It wasn't the early morning drive on just a few hours of sleep that had her on edge.
Or the way the radio only seemed to find more static than songs.
It wasn't the lack of traffic on the road--as she was traveling through the country after all, nor the occasional unnecessary amount of pot holes she had to keep avoiding on her way home.
No, it was The Fog.
The all consuming white mist that seemed to let her see just two car lengths ahead, and barely a full car length behind her as she passed through it.
It wasn't like it was unexpected, it was often foggy on her trips home when she had been out and about the night before.
But this one felt different.
Hell, it even smelled different.
Not like damp fallen leaves and wet wood, something that usually said fall was in full swing to her.
No, this smelled a little like smoke, dry and dirty, with a hint of diesel and something heavy with iron. It was one scent away from rotting roadkill and she had to pull out a new air freshener and hang it up to keep herself from getting nauseous.
It all left her with an eerie chill that she wished she could explain.
Because if she didn't know any better, she would swear she was driving right into a horror movie--like any second a crazy group of mass murdering inbred hillbillies were gonna block the road in front of her, or a raging rambling assembly of stumbling zombies were going to start popping up in the corn fields on either side of her.
She just felt so out of place.
Or maybe out of time.
As she passed over the railroad tracks, happy no ghost train came rushing through at her, she had to do a double take when she got to the stop sign.
Betty Lou's, the roadside diner that was always busy morning and night, was not diagonal from her.
At least not to her right.
Instead, it sat to her left.
On the completely opposite side of the road it should have been on.
She shook her head and blinked her eyes--twice--at it, before a car behind her honked, scaring her, and forcing her to make her normal turn onto the route that would finish taking her home.
She was rubber necking and she knew it as she drove by the red and white building, staring at it like it was a gruesome car crash, but nothing was out of place.
Except for where it sat.
Maybe she had more to drink last night than she realized.
There was only one Betty Lou's on 286.
It wasn't like she had taken a wrong turn or anything.
She needed to shake it off, let it go before the churning in her stomach started turning into full blown panic.
But...
The church.
At the top of the hill.
It was on her right.
Right there!
On the right!
God dammit, she knows it's suppose to be on the left. It is always on her left!
Ok.
Just breath in and breath out.
In and out.
But oh God...
The car lot.
And the houses.
They are all switched.
All of them!
The one that looks like a shack?
Yeah, it's on the right.
But it's suppose to be on the left.
On the left!!
And this fog...it's everywhere.
She can see the bridge ahead coming into town but...
Holy shit!
What the fuck is that suppose to be?!
Is it...wait are those...?
Bodies.
Just...bodies hanging off of...posts? Lining the road like...a warning or something...
No.
This isn't her place.
This isn't her town.
She's not suppose to be here.
How the hell did she get here?!
How the fuck does she get out?!!
Or the way the radio only seemed to find more static than songs.
It wasn't the lack of traffic on the road--as she was traveling through the country after all, nor the occasional unnecessary amount of pot holes she had to keep avoiding on her way home.
No, it was The Fog.
The all consuming white mist that seemed to let her see just two car lengths ahead, and barely a full car length behind her as she passed through it.
It wasn't like it was unexpected, it was often foggy on her trips home when she had been out and about the night before.
But this one felt different.
Hell, it even smelled different.
Not like damp fallen leaves and wet wood, something that usually said fall was in full swing to her.
No, this smelled a little like smoke, dry and dirty, with a hint of diesel and something heavy with iron. It was one scent away from rotting roadkill and she had to pull out a new air freshener and hang it up to keep herself from getting nauseous.
It all left her with an eerie chill that she wished she could explain.
Because if she didn't know any better, she would swear she was driving right into a horror movie--like any second a crazy group of mass murdering inbred hillbillies were gonna block the road in front of her, or a raging rambling assembly of stumbling zombies were going to start popping up in the corn fields on either side of her.
She just felt so out of place.
Or maybe out of time.
As she passed over the railroad tracks, happy no ghost train came rushing through at her, she had to do a double take when she got to the stop sign.
Betty Lou's, the roadside diner that was always busy morning and night, was not diagonal from her.
At least not to her right.
Instead, it sat to her left.
On the completely opposite side of the road it should have been on.
She shook her head and blinked her eyes--twice--at it, before a car behind her honked, scaring her, and forcing her to make her normal turn onto the route that would finish taking her home.
She was rubber necking and she knew it as she drove by the red and white building, staring at it like it was a gruesome car crash, but nothing was out of place.
Except for where it sat.
Maybe she had more to drink last night than she realized.
There was only one Betty Lou's on 286.
It wasn't like she had taken a wrong turn or anything.
She needed to shake it off, let it go before the churning in her stomach started turning into full blown panic.
But...
The church.
At the top of the hill.
It was on her right.
Right there!
On the right!
God dammit, she knows it's suppose to be on the left. It is always on her left!
Ok.
Just breath in and breath out.
In and out.
But oh God...
The car lot.
And the houses.
They are all switched.
All of them!
The one that looks like a shack?
Yeah, it's on the right.
But it's suppose to be on the left.
On the left!!
And this fog...it's everywhere.
She can see the bridge ahead coming into town but...
Holy shit!
What the fuck is that suppose to be?!
Is it...wait are those...?
Bodies.
Just...bodies hanging off of...posts? Lining the road like...a warning or something...
No.
This isn't her place.
This isn't her town.
She's not suppose to be here.
How the hell did she get here?!
How the fuck does she get out?!!
Comments
Post a Comment