Part 6

uXqwAqL.png [https://i.imgur.com/uXqwAqL.png]

I sat there in the dark as she got out. Condensation dripped from the bottom of the car onto the road with a regular, harsh pinging sound. I made no effort to start the car as she vanished into the darkness again. But, as I sat there, I realized I had my cell phone in my pocket.

When I was sure as possible she was gone, I plucked it out and turned it on. It took so long to start up. It went through a whole animation and then it had to update the time. I couldn't do anything. I cursed quietly to myself for getting a slow and cheap (though usually dependable) one. I was afraid of the brightness of the screen in such darkness. I covered it with a hand and dialed the emergency number automatically. I smothered the sound of the expected dial tone with my ear. But that tone didn't come. There was nothing.

I tried again. Still nothing. Glancing at the screen, I saw there was just one bar on the far left. Not much signal. And the battery. It was down to two. No…down to one. Impossible…I was sure I'd charged it up just a few hours ago and it was turned off. It couldn't be drained. I got the battery warning message, but it still had some energy left in it. I dialed furiously. This time…yes…it was ringing. Slowly. Too slowly. Like it was a long ways away instead of right next to me. It clicked.

I wasn't sure what to say. I opened my mouth, but I waited for the expected dispatcher to speak first.

"No calls, please. We have just one stop left…" Her voice. Right in my ear. Clear as anything. And then my phone blinked out. My heart raced as I tried to turn it on again, but the battery was completely wasted. A moment later, Angie approached the door and opened it wide. I slumped in my seat and waited for her last orders. She set her blankets at her feet and instructed me to leave the housing tract. I lingered a bit, as the only disobedience I could imagine right then.

This trip was longer. She only told me where to turn and to keep going down a road. As we went, I realized what area we were heading towards. The old road…

It was finally beginning to make sense. And a wild idea crept into my head from all I'd seen. The only real possibility. I had accidentally struck and injured this woman as I was driving home. She had heard the music through the window and seen my license plate. Then she somehow followed me with a vicious and unstoppable grudge. The friends. Maybe those were the other stops. To kill each of them for a crazy, twisted revenge. That had to be it. But I hadn't heard a gun. She had to have one though. Or something similar. It made sense to me.

I looked towards her and softly said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what's happened to you. I'm so sorry. I wish I could do something. I'm sorry…"

She didn't turn. She just said one word, with a deep, cat-like growl, "Drive…"

So I did. I drove just as she told me till I was right there by the river. The fence looked as bad as always. I imagined there was another bend in it somewhere. Where I had struck it and glanced this woman. Maybe in the side. Maybe in a part of her body I couldn't see.

I tried to apologize again, but she ordered me to pull to the side of the road near where I had stopped before. I pulled the car over. I wanted to cry. My bladder quivered the same way as a time long ago in grade school when I let loose in my pants on the first day of class. I didn't want to look at Angie. I didn't want to see what she might be taking out of a hidden place. I didn't want to know what she might have planned for me.

I just wanted to get out of there, but I knew I couldn't run. I set my hands on the wheel and looked right ahead. I tried to listen to her, but I couldn't hear anything, not even her breathing. And I didn't want to look. When she finally spoke, it was like a cannon shot compared to the silence.

"I remember this spot. And I'm sure you do too. You didn't have to drive a long way from here back to your house. A nice house…" As I listened, she mentioned details of my house. Precise details. Even the color of the sheets on my bed and the color of my window drapes. When she was done with all that, I was absolutely sure I'd wet my pants. I wanted to shut my eyes and let it be over one way or another. Maybe she would have pity on me or realize it was just a random accident. I wanted to tell her that, but I felt as though if I said anything then she was sure to kill me.

She was silent. Then, she added, "And…you may go back to that nice house. But I'll make sure you never…ever forget what happened here."

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I tensed up again, wondering what she might do. Burn something on my face, cut off a finger, claw my eyes out? The waiting was excruciating. I wanted her to do something. If I had really hurt her and she wasn't crazy then…deep inside…I knew that I deserved something for that. It had to be done.

But there was silence. I did feel a little strange though. Maybe woozy. Light-headed to be sure. I felt like I'd been holding my breath. It was too quiet. I had to look. I turned to the passenger side. It was empty except for some blankets on the seat. As I turned my head, a mass of blackness lashed at my cheeks. Was this the attack? It wasn't really hurting me. It felt more…like there was a wig on me. Tugging at it just sent a sharp pain through my scalp.

Groaning, my voice came out a little like someone had their hand over my throat. I coughed. Too high. Not my voice. Resting a hand on my throat, the contours felt all wrong. I couldn't find the rough bits of facial hair I was used to as I slid my hand up to my cheek. I felt cold and hot at the same time, like being stuffy in a jacket during an icy blast of wind.

I looked down. Breasts showed through a gray hoodie. On my chest. In seeing them, it felt strange because I could suddenly sense them. And more. I screamed. As high and long as Angie had before. In fact, I screamed exactly like her. That was enough to make me press my hands to my mouth. Not my hands though. Angie's gaunt spider hands. They weren't cold now. More lukewarm. Looking back down, I felt I had to scream again. I looked like Angie.

I flailed out the door on Angie's narrow legs and stood by the side of the road. I vomited and staggered against the fence. It shuddered and shifted. In the light cast by the open car door, I shuffled away from where I had thrown up and stared at all I could see. Angie's breasts again. The shape nearly kindled some arousal in me, but horror smothered it.

I could see her dark shorts. Leaning against the side of the car, I slid a hand over the fabric between those legs. I sobbed and lolled against the car. All I could think to murmur in Angie's voice was, "Oh my God…oh my God…" before I slid down to the edge of the pavement. I leaned away and dry heaved against the ground, foul belches erupting but nothing more.

It took a while before I could find the strength to lift myself up. The right side of my forehead ached dully. Locks of hair kept finding their way to my face, tracing the foreign features like harsh cobwebs.

Those long stockings kept sliding down. I pulled them up to hide flashes of Angie's pale legs. Still clinging to the side of the car, I stopped for a breath and silence. In the silence, came the sound of running water. It sounded just the same as the running water I'd first heard when I woke up from my nap. The same sound. I didn't want to go anywhere near it. I should've tried to look for a flashlight in the trunk of my car, then peer over and scan for something. But I didn't want to find anything. I just wanted to get the fuck out of here and out of this nightmare.

I couldn't even entertain the possibility this was a dream. The sensations were too crisp. The clothes, this body, the sounds. These weren't the details of any dream I'd ever had.

The rushing water soon sounded strangely insistent, swelling and echoing over my ears. I shook my head. I didn't want to go. But I felt drawn towards the fence, towards the edge. I had to reach out with no car to cling to, on uneven ground in the dark. Once I reached the fence, I touched it lightly. It wasn't something I could be sure of. It could vanish or be an illusion and I'd fall headlong into the bubbling, tumbling dark waters below.

I looked down the length of the fence. I stared at a narrow, tangled opening in it. A small one. But big enough that I could slip through it, especially with Angie's body. I could see a single strip of fabric speared through one of the pointing tips of metal.

I ran back to the car as quickly as Angie's legs would carry me. I sealed the door and didn't look back over on that side. I mashed the key in the ignition and turned it. The engine grunted but didn't turn over. I tried it again and it grunted a bit more, more earnestly but it didn't get any further. I turned the key so hard I worried it would snap, but it finally started.

I could hear something thump against the rear window. I shifted the gear. A rubbing sound with light scratching made its way over to the back window on my side. Using Angie's fingers, I flung down the parking brake. The scratches were stretching out to my window. I thrust the gas pedal down all the way. The car screamed and wobbled along the bumpy, uneven edge.