screaming season

roadblock

My favorite part of the day has always been driving home from work,not just because I'm finally going home but because the way home is so scenic and beautiful and I don't really get to appreciate it on the way there because I'm too groggy from just waking up. I had stayed late at work that day so I was driving home in the dark,even in the darkness everything looked so pretty and picturesque. I was so distracted by the beauty of it that I almost didn't see the car at first,it was in the middle of the road,not running just sitting there. I turned off my car and got out to check on the driver,but when I got there I noticed no one was in the car. I heard a rustling from the forest beside the road and I went to see what it was, there was a woman hiding behind the trees, she had no visible injuries but there was this fear in her eyes,like she had just witnessed a terrible tragedy. I approached her cautiously and called out "are you lost?" I asked. The woman jumped as she finally noticed me, she started to panic as soon as she saw me and I tried to calm her down. "Hey,there's nothing to be scared of" I took her hand and led her out of her hiding space. "Is that your car in the middle of the road?" She shook her head and I walked her back to the road. I walked the woman to her car but as soon as I got close to it she started freaking out again"she's in there!" The woman screamed. "She's everywhere" I blinked as the woman walked further away from the car. "What do you mean there's no one in the car." "You can't see her,she doesn't want you yet,she wants me" I took the woman's hand. "Are you okay? Do you need an ambulance or something?" The woman shook her head. "They can't help,no one can" I led the woman to my car "why don't I take you to my place,you can take a little bit to calm down" the woman nodded. On the ride to my place the woman was very quiet, I figured she would keep talking about the woman but she just stayed silent the whole time,she did keep checking the rearview mirror which I thought was just her being paranoid that someone was following us. When we got to my house I opened my front door and let the woman follow me in. "There's a guest room that I rarely ever use,you can sleep there for the night if you want,you can stay as long as you need to" the woman smiled as she followed me through the house. "Do you want some hot chocolate?" I asked. "I have this really good gourmet variety my mom sent me, I think you would really like it" the woman quietly mumbled an answer and I took in as a yes so I grabbed two mugs from the cupboard and I put a kettle of water in the stove. When the water boiled I poured it into the mugs and set one in front of the woman. "Careful it's really hot" the woman was unbothered as she took a sip and her face brightened. "When I was little my mom always made hot chocolate when I was upset,there's nothing it can't fix in my opinion" I took a sip from my own mug as the woman whispered something to me "it started with my husband.." "what?" I asked. "My husband,he was the beginning,not the very beginning but the beginning for me" "what do you mean?" "He started seeing her before I did,I never believed him,I thought it was some kind of joke,it wasn't until after he died that I started to see her,she only goes after one person at a time" "you're not making sense, who is "she"?" The woman looked up at me with a fearful look in her eye. "The woman in grey,I don't know where she came from I don't know how long she's been doing this, i don't know her name,I don't know anything" a small tear rolled down the woman's face and i embraced her in a hug. "There's no one here but us,you're safe here" "I'm not safe anywhere" the woman said. Before I could stop her the woman ran out the door and I tried to run after her but she was gone. That night I hardly slept,I couldn't stop worrying over the woman,hoping that she was somewhere safe,where she could get help. She might have been experiencing some weird sort of grief over her husband or maybe she just hadn't been taking her meds or something. I got up early to get ready for work and I turned on the news as I cooked breakfast. There was a story about a death in the woods last night and i looked up to see the woman from last night, She had  been found dead in her car an hour after she left my home, Her throat had been torn open and she had blood all over her clothes. I started to call into work for a personal day but I didn't really know the woman that well,I didn't even know her name. I decided to go to work anyway and as I got into my car I looked into the backseat through the mirror and screamed. There was a woman in the backseat, she was wearing a grey dress and she had a wide smile showcasing very sharp teeth.