UNINVITED

Chapter 1

When the blue and red light flickered in my rearview mirror, I knew I had to pull over. That wasn’t what I wanted to do, but if I didn’t, I might have a problem with the law. I didn’t normally get pulled over in the middle of a highway. It must be pretty bad.

     Squinting, I watched the police car and the officer behind the driver’s seat from the mirror. Not a very good sight when my car was in motion, but I still saw him. A vague reflection of him. A brawny man in a tan Dickies uniform with an impressive stature. Maybe there wasn’t a problem and it was just a random check, but I knew it wasn’t. A cop pulling me over in the middle of a highway wasn’t part of my weekend getaway. But life, they say, is full of surprises. My GPS said I was twenty minutes from my destination. In addition to that, I was using a map too. I had already passed the arrow-shaped signpost that read SHELBURNE, 30 MILES AWAY. I had to be close.

     Was I overspeeding? Possibly. I glanced down at the speedometer. 85mph. Shit! I must have hit the accelerator hard. I wanted to get off the road and settle in the farmhouse already. The more time I spent on the road, the less chance I had of getting to my destination on time. And it looked like rain. I wouldn’t want it to catch me on the highway.

     I pulled over to the side of the road. My knuckles whitened as I tightened my grip around the steering wheel. I inhale, then exhale. Uneven lines of mascara streaked my face. My eyes were still watery from the little crying I had done before I got into my black Lexus and hit the road.

     Why’re you late again? You’re seeing another man, aren’t you?

     Tom’s voice echoed in my head once more. I had only found out he had this mean streak two years back. When he unleashed it again months later and struck my face, I knew I should have left him and asked for a divorce. The monster within him hadn’t gone. It was just tamed, and it laid dormant all this while.

     But I didn’t. I stayed. He apologized and bought me flowers. That night, he showed me the lovely part of him. I had thought everything was fine and we had patched things. Until another month later... He got worse and hit me again, and I still stayed. But yesterday was the last straw. I couldn’t let him use me as his punching bag.

     Tom needed help. He’d turned into a controlling freak over the years. If I had stayed, I was sure one of us would’ve ended up...

     Two consecutive raps on the window snapped me out of my thoughts. I tucked strands of straying blond hair from my face, wiped off the streaks, and whipped my head over my shoulder, then rolled down the window. My eyes immediately caught sight of the clouds scudding across the sky, the tall trees, and the surrounding forest. In a haste to get away from home, I hadn’t seen the drastic change in my surroundings. Suddenly it felt like all the tall buildings had been swallowed up by the trees. I’ve been on the road for a while.

     I swung my eyes away from the beautiful landscape to the officer crouched over my car. My smile was warm, but it felt forced. Smiling had become a foreign concept in the past few days. That’s what you got when you were constantly grieving. Small gestures weren’t even genuine anymore.

      “Hey, officer,” I said. “Is everything all right?”

     He peered at my face. “You tell me. Got any idea the speed you’re driving at?”

     I was right. He pulled me over for speeding. What tangible reason could he have to pull me over other than speeding? I wasn’t ready to get a speeding ticket or worse, lose my license. If it didn’t go well, I was sure I might pay a fine. After all, I didn’t know I was speeding—which in actual sense sounded reckless. I could’ve gotten into an accident and had no idea it was due to speeding. I should have taken this trip tomorrow when I wasn’t so stressed.