The Haunted Traveler December 2017 Edition

“Tall, brown hair. She came in a little while ago to pay for the gas.” Jenny noticed that
the woman had exceptionally long fingernails, painted black and filed into sharp points.
The woman nodded. “Oh yes. She’s here.”
“Where is she?”
The woman smiled at the motorcycle man and then leaned her body over the counter
so her face was just inches from Jenny’s. “She’s in the bathroom,” she whispered.
Jenny backed away from the foul stench of the woman’s breath.
“Turn right just past the bar.”
Jenny started walking and suddenly there were people she hadn’t seen before
streaming past her in both directions. Women holding toddlers, men holding the hands
of little boys, men walking with their arms draped around the shoulders of women, girls
and boys of all ages. They were dirty and dusty, all of them, and their eyes were nothing
but dark circles and not one of them spoke or smiled. They jostled her from side to
side and with each step hands groped at her. She spun around trying to get her bearings.
“I’ll show you the way, shall I?” the woman said.
Jenny followed and as they neared the end of the bar, the woman stopped. Jenny
stumbled straight into her and immediately backed up, again stepping on the toes of the
motorcycle man. He placed his hands on her shoulders.
“Now, sugar,” the woman said. “You look like a smart girl.”
Jenny squirmed under the grip of the man’s hands.
“You know you’re not leaving, right?”
Jenny looked from side to side.
“Once you come in, there’s no way out.”
Her heart thumped wildly in her chest.
‘Isn’t that right?” the woman asked.
The motorcycle man chuckled.
Panic spread throughout Jenny’s body. Despite her wriggling, the man held her firmly
in place. She looked at the crowd of people and saw that everyone now stood still,
staring at her with empty eyes. She scanned the faces for her mother, for Kathy, for
Margo.
“Where’s my mom?” Jenny started to cry.
The woman dragged her hand through her hair. “It’s as I told you before,” she said.
“She’s in the bathroom.”
Jenny turned her face to the side to avoid breathing in the woman’s rancid breath.
“Now, we can do this one of two ways: the hard way or the easy way. Which would
you prefer?”
Jenny’s stomach churned. “I want my mom.”
The woman took a deep breath and appeared to grow taller. The building also seemed
to swell in size, as if it, too, was sucking in air.
The woman reared her head back, ran her long fingernails through her hair, screwed
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