We drove. Everyday we drove, not because we had anywhere to go but because there was not much to do in our tiny little town. Nothing ever happened there. Everyday, everyone did the same things. Everyone knew everyone and their business. That's the way it has always been. For as long as I could remember, I couldn't wait to leave. I just never expected to the leave the way I did.
Like everyday, after school, we were driving. It was dark, and the moon was hidden that night. Everything was black, it seemed. The only things we could see were where our headlights beamed. Nick commented that I looked beautiful in the moonlight, that's when I knew he would spend the rest of the night trying to get into my pants. I told him to stop, he was going to go home disappointed.
Nick's radio speakers broke a few weeks earlier, we had been driving in silence. The only time we spoke was when he tried to compliment me. Usually, it didn't matter. I never responded anyway. To be honest, I don't even know why he kept taking me on his drives. I could've gone by myself. He'd still be here if I had.
We rolled the windows down, and rode in silence. Sometimes he left his hand on my thigh, sometimes he kept both hands on the wheel. We were sitting in silence listening to the wind howl through the windows, going too fast, when I heard someone scream. Nick didn't react. When I spoke, he startled.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?" he asked, squeezing my jean clad leg.
"I heard someone scream." I said, crossing my legs.
"Stop trying to scare me, Karen." He said, moving his hand to the steering wheel.
I shut up. I'd been reading a lot of Stephen King. I just needed to relax. I reached into the back of his car and dug through the mess to find the beer we had bought before hitting the roads.
I opened two, handing Nick one. I leaned back in my chair and watched the blackness fly by. I wondered if the other people in our town wanted out as much as we did. I know now that the answer is no, but then, I thought there might be a chance. Thats when I heard it again, the scream. I knew Nick had also heard it. He slammed on the breaks, sloshing his beer all over me and his front seat.
"I told you I heard someone scream." I said, taking a long drink from my beer.
"Shut up Karen" He said. He looked around, wide eyed. "I'm gonna check on them."
"That sounds like an awful idea" I argued. Before I could argue anymore he had gotten out of the car. I remember wondering how he would ever see anything. As far as I could see it was just black.
"Do you have a flash light?" He yelled back at me. I didn't think it warranted a response. He knew I didn't. The best thing I could offer him was beer.
I stepped out of the car going after him.
"Nick?" I yelled. "Where are you?"
"Here!" He said, but then he screamed. I ran towards where he was, but it, whatever it was, had already gotten him. The blood ran down the front of his plaid shirt, his eyes rolled in the back of his head. I ran to him. I didn't know what to do. I took of my jacket and wrapped it around his throat, thinking maybe I could save him. It was too late, he was already gone. I looked up, thinking only of revenge, when I realized with Nick dead I was next. I ran.
I got in Nick's car and I drove. I drove, not because I had anywhere to go but because I knew that it was coming after me. That smell has never left me, the smell of blood and beer and something else I never could identify. I watched the news and read the newspapers. Nobody in our little town ever acknowledged that either of us was gone. For me it didn't matter, but Nick was dead. They should have noticed, but they didn't. Everyone went on as normal, as far as I could tell. I never went back. I couldn't. Whatever it was, it followed me. I never stopped hearing the screams. The closer they got, the farther I drove. Everyday, I drove.
