Chapter 2 - Unexpected

 

I felt a little odd not having Lilly with me for once. But it was definitely nice. Music turned up so loud I can’t hear myself think, just as I wanted. I was driving a little over the speed limit, but I was out on country roads. No one really ever noticed. I had the two front windows down with the wind blowing my hair all around my face. It felt great. I smiled “This really might be ok.” I said to myself. I pushed on the accelerator a little harder, smile still on my face, and continued to enjoy my drive.

 

 By the time I looked at the clock again it was almost 9pm. I’d gotten a little carried away with driving and enjoying the views that I forgot that I had to get home sometime tonight. I made a u-turn on the road I was on and started heading back. I thought I was going back the way I came, but I thought wrong.  Things started to look more and more unfamiliar. I stayed on the same road and just went straight. “Damn” I mumbled. I don’t even know what road I’m on now. The bad thing about country roads is that there isn’t always a road sign, or if there is, they are usually covered by trees and hard to see at night.  I made a left at the next road I saw, hoping it would get me somewhere. Still nothing. I started getting nervous, I had no idea where I was going, and it was getting later. The road I was on came to a dead end with a smaller road to the right. I don’t know why I did, but I turned down it.  A little ways down there was another road to the right again. It was the only other way to go, so I went down it too. Things actually started looking more familiar and my nerves calmed down.  The calm didn’t last long though. I quickly realized that it was familiar because I was just here about five minutes ago.

Soon as I started worrying a little more I heard a loud crack of thunder roll through the sky. “DAMNIT!” I growled.  How could I possibly have gotten so lost, so fast? And as if being lost wasn’t bad enough, a storm was about to hit.

I kept driving till I got to an intersection I hadn’t seen yet and stopped before the stop sign. I parked on the side of the road and tried to think. There had to be some way to find my way back home. “Before daylight anyways.” I laughed once humorlessly.

A few minutes passed and it started to rain. Then suddenly I remembered my cell phone. I turned to get my bag, but it wasn’t there. Lovely. I said while hitting my head on the steering wheel. I was so busy trying to get out of the house that I only grabbed my keys. My license had already in my back pocket of my pants.

I was running out of time to think, not like I was getting many bright ideas, it was already a quarter to 10. I gave up and decided to drive some more. I twisted the keys in the ignition and the engine stuttered. Tried again and again, but still it wouldn’t start. “What the hell.” I mumbled angrily while hitting my head on the steering wheel again. As if getting lost out in the middle of no where wasn’t bad enough, now my car wont start. What else could possibly go wrong? I thought, wishing instantly I hadn’t said that when another crack of thunder roll through the sky directly above me, louder than before. Then the rain started coming down so hard I almost couldn’t see out my window.

Before really thinking about what I was doing, I got out of the car. The rain was so hard it stung my face and I was soaked before I even walked to the front of the car. I got the hood up and just stared at it. A lot of good that did. I knew absolutely nothing about cars. All I knew was how to put gas in and sometimes remembered to change the oil. I checked the oil when I was about halfway up here so that shouldn’t be the problem.  I thought. And I put gas in it right after I left the house.  I’ve learned the hard way too many times.

I leaned against the car for a minute to think. When nothing came to mind I turned around and kicked the front driver side tire. “Stupid car.” I said. Good thing there’s no one out there with me. I thought. Knowing if someone could hear me they would think I was crazy. Well, ok maybe I was.

After thinking for a minute I realized that there was absolutely nothing I can do now.

This is just great. I thought. Soon as things start looking good, this has to happen. I’m stranded out in the middle of nowhere.  Car won’t start and I didn’t bring my damn phone. Yeah, just freaking great.

I turned to open the driver door. Last thing I needed was to get sick from this rain. As soon as reached out for the handle, I heard some branches snap quietly in the trees a little farther off the road.  I froze for a minute, then hurried up and got inside and locked the doors. Maybe I was a being a little paranoid, but I wasn’t pushing my luck. Luck was never really on my side to begin with. I should have known tonight wasn’t going to be as good as the day was. But I was happy for a while and I got kind of lost in it and it wasn’t the only thing I got lost in. “Ugh.” I sighed and pushed the seat back and leaned my head against the seat. It was just turning 11pm now. Wonder if Grams is freaking out yet. I sighed again and closed my eyes. Hoping, by some miracle, a car would drive by or I my brain would start working. I was too cold and starting to get tired, so the chances of thinking clearly were out.

I just started drifting off while thinking about a nice hot shower and a warm bed waiting for me at my new home when I suddenly felt like I wasn’t alone. I hadn’t heard anymore noises since that snapping sound, except for the rain that hadn’t let up yet. I tried to look around without moving too much, but the windows were too foggy and covered in rain, so I couldn’t see out of them. The moon being covered by thick clouds now wasn’t much help either. I laid as still as I could waiting for that alone feeling again, but nothing changed. I turned my head again and realized I left the hood of the car up. Great. Now the insides were soaked. That can’t be good. I though while deciding to close it or not. Stop being paranoid for once. I told myself and turned to get out.

Just as I was reaching for the handle I saw a slight movement out of the corner of my eye by the passenger door. I jumped in my seat and turned around too look at whatever it was. Nothing was there. Ok, Rayanne, you’re definitely losing it. I was just starting to turn forward when something knocked on my window. I jumped again and screamed a little this time.

“I’m sorry.” A man said through the window. “Didn’t mean to scare you.” Then he laughed once.

 I sighed and rolled the window down just a little bit, being a tad paranoid still. “Uh, it’s ok. I just didn’t hear a car pull up.” I said. I looked around a little, but there was no car.

He laughed again. “I was out for a walk. I don’t live to far from here actually.” He smiled and continued “I thought I heard some voices out here, so I thought I’d come check it out.”

Great, someone did hear me talking to myself. “Yeah, I uh, got lost. Then my car wouldn’t start.” I smiled a little, probably looking pathetic.

“Ah, well lucky for you I like walks at night.” He smiled again and looked around. “What are you doing so far out here and alone?” he asked.

“Well umm, I-I wa-as…” Why was I stuttering? I cleared my throat and tried again. ”I went for a drive and I thought I was I knew where I was going.”  I tried to focus my eyes on him, but it was too dark and the little crack I had opened up really wasn’t enough to see any real details except that he was really pale. Maybe that’s what had me freaking out a little.

 I looked down at my hands and continued talked since he didn’t say anything. “I’m new here, so I guess that wasn’t really smart.” I laughed with little humor. I really wasn’t smart now that I thought about it again.

“Well,” he paused for a second.                           

His voice changed a little from the last thing he said. I couldn’t tell really how it had changed, just that it did. Chills ran down my back and I shivered. I could feel him watching me.

“So, do you know what’s wrong with your car?” he asked finally, suddenly sounding a little nervous.

I sighed. “N-no. I don’t.” I answered matching his tone a little with the nervousness.

He cleared his throat, “Can I take a look? I might be able to help.” He smiled a little, but not like before.

“Umm, yeah… Sure.” I said. Guess it wouldn’t hurt.

I put my window back up and leaned back in my seat a little bit. I hadn’t seen any houses around here. I thought. But then I realized I hadn’t been any farther than this stop sign. I sighed and let it go, but the whole thing just bugged me for some reason.

He sounded busy up there, so I just sat in my seat and waited. I wasn’t sure if I should’ve gotten out or not, or if I even could have. I started thinking about why I was so nervous or scared. The feeling I had in the bottom of my stomach wasn’t really either. It was just the feeling I got when something was just, not right. I had gotten that feeling while driving into town. Maybe, again, it’s just me overreacting. Maybe it wasn’t him at all that gave me that “not right” feeling. I could have just been this town. Something telling me I really shouldn’t be here. I saw him move to the side a little and I suddenly remembered the dream I had at the hotel the night before I had gotten here. I had no idea what it meant. It was just… weird. I couldn’t figure out why this exact moment reminded me of that dream. The sudden knocking on my window made me jump again and lose all train of thought, just as fast as it had come on.

I rolled the window down an inch. “How bad?” I asked trying to sound normal.

“Do you by any chance have a flash light?” he asked instead of answering me.

“Um, let me check.” I opened the glove compartment and dug around till I found it.

“Here,” I said while rolling the window down a little bit to hand it to him. “Will this work?”

“Yep.”  He reached for it and his fingers bumped mine with a little shock feeling like electricity passing from him to me. I jumped pulling my hand back with a gasp and dropping the flash light outside the window.

“Wow” I tried to say, though it barely came out a mumble, while looking at my hand that was now all tingly.

“Eh, sorry about that.” He said with a smile and letting out another little nervous laugh.

“Yeah, sorry.” I said. C’mon Rayanne, cant say anything smarter than that? “I hope I didn’t break it. I can be pretty clumsy sometimes” I added. Sometimes, huh, that was an understatement. I tried to smile, but failed.

 “Don’t worry about it” he said while flipping the switch and It turned on. “Works just fine.”

He stopped for a second looking to his left on the ground. I watched his face still trying to see any expression, any features, anything at all really. All I could see was darkness on his very pale face. It was strange in an eerie kind of way. Almost like his face was blurred, though I knew it was just the foggy windows.  Next time he walks I’ll wipe the fog off so I can see a little better.

He walked back towards the front of the car and I pulled the sleeve of my sweat shirt down past my hand and wiped the window down. That’s better. I thought while trying to look for any lights in the distance that I could see from my window. But I couldn’t see any, nothing that would show that would show that a house was nearby.

“Hey, um. Could you come here and help me?” he asked from around the hood.

I froze for a second. Did I want to get out? I know nothing about this guy. He sounded young, but I could be wrong. Even if he was, would that make it any better? Young guys were just as capable of doing things older guys were. I took a deep breath and held it for another second. Arguing with myself was getting me nowhere. I exhaled slowly and got out of the car.

It was still raining, not quite as hard, but at least it didn’t sting this time. I closed the door and slowly walked over to him. From what I could see, being out of the car now, he was about a foot taller than me. He had dark hair, which was wet from the rain. I was slightly irritated that this was still all I could see.

“So, what do you need me to help with?”  I asked. Not much help I could be, I’d probably just end up making it worse.

“Well, I was wondering…”  He stopped to look down for a second. “Think you can hold the flashlight without dropping it again?” he said while picking it up and a smile flashed across his pale face.

Has a sense of humor now huh. “Oh, I don’t know about that one. Might be too difficult.” I answered jokingly while holding my hand out.

He laughed a little less nervous this time, seeming to go back to the tone he had started with. “Ok, well let me know if it gets too heavy for you.” He said still laughing only a little harder this time.

“Pfft, yeah sure.” I stuck my hand out a little farther for it getting a little impatient with his jokes.

I would have thought that I’d feel more comfortable now that he seemed to be. But that feeling just flopped in my stomach reminding me it’s still there. Like I really needed a reminder.

He held the flashlight out and pointed where he wanted me to shine it and started explaining what he wanted to look at, but even as hard as I tried to understand, it all sounded like a foreign language to me. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to learn about cars, it was just that they could never hold my interest. Well mechanically anyways. I just wanted to drive them. Crank my music up and drive fast. When I have a problem I take it to a mechanic. It was times like this that I really wish I wouldn’t suddenly just space out while it was being explained. It might be helpful for next time, because knowing me, there most definitely would be a next time.

“Ok?” he asked and pulled my back to whatever it was he was talking about.

“Uh, yeah.” I said not sounding believable at all.

He sighed then pointed to some big piece of metal and said, “Point it there.”

“Kay, I got it.” I snapped. Wow, I thought I was impatient.

He reached his arm out to hand me the flashlight and at the exact same moment, too coincidentally, a bolt of lightning flashed in the sky right as he put it in my hand. Least I didn’t drop it this time. I just froze staring at his face. It was a very pale white face and it was lit up, almost as bright as day, by the lightening.

Once again I was reminded of that dream from the hotel.

I was standing out in the rain, in what I think might have been a parking lot, but it wasn’t clear. I was looking for something. Couldn’t think of anything that I would be looking for in a place like that, but I looked anyways. I just stood there starting to panic cause I was alone and had no idea where I was or why I was there. Then suddenly I felt someone standing behind me. Thunder crashed in the sky above me, sounding like a strike in a bowling alley, as I turned around. Lightning flashed just bright enough for me to barely see his face. I just stared at him. Stared at his pale too perfect skin and strange, but beautiful, off colored brown eyes that stared straight into mine. They held me in a trance. I couldn’t really think and I knew, without even trying, that I couldn’t move. He raised his hand slowly up between us and opened his mouth to say something. That’s when my little monster decided it was time for mommy to wake up. But why…? What was he going to do or say?

The thunder was so loud at that moment and it shook the ground, snapping me back to reality. I shook my head slightly, like I was either trying to shake the thoughts back into place, or shake them completely out. I wasn’t sure.

“You ok?” he asked pulling me completely back.

“Uh, y-yeah. I’m fine.” I stuttered not taking my eyes off him.

Was I? Should I be? Suddenly I could see his face very clear. Because I realized I was looking at someone I’ve seen before.  It was someone I never thought I would see. Well, not outside of my dream anyways. Definitely not someone I would see helping me fix my car. It was the perfect pale skin that was triggering the dream for me to remember and now it was the strange, beautiful, off colored brown eyes that held me very still, almost in that exact same trance from my dream.

Right then I got that “not right” feeling in my stomach more intense than I have ever felt before. Like something was telling me he wasn’t safe. But how could this beautiful guy from my dream not be safe? I asked myself. My body suddenly wanting to turn away and run, but I couldn’t take my eyes away from his. I couldn’t even blink. Thunder crashed again, but even that didn’t make me budge. 

His eyes suddenly glowed, somehow making him look more beautiful than before.

From the corner of my eye I could see him setting the flash down on the edge of the car with one hand and the other one rising up to touch my face. His mouth opened slightly to say something, just like it had in my dream.

That feeling in my stomach got worse, much more intense than before, practically throwing my body a step back before he could even get his hand up halfway to my face. Forcing my eyes to tear away from his and finally letting me blink.  All the thoughts I should have been thinking and all the things I was feeling suddenly rushed back at all at once like a tidal wave. My head spun viciously and I collapsed right there on the pavement, next to my car, and right in front the mysterious guy from my dream.

Author's Note

I'm new at writing and I except any criticism. I just ask that you please be nice about it. There may be some grammar errors, but I haven't made things final yet.

Reviews

[Michael]

Wow, Captivating. Now I must keep reading.