by J. C. Diem
Road To Hell
Hellscourge: Book One
J.C. Diem
Copyright © 2016 J.C. DIEM
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Chapter Forty-Two
Chapter Forty-Three
Chapter Forty-Four
Dedication:
This book is dedicated to my stepfather, who sadly passed away shortly before I could publish this story. He believed in me right from the start and offered me support and encouragement when I needed it the most. He might be gone, but his memory and influence will live on forever.
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Chapter One
If there’s one thing that I’ve learned during my relatively short life, it’s that the future is unpredictable. Everything can change in an instant. Just seven days ago, my life had been pretty close to perfect. Then, in the blink of an eye, or in the flash of a crimson dagger to be more precise, my world had imploded. I was now alone, desperate and on the run. At the age of not quite seventeen, I’d lost everything that mattered to me.
Trudging down a narrow country road, I made sure to walk on the dirt strip. I’d learned by trial and error that soil was softer than asphalt. Grass was softer still, but it could also cover unseen rocks and holes. The last thing I needed was a sprained ankle.
Fields of long grass and colorful wildflowers flanked me on both sides. They stretched out as far as I could see. Small clusters of trees broke the monotonous view every now and then. The sky was blue, cloudless and seemingly endless. The sun shone far too cheerily, as if mocking me in my time of sorrow. My shadow walked ahead of me on legs that were unnaturally long and thin. It led me down the road towards an uncertain destiny.
Mired in misery, I barely paid attention to where my feet were carrying me. I was so lost in thought that I stumbled to a halt when a strange voice spoke inside my head. Your trials have only just begun, child. Soon, you will face enemies who will do their utmost to kill you. If they succeed, your entire species will be lost. You are humanity’s only hope for survival. At that grave and mysterious caution, the voice disappeared.
“Awesome,” I muttered when no further warnings were issued. “Now I’m hearing voices.” With a weary sigh, I continued walking.
Was this a sign that my sanity was slipping and that madness was inexorably taking over? I’d heard that crazy people sometimes had delusions of grandeur. Believing I was supposed to be some kind of savior of humanity definitely seemed to fit.
After the things I’d seen back in Denver, it was all too possible that I was losing my mind. Everyone knew that monsters weren’t real, therefore the visions that I’d seen had to have been conjured up by my imagination.
This wasn’t the first time I’d had this conversation with myself, or even the fiftieth. The memory of what had happened the night I’d run away from home kept repeating itself over and over inside my head. I was at the point where it really was beginning to drive me crazy.
Desperately searching for a distraction, I focused on how much my feet hurt. By now, I should have become accustomed to walking, but my body just didn’t seem to want to toughen up.
Not all of my journey had been spent walking. Just yesterday, I’d hitched a ride with a nice young couple. I’d been able to rest for several hours before they’d dropped me off at a truck stop.
It had been just before nightfall and I’d intended to step inside the diner for a meal. That plan had been axed the moment I saw a highway patrol car parked out front. Spotting two police officers seated at a table, I’d scurried into the shadows before they could look out through the window and see me. Going hungry was a far better alternative to being arrested.
The sky had blazed with an almost apocalyptic shade of orange as I’d taken the off ramp and had left the highway behind. After a few minutes, it had become too dark to see where I was going. I’d stumbled along the side of a road until I’d become too tired to continue on.
After spending the night in a field, I’d begun walking again. Now here I was, on a strange road in the middle of nowhere. Dawn was several hours behind me now and I appeared to be far from civilization. I wish I’d taken a different route, but there was no point in backtracking to the highway. Besides, it wasn’t like I was in a rush to go anywhere.
It was dangerous to put my trust in complete strangers, but I’d been lucky so far. I’d hitchhiked every now and then and had crossed five states without encountering any trouble. I wasn’t sure exactly where I was now, I just knew I was somewhere in Ohio.
My stomach rumbled constantly, reminding me that I’d skipped dinner last night. Despite my hunger, I wasn’t desperate enough to knock on any of the doors of the farmhouses that I’d passed so far. I still had a few dollars left in my pocket. I’d eventually come across another town where I could buy supplies.
Hearing a vehicle approaching from behind, I looked back over my shoulder. Sunlight glinted off the windscreen, blinding me and making it impossible to tell the make or model. For all I knew, it might be a cop car. It was too late for me to hide even if there had been a tree to take cover behind. Even now, the car was slowing down as the driver caught sight of me.
When it drew closer, I saw that it was a battered brown sedan. I relaxed slightly when I realized that it wasn’t a cop car. I was a long way from Colorado, but the interstate police might have my details in their system by now. At the least, they’d want me for questioning. Worst case scenario, they’d charge me with murder.
I knew what the driver would see when looking at me; a waifish girl with long, tangled blond hair and pale skin. At five foot five and fairly slender, I was the least threatening hitchhiker to ever walk the roads. Something about me brought out the protective urge in most adults. Maybe I looked as lost as I felt.
Coasting to a stop beside me, the window slid down and the driver peered up at me. Dressed in a dark gray suit and stark white shirt, he looked like a businessman. He was in his forties and his face was so ordinary that I’d p
robably forget him as soon as we parted ways. “Where are you headed, honey?” he asked.
“As far as you can take me,” I replied. It was the same answer I’d given to everyone who had offered me a ride so far. Running on a combination of dull panic and despair, I didn’t have a set destination in mind. I felt the need to keep moving despite my growing exhaustion. I’d barely slept since the night my world had become unhinged. What little rest I did get was mostly spent in bushes or fields on the side of the road.
Inspecting me from head to toe, he took in my torn blue jeans, grimy white t-shirt and black hoodie that was tied around my waist. My luggage consisted of a battered black backpack. “Get in,” he invited with a grin that held a hint of something else besides good humor. For just a moment, his bland brown eyes seemed almost predatory. Then the illusion was gone and he smiled innocently.
My entire body ached from walking and from sleeping rough. I just wanted to sit down for a while. Ignoring my instincts that were screaming at me to run, I rounded to the other side of the car and climbed in.
He took off without bothering to tell me to buckle my seatbelt. “What is your name?” he asked. His tone was meant to be curious, but I picked up something else beneath it. Now that I was enclosed with him, I sensed that he might be more dangerous than he’d seemed.
“Jenny,” I said untruthfully. He didn’t need to know my real name. That was a closely guarded secret these days.
“That is a pretty name. I’m Bob.”
His slight hesitation was an indication that he was lying, but I really didn’t care. A hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach warned me that this ride was going to end badly. Angling myself so I could keep him in view, I wondered how long it would take before he pulled over. I suspected that it wouldn’t be long.
“Have you run away from home?” Bob asked. He wiped his sweaty palm on his trousers and cut a sidelong look at me. His eyes slid from my face down to my chest and back up again. I crossed my arms instinctively.
“No,” I said almost curtly. “I don’t have a home.”
“Really?” His surprised tone sounded a little bit false, as if he was only pretending to feel the emotion. “Where are your parents?”
“They’re both dead. It’s just me now.” Actually, I had no idea if my father was dead or alive, or even who he was. My mother always became upset when I questioned her about him. She’d get a faraway look in her eyes and her whole body would tense up whenever I brought up the topic of my parentage. I’d given up asking about him a few years ago.
“I am sorry to hear that,” Bob said. Again, I sensed falseness in his words. “How did they die?”
“In a house fire,” I lied. “I didn’t have anyone to take me in, so I decided to hit the road.” The truth was far different from that, of course. My mother had been murdered and I was pretty sure I was the prime suspect. Sticking around and telling the cops about what had really happened would have resulted in me being locked up in an asylum. I highly doubted the cops would believe that monsters had killed her. Running had been my only option.
In my darkest moments during the long nights when I couldn’t sleep, I’d wondered if I’d gone crazy. Maybe my mind had snapped and I didn’t even know it. What if it hadn’t been hideous creatures that had killed my mother? Maybe I’d just made them up in attempt to save what was left of my sanity.
Straight after that thought, I saw Bob’s face flicker and my blood ran cold. He turned to face me and I saw that his eyes had changed. Instead of being a bland shade of brown, they now glowed crimson. He grinned and I blanched at his sharp and jagged teeth. “Is something wrong?” he asked. Even his voice had changed. It sounded guttural and inhuman now.
“I’m not feeling all that great. I must have eaten a bad burger.” I put my hand on my empty stomach, hoping I wouldn’t heave. His eyes dropped to my chest again. His smile deepened before he turned back to watching the road. His face flickered again and returned to normal.
A few minutes later, he slowed down as we approached a dirt road. “What are you doing?” I asked sharply. Hit with an overwhelming sense of doom, I knew with utter certainty that he was going to take me to a secluded place and do something horrible to me.
“We never talked terms,” he said. His voice had deepened even more. “You should always agree on a price before you accept a ride from a stranger.” He turned and his ordinary, forgettable face had disappeared. Instead of a man, a monster looked back at me again. His skin had changed from pasty white to the deepest black of midnight. Crimson light glowed from his eyes once more. His tongue flicked out and I saw that it was forked.
Shock held me immobile for a moment then my instincts kicked in. I didn’t know if these visions that I kept seeing were real or if they were just my imagination. I did know that Bob was going to do something very unpleasant to me as soon as the car stopped. I jammed my foot on the accelerator before he could turn onto the dirt road. The car surged forward and his head snapped back.
We fishtailed on the dirt at the side of the road and Bob fought for control. He grabbed hold of my leg and tried to pull my foot away from the accelerator, but I pressed down with all of my weight. We careened down the wrong side of the road and he threw an elbow at my face. It smashed into my cheek hard enough for me to see stars and I came close to blacking out.
My foot slipped and he grinned in savage triumph. His grin disappeared when I reached over and grabbed the steering wheel. Yanking it hard, we veered across the road again. We were heading directly for a tree and I held on grimly as Bob clawed at my arm. He left furrows in my skin with his filthy, over-long nails. Seeing the tree rapidly approaching, he cursed viciously and braced himself for impact.
I should have been afraid that my life was about to end, but I felt strangely calm. I’d had a surprising number of brushes with death during my short existence. My mother had always told me that a guardian angel was watching over me. If so, he was about to fail in his duty. My luck had finally run out and I wasn’t going to be able to avoid my fate this time. There would be no last second miraculous escape for me. This time, I was going to die.
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Chapter Two
Glass shattered as a branch smashed through the windscreen just before we slammed into the tree. I hadn’t bothered to put my seatbelt on and I sailed through the opening. I felt vaguely grateful that I didn’t have to suffer the pain of being cut to pieces.
My long hair fluttered out behind me as I headed directly for another tree. Unwilling to see the end coming, I closed my eyes and surrendered to the inevitable. Instead of feeling the agony of being splattered to death, I felt the sensation of arms wrapping around me and pulling me back against a hard chest. Something soft seemed to wrap around me like a blanket. For a few short moments, I felt a profound sense of peace and safety.
This wasn’t the first time that I’d felt this sensation. Every time I came close to dying, I experienced the same feelings of being cherished and protected. Hope blossomed and my eyes snapped open. I was somehow unsurprised when I flew past the tree that had mysteriously moved to my left. I passed by so closely that a few strands of my hair were caught in the bark and were yanked out painfully.
Landing face down in a pile of leaves, my breath was knocked out of me as I skidded towards the edge of a hill. Unable to stop my momentum, I rolled down the incline. Tumbling head over heels, I finally came to a stop on my back and fought to regain the ability to breathe.
Dizzy from my descent, my head swam and my vision doubled. A faint image formed in the air above me and my heart surged in recognition. An inhumanly handsome man with the darkest blue eyes that I’d ever seen looked down at me from mere inches away. Groggy from my brush with death, I lifted my hand to his face. I could almost feel it when he pressed his cheek against my palm. Then my body caught up to the fact that I’d just been thrown out of a car and I blacked out.
Waking with a groan a few minutes later, I searched for my phantom rescuer and found m
yself to be alone. I knew he was just a figment of my imagination, but I was still sad that he was gone. Like every other time I’d come close to dying, I’d conjured him up to help me deal with the stress. Guardian angels weren’t real. The arms and wings that I thought had wrapped around me didn’t exist. I must have just imagined that I’d been heading for the tree after being thrown from the car. My mind had just been playing tricks on me.
Sitting up, I took stock. Instead of being broken and mangled, I was barely hurt at all. My arm was scratched from Bob’s attack and I had a few bumps and bruises, but that was it. The bruise to my cheek where he’d elbowed me hurt the most. It throbbed and felt swollen when I pressed my palm to it. Once again, I’d been incredibly lucky to have escaped from death.
Heaving myself to my feet, I saw the wreckage of Bob’s car at the top of the hill. The engine was smoking, but at least it hadn’t caught on fire. My pitifully few belongings were still in it, along with Bob. I couldn’t hear him calling for help, so he was either unconscious, or worse. I had my fingers crossed for worse.
Trudging back up the hill, I looked through the window before pulling the passenger door open. One glance at Bob told me he wasn’t going to need an ambulance. The branch that had smashed the windshield had also speared through the right side of his chest.
Blood had sprayed all over the steering wheel and dashboard and coated Bob’s clothes. His head was slumped forward on his chest, but I could see enough of his face to tell that my vision that he was some kind of monster was gone. I should have felt pity for him now that he was dead, but I didn’t have it in me. I doubted I was the first girl that he’d tried to accost. If he had a wife and children, they were probably better off without him.
I reached down to grab my backpack off the floor then hesitated. I’d been living rough for an entire week and my small stash of cash wasn’t going to last forever. It was almost at the end of October and it was getting colder by the day. Winter would be here in a few short weeks and I’d need more clothes as well as other supplies.