Blood Moon 2 (Haunted)

Charlene

The mountaintops appeared in the distance. From the windshield Jacob could watch the snowflakes dance seductively before becoming nothing more than a wet droplet upon his windshield. The snow seemed more vibrant than he remembered. Brighter. More inviting and happy than the dreary visits he remembered as a kid. I guess that is what a decade of sunshine and beaches will do to you.

This time he was thankful for the cabin that was left to him in his grandfather’s last will and testament. This means he has a choice, something he hasn’t had in a very long time. Jacob twists the black knob of his old am/fm radio mounted in the wood grained dashboard of his beat up Ford Pinto.

How he hated this car, it was “sturdy” at least that is what the car dealer told him years ago. That didn’t matter one bit to him. “Sturdy”. Jacob felt a burning chuckle build within him. Fact is, It was the ugliest thing he has ever seen but it ran. That was the key factor in the purchase of Charlene.

When his wife left him with a broken heart and an empty wallet, he had no choice but to move to California with his brother Jack. His new life was interesting to say the least. Jacob went from a small mountain community in Colorado where everyone knew everyone and the size of your pay check always seemed to be “just enough”.

In California, Jacob found out the hard way that carving out a living was like carving a boulder with a butterknife. After saving for two years, Jacob finally had enough for a vehicle. The only goal he had in his mind was finding one that ran and ran it did. So He sighed and grudgingly bought the hideous four door contraption and named it Charlene out of spite. After all, the car was cheap and ugly and had no problem going all over town.

Jacob banged on the dashboard with his fist, listening for the wheezing chipmunk sound his heater makes when it tries to kick on. Another bang, then another. Finally he could feel a small current of mildly warm air creep through the cracks of the vents.

The windshield immediately tried to fog up in protest. Holding the cold steering wheel tightly with his right hand, he grabs the vice grips attached to the metal crank that used to be his window. With a little effort and an endless amount of whispered obscenities he manages to roll the window down a crack, relieving the fog that currently gathered on his windshield. The blast of cold winter air was like a sucker punch to his flesh. He felt a shiver radiate through his bones and grumbled in frustration as the heater spit and sputtered and finally stopped breathing its warm breath all together.

“You can do this Jacob. Just focus on the road. Soon enough you will be cuddled up next to a large fireplace laughing about all of this.” he whispered to himself.

The snowflakes grew bigger and bigger, clumping themselves together in an ugly fashion on his windshield. He could hear the loud moaning and creaking of the wipers as they worked overtime to clear the extra weight from the windshield.

A sweet sophisticated honey drop voice comes from the speakers. The kind of voice he envisions his next wife shall have, granted if his next wife isn’t anything like Charlene used to be. Then he thinks briefly about how much more peaceful his life would be if he was in the mountains alone without a care in the world. That was it! He would put off dating just a little longer, enjoy the second chance he was granted.

His daydream was cut short by a manly husky voice. A bulletin. Jacob instinctively reaches down and turns up the volume.

“That’s right folks, Interstate 54 is now closed. Another three inches of snow is predicted for Northwest Colorado. We have just been informed that Interstate 67 is closed now as well due to increment weather. The temperature is supposed to fall to a grizzly negative twelve degrees by morning and we encourage people to stay inside until the blizzard has passed.”