Short Stories

9. Perspective

The two shots hit the witch in the chest and threw her backwards with a shriek, sounding like a knife scraping against metal. The witch was still crawling on the ground when Cora jumped in the car and locked the door. She quickly put the truck in gear and made sure to get moving slow and steady. They could not afford to break the cars or get more stuck than before.

Her car moved forward, and she could feel when Sam’s put its weight on the towline. Cora gave the side mirror a nervous glance and noticed that the witch was gone. The cars crept forward, and when she knew they were both in the clear, she increased her speed.
The gravel road came in sight and Cora turned carefully, so Sam could keep up. She did not attend to stop and remove the towline. They just needed to get away from there.

As soon as they were in line on the road, she increased speed again.

A movement in the side mirror caught her attention. It felt like a bucket of ice water was thrown over her head when she saw the witch galloping on all fours behind them.

Sam had apparently seen her too when he honked his horn to make her go faster. Cora was happy to comply. She increased speed little by little so she wouldn’t tag the line, but she kept increasing speed until they flew through the forest like rally maniacs.

Thankful for the long, straight roads,  she prayed she wouldn’t need to hit the brakes. Sam wouldn’t stand a chance if she did. With short breath, shaking by her violent heartbeats, she drove faster than she had even gone before on forest roads.

Cora had to slow down when they got out of the woods and ended up on the first asphalted road. She checked the side mirrors, but she couldn’t see anything behind them. She still couldn’t relax and drove at high speed as soon as both cars were on the road.

Cora towed Sam’s car behind her all the way home to her driveway. Without a word, they all got out, took the most necessary things from the cars and got in to Cora’s house. They locked the cars and the front door, and ended up just standing in a close group in the hallway.
Cora could, without hesitation, say she just had her worst night ever. That was probably the case for the others too. She really hoped that was the end of it.

When the sun shone through the windows the following morning, the events of the night seemed like a distant nightmare. The number of guests Cora found in her house confirmed the reality, though.

She had Zander with her in her bed, and in the living room were several sleeping bags on camping beds and mattresses on the floor. Sam had slept on her couch and Gavin slept on an air mattress.

It was quiet at the table at breakfast, but they all ate what Cora made them. She didn’t have much more than toast, eggs and tea, but no one complained.

It would take a while until they started talking about it when it all felt fresh and still made their skin crawl. That Gavin’s car would have to stay at the cabin for a good while was clear. They just wanted to get on with their lives first and try to put it all behind.

The old cabin wasn’t there when Cora tagged along with Gavin and Sam to get Gavin’s car. All they found was a pile of burnt logs with ashes and coal. The car had managed pretty well when the porch hadn’t burned down. The fire hadn’t reached it, so there was just some soot on it and a few minor burns.

Sam took it upon him to tell the owner about the cabin, but they still felt a bit relived. If the cabin was gone, maybe the witch’s link to them was too.

They towed Gavin’s car behind them and left the place without looking back.
On a more positive note, they had become a more tightly knitted group of friends. They still got on each other’s nerves sometimes, and Sam had difficulty accepting Cora and Zander’s relationship, but they felt safe with each other.

They had started talking about camping together - but this time, Cora would choose the location, and they had all agreed to really listen to her.

Cora, on her end, was wondering if she should tell them that there were more myths and legends than witches in the woods around the park. The scratch-marks on the ground she saw with Ben right before her vacation came close to mind. That, however, was an entirely different story, and as long as they were careful and respectful, they should be fine…

Credit to all the true stories that inspired me to write this novella;
The Missing 411 cases by David Paulies, and the storytellers on YouTube that got their inspiration from similar stories; Top Mysteries, Scary Mysteries and Criminally Listed.

Thank you for reading! 💖