The Pale Man Rises

CHAPTER FORTY ONE

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The Southeast American Bus bound for Wilmington, North Carolina left the city of Sayerville at exactly 8:03 pm. It would leave the city by way of NC State Road 18 and at exactly 8:45 pm, it was scheduled to pull in at the Crawford Town Café, which was the first stop on its route to the quaint, historic, small port city on the Atlantic coast.

The passengers were extraordinarily quiet. Of course such silence is expected when a number of strangers are gathered together in one locale and especially if they are travelers together. But usually one might soon expect to hear the first few awkward attempts at conversation that always arise as people try to get acquainted with each other, but not this night.

The neon, glass, and Christmas lights floated by as the bus navigated the narrow streets headed for the intersection, which led to NC 18 and beyond the city limits of Sayerville. When the bus at last eased into the flow of traffic on NC 18 one could see a large green sign whose reflected letters read CRAWFORD TOWN 40 MILES WILMINGTON 110 MILES.

The soldier on the left side of the bus near the rear continued to sleep. When the bus began maneuvering out of its space at the terminal he awoke briefly as if acknowledging the fact that they were at last on their way. But just as quickly as he was aroused he was once again asleep. Behind him in the last seat the two pale men sat. The engine beneath them churned loudly as it transported them onward.

The man in black sat on the outside portion of the seat next to the door of the restroom. He sat erect, his back not touching the backrest of the seat. He had his hands on his knees suggesting that he was in a position that would allow him to quickly rise if he chose to. The other man sat pressed against the window. He kept his head bent forward and breathed through the space between the seat before him and the glass. The others on the bus could hear the slight hitch of breathing, but none of them dared turn to see what it was all about. Most just silently pleaded that nothing would happen. They sat ill at ease and urged the bus on to their destinations.

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At last the noise ceased. The man in black had reached out with his large left hand and took the captive once again by the nape of the neck. A soft whimpering escaped as the master applied some pressure. He pulled the captive to him face to face as he had done at the murdered woman's car. He placed his right index finger to his lips. "Shhhh."

A female voice cautioned. The beast squeezed the captive's neck even tighter in his vise like grip. And then he unceremoniously tossed Reese back into the corner of the seat. Reese now cowered like a child reprimanded by a terrible father.

So now it was totally quiet, save for the hum of the engine, in the bus and the passengers gratefully tried to relax. The bus rushed down the corridor of Highway 18 now in seeming harmony. But still no one looked about and no one spoke. Not even the driver dared looked in the mirror to the rear as he was supposed to do at various times during a trip.

He could remember those vicious alluring eyes at the terminal. "We wish to ride?" The pale man had said to him. He had not answered. He simply shook his head once informing the two of them that they could board the bus. And as they breached the door of the bus he tried to shake off the dreary, throbbing, pain, which he began to feel, almost instantly, when the pale man stared at him with those loathsome yellow eyes.

He knew if he had peered into them much longer his mind would have surrendered to them he would have been like a sculptor's clay in the pale man's hands to be bent at his will. He would have no longer been master of his being and doubted if he could have even driven the bus in that condition.

Cars and trucks zoomed past in the opposite lanes of the road. Other cars passed in the outside lane in their direction and sometimes the bus ran up on other vehicles, which were going so slow that the bus itself was compelled to pass them. It remained dark; no one chose to engage the overhead lights the seats held which enabled the passengers to read if they wished. Only when some light from the highway or other vehicles dipped into the space was any seen. And it was faint and transient never lasting more than a few seconds.