Beyond the Rift ✔ (Completed)

Chapter 5: Over a barrel

Alexis

Black clouds sprawl across the sky, billowing in from the west. Their brassy glare drains color from houses and trees and burnished cars in driveways, leaving neighborhoods tinted bronze in the faltering night. The air grows heavy and the humidity presses down, suffocating. The scent of rain is dark and heady. A stillness falls over the road, and in the silence comes a low crackle of thunder, rolling across the hood to the pattering of tiny raindrops on the windshield.

We are still in the car. It's been two hours since the incident. Neither of us have spoken a word. Not that I don't care, but I couldn't form words to speak, the whole visual left me dumbfounded. Those were the things I had only watched in movies and read in books. Nevertheless, not understanding a single word of what those two were blabbering. My finger tips are icy cold, so is my body. My wonderful dress is covered in black smudges and specks of dirt. It was brand new. Not that I liked it, rather, it is a gift. This is not fair.

"You should get rid of that and find something suitable to wear." Oh! He speaks!

I turn and give him a weary look. Is he serious? After the whole bombarding and all that monkey dance, all he does is comment upon my dress.

"It's 2.00 am in the morning. Where are we headed?" I enquire.

"To the Headquarters." He replies briefly. Not up for a small talk, are we?

"And where is that?"

"I can't tell you." He flatly denies me.

What a typical thing to happen to someone on their birthday! They go to the club, meet their arch nemesis, have a row with them, then get blasted, have a ceiling almost fall on top of them, encounter a ghost looking freak, get stuck with a total jerk in a freaking Ford Mustang! The Worst possible Birthday ever!! Does ruining their dress count too? Yes. It does.

"Pull over!" I can't take it anymore so I order him.

He doesn't budge.

I turn to face him. "I said, PULL OVER!"

And, he does.

Good thing I put my seat belt on, or else I would have been spat-out of the windshield. I did tell him to pullover but not abruptly like this. My hair is as messed up as my head.

I need fresh air.

I undo the seat-belt and step out of the car.

He had pulled over at a stone gravel road. It isn't even a paved road. Just a gravel path and open fields on either side of the road. The only infrastructure insight is an old barn which is a few yards away. The city is long gone. Where the hell are we?

"We shouldn't stop." I turn around to see him leaning against the closed door of the car. Though it is dark and the only light is the moonlight, I could see the part of a tribal tattoo across the side of his neck coming right up at his jaw. It is like wavy-black flames snaking on his skin. The rest is hidden under the V-neck shirt. I wish I could see the entire thing. Wait! What? Where did that come from? Stop it Alexis!

"Who are you again?" I cross my arms in front of my chest. Firstly, because I'm icy cold, all thanks to this dress. Furthermore, he has got some explaining to do.

"My name is Ethan Campbell." He replies briefly again.

I wait for him to continue; however, he doesn't take the hint and keeps staring at me. Well, I'll go first then.

"What the hell is going on?" I raise my voice to emphasize my frustration.

"You mean-."

"that thing!" I cut him off. "that ghost!" I say the last word in a diminishing voice, feeling entirely stupid.