by Scare Street
“Yeah, this should be good,” Blake muttered under his breath.
“There’s an all-night drug store downstairs,” Meg continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “We’ll buy a compact mirror and a bottle of water. That way, we can always move her on if we get stuck. Then we’ll go and get Tim’s laptop. It’ll be on there somewhere. I know it. I’ll look for it, Blake, you drive, and Jena will search for something saying how to stop it on her phone. It’s a good plan, right?”
“Why can’t you ever just take my side in things?” Blake asked. “Why can’t we just do what I want to do?”
“What difference would sending it to Jena make when we’re all together anyway?” Meg said.
Blake sat quietly for a second, thinking it all over.
“We’ll do this together,” Meg pleaded. “Everything will be fine.”
“I’ve got some cash on me,” Jena said, unable to stand the tense silence that followed.
Meg forced a cheerful smile. “We’ll go get the stuff. We’ll be three minutes, tops.”
Blake nodded solemnly and got out of the car.
“Where are you going?” Meg asked meekly.
“I have to take a piss.” He gestured loosely to the doors of the cinema. “It sounds like we’re going to be driving for a while.”
“Good idea, baby. We’ll see you back here in five minutes then?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Jena kept Meg’s hand in a crushing grip as they ran across the deserted parking lot and down the fire exit stairs. The bottom floor had a few more people, but nothing that could be considered a crowd. Bright lights flooded the area, leaving the air feeling stale and artificial. They kept close together as they entered the store, Meg searching for the items while Jena kept a watchful eye. Sprinting all the way back, the whole process barely took them two minutes. Then they were left to wait in the car, both of them longing to speak, but neither of them capable of finding the words. At last, Meg blurted out.
“We deserve this, don’t we?”
“What? No. We didn’t do anything wrong?”
“Didn’t we?” She used the rear-view mirror to catch Jena’s eyes. “She’s a ghost, right? That means she was alive once. A real human being. She must have died horribly to be trapped like this. She might still be in pain. And we used her for entertainment. We laughed at her misery. How could we do that?”
Jena licked her lips. “We didn’t know that she was real when we started.”
“We knew when we continued.”
Squirming in her seat, Jena mumbled, “It’s been ten minutes. Where is he?”
“There might have been a line at the bathroom,” Meg dismissed.
A thought occurred to them both within the same instant. They hurled themselves from the car and sprinted into the cinema. The last movie of the night still had a few minutes left before it finished, and the foyer was barren of all but a single bored worker. Together, the girls crossed the open space and barged into the male restroom. Water sloshed under their feet. Dark and cold and slick. A tap gushed water into the sink while a few stray droplets clung to the mirror above it. Blake lay in the center of the room, white froth pouring from between blue lips.
Meg’s scream shook the walls. The ghost lifted her head, gazing up from her fresh kill to eye the girls in turn.
It was Jena who could move first. She grasped Meg’s hand and pulled with all of her strength, forcing the distraught girl to move. The worker had just come out from behind the concession stand when they barreled out. Neither girl slowed or glanced behind. They kept running until they were back in the car. In a small act of mercy, Blake had forgotten to take the keys with him. They still hung in the ignition.
Jena drove as Meg wept. She didn’t know where they were going. Just away. As far away as they could possibly get.
“She killed him,” Meg gasped out between sobs.
“I know, I’m sorry.” She bit her tongue to keep the rest inside.
He was going to send her after me. He had no intention of waiting for us. He was going to leave us there, stranded, with the ghost closing in.
Anger boiled inside her. It kept back the terror and panic, helping her remain calm as she joined the highway out of town.
“She’s going to come after us,” Meg said.
“I know.”
“She’s faster than she was before.”
“I know.” It was all she could think to say.
Having voiced those words, Meg didn’t try to say much more. She just cried as the city steadily gave way to the urban sprawl.
“She’s going to kill us,” Meg said at last.
“No.”
“How can we stop her?”
“We’ll follow your plan. It was a good plan. I’ll just,” she hesitated as she changed lanes. “We’ll just lure her out of town first, then go back for his laptop.”
“She’s too fast now.”
“Then we’ll buy ourselves some time.”
Meg scoffed at that. “Oh, yeah? How?”
The streetlights flashed over them as she thought.
“We’ll get more players. The new ones seem to take her longer.”
“We can’t do that,” Meg said softly. In the constantly shifting light, Jena saw a new wave of horror cross her friend’s face. “Jena, we can’t do that.”
Turning her attention to the dark road before her, Jena simply repeated what Tim had said just a few weeks ago.
“It’s alright. It’s only a game.”
* * *
Just One Glimpse
By Julia Grace
Natalie woke up frustrated. She rolled over and grabbed her phone from the side table and hurriedly pressed the dismiss button to stop the alarm.
“Gonna have to change that ringtone,” she grumbled. She’d set it to play “Baby Got Back” because it was energetic and fast-paced. After waking up every morning for two months thinking about her rear end, it was becoming a bit tiring.
She set the phone back down and sat up. She’d change it later. She had errands to do that morning and work later in the day. She didn’t want to start her day in a bad mood.
She pulled herself out of bed unwillingly and walked to the bathroom. The door was open and the light was on. That struck Natalie as strange. She distinctly remembered turning the light off and closing the door. It was impossible for her to get to sleep if there was any light in her room. She couldn’t even have a digital clock because the light bothered her eyes and kept her awake.
She stopped and stared at the door for a moment before dismissing it. She probably just forgot. Everyone forgot things they did, even typical everyday habits. Maybe she was extra tired last night.
Moving slower than usual, she poked her head in, glancing around the small room before entering. Her eyes fell on the closed shower curtain. She pictured Psycho in her mind. Why had she chosen such a thick, colorful curtain that was impossible to see through?
She grinned. Who wanted a see-through shower curtain?
She sucked in her breath, laughing at herself, as she reached out and slapped the shower curtain open. The tub was empty.
“Of course.” She shook her head, turning to the mirror. She had a dentist appointment in an hour. She had to get ready in a half hour because traffic between her place and the office was horrible at that time of the day.
Natalie forced herself to think positive thoughts as she showered and dressed. But she felt a strange heavy weight on her, a pressure she wasn’t used to. It made her feel like she’d gained a hundred pounds overnight.
It wasn’t until she left the house that she noticed things looked different in her neighborhood. It was as though the sun had dimmed, despite the clear blue sky with just a few clouds here and there. She could see no threat of rain.
But it felt like a cloudy day. She stopped at her car, rustling through her purse for her keys before realizing they were already in her hand. She shook her head.
“I must be losing my mind today.”
“Good morning, Natalie!”
She looked up and over the roof of her car at her neighbor, Betsy. She smiled instantly. It was such an old-fashioned name for the young brunette. Betsy had three beautiful daughters that Natalie had had the chance to babysit a few times. They were delightful, just like their mother.
Her smile faltered when she saw the look on Betsy’s face. She looked sour, the sides of her lips pulled down, her brow furrowed, her eyes glaring.
“Good morning,” she called back. “Are you okay?”
Betsy nodded. When she spoke, her tone of voice didn’t match the look on her face. “Oh yes, we’re getting ready to go to the water park. Isn’t it a beautiful day?”
Natalie nodded. She couldn’t think of anything to say, so she grabbed the door handle of her car and pulled it open. “You have a good day now, Betsy. Take care of those girls.”
“I will! Enjoy your day!”
Natalie tried not to stare at Betsy as she pulled out of the driveway but couldn’t help herself. There was something about her that made Natalie feel uneasy. She was almost to the end of the drive when Betsy waved and called out to her.
Natalie rolled down her window as the woman said, “Hey! I’m going to kill you tomorrow!”
Natalie’s breath caught in her throat. She pulled the car back into the driveway, peering through narrow eyes at her neighbor as the passenger-side window rolled down. “What did you say?” she asked.
Betsy came over to the car and leaned down.
“I said I’m having a cookout tomorrow. Do you want to come?”
Relief swept through Natalie, but only for a moment. Betsy’s face looked a little blurry, as if Natalie had a slight fog on her eyes. She blinked several times and pressed her eyelids down to clear it, but the blurriness was still there, and once again, Betsy’s voice didn’t match the harsh look on her face.
As Natalie watched, one side of Betsy’s lips pulled down unnaturally low. She couldn’t help the shocked reaction on her face, her eyes widening, her jaw slack.
Betsy tilted her head to the side. “You don’t have to come, Natalie. I just thought I’d ask. You’re welcome if you have nothing to do and want to come over. I think the smell of the steaks will bring you in a heartbeat. You know Mike is really good at…”
“I have to go, Betsy,” Natalie said, trepidation sliding through her. She threw the car in reverse and backed quickly out of the driveway, leaving behind a very confused woman, staring at her as she pulled out in the street and raced away.
Natalie couldn’t get the sight of Betsy’s melting face out of her mind.
“What is going on with me?” She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She reached over to turn on the radio but got a slight shock when she touched the knob. Wrenching her hand back and pressing her tingling fingers on her upper thigh, she glared angrily at the radio. That was something she’d never experienced before.
She left the radio off.
The streets were nearly empty as she drove. Another shocker. It was always busy in Pine Bluff. It was an affluent community of doctors, lawyers, and people with wealth and power. The state senator lived just a few blocks from Natalie. Typically, there were $100,000 cars riding along next to her Ford Explorer, occupied by men in suits and ties, and women in feminine suits or dresses, their hair, nails, and fashion done only by the experts.
Natalie was one of those experts, a hair stylist to the stars. She enjoyed it for the specific reason that she could go to movies or watch television and know exactly what kind of person the actor or actress might be. Her friends often sent her messages or texts asking about a certain celebrity. Had she done their hair? And what kind of person were they really?
She was going to reach the dentist’s office twenty minutes early. Chances were slim they would take her early. She’d never known them to do that before. She decided to drive through a fast food restaurant and get some breakfast.
She stopped at a stop light and sat there waiting for it to change, thinking about her neighbor. She was sure she heard Betsy say she was going to kill her the next day. It wasn’t what she had said, Natalie was convinced of that. But it was definitely what she’d heard. The look on Betsy’s face didn’t make it any less believable.
Chills ran up her spine and the back of her neck.
Betsy had mentioned what a brilliant sunny day it was.
Natalie had to admit, the sky looked beautiful. It just didn’t look as bright as usual. At least, not to Natalie. It almost looked like it should be cold, or the sky should be covered by heavy, moisture-filled clouds.
A honk from the car behind her brought her out of her thoughts. She snapped back to reality, seeing the green light. She looked in the rearview mirror with the intention of waving a “sorry” through the back window.
She stared for a minute, frowning. She was tempted to turn around in her seat or roll her window down and stick her head out as far as she could. Was she really seeing what she thought she was?
She distinctly saw a distorted face where the man who was driving was supposed to be. He had a crooked nose, both sides of his lips curled down almost to his chin. There were deep lines in his forehead, making the skin about his eyes puff out like a canopy. Or an awning. Or a small baseball cap.
Natalie pressed the gas pedal as hard as she could. The car lurched forward. She crossed the intersection, gaining speed as she drove down the street. She just wanted to get away from the freak in the car behind her.
She scanned anyone she saw walking along the street. They all had similar looks on their faces. Some of them had bright yellow halos floating around their heads as they walked. When they turned to her, they had the same look like the others; a deep frown, wrinkles, anger written all over them. It just didn’t seem to be as bad.
Natalie felt a chill of fear. She had never seen or felt anything like this before in her life. Not once. Maybe in movies… but this was the real world. None of what she was seeing made any sense.
Nervousness embraced her when the light ahead turned yellow. The same car was following behind her. She didn’t want to stop. She pushed her foot down on the pedal and sped up, intending to barrel through the intersection before the light could turn red. She didn’t want to see that man’s face in her rearview mirror again. His face was monstrous, horrifying…
She didn’t make it before the light turned red, but she was so terrified, she didn’t notice. Halfway through the intersection, she looked to her right and saw the front end of a tractor-trailer heading for her passenger-side door.
Natalie screamed and pushed the pedal down harder. The semi clipped the back of her SUV, making it spin wildly in the middle of the street. She was jerked to the right, but her seat belt kept her in place. The windows on the passenger side shattered, sending shards of glass flying through the inside. She felt the stinging, burning sensation of glass slicing through her right arm and the side of her face.
When the car came to a stop, she was staring at the back of the semi, which had come to a stop several yards away. People had abandoned their cars and were running in her direction. She watched them, their distorted faces coming closer and closer.
She shrieked, reaching to take off her seat belt. All she wanted to do was get away from the monsters she saw surrounding her car.
“Miss?” A man reached to yank her door open. “Miss, are you all right?”
“Get away from me!” Natalie screamed, terrified, flailing at the man. She got her seat belt off and slid to the other side of the SUV, the glass shards cutting into her backside and hands. His face was long and drawn out, stretched. He looked like a painting that had melted.
Her heart beat so hard in her chest she thought it might jump out at any moment. Tears streaked down her face, the salt within them burning the cuts on her cheeks. She felt hands on her shoulders and twisted frantically to see who was behind her.
It was just another monster trying to drag her from the safety of her SUV.
; “No! No!” she cried out, slapping the man’s hands away. “Leave me alone!”
“You need to go to the hospital, miss!” the man said. “You’re hurt!”
“Get away from me!” she shrieked, wrestling with the strong hands that were pulling her through the broken window. Pieces of glass sticking up from the door pierced her back, and she screamed in pain.
The hands let her go and she lifted up off the door and slid back inside. She crawled to the other side but the door had been opened and the man she’d first seen was already in, reaching for her. His hands stretched out for her, his arms much too long. His fingers touched her legs as he tried to get her to come to him. She kicked out at him.
“Stop!” he yelled. “I’m trying to help you!”
“Get out! Get away from me!”
Terror split through her when he turned his face up to her. His eyes were black. The deep wrinkles she’d seen in the faces of the others were pronounced on his forehead, shading his eyes. She pushed herself back to the passenger side. Someone had gotten a tire iron. They were attempting to pry the door open.
She twisted back and forth, looking from one side to the other. She felt trapped. The SUV was surrounded. She saw no way to get away.
Natalie pitched herself into the back seat, but the entire SUV was surrounded. She sobbed in fear, gripping the seats with both hands and tipping forward and back. She could hear the voices of the crowd outside, asking what was wrong with her. She heard several people say she must be crazy. She’d driven right out in front of the tractor-trailer, they said, ignoring the traffic light.
She lowered her head and squeezed her eyes shut.
“Miss? Miss? I’m a paramedic. Can you open your eyes for me?”
Natalie shook her head violently. “No, no, no.” She repeated the word over and over.
“All right, I’m just going to take you out of the car now, okay? I’m going to gently pull you out and you just let me direct you, okay?”
Natalie listened to the kind words, the soft tone the man was using, and wanted to open her eyes. But she knew what she’d see when she did. Those horrific faces. When she saw that his face didn’t match his voice, it would terrify her. She might have a heart attack.