The Haunted Traveler December 2017 Edition

124
Running
Amber Cook
They were following her.
She pressed her foot harder against the accelerator, propelling the car forward into
the dark night. Rain drops pounded on the windshield, making a blurry mess of her
vision and pushing her driving closer to reckless. Inside the car, it was freezing. She
reached down to turn up the heat, feeling a shiver vibrate the length of her spine.
Why had she done it? Boredom, maybe. Stupidity seemed to be the more probable
answer. They said it was a joke, just a handed down urban legend passed from high
school senior to high school freshman for twenty years or more. There was no truth to
it, no foundation to the rumors. At least, that’s what she had always been led to believe.
The trees were flying by her in rapid succession. One after the other, blending
together into a blurred cacophony of leaves and bark that made her head spin as she
struggled to keep her eyes focused on the road. The speedometer inched up, creeping
closer and closer to the eighty mile per hour mark. It was too fast for the rural, winding
road. Thirty miles per hour was too fast, but she was traveling at a dangerous, break
neck speed. Her fingers curled around the leather wrapped wheel, blanching white at
the knuckles as her grip tightened. She just had to get home. She just had to get away
from that road.
Why didn’t she say no? Why didn’t she laugh off the suggestion of her friends and
forget the whole thing? If she had, maybe she wouldn’t have seen the things she had
seen. Maybe she wouldn’t be speeding towards home, terrified into the deep, inner pits
of her stomach.