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The Haunted Traveler December 2017 Edition

This roaming anthology seeks the underground shocking tales of emerging and established authors. The Haunted Traveler is an online magazine that features terrifying tales that will keep you up for days.

This roaming anthology seeks the underground shocking tales of emerging and established authors. The Haunted Traveler is an online magazine that features terrifying tales that will keep you up for days.

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53<br />

Gideon and his Ax<br />

Brett Grinnell<br />

“Perfect,” Scott muttered to himself. “Of course this would happen.”<br />

He slouched in the drivers’ seat of his parked Camry, half-eaten Payday bar in hand,<br />

as he shook his head. A message blinked on the dashboard console, informing Scott<br />

that his Camry had suffered an ENGINE MALFUNCTION and that he should<br />

CONTACT DEALER.<br />

“I know,” he mumbled. <strong>The</strong> message blinked on and off as it had for the past<br />

fifteen minutes, when it caused Scott to first pull over. He glanced over at a scrap of<br />

notepaper on the passenger seat with the words BRANTLEY COUNTY HILTON –<br />

CONTRACT WITH ELKINS - 9:00PM scrawled across, noting the black line that ran<br />

underneath the 9:00pm.<br />

“Right after I tell Elkins he’ll have to sign in the morning.” Scott shook his head as he<br />

gazed absently out the window. Who the hell schedules a business meeting at 9 at night?<br />

He would have used the cell phone that lay beside the scrap paper on the passenger<br />

seat to call Elkins and then the dealership, but the phone was also dead, as the fancy car<br />

charger he bought specifically for this trip somehow seemed to steal juice rather than<br />

give. Or maybe Scott didn’t connect the charger correctly. Which is probably what happened.<br />

Whatever the issue, a red X slashed through the battery icon on the phone’s otherwise<br />

blank screen. He wasn’t calling anyone anytime soon.<br />

Peering through the windshield Scott could make out trees, or what he thought were<br />

trees. It was hard to see with the moon behind the clouds, the Camry’s emergency<br />

blinkers the only source of light on the road. He assumed they were trees because that

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