OddityVille: Harrowing Hills (Book Two)

Chapter Seven: Numb

    
The morning sun's warmth blankets the world below and encourages flowers of all sorts to show their colorful petals. Birds chirp and tweet about as they fly between branches in search of food, and fish in the river poke up to the surface, pulling in unsuspecting beetles that dance across the waters. A breeze pushes against each blade of grass as it crosses the campgrounds, doing the same with Ashley's thick hair.

She stirs about, raising a hand to block the sun from blinding her as she sits up. Every sound she hears and image she sees between each blink confuses her more. It is the first time the site truly looked peaceful and lively to her, but also barren. She awakens on the ground, with the tent no longer protecting her. She scans over the plateau several times, but nothing changes. All four tents are gone, the log she had moved was put back in the place she found it, the fire pit is completely empty, exposing the smudged dirt it had sat on throughout the weekend, and Cody's truck is missing. She clears the sleep from her eyes and stands up to stretch her sore back. All the food that was left over and the cooler it was stored in have vanished. She stumbles a bit as she searches for clues on where it all want, but comes up empty-handed. She then shiveres and takes a step forward.

Clink! Looking down at what her foot had hit, she finds a bottle. Unlike those that she and most of the others had drank from, this one has a blue banner around the body. She lifts it off the ground and brushes dirt away from the opening. Then, she shakes it and listens as something else rattles around inside. Tipping it upside down and putting a hand underneath, she catches a car key as it falls out. Even more confused, she looks back toward where the truck had been and sees her own vehicle still parked just beyond the pathway entrance. Her heart leaps as alleviation sets in and she drops the bottle. Clinging onto the key as she approaches the car, expecting almost anything to stop her from getting in, she is surprised when nothing does. As she pulls the door shut and puts the key in the ignition, every tear she has been holding back lets loose as the engine comes to life. Turning the wheel to its full rotation, she taps the gas and the vehicle starts moving.

The trip back out seems much shorter to her than it had been the last time, but still, the experiences of that weekend makes it feel long. She stops the car when she reaches where the bug had flipped and stares out the window. The turned-over vehicle is gone as well, but the rock still proves it had been there; as the surface is riddled with scuff marks and dark lines. Ashley loses track of how long she has been sitting here until the phone in her pocket buzzes. She jumps and pulls it out to see a 10% battery warning. Beneath the warning is another notification:

    
"Signal restored. Calls and texts can now be made."

    
She sighs, puts the phone back in her pocket, and glances up at the fence blocking her path. She then throws the car in reverse, looks over her shoulder, and pauses. Sitting on the backseat is the same pair of wire cutters Mike had used before. Moving as quickly as she can, Ashley grabs the cutters, climbs over the fence, and breaks the lock. As both sides of the gate swing open, she sprints back to the car and hops in, never having shut it off. She presses the gas and tears up more of the dirt road before the tires met with blacktop.

As the car rolls down the backstreet, Ashley replays the weekend in her head over and over, not understanding exactly why she was given the chance to leave, but also not wanting to question it. Eventually, she comes upon a gas station and decides it would be the best time to call the police. She whips the car up to a pump, giving the only other vehicle there some room ahead of her, and puts it in park as she pulls her phone back out, but stops when she hears something small but heavy thud against the inside of the trunk, leaving a metallic echo in its wake. Curious, she gets out and stuffs her key into the lock. She then cranks it and opens the hatch. Her phone falls free and shatters against the cracked concrete lot. A balding old man ahead of her watches carefully as he pumps his gas. Ashley looks over the contents in disbelief before noticing that- with what teeth he still has- the elder is grinning at her. Only then does she pay any attention to his vehicle. It was an old, red, diesel truck. Ashley's hands shake as he wraps around the front of it and opens his door to get in. She runs her eyes over his attire and then back at the open hatch. The black robe hung loosely around his legs and the rope tightly around his waist as he sat inside, still grinning.

"I hope they fit you well." With this note, the man shuts his door and starts the truck. Black vapor spits from the exhaust as he drives off, leaving Ashley where she stands and terrified of what is next to come.