Adam Pearson

ADAM PEARSON

Elizabeth

It was an eerie foggy night on an endless stretch of empty highway that Ted found himself driving down for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was always the same when he took out his trash. Always the same long drive to the middle of nowhere. Always in the middle of night. This night was like most others in the small, sleepy town of Whisper Springs, Alabama. Except the thick fog. That was strange. Ted was irritable. He hadn’t been getting much sleep. He suspected the drinking wasn’t helping. He had had the radio on at first. The girl’s shrill singing gave him a headache. He turned it off. He got headaches often. This one was a real rager. He glanced at the box in the floorboard of his ‘93 plymouth for some degree of comfort. The car itself was a mess. He knew this. With a good portion of the paint job being rust and all the sides having at least one characteristic dent, it wasn’t difficult to notice. But it didn’t bother him so much. At least it moved. It moved and it hadn’t tried to leave him. He laughed at the thought. That was something at least. The moment he looked at the box he felt a measure of relief. His headache just barely began to subside. He turned to look at the road again and standing right in the middle of it just visible due to the fog was a silhouette of a woman in a white dress. Ted screamed and reactively jerked the wheel to the side, swerving out of the way. The car swerved off the road but somehow Ted managed to correct himself. He looked in his rearview mirror and saw nothing. The woman he thought he had seen had vanished. Instead replacing her were flashing red and blue lights. At this point Ted would have preferred the woman. Ted slowed down and pulled onto the side of the deserted highway, the patrol car pulling up behind him. Head throbbing once again,

Ted swallowed hard. He was willing moisture back into his mouth. He could see the officer getting out of his vehicle. He glanced at the box, at the bags, and back at the officer again. His mind was racing but had gone completely blank at the same time. All he could do was stare on in abject horror as his impending doom slowly strolled up to his window, all while shining his flashlight throughout the vehicle. When Ted was face to face with his executioner, the man, for he was a man, motioned for Ted to roll down his window. At this point Ted began to do battle with his old companion. The old Plymouth had a crank handle that was trying in the least stressful of times, but on this occasion it felt like years were passing under the intense gaze of his arbiter before the window was down a sufficient length. Ted’s hand slipped off the crank twice due to the intensity of his sweating. “License and registration.” came the monotone response to Ted’s triumphant completion of the task. It took a moment for Ted to realize that that was directed at him. The man’s eyebrow shot up over his dark sunglasses. Ted was too caught up in those very glasses to even hear the request. Why was he wearing sunglasses? Did he not realize it was night time? Upon the ascension of that very brow, Ted’s reverie snapped and he regained some of his cognitive function. He fumbled about looking for his wallet. He noticed the man began looking around while he got his papers. He tried to distract him.

“Crazy weather - this fog.” Ted tempted.

“Hmm.” came the flat reply.

“What’d you get me for anyway?” Ted said, finally securing the requested items and passing them through the window.

“You swerved off the road ...just a second ago, ” the brow once again reaching for the stars.

At this point Ted remembered the woman. “Oh yeah! There was a woman in the road!”

The brow rose, if possible, even higher. “Oh really? I didn’t see a woman.”

“Yeah I blinked and she was there. I swerved out the way to miss her and when I looked back, she was gone! Just gone. Like dust in the wind. I know it sounds crazy but I swear!”

“You been drinking tonight, Theodore?” the officer said, glancing up from the license he had begun inspecting.

“No sir. Honest.”

you?” “You wouldn’t mind taking a sobriety test for me then would

there.” “Not at all sir, but really you should check on that woman back

tight.” “I’ll go run these papers and then I’ll have a look. You just sit

Ted considered driving off the moment the officer turned around. He thought better of it. The cops could catch his old beater in its best day. The officer headed back to his car and began messing presumably with his car computer. Totally unfair that the folks that get to pull people over for bad driving get to drive around looking at a computer screen all day, Ted thought. But such is the way of the world. The ones enforcing the rules need not follow them. Just another sickness of society. Ted glanced at the box again. Then into his rearview mirror at the black bags in his back seat. He grew measurably calmer. In the mirror, he saw the officer talking on his radio looking directly at him through those black glasses. There’s no way he could see anything, Ted thought, but it still unnerved him and he lost some of his regained calm. The officer got out of the car with his flash light and walked quickly back towards Ted.

“I thought you were gonna look for that woman.” Ted said as soon as the man arrived at the window.

“I didn’t see any woman following you, and another call just came in and they need me. I’m gonna let you go with a warning tonight because you don’t seem too drunk but go home. I don’t wanna see you out here again tonight or I’ll have you walk the lines next time.”

“Yessir. Well thank you, sir. You have a good night.” Ted couldn’t believe his luck.

“Mhmm.” And he turned and walked back to his car, got in, and sped off.

It was another ten minutes before Ted felt he could actually move. He bent down and grabbed the box from the floorboard and opened it. The relief was immediate and euphoric. He slowly traced the hollow holes in the places where the eyes had been in the skull. The sensation of flesh touching bone was unlike any other. It took him back to the first time he felt the sensation. What a wonderful night that was. One of the few times he had truly felt alive. Then he remembered his trash. He thought of what might have happened if the officer had checked his car. He shivered briefly but then smiled. If he could get away like this, he didn’t think anyone could ever catch him. Then he remembered the woman from the road. In fact he remembered her very vividly. He almost thought he might have recognised the woman. When he realized he did recognize the woman, he felt an iron weight sink in his stomach. Fear gripped Ted as he realized the woman looked just like the particular owner of this skull. This first woman that had tried to leave him. Elizabeth was her name. Remembering her name, he thought he felt her gaze on the back of his neck. His eyes anxiously but grudgingly darted to the rearview mirror. Nothing. Nothing but that thick fog and the cold, black night. He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself. There was never even any woman. A woman that doesn’t exist can’t possibly look like a dead woman he tried to reason. Amidst this reasoning, a terrifying thought arose. Wait... Ted thought. Isn’t today the day I...his eyes snapped open in realization and horror and as his eyes opened they locked with the eyes of Elizabeth standing maybe thirty feet in front of his car once again. Only this wasn’t the Elizabeth he remembered. She was dripping wet. Bloated and decomposing but wearing the same white dress he buried her in. Only it was covered in filth and torn. And she had blood oozing from the corner of her mouth. And her neck hung at an odd angle, and he could see the handprints around it only they were distorted. And her muddy hair clung in wet bunches to her face and over her shoulders. He could hear her loud raspy breath mixed with gurgles of blood. Ted tried to scream but no sound would come. She began to writhe towards the car in a fit of twitchy blurry motions. On pure fear and instinct, Ted tried to back away fitfully but to no avail. As she was making her ghastly advance, suddenly the headlights on Ted’s car went out. Total, oppressive blackness. Ted looked around but could see nothing. Even the soft fluorescent shine of the clock on the radio had gone black. Ted could hear only the pounding of his own heart and the shallow breaths he dared to take. Ted sat for a few moments still, then tried the ignition to his car.

*Click* nothing.

*Click* nothing again.

Then from the passenger side, Ted heard a hauntingly familiar voice that froze the blood in his veins.

“You’re not trying to leave me? Are you, Teddy?” the voice cooed playfully.

Hearing those words with that voice petrified Ted. He dared not look towards the sound, lest actually seeing the specter made it more real. Eyes bulging, hands shaking beyond control, Ted tried the ignition once more.

And miraculously the car flared into life! Ted, spurned by the hope of his trusty Plymouth returning to life, looked to his passenger seat. It was empty. Ted glanced to the road to secure his escape, and his relief was short lived. She was there, only this time much closer. And Ted could see she was smiling, teeth covered in blood. Eyes white and vacant but nonetheless intent on him. The headlights went out again, and Ted squeezed his eyes shut and cowered into his seat. Nothing happened for a long time. Ted was unsure of how long he remained in that position. Seconds turned into minutes. Minutes to hours. He slowly opened one eye. Nothing. Apparently the lights had flickered back on at some point. But Ted didn’t really even notice. The only thing he noticed was the absence of a certain phantom. He threw the gear shift into drive and floored the accelerator, daring some poor soul to wander in front of his vehicle tonight. He didn’t bother with the trash. That could wait till tomorrow. He had had enough excitement for tonight. He sped down the highway thinking how lucky he was to be alive. Cherishing life in all of its forms. If he would have gone to finish his task, he would have run into several police officers a few miles up the road hauling several old black trash bags out of the woods, just off the side of that deserted highway. One of those officers thought those black bags reminded him of someone.