Where The Pavement Ends

Adrianna Bines admired the lush green lawns and magnificent houses through the window of her Escalade.  Her husband, Benny, stared straight ahead at the road in front of them.  They had spoken barely a word since leaving their home in Langston, Virginia.  Adrianna fought back tears as she thought of their ten year marriage.  Things had been so good at the beginning.  They lived and loved like no one else mattered.  That was before the baby came.  Lucy Mae was born three years after they exchange vows.  She was a beautiful, blue eyed angel on earth who soon became an angel in heaven.  She was born with a heart defect that no one had expected.  She was only two days old when she passed away, leaving her parents devastated.  Not long after, Adrianna discovered Benny had been unfaithful.  After a brief separation, Benny begged Adrianna to take him back, and eventually she did.  She never regained her trust for him, and after a while she realized she no longer loved him.  She knew he was still seeing other women, and she began to see other men.  Finally, Adrianna decided she’d had enough and asked Benny to drive her to her mother’s home in Leesburg. 

The car bounced as the pavement turned to gravel, shaking Adrianna from her thoughts.  “Where are we?” she asked looking over at Benny.

“Relax.  We’ll be at your mother’s in about an hour.”

“But there are no gravel roads on the way to Mom’s.  Are you sure you didn’t take a wrong turn somewhere?”

“No Adrianna, I did not take a wrong turn.  I have followed the GPS to the letter.”

“Fine.  You don’t have to bite my head off, you know!”

Benny shook his head, still staring at the road in front of him.  In the back of his mind, he knew she was right.  There were no gravel roads on the way to her mother’s home, but he did not dare to admit it.  The sky above was growing dark and gray clouds loomed, in the distance.  An eerie feeling passed over him as he took notice of the changing scenery.  The gorgeous lawns had become shades of yellow and brown, and there were no houses at all.  The trees were mangled and dead.  Their branches reaching out like the gnarled arms of a monster.  An hour passed and Adrianna cleared her throat.

“Benny,” she choked.  “We’re lost, aren’t we?”

“I… I don’t know,” he admitted looking at the GPS unit. 

“Maybe we should turn around,” she replied softly.

“Yeah, maybe we should.”  He jerked the SUV to the side of the road and quickly turned back towards the way they came.  The GPS beeped loudly before going black.  Adrianna tapped the screen roughly, but it did not turn back on.

“Junk!” she exclaimed bitterly.  She reached into her purse to retrieve her cellular phone and cursed at the No Service message gracing its screen.  Benny glanced over at her.  Seeing the fear and the tears in her eyes, he placed his hand on her knee.

“It’ll be okay.  We can’t be that lost.  I’ll stop at the first store we come to and ask for directions.”

Adrianna tried to smile, but her jittery nerves wouldn’t let her.  Another hour passed without any sign of a store or even a house.  The gravel road only seemed to get rougher, even though they should have returned to the pavement by now. 

“Damn!” exclaimed Benny looking at the dashboard gauges.  “We’re going to run out of gas.”

“Ohhhh,” Adrianna whined.  “How much farther can we make it?”

“It’s hard to say.  We could go several miles, or we could…” The SUV finished his sentence as it began to knock and the engine died.  It drifted to the side of the road and Benny whipped the gearshift into Park.  He climbed out, slamming the door behind him.  Adrianna stepped out and looked at him with worried eyes. 

“What do we do now?" she whispered.

“Walk, I guess.  Unless you’d rather stay with the vehicle until I get back.”

“I’m not staying out here alone!”

“Suite yourself.” 

A hard gust of wind blew, nearly knocking Adrianna down.  Benny reached out, grabbing her arm to steady her.  The cloud of dust rose up from the road, sending particles into their eyes.  A black cloud formed above them and seemed to drop towards the ground, morphing into the shape of a large hand.  Adrianna screamed as the hand clenched around Benny’s body. 

“Help!” he yelled trying madly to break free.  “Help me Adrianna.”  She grabbed onto his leg as the giant hand picked him up. 

“Let go!” she screamed.  “Let go you… whatever you are!”

It was useless.  She was no match for the demonic hand that was taking her husband away.  She fell backwards with a thump as his leg was jerked from her grasp.  She watched in horror as he disappeared into the sky.

“Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God,” she rambled jumping to her feet.  She scrambled into the driver’s seat of the Escalade and hit the power lock button.  She sobbed hysterically, gripping the steering wheel in her hands.  “What do I do?”

“You need some help, Miss?” came a voice from outside.  A man’s face suddenly appeared outside the window, and she screamed in terror.  “Calm down lady!  I'm not gonna hurt you.”

Adrianna gasped for breath as she rolled the window down a crack.

“What are you doing out here in the boonies all alone?” the stranger asked.

“My husband… he was grabbed by a creature of some kind.”

“A creature?  Where’d it take him?”

“Into the sky,” she sobbed pointing up.

“You mean it was a bird?” asked the stranger.

“No!  It was a cloud… a hand.  I don’t know what it was!”

“Calm down now.  Why don’t you come with me, and we’ll get some help?"  She shook her head.  “I promise I'm not gonna hurt you.  I’ll take you to the police station.  It’s only a mile down the road.”

Adrianna hesitantly climbed out of the SUV and walked towards the stranger’s pickup truck.  He opened the passenger door for her, but before she could climb in he grabbed her.  She tried to fight but he was too strong and twice her size. 

I’m gonna die. 

****

Adrianna awoke to a bright white light shining in her eyes. 

The light… I’m supposed to go towards the light.  She sat up quickly, not taking her eyes off of the light in front of her.  A dark figure emerged, reaching out for her.  It was the stranger, only he was different than before.  His face was the color of paste and his dark hair was slicked back.  He was a black suite with a long duster.  A tiny red bow tie adorned his collar. 

“Come darling,” he beckoned.  She was drawn to him but not by her own will.  She did not want to go to him, but she could not stop herself.  He pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.  Her lips tingled against his.  She shivered as a cool breeze wrapped itself around her.  The stranger took a step back, and she looked down in awe as he faded jeans and T-shirt transformed into a following, blood red gown. 

“What’s going on?” she said.  “Who are you?”

“My name is Stephen Amore', and you are to be my bride,” he replied.

“Your bride?  But I don’t even know you.”

“No matter, my dear.  Soon you will know everything there is to know about me and the entire world we live in.”

“But my husband…”

“That pathetic creature is no more!” exclaimed the stranger.  “He was not fit to walk among us.  I am all that you need.  You will have everything you ever wanted and more.  Just ask the others.”  He snapped his fingers and a dozen or more ladies emerged from the shadows.  They all wore long red gowns and sparkling crowns on the heads. 

“Who are they?” asked Adrianna.

“They are my wives, of course.  You are to be number thirteen, my final bride.  Once we are wed the family will be complete.

“No, I won’t!” exclaimed Adrianna.

“You don’t have a choice,” he said grabbing her.  His eyes turned into fiery embers, and he laughed revealing pearly white fangs like that of a wolf. 

“No!” she cried as he sank them into her flesh, draining every ounce of her life blood.  She fell limp in his arms as he turned her into one of his kind.  An immortal bride who was to be his queen; the leader of all the wives, and the only one who would bear his child.  Forever they will reign over the kingdom of darkness, and feast upon the souls of unlucky fools who find themselves where the pavement ends.

 

Reviews

[Judy]

I enjoyed your story, as all your writings, well done.

[deeps]

I think this si very well written. Quite the write here. I like it the ending was quite sad. Well written

[The_Dreamer]

Quite like a fairy tale with a tragic ending, but I like the story and I like the way you wrote it. You handled the suspense really well. A great story!