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Small drops of water began falling onto his windshield as Jameson passed the advertisement for a "We bare all" Café, a Wafflehouse, and a Shell gas station posted on the coming exit sign. He glanced at his fuel gauge, which informed him that he still had a quarter tank, but he decided he might as well fill up anyways. Michael Jackson finished singing "Thriller" and Jameson looked down at the clock, twelve thirty six it read. Another two hours or so and he would finally reach the campground. He'd probably crash in DJ's tent for the night and set his own up the next day. He was exhausted and did not have the patience to set up his tent in the darkness with only his flashlight to push the blackness of the dense forest back.

The Explorer's headlights lighted the old faded street sign telling Jameson that he would need to exit in the next mile if he still wanted to fill his tank. The rain was falling a little harder now so he flicked his wipers onto the second setting, which was more than enough to clear away the droplets.

Jameson took the exit when it came and wound around to a small street that was barely lit. He drove for a few moments before spotting the large glowing shell about two miles ahead. The rain was falling harder now, so he flicked the wiper control up once more.

The gas station was old and worn down. The pumps were caked with dirt, oil, gas, and rust all mixed into one. He swiped his card and was prepared to be met with an error sign, but was happy to see "Accepted" blinking at him on the LCD screen. The pump clicked and shut itself off, he returned the nozzle to its resting place and shut his gas cap. After filling his tank, a quick glance at little convenience mart told him it was open. A little caffeine would definitely be a good idea, so Jameson walked up to the little window that gas stations opened up when they had shut and locked the front door for the evening.

The overweight woman behind the counter was reading some kind of hunting and outdoor sports magazine when he reached the window, and he had to tap on it to get her attention. He smiled at her as they made eye contact.

"A coke please."

The woman eyed him for a few seconds before responding, "Whas'ize?" Several of her teeth had rotted out of her mouth, and no doubt a couple more had been knocked out. The few she had left were nicotine stained and rotted.

"Uh, I guess just the regular eight ounce one or whatever it is."

The women let her magazine fall to the desk as she turned her back to him and shuffled to the back refrigerators. Jameson looked down at the magazine and read the title written in bold lettering on the opened page, "Wild Bucks". The woman returned with his coke before he got the chance to read much more about the mating habits of wild deer.

"Two dollars," the woman grunted in her almost male voice, her teeth rearing themselves once more.

"Pardon?"

"Said two dollars, boy."

"Christ, for two dollars that better be the coke with actual cocaine in it."

The woman stared at him, obviously not getting the reference to the original Coca-Cola. Jameson sighed and slipped two ones through the little slit in the bottom of the no doubt bullet proof glass.

******

            By the time Jameson got back onto the road, the rain was falling so hard the wipers had a hard time keeping the window clear. He had to move considerably slower than the posted 75mph. He glanced at the clock again and noted that it was now almost 1:00, by the time he got to the campground; if the rain didn't clear up, it would be nearly 4:00. He sped up a little bit more, refusing the let the rain hinder him too much. The upside was that he was at least safe inside his car and away from the rain instead of huddling inside a tent and praying that he wasn't at the bottom of a run-off.

By the time ACDC got done screeching "Highway to Hell" followed by a number by some nameless death metal band, the rain had worsened even more. He'd slowed down to nearly 35mph and could still barely see. Jameson knew that before long, the poorly lit road would start weaving and curving around like a snake. It would be incredibly dangerous to drive in this kind of rain through those switchbacks; he really wasn't in the mood to wrap his car around a tree and die in some kind of accident.

" ******* rain," he swore out loud over the radio.

Despite his better judgment, he kept pushing through hoping that the storm would subside. A jagged bolt of lightning, accompanied with a massive crack of thunder, lit up the sky and the surrounding area. His Explorer had drifted off the road and was splashing through the muck at the edge of the forest. He jerked his steering wheel hard to the left and back onto the road. He must have hit an especially wet spot because he lost control of the Explorer and began fishtailing. Jameson spun his wheel back and forth and took his foot off the gas in an effort to bring his vehicle back into control. Slowly the sliding back end settled down and cooperated as the Explorer slowed down to just coasting. He stopped and took several breaths before deciding that he should get off the road and wait out the storm.

He pulled his Explorer slowly over to the shoulder and went another fifteen feet away from the road before sliding the shift into park. If it was possible, the rain seemed to be coming down even harder than before. Lighting and thunder struck, lighting up the sky and cracking like a shotgun all at the same time. During the flashes, Jameson could see the forest to his right side still about fifty paces away, but could not see the road to his left.

Jameson sat for a few minutes listening to the radio, crackling from all of the electrical interference he assumed, before turning the ignition so only the radio would be on. Lightning and thunder continued their song and the rain fell without surcease. The radio finally lost its battle with the storm and turned to hissing with an occasional pop. He turned it off and dug his cell phone out of the pocket of his blue jeans. "No signal" was posted on the screen.

"Damnit. Piece of ****." He set the alarm on the phone for thirty minutes before tossing it onto the passenger seat and leaned his own back. It was difficult to fall asleep with the slamming of the thunder and the flashing light, let alone the hammering on his Explorer from the rain, but he finally did doze.

******

            Jameson was yanked out of his sleep and startled enough to smack his knees on the steering wheel. " ****!"

It sounded as if something large and heavy had hit his Explorer and caused the entire vehicle to rattle on its suspension. In a panic he looked at his doors and saw they were all in the locked position. He looked to the windows but could not see out. From all the moisture and the lack of air movement, the windows were completely fogged. He sat as still as he could for several minutes and tried to listen over the pattering of the rain on his roof and hood. Several minutes passed and he still heard nothing. Must have been some stupid animal, blinded by the rain, running into his car; probably a deer. There were a lot of them in this area.

He sat back into the seat and closed his eyes again. Just before he dozed off, a loud ringing sounded from the passenger seat made his heart skip a beat. Jameson jumped and fumbled for the phone; he finally found it and despite his unsteady hands, managed to turn it off. He dropped the phone back onto the seat, leaned back again, and laughed at himself.

Even over the rain he was able to hear the screeching at the passenger side door of the Explorer. It sounded as if a roofing nail was being drug across the outside of the door. The screeching continued, moving around to the front, over to his side and around the back before stopping right where it had started. His blood ran ice cold in his veins and his pulse quickened. He squinted at the windows, trying to make out some kind of shape but they were too heavily fogged.

The thunder and lighting still continued, Jameson wondered if he were in the middle of some kind of tropical storm. Outside of his window he could hear the soft sounds of movement in the grass. He froze into statue-like stillness and focused on the outside noises. There was definitely something out there. Curiosity got the best of him and he decided to wipe a small portion of the condensation off of the driver's side window. He took his hand and wiped a hand sized space clear of the obstructing fog. He peered out the window nervously and waited for another flash of lightning to illuminate the area enough for him to see.

The rain slammed against the vehicle mercilessly but no lightning flashed. He still heard the movement sounds around the outside of his door and every now and then heard light clicking against the metal.

Finally, lightning struck and the sky lit up. Jameson looked out of the small peephole he made in the fogged window for whatever it was outside.

His heart leapt into his throat and his blood curdled in his veins. Against the window lay a long, thing fingered hand, twice the size of a normal persons, and albino white. The long fingers ended in talon like nails which clicked against the window as the fingers moved over the smooth surface. The hand covered the clear space Jameson had made obstructing his view. He decided against wiping more away, he didn't want to see what was out there.

Terrified into action, he reached for the keys, fumbling several times but finally turned them bringing the car to life with a roar. He slammed the Explorer into drive and pressed his foot hard against the gas pedal. The car engine hummed and the tires spun in place but the SUV didn't budge. Panicking, Jameson pressed the pedal down farther but was met with the same result. The wheels must be stuck in the mud.

When he had turned on the Explorer, the air conditioning came on with it and was now circulating the air, clearing some of the fog and exposing another hand on his windshield. Even with the clearing windows the rain and the darkness were too oppressive to expose whatever it was outside. Suddenly, the entire Explorer began to shake back and forth. Jameson could see the muscles in the thin fingers working to grip the smooth surfaces, the nails gouging small scratches into the glass when the hands slipped some. Back and forth the rocking continued worsening each second. The only clear thought in Jameson's head was the fear of the Explorer tipping over.

He slammed both of his hands down onto the horn and held it down, hoping to scare the creature away. And as suddenly as the rocking began, it stopped and the hands disappeared, leaving more small scratches as they were hastily removed. Jameson took his hands off of the horn, satisfied that he'd scared it away, and leaned back in his seat taking deep breaths to try and calm himself down.

While looking out of the windshield and examining the tiny scratches left from the encounter, he looked out and saw as the pale long fingered hand, now clenched into a fist, descended down and onto the windshield. The glass bucked, cracks spidering out from the point of impact and the fist was removed only to come again in the same spot. The windshield gave further and more cracks formed. Small chips of glass flew into Jameson's lap with the impacts. The fist rose and fell repeatedly until the windshield had nearly caved in and water trickled through into the interior of the vehicle.

Knowing that the windshield couldn't stand much more, Jameson unbuckled his seat belt, scrambled into the back seat and curled into a ball; sitting sideways in the seat, his feet on the fabric and his knees against his chin.

The pounding finally stopped and after the overwhelming impacts the silence was deafening, even over the rain. Several minutes passed and nothing else was heard over the steadily falling rain and the occasional crack of thunder. Jameson wondered if the creature had given up and left. He waited a little longer just to be sure. Still nothing. It seemed as if the rain was finally lessening. The flashes of the lighting weren't followed as quickly by the thunder. Jameson counted between the flashes and cracks, each time they grew a little further apart. The storm was definitely moving away, but the rain was still falling hard even if it had slowed a little.

Jameson unraveled himself and as silently and quickly as he could, he climbed back into the driver's seat preparing to make his get away but remembered that the tires would still be stuck. The engine was still running and Jameson realized that he had left it in drive; he tapped the gas pedal and prayed for some movement. The Explorer hummed and the tires still spun. He pressed a little harder. The SUV jerked forward a couple of inches sending a wave of hope through Jameson. Emboldened by the small success, he pressed the wheel harder, hoping the Explorer would jump out of its bind. The wheels caught and he began moving forward but before he could completely escape, the SUV was hit hard against the driver's side back seat and the vehicle was sent into a tilt.

The SUV crashed down onto the muddy ground and rolled over onto its roof, before coming to a stop. Mud began flowing into the now completely shattered windshield, and was seeping in through the side windows. The metal groaned and the glass gave under the pressure, the side windows popped, sending bits of glass flying. Even more mud and water flowed into the upside-down SUV, creating a small pool.

Jameson inhaled water and was brought out of his daze by a fit of coughing and gagging. Panicked, he thrashed and flailed around in the pooling water. The fear of whatever it was outside forced him to pause, his breathing heavy. The metal groaned again. He knew he had to get out, out there, in the dark and in the rain. Jameson crawled through the broken windshield, cutting his hands and knees on the broken glass, small rivers of blood mixing with the water and mud. He cleared the SUV, stood on shaky legs and tried to run. Stumbling and slipping in the mud, he swiveled his head in every direction, looking for it.

But it was too dark to see, and the rain only made it worse. When the lightning flashed, it was too late to see the long, slender fingered hand reach out to grab Jameson; the hand coming down on top of his head and the fingers folding down over his eyes, the nails dug into his soft flesh as the fingers squeezed. Pain and terror made Jameson's vision swim and blur until his brain shut off, plunging him into darkness.

Keyword: Storms Monsters Night Rain

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Posted by meeces04 2008-02-27 13:34:15 .... I thought it was excellent! I was on the edge of my seat through the entire thing + Report this comment

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