A Stormy Night: Stories to Read by Candlelight

Roadkill

"And in other news, Victoria Feldmen has escaped from Maple Federal Prison earlier this morning. Police say she is mentally deranged and highly dangerous. She is suspected to be on foot, and is described as being five foot nine, with brunette hair. If you see this woman, you are advised to call nine-one-one. And in other news, the Green Bay Packers took a loss earlier today when..." Stacy, or as she called herself, turned down the radio and listened to the hum of the tires on the asphalt. She had no idea where she was going, or what her plan was, for the last thing she remembered was walking out of an unfamiliar house. She had no idea what her real name was, but a slip of paper inside her pocket that read:

I love you,

~Stacy~

The note gave her something to call herself. She drove along Highway 66 and because it was night time, she was almost alone on the road. Her headlights flashed off of puddles from the earlier rain, and as she came over the top of a steep hill, she saw a person on the right shoulder of the road. Stacy's foot hesitated over the gas pedal, remembering the announcement from the radio. But as she came closer to the woman, she noticed that her hair was blonde, unlike the description of Victoria. Stacy pressed down on the brake slowly, and came to a steady halt next to the woman. She shifted into park and as the woman approached, rolled down the window halfway,

"I don't know where I am going, but I can probably take you where you need to go," Stacy said. The woman eyed Stacy up and down. The stranger was of average height and on the thinner side, wearing a tight pair of jeans with a denim jacket. Her red lipstick was smeared, and down either side of her face, ran long streaks of mascara, like thin, black rivers.

"I'm just heading to the next town, Raven?" The girl said, sniffling, "I'd like the ride, I don't want to be alone." Stacy nodded, and unlocked the doors with the automatic switch. The girl opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat, sniffling as she did so. Stacy shifted the car, a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire, into drive, and as the car started to move again, the stranger asked,

"So what's your name?"

"I don't really know," Stacy said, "but you can call me Stacy."

"My name's Kim," said the stranger, folding her hands into her lap, "why don't you remember your name?"

"I don't know..." Stacy said, drifting off, and looking back toward the road, "All I remember was walking out of a strange house, finding a slip of paper in my pocket, and getting into this car."

"Oh." Silence fell inside the car as Stacy drove down the lonely road.

"So what were you doing walking down the road?" Stacy asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm on my way to anywhere but where I was," Kim replied.

"Where was that?"

"My boyfrien-" Kim stopped and forced a smile, "ex-boyfriend's house."

"What happened?" Kim was quiet for a moment before she turned toward the window and said,

"He just wasn't very good to me...He..." Kim drifted off as she turned back toward Stacy and rolled up the sleeve of her jacket to reveal a large, hand sized bruise on her wrist.

"Jesus..." Stacy whispered under her breath. The two drove on for a mile or more listening to the hum of the road, before Stacy turned on the radio again.

"...is described as being five foot nine with long brunette hair. Police have reason to suspect that she is no longer on foot, but driving a red 1999 Pontiac Sunfire, stolen shortly after her escape." Stacy shut off the radio, as Kim grew uncomfortable in her seat, and quickly reached for the knob, turning the radio up a bit too loud, hearing it blare,

"Again, if you see Victoria Feldmen, you are advised to call nine-one-one. And in-" Stacy shut off the radio rapidly, and snatched a Bic pen from the center console, before jamming it into Kim's neck. At that exact moment, she knew who she was. Victoria was no longer unaware and she remembered everything in a painful flash of memory. The escape, going to her husband for help, finding him with a woman named Stacy, the note on the counter, the anguish she felt when he picked up the phone...With each memory, Victoria withdrew and then plunged the pen deeper into Kim's neck, stabbing rapidly as she remembered everything. She recalled the fight that gave her a bump on the head, and left her husband bleeding to death on the floor. As she stopped the car, she kept jamming the pen further and faster into Kim's neck, until the ringing in her head stopped, and she got out of the car. She huffed and puffed as she dropped the pen onto the floorboard, and stepped onto the gravel shoulder of Route 66. She looked at the dead body in the passenger seat, but she felt no pain. She merely grinned at it as she turned to walk away.

But as soon as she had taken two steps, she heard the door of the car open behind her, and spinning around, she saw that the body of Kim was gone, vanished into thin air. Victoria walked carefully back to the car, and looked in through the driver's side window, but saw nothing, no body, only blood. She heard a step behind her, and as she turned, she felt the sting of a pointed object stick into her neck. It plunged deep, and stayed, and as Victoria turned, she saw Kim, with her mutilated neck, standing in front of her. Kim grinned widely, and Victoria noticed her eyes were a solid black. Victoria fell onto the ground, her back leaning onto the driver's side door, and slowly bled to death. Kim circled the car, opened the passenger door, and crawled back into the seat, before her vengeful spirit slipped from her body, and left the bleeding Victoria on the ground.