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In - Chapter 1

…so that’s how it happened.

It was the scratching that woke Jack up. The scratching and the shuffling. He glanced over toward the right where Emily, his girlfriend, sat rummaging through her backpack.

“Hon,” He asked, eyes half closed. Emily’s whole body jerked in shock at the sudden sound. She looked up at him wide eyed. “What’re you doing?”

“I’m hungry.” She replied meekly, holding up her backpack. “Was I being too loud?”

“Nah, I like being woken before daylight.” Sarcasm dripping. He yawned and scratched his stomach through the blanket.

The windows had iced over during the night, though the darkness was still prevalent outside. Jack couldn’t even see the trees on the side of the road. Or even the road for that matter.

Jack shuddered beneath the blanket as he sat in the drivers seat. He wished that they’d decided to stop at a motel or something, but they didn’t have enough for a room between the four of them. Both Marie and Craig were sleeping in the backseats, rounding off the group of poor college students.

It had been Marie’s idea in the first place to take a road trip up north. She said she’d had enough money saved up from her job to just make a quick three-day weekend trip to Seattle. The city was fun, and the motel nice and warm. But none of them had realized that they needed to save money for the trip home as well. And, well, now…

Marie stirred. “What’s going on?” She asked tiredly, not bothering to open her eyes.

Emily turned in her seat. “Was I really that loud?”

Marie smiled and rested her arm over her eyes. Emily took a bite off her granola bar then offered it to Jack.

“Bite?”

“I’m cool,” he stated dryly. He rubbed his hands together gingerly and started the car. The ensuing blast of warm air from the vents was a welcome relief from the burning cold that had set on his face over the night. It almost literally felt like his face was melting, and that felt good.

Emily let out a sigh of contentment. “I was hoping you’d do that.” Marie sat up in her seat and leaned forward, bathing herself in warmth.

“Of all the gods, technology is my favorite.” She said with a content smile.

Emily laughed. Jack just gave her a peculiar sideways glance. Craig, meanwhile, softly snored in the back of the van, huddled in his sleeping bag.

The ice veneer on the car slowly began to melt away as color returned to their faces. Nobody said anything. Emily sat in her seat crunching on her granola bar while Marie rested her head on Jack’s shoulder. Jack did everything he could to try and get more rest.

Marie didn’t seem to notice though. “How much longer ‘til we hit L.A?” She asked softly.

Emily shrugged. “I don’t even know where we are now.”

“Not too far from Napa.” Jack murmured sleepily.

“That’s, what, maybe six hours from home?”

Jack shrugged, disrupting Marie’s head-on-shoulder comfort. She groaned. “Shouldn’t we just get going if it’s that close?” He shrugged again, she groaned.

“We might as well get going if it’s that close,” said Emily. “If you’re that tired I can drive. I’m totally awake and alive.”

Jack sat there in a moment of silence. “Nah, I’ll do it.” He groaned as he sat up straight in his seat and rubbed his face.

“You sure? I mean, I-”

“I can do it.”

“...Okay.”




The road was eerily lonesome as they drove along. The air had a certain thickness to it too. The whole setting just seemed eerie and wrong, in its own way. The group drove along in uncomfortable silence.

“What time is it?” Marie’s sudden intrusion on the silence didn’t so much scare the other two who were awake; it just seemed… unnerving.

Emily pulled out here cell phone. “Um… Ah shit, battery’s dead. Where’s your phone, honey?” She asked Jack.

It didn’t feel right to speak.

“It’s in the back.”

It seemed like they were breaking some sort of cardinal rule by doing so.

“Where in the back?” Marie asked.

As if they were disturbing existence.

“I don’t fuckin’ know. It’s in my pack.”

But they couldn’t stop, it felt like they were acting out a part in a play and couldn’t stop.

“Where’s your bag, then?”

Like a bad dream.

“I don’t know, look behind you.” He said, turning in his seat.

A premonition.

“Jack! Watch out!”

He turned his eyes back on the road just in time to feel the van hit something and roll over it. He slammed on the breaks bringing the van to a skidding stop. Yells filled the car as everyone was thrown about.

“What the shit was that about?!” Craig asked from the vans floor, rubbing his head.

Tense silence.

He pulled himself back up into the seat. “Seriously-”

“Craig, shut up!” Jack screamed.

“Dude-”

“Shut up! Just shut up!” He hit the steering wheel with the palms of his hands. “Is everyone okay?”

Emily nodded, her hands over her mouth and her eyes gone wide, while Marie grunted. Craig sat in the back, bewildered.

Jack put his hand on the door handle and hesitated. He didn’t want to know what he hit. Whatever it was had to be pretty big, there was a painful looking dent in the cars hood. After a moment of silence he opened the door and stepped out.

Emily sat motionless, tears in her eyes. Marie leaned up and awkwardly hugged her from behind. “Ems? Are you okay?”

She shook her head. Jack had walked around to the front of the car and stood there, hand to mouth.

Emily sniffed. “It was a little boy.”

“Oh my god,” Craig whispered. He peeked out the back window cautiously, but the ice was still too thick to see. But there was a tinge of red noticeable on the road. A sick feeling crept up behind his jaw.

The three watched as Jack made his way to the back of the van. Marie caught his eye for a moment as he walked along the side and felt a knot in her stomach.

There was a moment that none of them could see Jack through the iced over windows. Their muscles tensed up as every second passed. Craig glanced back toward Marie and Emily briefly with a questioning look.

“There’s nothing there.” Jack said as he opened the door, making the three of them jump. Jack didn’t notice. “I mean, there’s… there’s blood, for sure. But nobody- I mean, nothing there.”

He stared forward for a moment. His face was set and emotionless. “No foot steps around it either.”

“Did you check under the car?” Emily offered.

Jack stared at her with a dumb founded look. “Of course I fucking looked under the car. What do you think took me so long?” He turned forward again and put his head against the steering wheel.

They sat in silence.

Marie cleared her throat. “I saw a house back down the road.” She paused awaiting objections. “Maybe… we should call the cops.”

Jack squeezed his eye tight.

Craig spoke up. “Jack, we can’t-”

“I know we can’t, Craig.” Jack snapped. “We have to call the police, I know.” He paused. “I’m just scared, okay?”

Emily leaned in and hugged him.

“How far was the house, Marie?” He asked after a moment.

“Not far.”

“What about the kid?” Emily demanded, agitated. She was shaken up and a pale in the cheeks.

Jack turned the key for the engine bringing the van to life. “He’s not there.”

“He has to be-”

“Back the other way, right Marie?”

“Jack!”

“Emily!” He slammed his fist on the steering wheel. “He’s not there, damnit. He’s not fucking there, I saw for myself. You can go check for yourself if you want, but he’s not there!”

“But the blood…” Craig interjected.

“There’s blood. There’s a shit ton of blood, but there’s no one, nothing there. There’s no foot prints, no body, and nothing underneath. There’s no one there.” He turned toward Marie. “Back down the road, right?”




Craig volunteered to go knock on the door with Jack. The lights were off and in any other situation Jack would feel bad about disrupting the peace within the home. He glanced back at the van once before turning toward Craig.

“You want the honor, or should I?” Craig took a polite step backward and gestured for Jack to take the lead.

Jack took a deep breath and rapped on the door. He waited for a moment, listening. Craig’s rhythmic breathing was the only thing filling the silence.

He knocked again, more urgently, and waited.

The two exchanged glances. Craig shrugged and raised a hand to knock on the door.

“Who’s there?” Came a woman’s voice from inside. Craig froze mid strike.

“Uh- Sorry to wake you up, but there’s been an accident.”

There was a pause. “What kind of accident?”

“We hit someone,” Craig said. Jack hit him and gave him an annoyed look. Craig ignored him. “I mean, we think we did. There was no one there when we looked.”

“You didn’t see the person you hit?” The woman on the other side of the door asked suspiciously.

“No-”

“It’s dark,” Jack interrupted. “Only one of us saw them just before we hit ‘em. But what he means is that when I got out of the car to see if they were okay, there was no one there.”

There was a long pause. The two exchanged glances again.

“What do you want me to do?” She asked.

“Could we use your phone, please?” Craig replied, hopeful.

“I know this is weird,” Jack interjected. “But if you want you can call the cops for us, we can wait out by the van. We aren’t lying or anything, we just need to tell them what happened.”

There was a long silence behind the door. The two of them exchanged glances.

“Ma’am?”

“I’ll call the cops.” She trailed off as she moved away from the door.

Jack looked at the other man. “Does that mean we should go back to the van?” Craig shrugged and hesitated before turning heel and heading back for the van; Jack not far behind.




“What happened?” Marie asked as they got into the vehicle.

Jack shook off the cold as he closed the van’s door. “We wait here.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Did you talk to her?”

“She’s calling the cops.”

“Ah,” she sighed. “Well that’s good. When you were out there Emily remembered about our phones,” Jack gave her a confused look. “Don’t freak too hard. None of them work.” She held it up to illustrate her point then tossed it back into the bag. “I knew we should have brought the chargers.”

“Why didn’t anyone remember the phones when we were still over there?” Craig asked.

She shrugged. “Stress?” She offered. No one spoke.

Jack rested his head on the steering wheel, Emily leaning against him stroking his arm. Craig and Marie sat next to each other without actually being near each other. Marie drummed her fingers on the back of the chair.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She watched the house. The lights were still off, nearly camouflaging it against the woods behind it in the dark.

“I wonder if they’re coming.” She asked, breaking the silence.

Emily raised her hand toward the front window. “They’re here.”

Everyone looked.

“That was fast.”




“Well, holy shit. That’s a big mess.” Officer James strode down the middle of the road toward the red streak, his car lights shining down on it. “You sure you hit someone?”

Jack nodded, mostly to himself. “Yeah. I mean, I think I-”

“-didn’t see for yourself.” Officer James finished. He nodded. “You mentioned that. But you said one of your friends did?”

Jack nodded. “Emily.”

“Right. And you were driving?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And why weren’t you watching the road?” He squatted down beside the streak, analyzing the scene.

“I only took my eyes off for a second.”

“That’s all it takes, kiddo.”

Jack nodded. “I know. I know, I really didn’t mean for it to happen.”

Officer James stood up and adjusted his jacket. “And you say you stopped right after?”

“Yes, sir.”

“No body.”

“Nothing.”

Officer James nodded and turned back to look at the frozen blood in the road.

“I swear.” Jack hesitated before continuing. “There weren’t any foot prints-”

“Or blood leading away.” Officer James offered.

“No. Nothing. I didn’t know what to do. That’s why we called for you.”

Officer James turned back toward the vehicles down the road. “Come with me to my car.”

Officer James opened the car door and ducked inside, motioning for Jack to follow suit. “Hope you don’t mind,” said the officer. “Much warmer in here.”

Jack shook is head. “Nah, it’s okay. Didn’t really wanna be out there anyway.”

Officer James nodded. “Okay, so here’s how it is. I’m gonna need to bring you lot back to the station with me, okay?” Jack nodded. “You’re not under arrest. For all we really know, there hasn’t been a crime here. There’s no evidence-” Jack began to protest but Officer James waved him back. “There’s no body, and although something’s obviously happened by the looks of your car we really don’t have much else.”

Jack nodded and looked down at the dashboard. Officer James ruffled through some papers and jotted down a few notes under the flashlight.

“Now,” continued Officer James. “here’s what we’re gonna do. You go ahead and get back in your van and follow me down to the station, okay? And we’ll spend some time filling out reports. I know it’s not a proper way to spend a Sunday, but soon as everything’s situated you can get ahead on your way.”

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. “Just like that?”

“Yeah,” Then he shook his head. “I mean, no. We’ll have all your information. Hopefully you brought your I.D.s?” He glanced at Jack expectantly for a second, and then looked back down at his work. “Okay. So just go ahead and head back to your van. I’ll lead the way.”

Jack stepped out of the car and began treading back toward his van. Officer James rolled down the window and hollered out to him. “Keep close, okay? These roads get windy and you can easily get lost if you don’t know the way.”

Jack turned and nodded then got into his van.

Emily turned to him. “Something wrong?” He shook his head. “What’re we gonna do then?”

“We’re going with him.”

Emily nodded.




The two cars traveled back down the road back up the way they had come from. The ride was silent, Jack staying hunched over the steering wheel. Emily kept a worried gaze on him, never wavering. She had a diligent look of caution, if not fear or even protection.

Craig had taken up his spot lying in the far backseat, resting his arm over his eyes.

Marie kept her eyes on the world outside of the van though. She watched the trees pass outside in the dark world. Her mind couldn’t work out what was going on. It felt as if she were dreaming, that this wasn’t happening to her.

They passed a house. The same house they had stopped at earlier. A light shone through a window this time around.