General Lee's Revenge--A Dark and Stormy Night

Chapter Eight: Compromised

(A/N: Two chapters in a week? LFG)

Their place of interest was a mile or two outside of the city. There, the fog had dissipated, leaving the flat countryside open underneath a hazy sky. Daisy navigated with Luke's map, directing him and General to the other side of the town, beyond its limits, and into the forested countryside.

Fields and dense woods checkered the land. Cooter remained at the edge of his seat during the entire ride, anxious and continuously running over the plan in his head, repeating things to himself and mumbling. Clayton had busied himself in his transformation into a doctor.

He had discarded his beloved fedora onto the floor. He had wiped away every speck of dirt and grime upon his skin and covered every scar, all evidence of misfortune and indignity, with a light powder. Finally, he had changed his clothes with a quick flourish of his hand. In the blink of an eye, his matching gray suit and tie had been exchanged for a white coat and a baby-blue button-up shirt. Barely anyone noticed him do this, however, admittedly, he looked quite strange in khakis. After his hair was smoothed down and he was satisfied with his looks, he shut the round, hand-held mirror in his hand with a sharp snap! causing Cooter to jump.

His gaze turned towards him, mouth twisting into a mocking grin. "Mais, you're bein' paranoid. Nothin' to worry about, ami."

Cooter shook his head. "Somethin's gonna go wrong, I just know it."

Clayton laughed. "Well, it will with that attitude!"

Cooter shot him a glare, blatantly unamused.

"There'll be nothin' to worry about as long as you play the part and you play it right. And, if anythin', you've got the easy role, you just gotta sit there and keep your mouth shut." Clayton's eyebrow fleeted upward as he gave him a sideways glance. "You can do that, can't you?"

A slight twinge of anger nipped at Cooter's face, however, he didn't react to it. "Course."

Meanwhile, the short drive had taken them down a road of gray gravel, rocks popping underneath General's tires as he slowed, admiring the way that the surrounding trees bent their branches over the road on either side, shading the road.

Daisy's eyes left the map as she looked up at the road they were on, hand shooting out to the right. "There, the driveway!"

General screeched to a halt, seeing a small part in the trees where a wrought-iron black gate stood, shut tight from the outside world. The dirt driveway curved into the forest, concealing whatever kinds of monstrosities behind the gate from the view of the street.

Luke let out a shaky sigh as he looked out towards the gate, General rolling forward slowly to face the gate. Vertical iron bars made up the gate's body, its crown curved and bent into a curled design. Two black lions met at the middle, reared onto their hind legs, ready to sink their iron teeth into one another.

As General drew close, setting his front wheels onto the light dirt of the driveway, the gate automatically opened, parting in the middle to swing inwardly; the two black lions were pulled away from each other's embrace. The Charger sat for a moment, hesitant before rolling forward through the gate. Mere moments after he had cleared the gate, it quickly slammed shut behind him, like the front door of a haunted house often seen in movies.

General's engine rumbled as he continued along the curved driveway, slow, wary, aware of all surroundings. Luke's hands tightened around the steering wheel once more, every one of them on the edge of their seat.

The driveway first curved to the right, then to the left, through the thickly forested area. Along the side of the driveway were mottled, weathered pedestals on which sat an array of sculptures. Weathered animals, humans, and pottery stood as guardians at the sides of the drive. Most of them were broken, animals missing tails and heads, humans missing limbs and heads alike, and pottery cracked and fallen away, leaving a few once-potted plants overgrowing their pedestals or either wilted and dying.