Oktober Writing Challenge

1. Write about a roadtrip

"I need to pee."
Sharon felt like slamming the brakes and get out of the car. She would have, if they weren't on a highway.
"Seriously Anna," she said. "This is the third time within an hour. Can't you just... hold it in for a while?"
"I'm sorry," Anna whined. "Although it's not my fault I have a weak bladder," she added defensively.
Shona rolled her eyes. They had only been on the road for three hours, with four more to come. She knew right when she agreed to this trip that Anna would annoy her sooner or later and she tried to be prepared for it but she failed miserably and was already losing her patience.
"Fine. We'll stop at the next building we see that has a toilet," she said because she knew that discussing with Anna would only make it worse.

Fifteen minutes later she stood next to her car that was parked in front of a rest stop, drank some disgustingly warm water from one of the bottles she had packed and waited for Anna to come back. This was probably the weirdest rest stop she had ever seen, located several miles away from the highway in some little forest, even though the sign on the highway had suggested the stop was just around the corner. Sharon would have liked some coffee but when she had inspected the little shop that was at the front of the small building, that had an 'Open' sign at the door, and gone inside, no one was to be found. She had said "Hello?" several times but no one was to be seen. They probably didn't expect to see anyone around here since this rest stop was located so stupidly. So she had come back to her car and by lack of other options she was now drinking the old water. If she weren't so annoyed she would have admitted that this place was kind of pretty, with birds singing and the wind rustling in the leaves of the trees. It seemed idyllic, with only one road - the one she and Anna had taken - reaching the house. This must be unhandy, though, since it meant you could only reach the house by taking the highway. Sharon took a look at her phone. Anna had been gone for almost seven minutes. What the hell was she doing? Applying make up yet again even though she wouldn't see a single soul except her, Sharon, for the next hours? When two more minutes passed, Sharon got so pissed that she decided to go after Anna and, yes, probably yell at her. That way, at least she could get some of her frustration out of her mind.

She went around the building to the toilets.
"Anna? What the fuck are you doing in there? We're already almost an hour behind our schedule because of you and your stupid bladder, so the least you could do is hurry the fuck up."
Sharon really was angry.
Anna didn't answer.
"Anna! Get out right now or I swear I'll leave you here," she said.
Still, no sound coming from inside the toilet.
Sharon sighed and reached for the door handle, ready to make some noise. Surprisingly, when she pulled at the door, it opened. Weird. She opened the door and looked around. The room was small but practical, there only was a toilet and a sink. Anna wasn't in there. Sharon was puzzled and closed the door. Where on earth had that woman gone now? Couldn't she at least have come back to Sharon and the car first? Sharon went over to the men's toilet, but Anna wasn't in there either. She crossed her arms, it was getting kind of cold, and went around the other side of the building until she stood in front of the store again. Everything still looked like before, her car still standing there just the way she left it, both front doors open. Sharon went into the shop again, wandering through the small aisles to check if Anna was there. Yet again, no one was there and no one responded to her calls. Admittedly, she was getting worried. Where could Anna have gone? There was nothing here except for trees and fields and one road leading to the highway. Besides, why would her friend leave anywhere without telling her?
Sharon decided to search for Anna outside once again, since she couldn't be in here. When she opened the door, she froze. She was sure that when she had left the shop the first time, the door sign had 'closed' written on the red side facing the inside of the store. Just like regular shop signs do. But there was no 'closed' written on it now. The sign was still red but it looked like someone had scratched something in there with a nail or a knife or something sharp. In scrappy handwriting, the sign now said 'Leave, while you still can'.

Sharon opened the door and rushed outside. She looked at the building once again but nothing was different. She wasn't sure if the sign was just some sick joke, but with Anna nowhere to be found her nerves weren't exactly relaxed. Hastily, she looked around again and stopped at her car. There were legs dangling out of the passenger's seat. Sharon ran there and found Anna, sitting uncomfortably on the seat, her eyes closed. She had bloody scratch marks on her arms, but they didn't look like they were caused by an animal. Instead, it looked like human finger nails had scratched across her skin.
"Anna? Anna, wake up," Sharon touched her friend's face. She felt her pulse and immediately found it, completely normal. Anna's breaths were deep and regular, as if she was sleeping. Sharon put her legs inside and closed the car door. She looked around while slowly walking towards the driver's seat. Still, no one was to be seen. Before she got in the car, she realised something: Birds were singing but she couldn't see a single one. And even though she could clearly hear the wind in the trees, she couldn't feel it. There was no wind, and there were no birds. Only now did she notice four loudspeakers at every corner of the house. Someone had recorded these sounds she was hearing and was blasting them now, to create some sense of normality. In reality, there wasn't a single sound to be heard around the rest stop. Sharon felt a shiver and got into her car, almost expecting it to not start. But it did and she left the parking area and followed to road back to the highway. She looked into the rearview mirror and almost jumped in her seat. The shop door opened and a hand was seen on the outside handle. The tips of those fingers were bloody.