The Black Camaro

Inspired by a black Camaro parked outside my school one day.

My name is Stephanie, and I knew the girl who disappeared.

We sat beside each other in our classes. She had long, blonde hair, like a gleaming golden river that rippled and rolled in a breeze. She had the brightest blue eyes, like sapphires from the sky. I remember, because I was so jealous that she could be so beautiful. Her name was Kitty, as she told me when I asked her how she looked so pretty.

Kitty said she didn't know, and neither did her parents. But it was easy to see that she was the most beautiful girl in the institution. The boys at the school across the street would always stare at Kitty as she passed when classes ended. Even the girls from our school couldn't stop glancing at her, most with envious glares.

Kitty was kind, despite everything I'd ever heard about beautiful people. She wasn't superficial, selfish, or unintelligent. Kitty was brilliant, generous, and kind. Whenever I caught myself thinking of how I'd look with those gorgeous blue eyes or sleek blond hair, Kitty would catch me and smile, and without fail, she would find something about me to compliment.

The day she disappeared, she had told me that I had the most beautiful smile she'd ever seen.

Maybe that's why she was taken.

Classes had gotten out that day as normal, and I was still light-headed from her compliment. Nobody was ever given compliments anymore, and Kitty was changing that. It made me feel special to know her, to hear her comments and observations. I admired her and wanted to spend more time with her. We were walking together out of the institution when it happened.

There was a deep ring, a chime that echoed to the depths of my mind and rebounded through my bones and skin and back out to the world. If I had to compare it to anything, I'd say it was a thunderous rabbit that had raced through my body and back out. It left me frozen in shock, dulled my mind, my senses. I blinked once and suddenly couldn't move, even when I tried. But I wasn't the only one the rabbit charged through.

Everyone else in the institution had been affected. I don't know how I knew, but I did. It was like we were all connected through this rabbit's tracks, and we were all frozen.

As we stood still and unmoving, I found my sight attracted to the blur of gleaming ebony that glided up the street in front of the institution to come to an abrupt halt a few yards down the sidewalk from me. It was a sleek black Camaro, dark windows sparkling and engine purring with pent-up energy. It seemed like a wildcat crouched and ready to pounce, to devour its prey. The only question was, who was its prey?

I tried as hard as I could to see past the tinted windows, but the interior was no lighter, if not darker than the outside. I could see nothing.

Then I heard the footsteps. From the corner of my sight, I saw a glow of blond as Kitty began to walk with soft yet purposeful strides towards the Camaro. Something felt wrong, so wrong, with the way she walked, the way she seemed to see nothing else, register nothing else but the wildcat that awaited its food.

As Kitty approached the Camaro, the back door swung open silently. And my only friend wordlessly stepped within the sleek predator, pulling the door shut behind her. The engine roared with satisfaction, and the black wildcat lunged forward, its appetite sated. I could watch it only so far as my field of vision, and then it was gone, like a black panther in the shadows of a jungle.

And then, just as suddenly as it had come, the rabbit was gone, the deep chime had disappeared, and I could move again. Glancing around, I saw everyone else continue on their way down the paths and out of the school, as if nothing had ever happened.

Nobody else seemed purturbed, confused. And I was standing alone, for it seemed as though I was the only one who had noticed that Kitty had just been taken away. It bothered me. She had been such a beautiful person, on the inside and out.

Even now, a day later, I still wonder where she could have gone, how she could have escaped the rabbit's crippling charge.

Today, I thought perhaps it was because she was so kind. And so, in the hopes of finding her, I complimented a little brunette in my class. She really did have gorgeous ivy eyes, as bright and sparkling as Kitty's had been. The little girl had smiled at me, as confused at my kindness as I had been at Kitty's. But I just smiled back and returned my attention to the teacher.

It felt nice, being polite and kind. Maybe that's why Kitty always complimented me. Maybe I'll keep doing that, not just to the little brunette, but to anybody I met. Maybe I could see more smiles like I did today.

****

My name is Thomas, and I knew both the girls who disappeared. One was blond with deep blue eyes, the other a fiery-haired girl with a brilliant smile.

They disappeared only two days apart, and I remember them because they were friends. Nobody makes friends anymore.

I was watching the window the day the girls disappeared. The girls' institution gets out earlier than the boys, and I had lost interest in my class. So I was staring out the window, watching the girls walk down the street.

Suddenly, they all froze, every single girl from that institution. Within moments, a beautifully black Camaro raced up to a halt before the girls. The first day, it was the blond who got into the car. Two days later, it was the one with the bright smile.

Both times, that black Camaro roared up the street and out of sight beyond the hill.

It's been a week since the smiling girl had gone, and that black car has come back almost every day. The first one they took away after the original two had curly brunette hair that glowed in the sunlight and even from across the street I could see her bright green eyes. After her, the Camaro began to take two, sometimes three girls at a time.

I don't know where they're going. I only know that every time that Camaro appears, it takes away more and more girls from the institution across the street. And I have this strange fear in the pit of my stomach for when the Camaro will find its way to this side of the street.

Because today, I told the kid sitting beside me in classes about the girls. And I asked him to watch the black Camaro with me. And I could see that he was just as confused as I was. We started talking, speculating, and I think I've made a friend.

Nobody has friends anymore.

Reviews

[Aaron]

The story got me thinking. I love the crafting of a lot of the sentences. There were a few grammatical things that I noticed but nothing that effected the story. I think for purturbed you meant perturbed. I enjoyed reading it.

Thanks for sharing.

[hardscoper6]

Really good story, leaves me thinking at the end. I really would like to know what happened with that Camaro and all the girls. You did a very good job of checking over it for mistakes, i didn't find any. The story also moves very smoothly, like everything is in it's perfect place. Amazing story, keep it up, i look forward to more from you!