Darkness inside us: A book of short stories

Storm of Terror

1.

It was in the middle of the day on the shores of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, when a minivan drove idly down the street, looking for the entrance to get tickets to see picture rocks. The sun was beating down relentlessly upon the car, soaking through the roof like water, thoroughly heating everyone in the car; though there was sun now, the family had watched the news this morning, and there had been a threat for a storm, though not a prominent one. They decided, after leaving the motel in Marquette Michigan, that they would risk going out on the water. A small breeze drifted through the open window, cooling them down considerably.

A man, Bill, was driving the car. He had a wife named Linda and a son named Jake. They had decided to go on this trip as a fun way to conclude the summer, before school started and before Bill's job started—they lived in the city of Grand Rapids, which was a very expansive city filled with tall skyscrapers that towered over the horizon, libraries dotting most of the streets, and weird weather patterns; for example, it could be sunny one minute, and then the next it could be cold and rainy. Bill liked to dub the city bipolar. Sure there was plenty to do in the city, but things got boring, hence him planning out this whole trip.

They had drove from Grand Rapids to Muskegon and crossed Lake Michigan to get to Wisconsin, where they would go and visit some family for a couple of days. After leaving the family, they had drove up, toward the Dells, visited that place and had a grand ole time, and then they continued driving north until they reached the border of Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula. It had been a very fun trip thus far, though there had been a couple of times when Bill had gotten on Linda for something and vice versa along with the kid.

Bill was a writer part time, but a teacher full time. He used this peaceful vacation time, some of it anyway, to plan out lessons for the students in the next month, as well as write a book he had started; it was a horror novel about a killer in Grand Rapids picking off young college students; a supernatural serial killer. He thought that since the book was staged in his city, if it ever got published, it would terrify people living in that city even more. Linda was a nurse at Spectrum Health in the heart of Grand Rapids, and she had asked for a small leave in order to take this trip and her boss said she could. Jake was a tenth grader, going to school at Winchester High School, which was five or so minutes from their house—he could just walk.

The minivan was speeding through the street going a bit fast than the speed limit, wanting to get to the boat to see pictured rocks; that was a place of very colorful and massive stones that were in the middle of Lake Superior. This was what they planned to do next; and then after this they would go see Taquaminon Falls and then finally the Sou Locks, which Bill had been at before and he had missed it; it was a bunch of interesting experiences that he could share with everyone once he returned. The car had flown passed a sign. Bill tried to glance at it, but his vision was bad, and the sign was blurred out anyway.

The car suddenly slowed down and then came to a stop. Bill turned his head and saw the entrance to pictured rocks. Finally. They were here.

“Lets go and park the car,” Bill said.

“Are you sure this is it?” asked Linda.

“Read the sign,” muttered Bill. He twisted the wheel around and parked in the nearest parking spot. He opened the car door and stepped out of the car, along with his family. They walked along the hot pavement of the streets until finally they reached the door to the gift shop. “Let me handle this.”

“Alright hon,” Linda muttered. Jake hadn't said a word.

“Hello how may I help you?” asked a brightly smiling woman standing behind a desk.