, the fog had shapes. Long, distorted limbs. Faces half-formed, crawling through the white. Figures that paced just beyond sight, keeping speed with the car.

‘Grandma…’

‘Don’t look at them!’ Winona’s voice cracked.

Karina tore her eyes forward again, her breath coming fast and laboured. The steering wheel trembled beneath her grip.

‘Grandma, they’re… ’

‘Keep driving!’

Something thudded against the trunk. Karina screamed. The car jolted, metal shrieked as something dragged its nails along the side.

‘They’ve found us,’ Winona whispered.

‘What do I do?!’

‘Don’t stop.’

But the car had other ideas. The tires groaned, the engine strained, and then, impossibly slowly, the Toyota came to a grinding halt.

‘No, no, no!’ Karina slammed her foot on the gas. The engine roared uselessly.

‘They’re holding it,’ Winona said, her voice hollow. ‘They’ve got us.’

From all sides, shapes pressed against the fogged windows. Too many hands, scraping the glass and metal. The car rocked violently.

‘Get away!’ Karina shouted, slamming her palms against the steering wheel.

A face smeared against the window. Something that looked almost human. Its mouth was too wide. Its eyes were pits of white. Then another. And another.

The car shook. Something heavy crashed onto the roof. The windshield began to crack.

‘AAAA!’ Karina screamed. Winona reached back, grabbing her arm.

‘Back seat!’

They scrambled, clutching each other in the rear of the car. The roof buckled. The side mirror snapped off with a squeal of metal.

‘Grandma, they’re going to break through!’

Then…

A sound cut through everything.

A howl.

‘Wha…’ Winona covered Karina’s mouth.

A deep, guttural, and mournful howl pierced through the mist, freezing the air.

Every shape outside turned toward the sound. As one, they vanished into the fog, leaving silence behind. Karina didn’t breathe for several seconds as she watched this unfold.

‘What was that?’ she whispered.

Winona’s face was pale. ‘He’s buying us time.’

‘He?’

‘Don’t let them look this way,’ Winona said sharply. ‘He’s already sacrificing himself.’

Karina’s heart hammered. ‘Who are you talking about?!’

Before she could demand an answer, Winona shoved her shoulder hard.

‘Move! Out! Now!’

‘Grandma…’

‘Go!’

The door burst open under Winona’s push. Cold rain lashed against Karina as she stumbled out. Winona followed, limping, clutching her side. Her bag of goodies from the market in tow.

‘This way,’ Winona said between gasps. ‘There’s a stream down the hill. If we can reach it…’

Lightning cracked above them, revealing twisted tree trunks all around. The fog was shifting, circling again.

They ran. Or tried to.

Karina half-carried her grandmother, their shoes slipping on the wet ground. Branches tore at their coats, mud sucking at their feet.

Behind them, something moved, sliding closer. Whispering.

‘Keep going!’ Karina cried.

Winona pointed ahead. ‘There! The stream!’

They stumbled down the embankment, into water up to their knees. The icy current bit at their legs, but the sound of rushing water drowned out the whispers. For a moment, Karina thought they were safe.

Then came the soft and familiar voices.

‘Karina?’

She froze.

‘Karina, darling, it’s your mother. Come here, sweetheart.’

The voice was tender, trembling. The same tone her mother had used when reading her bedtime stories.

‘Mom?’ Karina choked.

‘Don’t listen,’ Winona hissed.

‘Grandma, I heard her!’

‘It’s not her!’

The fog thickened again, and through it, a silhouette appeared. A woman in a pale dress, waving slowly, gently. And beside her was another taller figure was forming from the water.

‘Grandpa?’

The man smiled. Water streamed down his hollowed face. ‘You’re both safe now,’ he said softly.

Winona gripped Karina’s arm with surprising strength. Her nails dug into her granddaughter’s skin.

‘They’re not our family,’ she whispered. 

The voices grew louder. Overlapping and beckoning.

‘Come here, Karina,’ her mother’s voice said again. Sweet as sugar, free from pain.

Karina’s eyes filled with tears. ‘They sound so real…’

‘That’s how they take you,’ Winona whispered.

The fog swallowed the shapes whole, and then… The whispering stopped.

Author message: Do I kill Winona?