Slim: Book 6

Hydro Plane

I woke up with a cry.

"Get out of the water!"

Naru jerked and the car swerved on the road. He swore.

"For Pete's sake, Mai-" Then he slammed on the brakes.

For straight ahead of us, standing tall as a black and cream colored tree, was the slim creature, its mouth-head gaping to its navel.

The wheels lost traction. Water shot up in a wave. One wheel caught asphalt, bringing the car whiplashing around. Naru's arm came out to hold me against the seat.

A thud-crunch that spiked my ears, and we stopped. The car died. Mud had splattered up half the windshield along with a splatter of dead leaves and pine needles.

"It's here!" I shrieked. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god-"

"Mai-"

"Start the car-get out of the water-"

Rather than fight with my hysteria, he turned the keys and pumped the gas. The car hummed and spat, but didn't turn over. As the heavy rain beat back some of the mud, I saw the front of the Toyota crunched around a pine tree.

I started to hyperventilate. Why hadn't the air bags gone off? How come I didn't broken my face on the dashboard, or Naru on the steering wheel? Was this just another bad dream? How would I know?

"Mai Davis, calm down right now. Panicking never does anything."

"Why is it here?" I squeaked, my hands knotted up so tightly under my chin they popped. "From my dreams-the ambulance-Naru-!"

"Breathe!"

He said it with such harsh, loud command, it shocked me into sucking in air more than anything. The spinning screaming in my head dimmed somewhat.

He he pulled out his phone from the cup holders and dialed. Instead of the emergency number, however, he pulled up Lin.

"Lin's too far away-" I started.

"No he isn't. I called him after the fire once someone would lend me a phone." I heard a click and Lin's low voice hmmed from the earpiece. "We've crashed. Something's after us, we just past mile marker twelve-"

A hand slapped on my window. I screamed, staring at the too-long, spindly fingers that nearly spanned the entire glass.

"Hurry!" cried Naru, even as I heard his phone give an unpleasant pop. "Damn it! How long has it been dead?"

Glass cracked. Another hand slapped on the windshield, also on my side of the car. They were knuckle-less, like tentacles, yet still uncannily human.

"It's after me!" I shrieked.

Naru unbuckled my seatbelt and tugged me over the center console even as long arms started bending into our vision. The windshield gave a sharp click and a several cracks appeared.

The glass on the passenger side fell in, fingers shooting towards me.

At the same time, Naru's hand flung out between me and it. The air became too thick to breathe and tense as static.

Glass shot up and out the door, along with the long arms, as though shoved out by a sudden gale of wind. I saw the rest of its long body shoot after its arms, its flesh the same texture and color of something that had died and bloated in the water.

Naru's PK. As if things couldn't get worse.

Naru pulled us out of the car and into the rain. We half ran, half tripped down the muddy slop and just missed crashing into a tree. Instead, a hand still gripped tightly to my wrist, Naru slingshot us around it to continue our fleeing tumble into the woods. I only breathed again when we reached something of even enough ground to run on, and then it was an all out sprint. Naru didn't let go of my wrist, no matter how cumbersome it made our escape. The rain lessened beneath the canopy, and twigs with fingers outstretched like claws snapped and snagged against our yukatas.