But something was wrong. The car’s engine was still screaming — as though a foot was stuck on the accelerator but now the cars had stopped… She could see that the driver’s seat was empty. There was no one in the car.
She turned in the direction the car had come from. They must have got out and rigged the car to speed up here and crash into her. But — had they done so — that meant they were still out there somewhere and, more than that, they wanted to hurt her.
Tina looked to the horizon, where the car and stopped, and saw nothing. The heavy rain didn’t help but she knew someone must be out there. They were out there watching her just as she was watching for them. The only advantage they had, over her, was that they’d have seen her leap from the car. They knew where she was likely to be. A panicked thought that — not only that — but they could be on the way over right now, angered that their plan had failed.
Without further hesitation Tina turned back from the way she had initially come and started to run.
I I
Tina collapsed with her back against one of the many trees. Still no traffic to help her, still no sign of other human life. It was dark now and the moths had come out, along with the small little flies which seemed to fly together in small clusters between trees as though serving some purpose only they know about. She hated all flying insects as much as she hated spiders. Trapped in her own living nightmare, being stalked by some nutter and dive-bombed by insects.
There was a need to scream out — asking for someone to come to help her — but she knew she couldn’t say a word. There was a strong possibility that — by running through the woods — the other person may well have lost track of her. If she called out, he would find her again. Stay silent and he might not. She wanted to break down and cry, curl up into a little ball and hope and pray that morning came but she also knew that would do her no good either. She just had to keep moving and hope that a car would reveal itself in the distance. If they did so, she could run down the embankment and wave them down. If no car came then — by keeping moving — sooner or later she would have got back to civilisation anyway and, more importantly, safety.
She pushed herself away from the tree and continued on shaking legs. She was only five foot 2 and of a petite build. Her day job involved sitting on her backside, her hobbies — Twitter, reading and any kind of shopping — were also not strenuous. She wasn’t built for this and couldn’t recall the last time she had done this much psychical exercise.
#joiningagym
To distract herself from what was happening — she tried her best to change her thoughts to that of the warm bath waiting for her. That promised bath and bottle of red. And the take-away. The hot food — maybe Chinese?
“Not much further to go,” she kept telling herself. “And then you’ll be in that bath, with that treasured glass of wine and you’ll be laughing about all of this.” Of course she knew it wasn’t going to be that simple. She knew that she’d need to contact the police and tell them what had happened. And then she would have to contact the insurance company; two more tasks that would eat into her evening.
#callinsicktomorrow
And so…
Tina felt a flutter of hope as lights appeared further down the road. A car was coming in her direction. Quickly, she scrambled down the embankment and back onto the main road. A quick check behind her to make sure whoever was following her wasn’t right there, ready to snatch her back into the woods. No one was there. She was alone. A sigh of relief.
She put her hands up in the air and waved the car to stop. Her heart sunk once more as it drove past at a sensible speed. Too many horror films depicted hitchhikers, or stranded people by a roadside as trouble, and she could understand why they didn’t stop. Had roles been reversed, she wouldn’t have stopped. But it didn’t make it any less frustrating.
To her surprise the car suddenly slowed to a stop. She turned and looked for a moment, wondering whether the driver was going to speed off — as the previous one had. A cruel joke aimed towards a desperate woman. The driver’s door opened and the driver — a man — stuck his head out.
“You need a lift?” he shouted out.
“Yes! Yes please!”
#myhero
Tina ran towards the car and jumped into the passenger side.
“Nasty night to be out for a walk,” the man said; a smart gentleman dressed in a business suit. Before Tina had a chance to explain what had happened, he continued, “Where do you need a lift to?” he asked.
“Anywhere away from here,” she said. “If you could just drop me off at the nearest hint of civilisation I’d be grateful,” she finished. From there she could phone the police. They could then come and meet her, she could show them the crime scene and then take it from there — maybe they’d even give her a lift back to her house.
“No worries,” he said. “I just need to wait for my brother, though.” The stranger continued, “Silly sod had an accident.” A slight pause. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen another stranded driver out here?” he asked.
Tina’s heart sunk and then skipped a beat as the rear door opened and someone climbed in.
“Ah — speak of the Devil…” the driver said.
Tina spun around in her chair. There — sitting behind her — was another man. He was soaked through to the skin and his eyes were seemingly black and soulless. He clocked Tina and smiled before he reached his hand forward between her seat and the side of the car and pressed the lock down.
Tina screamed.
The driver laughed, and addressed his brother in the back, “Wait a minute — is this the person you were telling me about?!”
T H E E N D