The Midnight Within

Chapter 28

Willi Nelson?

Loretta Lynn?

John Denver?

June and Johnny Cash?

Daniel groaned as he tossed each cassette tape over his shoulder and onto the growing pile behind him. Giving up on the tapes he stood up twisted his hair between his fingers and sighed. He had thought he'd been in luck when he found an old tape player under the sink, only to realize that Chester was a country fan and not the new country either, nope, not Chester, he liked the old sixty's and seventies stuff. Stuff Nick would have loved.

With Zakk gone and Chester out in the barn he had found himself alone and board out of his mind. He would have watched TV but the only thing that would come in was the price is right so he searched for a deck of cards and ended up finding the tapes. They sat on top of a moldering stack of dusty Playboys. Next to that was a box filled with old yellowing photos of what looked like some kind of circus. Perhaps the same place the old moth-eaten tiger head that hung on the wall came from.

Stepping over the pile of tapes, he went to the window to peek from between the dirty smoke stained blinds. Nothing outside moved except for the gate that had not been able to latch for at least five years now. How depressing it all seemed, this was his most favorite time of year, he should have been going to the haunts with his friends, not holed up in this shitty trailer. Grabbing his smoke he headed for the back door, letting himself out onto the landing that had once served as a deck, and was now nothing more than a few rotted boards held up by rotting posts. If hadn't felt bad for Chester before, he sure did now, this place was a deathtrap, he wished he still had the phone Kate had given him or even access to a computer.

What use would Chester have for a computer though, in fact he was surprised the trailer had electricity and running water. The whole place looked like it might fall apart at the first strong gust of wind. He had forgotten to grab his pillow or even a blanket to sleep with and felt pretty stupid for it. He had even forgotten his lap top, leaving it on his night-stand next to a stack of Blue-Rays.

A gentle rain began to fall from the dark sky above his head. If it rained then the crowds would be down and his chances of running into anyone he knew would be slim to none. He liked those odds since he didn't want to stay cooped up for much longer.

He would have to see if he could get Zakk to drive him into the city for a while. There were quite a few large, dark clubs they could sneak into. He quickly finished his smoke, tossing it into the weeds and was suddenly cold all over. It was hard to see back here with no lights but he could have sworn he had just seen that tall dark shape again, this time moving between the trees. It spooked him enough to force himself back inside. Any thoughts of wandering around alone fled his mind and he was reminded about Mia's warning about going to Britt's party.

Maybe it was just the fact that he had been involved in something pretty horrible that made his so uneasy. He tried not to think about Chester's nephew Thane. They had never been close but Daniel had no idea that Thane would flip out and try to kill them, had he known he would not have come out that night. Thank god Zakk, grabbed a shovel and hit Thane with it or he would have been the one buried under the corn. Chester had never directly asked Daniel or Zakk about his missing nephew, he had assumed Thane had run away and as far as Daniel was concerned he had done the world a favor. Pushing the thoughts of Thane out of his mind he reached into the closet and snagged a magazine. He couldn't believe it, Betty Paige was on the cover. With a cheesy grin on his face he headed for the bathroom. Maybe this night was not a bust after all.