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BENEATH
A short storyByJack Bush
 
The blaring of the horn shocks Susan awake.Snapping her eyes open, she is instantly blinded by the headlights of the oncomingtruck. Going only by instinct, she wrenches the steering wheel, swerving the car back to her side of the road, as the truck passes only inches from her wing mirror and the blaring horn echoes into the night, mixed with a shout of profanity from the driver.Susan eases her foot off the gas pedal, slowing her speed as she gasps in a lungful of air and lets it out with a long sigh.‘Jesus girl, what you trying to do?’ she mutters to herself.Checking her rearview mirror for traffic, she sees none and slows down all the more.She really needs to get some rest, but there had been no turn-off’s or rest-stop’s for some time now. None that she had see, anyway.Susan scans the highway ahead, mostly only seeing the twin cone of light comingfrom her full-beams; the borders to the side of the road vaguely visible in the gloomof night.The early hours of the morning was normally her favourite time to drive, as there wasalways very little congestion and night drives always held a kind of peacefulness for Susan. Almost as if each road was constructed solely for her, and the headlights werea guiding torch leading Susan to her sought after destination.Winding down her side window, Susan allows the cool night air to enter the car andfurther waken her up from the slumber which seemed hell-bent on self destructiononly moments ago.Glancing out the window, she sees the rugged silhouette of the hillsides racing up anddown the horizon, with the backdrop being a pitch-black sky and brilliantly whitemoon.Susan inhaled a deep breath and smiled.This was solitude, peacefulness and beauty combined into one.And she loved it.But she also knew she needed to take a break.Susan knew she was never going to make it home without those eyelids of hers goingsouthwards again.She sometimes wished her parents didn’t stay so far away, but most of the time shesaw it as a blessing, cause the one thing she did enjoy, was her own space. And theone thing Susan knew for sure was that if her father lived anywhere nearer, space isthe one thing she wouldn’t have.He dotted over her like she was still 10 years old, which was nice in small doses, buthad the proximity been any closer, he’d never be away from her house, fussing aroundher any chance he could get.Susan laughs out loud at the thought.With the smile still on her face, Susan open the glove-box and takes out a pack of cigarettes, one-handedly, plucking one out of the cardboard packet and jabbing it between her lips.Punching in the cigarette lighter with her index finger, something catches her eye atthe side of the road in the distance.A small rest-stop comes into view, with a picnic table and bench next to it.Susan sighs with relief and pulls over into it, shutting off the engine and flicking off the headlights of the car.Darkness suddenly close round her, and she darts a hand up to the overhead light, bathing her in light again.That’s better.
 
It’s amazing the difference in security between being in motion to standing stationarywhile in the dead of night, she thinks.The cigarette lighter pops out, stunning her out of her train of thought and almostmaking her jump.Shaking her head at herself, Susan pulls out the small cylinder of red hot metal andlights the smoke dangling between her lips, and inhales deeply, allowing the blue mistto trail out on the exhale.Poking the lighter back into its circular hole, she sits back, reclining her seat an extracouple of inches and stares out the glass sunroof at the night sky beyond.The stars sparkle brightly in the heaven, and she realises you don’t notice them somuch in the city, only in the middle of nowhere do they shine so bright.The reason we never see them, is because we’re too busy trying to get out of themiddle of nowhere in the first place.Again, Susan chuckles at her musing.Then she hears it for the first time.A gently tap from somewhere under the car.Maybe just the car settling after all the miles I’ve done, Susan thinks.Do car’s settled, or is that just houses?It comes again, a little louder this time, and Susan slowly pulls herself back into anupright position in her seat, eyes now fully alert, and the window is the first thing to be closed.Checking the wing and rearview mirrors is useless, as the darkness makes itimpossible to see anything, unless she puts her lights on.But something inside her tells her it might be better if she can’t see what’s making thenoise.The tap then becomes a scratching noise. Scraping along the bottom of her car, like asteel claw over metal.Something’s beneath you, her mind screams.Enough is enough.Susan starts the car.The engine revs to life on the first turn of the key, and for a second, she hesitatesabout putting on the light, but throws caution to the wind and twists the lever, burstingthe cones of illumination out in front of her again.She sees nothing daunting, just the grassy bank of the roadside and the smooth asphaltof the street itself.That’s when the punch comes from below.It thuds off the bottom of the car and seems to vibrate round the whole structure.‘Yeah, fuck you too.’ Says Susan, as she steps on the gas.The engine goes dead.The lights go out.Susan is once again, surrounded by darkness.All she can hear is the whimpers escaping from her mouth with each troubled breath.Putting a hand to her mouth to try and steady her breathing, she surveys the worldoutside her car, checking the locks are down at the same time.With the car secure and her night-vision leaving her blind, Susan just sits there, panicked into thoughtlessness; her mind a blank.Then the scratching starts again.Starting almost under her seat, and working its way to the rear of the car, with thesame screeching sound.Could it be fingernails?
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