Fallen

Chapter 21

Sang's P.O.V.

      As soon as I drive off, Sean says, "You know, you should really invest in some new wheels."

         "Yeah, I'll make sure to do that with all the spare money I have lying around," I say. "Also, if you don't like it, feel free to just jump out now and take the three hour walk to Mt. Pleasant."

        "Sang is hyper sensitive," he nods. "Duly noted."

        I turn up the radio, the rock music Jami was listening to earlier fills the car. I drive for a little bit and when we're close to Mt. Pleasant, I see a car on the side of the road.
       
        When we're a few yards away, we can see the door on the driver's side is partially open. I don't know why I decide to stop, but I do. I just have a feeling.

       I park behind the car and get out. Sean gets out, equally as intrigued as I am.

       "What's going on?," Sean asks.

        There's no sound. I wonder if the driver is around. I keep one hand on my gun as I approach the car, just in case.

      When I get close enough to see inside, I notice there's no trace of the driver. The keys are still in the ignition, and the engine is off. This makes no sense.

       Yeah, some people leave their cars on the side of the road, but not with their keys. Especially if that key is on a keychain with house keys and other important things.

       This road is vast and basically empty. No houses or businesses, just some large and empty fields.

       In the backseat, I can see a blanket with something bulging from underneath. I slowly open the back door and reach for the blanket, my one hand still on the gun.

"Careful," Sean says lowly as I pull the blanket back. Thankfully, it's just a bunch of tools.

Sean walks around the car and when he's near the hood of the car, he waves me over.

"What is it?," I ask as I approach.

"Headlights are on, but they are starting to dim," he points them out. "Which means the driver left the car a while ago. My guess is late last night or really early this morning."

"And nobody has come to get it yet," I say, more to myself than to Sean.

"Hey, you should just go ahead and salvage this car. It's in way better shape than yours," he says.

"Nope, it's nowhere near as good," I say. "Besides, I'm not a thief."

Still, I get in the car and turn it on. "It's working perfectly fine. People don't just abandon perfectly good cars with their belongings in it and the keys still in the ignition."

I search the car for any information on who our mystery driver is, but come up empty. No insurance papers, no identification, nothing.

When I get back out of the car, I notice footsteps leading to the field. Sean comes over and inspects them as well.

"Now we're getting somewhere," Sean says.

We follow the footsteps into the field. The man or woman who abandoned their car really went a long way from the road. But why?

"The driver wasn't running away or being dragged," I say to Sean. "Doesn't seem like there was an emergency or struggle of any kind."

The footsteps are completely normal, and always the same distance from each other.