by Jeff O'Brien
“Dork,” laughed Candy.
“That’s me,” said Kendall as he hopped out of the car, wondering just how much of a dork Candy really thought he was. Whatever the answer might have been, he wasn’t embarrassed. She seemed to genuinely like him. But how much? It didn’t really matter, since tomorrow they’d likely become strangers just as fast as they became friends, but he couldn’t deny that he was awestruck by her gothic beauty. He’d always been a sucker for black hair and pale skin. The other aspects of Candy’s appearance, particularly the parts that curved and protruded, from her cheekbones to her behind, were just added bonuses.
Kendall fished the keys out from the pocket of his jeans and keyed the trunk open, finding his treasured suitcase with all his clothes. Just as he reached in to heave the suitcase out, a blinding white light illuminated his line of vision. He turned and found a tow truck with its headlights shining behind Candy’s car.
Kendall saw two silhouetted forms approaching from behind the blinding beams of the tow truck.
“I’m hoping this is your car,” said one of them. The forms drew closer and two classic blue collar types became clear. Flannel shirts, foam and mesh ball caps, unkempt facial hair, cigarettes hanging from lips, the whole deal. One was a massive hulk, probably upwards of three hundred pounds. The other was much smaller, almost Kendall’s average size and shape. “I’d hate to have to make a citizen’s arrest.”
“Not to worry,” said Kendall. “This is my car. Broke down here a couple hours ago. Just had my friend drive me back so I could get my suitcase out of the trunk.”
“Tourist?” said the bigger man.
“Not exactly,” said Kendall, growing uneasy and feeling a little unwelcome. “Just passing through. More like a drifter than a tourist.”
“You staying at the motel down the road?”
“I am.”
The two locals said nothing, just looked to each other, smirking, deliberately creating an awkward silence.
“You guys are taking my car to that garage just a little bit down the road from the motel, right?”
“That’s right,” said the smaller of the two.
Kendall expected the man to say more, but was again given painful silence and judgmental smirks.
“Okay, well…” Kendall began to stutter from the awkwardness of the exchange, “I’ll throw my key on the dash, hop back in my friend’s car there, and we’ll get out of your way.”
“Cars get hitched from the front,” said the smaller man.
“Right, of course,” groaned Kendall. So why the fuck did you pull up behind us?
“Pretty girl, your friend is,” said the fat one, looking into Candy’s car. “Just a friend?”
“That’s right.”
“Must be a queer.” The fat man turned to his little partner. “He look like a queer to you, Cal?”
“I don’t know, Ben, you’re the expert.”
The truckers broke out into laughter that to Kendall seemed a bit extreme for the rather unfunny joke, but Kendall only wanted to get away from them, and forced a little laughter of his own. “Okay, well, thanks,” he said. “I’ll be by in the morning. Do I owe you anything?”
“Cost of towing will be included when you pick your car up,” said the fat one. “I’ll probably get started on it first thing in the morning.”
“Thanks again.” Kendall tossed his key through the slightly open driver’s side window and hurried to the passenger seat of Candy’s car with his suitcase.
“Lovely pair,” said Candy.
“Did you hear those two?”
“Every word. I think the fat one liked you.”
“He sure seemed to think I’m queer.”
“Probably wishful thinking,” laughed Candy. “These conservative, blue collar hick types are a little more liberal about that stuff than they let on. Hiding something, if you ask me.”
“I’d rather not find out,” said Kendall. “Let’s get back to the motel, like, now.”
Candy checked her rearview to see if it was safe to pull back onto the road, but the tow truck was doing just that, passing them to get in front of Kendall’s car.
“Might as well let them get you towed out of here before I pull out,” said Candy. “This road is so damn dark and narrow I’d rather not pull around them and get hit head-on by a pickup truck with a dozen rotting deer carcasses strapped to the bed.”
“You have a way with words, Candy.”
They each lit up cigarettes as they watched Kendall’s car get hitched to the tow truck.
“So…” began Kendall, nervous to finish the rest of his thought. “Would it be weird if I said I’d like to keep in touch with you after tonight. Like, I know we just met like two hours ago and stuff…”
Candy laughed again, leaving Kendall unsure as to how she was feeling about him, whether or not her calling him a dork was actual judgment or a form of endearment. She had referred to him as adorable on their way over here, but that term in itself was up for speculation.
“I think that would be lovely,” she finally said. “I think I kind of like you.”
What was it with this girl? Did everything she said have to be so damn open to interpretation?
Finally, the tow truck pulled away with Kendall’s car trailing behind. Candy slowly pulled onto the road and began a slow drive back to the motel.
Kendall was dying to say something, anything, to avoid an awkward silence between he and Candy, but as luck would have it, there would be no time for that silence.
Thirty seconds into their drive Candy slammed the brakes as a blurred figure darted out on the road in front of them.
“Shit!” cried Kendall as his head lunged forward and slammed back into the headrest.
“Did you see that!” bellowed Candy, pulling over to the side of the road.
“Sure did,” said Kendall, composing himself.
“That was her! The girl from before, at the motel!”
“Sure was. And it doesn’t look like the cops did much to protect her from whatever the hell she was running from. I think she had just a bra on.”
“Let’s go,” said Candy, opening her door.
“You want to follow her?” gasped Kendall. “I thought you were hiding.”
“No time for questions,” said Candy, looking in from outside the car. “You coming?”
“A scary jaunt through the dark woods at night with a hot goth girl?” laughed Kendall. “This is a high school dream come true.”
Candy giggled and slammed her door shut. Kendall hurried out behind her, grabbing his phone from his pocket to use its flashlight.
“What’s the plan if we find her?” asked Kendall.
“I’m not entirely sure,” said Candy. “But if the goddamn police can’t keep her safe, I’m going to.”
“I admire your protective instinct, but are you sure that’s a good idea? We have no idea who she is or what she’s up to, or what she’s running from.”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” said Candy.
By the guiding lights of their cell phones they entered into the dark path and hiked on in the impossibly black and quiet forest. The silence between them was not awkward, however. They were determined to find the girl. Kendall’s motivation might not have been equal or even similar to Candy’s. He was never the heroic type, but he admitted it was worthwhile to at least see if they could be of help to the girl. And he was curious. He’d always been one to mind his own business, but he saw no reason not to pursue the matter. Plus, this would no doubt earn him the good graces of Candy.
They heard intermittent shuffling of feet and occasional gasps up ahead, so the girl couldn’t be too much farther from them.
Kendall’s smoker’s lungs grew heavy in his chest as the rough path brought them uphill. Candy seemed to have no trouble at all. It appeared she smoked just as much as he did, but surely her dancing profession had conditioned her for such an excursion.
“Getting winded on me there, Kendall?” Candy ask
ed with a laugh.
“Nope!” gasped Kendall. “Not at all.”
“Sure…”
“Hey,” Kendall paused to laugh, “we don’t all dance for a living.”
As they reached the crest of the hill, they looked down and saw the girl bounding downward on the other side. Candy hurried her stride, much to Kendall’s chagrin, but the downward slope made it easier for him to keep pace with her.
The trip to the bottom of the hill brought them to a dark embankment and a small pond.
“I think we lost her,” said Kendall.
“I’m afraid you’re right,” Candy agreed. “But we’ve come this far. Care for a romantic stroll around the moonlit water?”
“I kind of wish I had a firearm or ten on me, but sure. Can’t say I’d hate that.”
Kendall was happy that he was at least now on level ground, and Candy had slowed her pace to a casual walk. Even better was that she reached her free hand into his and gripped it firmly but gently.
“So this is the romantic part,” said Kendall.
“Don’t get too excited, you dog,” said Candy. “Just because I take my clothes off for a living doesn’t mean I’m easy.”
“Noted,” said Kendall. “And don’t flatter yourself. Just because I’m a dork with a weakness for goth girls doesn’t mean I’m helpless to your charms. For all you know I could have a girlfriend or be a happily married man.”
“Then maybe I shouldn’t hold your hand.”
“Okay, you called my bluff,” spat Kendall before Candy could pull her hand away. “I’m single.”
“I could tell.”
“How so?”
“Because you’re…innocent. And so damn nice, so far.”
“So that means I’m single?”
“Okay, maybe that’s a bit of a blanket statement,” said Candy. “And maybe it’s just my previous shitty taste in guys. I always end up with the jealous, abusive, psycho pricks, as I’ve told you.”
“Yeah, you should try dating nice guys. Of course I mean no judgment with that statement. Besides, I’m a scoundrel.”
“You’re a dork is what you are.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve made that abundantly clear. You must be right.”
A shuffling sounded off in the trees beyond the pond, and Candy abruptly released her hand from Kendall’s. “That could be her. Let’s go.”
The shuffling continued as they scurried toward it, drawing nearer as they pursued. Candy stepped right into the brush and dense forestry off the path. “Turn your flashlight off,” she said, turning her own off. Kendall followed along obediently, reaching out for her hand to guide him through the darkness. Maybe those icy blues of hers had night vision, because he certainly couldn’t see shit.
After a minute or so of navigating the thick brush, they came to a clearing and halted dead in their tracks, silently gasping.
In the middle of the circular clearing they saw the girl, right there, now naked and on her knees facing away from them. In a semi-circle around her stood five other women, completely naked. They danced hypnotically, humming and droning some kind of chant with laughter woven in. Though the finer details of their bodies were obscured by the darkness, it appeared their skin was smeared with a dark liquid.
“Are you seeing this?” whispered Candy. “Or am I imagining this?”
“I’m seeing this too,” Kendall whispered back. “I’m just not sure we aren’t both hallucinating.”
The kneeling girl had her hand held out, gripping the invisible air. Her head gently bobbed back and forth while the women around her continued chanting and laughing.
“Is she really doing what I think she’s doing?” asked Candy. “And in front of an audience?”
“It appears that way,” Kendall agreed. “Blowing the invisible man. I know these backwoods types tend to be a little eccentric, but this is certainly not what I had expected. Did we just happen upon some kind of witch sex cult?”
Kendall felt that under any other circumstances this would be something to laugh at. But here, now, there was no form of amusement. Both Kendall and Candy were unsure of why, but this bizarre scene was leaving them with chilly, foreboding unease beyond the obvious shock of stumbling upon such a thing.
The girl continued with her passive, simulated fellatio while the other women watched on.
“Should we leave her alone?” asked Kendall. “It feels kind of wrong to be watching this.”
“I’m not sure,” said Candy. Before she could add to that, a brilliant red light appeared overhead. A warmth radiated from it, but did nothing to quell the chills in their guts.
Simultaneous to the appearance of the crimson light overhead, the invisible being before the girl took shape in an equally luminescent but humanoid form. The form continued taking shape, revealing its finer details. Maybe Candy didn’t notice it, but the form had taken a hauntingly familiar shape to Kendall, right down to his own tattoos. Kendall saw himself. He looked over to see if any recognition showed on Candy’s face, but she seemed to be entirely fixated on the other members of the party.
It appeared the act was over when the girl rose to her feet and looked up at her her male companion. Her audience circled around her. Under the red light above, it became clear that their naked bodies were smeared with blood.
For a brief moment the girl looked back at Kendall and Candy. A devilish smile spread across her face, illuminated by the crimson light above.
Candy gripped Kendall’s hand in a white-knuckled clamp, sweat pooling in their joined palms.
The girl looked back at her strange companion who was every bit a mirror image of Kendall and followed him for a few steps until the light vanished. She, as well as the others, disappeared into the total darkness of the forest.
“Did you see everything I just saw?” asked Kendall.
“I think.”
“Did anything about that guy she was blowing look familiar to you?”
“Just looked like a blur to me. But… did anything about one of those women look familiar to you?”
“What do you mean? The girl we followed?”
“No… never mind.”
“You know, Candy,” began Kendall as he tried to forget he’d just seen himself, “I don’t think that girl was running from something.”
“Yup,” Candy agreed. “She was running right to it.”
9
The ride back to the motel was a quiet one, but not entirely uncomfortable. Neither Candy nor Kendall could forget or even put out of their mind what they’d just seen, but both shared a silent agreement to simply enjoy the much needed comfort of each other’s company. Whether it was out of a want for affection or a need for security, Candy drove the whole way with one hand in Kendall’s.
A funny realization struck Candy as she pulled into a parking spot by the front office. “I’m not sure how I didn’t notice this earlier, but there are absolutely no other cars here.”
“There was a little too much commotion going on when I showed up for me to even notice.”
“Doesn’t exactly make me feel any more comfortable about being here.”
“I second that, but I sure hope you’re not going to abandon poor, carless old me in search for a better motel.”
“Hah,” sighed Candy. “Not a chance. Even if I hadn’t driven a million miles in the last twenty-four hours, there’s no way I’m letting you out of my sight after what we just witnessed.”
The thought of being asked to spend the night in Candy’s room crossed Kendall’s mind, but it was not a beacon of hope he was about to let glow too bright. He decided to at least test the waters a little bit. “Well, Candy, you’re gonna have to let me out of your sight at least for a little while. I’m going on about twenty-four hours since my last shower.”
Candy keyed off the ignition and said, “So go shower. But try and be quick about it. Then come see me. If you’re lucky I might even have a plastic nip of Jim Beam waiting for you.”
“Swell,” said Ken
dall, and got out of the car. “Not that I want to see our friend Curtis again, but I have a feeling I might as well go ahead and pay for another night here.”
Candy halted her reply, wanting to tell him that maybe they could be frugal and go half on just one room. “Why don’t we just wait until tomorrow,” she said, getting out of the car. “I mean, I definitely don’t want to see him again, and maybe tomorrow morning he won’t be working. His nametag said he was the night manager, you know.” Candy looked into the office window and saw no one sitting behind the desk. “Looks like no one’s there to help us anyways.”
“Sounds good then, I suppose. Now let me go have that shower before I repel you with my rank b.o.”
“Don’t keep me waiting too long now, Pig-pen,” Candy replied, hurrying behind Kendall as he started toward the stairs.
As much as she hated to admit it, Candy needed Kendall with her more than she felt she rightly should. While he was showering back in his room, Candy performed a little quick hygiene of her own, and changed into a black lacy night gown. She wanted to be comfortable without making Kendall think she was planning on seducing him, but what little sleepwear she’d packed didn’t really lend itself to modesty. She didn’t overthink the issue, however. He knew she was a stripper, therefore he likely assumed she had little interest in modesty. In her experience, that was the universal male way of thinking.
Once she was washed up and comfy, she lay across her bed and tried to ease her still racing mind. After a few minutes of fighting the urge, she took her cell phone out and turned it on for the first time since she’d arrived at Hollows Point.
It came as a relief that Rhino had made no attempts to contact her. No calls. No texts. Just a voicemail from Greta, asking if she was okay. With a feeling of relief, Candy decided to tend to her next order of business, which was searching the town’s police log to see if any record of the strange girl had been made. It was a long shot, she figured, with the incident having just happened mere hours ago, but she needed something to distract her from the many sordid events of the last twenty-four hours.