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The 30-year-old Chevrolet pick-up idled at the side of the highway, purring like a lion after a
triumphant kill. Its recent jet-black paint job reflected distorted versions of the stars overhead, while
the light from the low-lying moon glinted off the side mirror. The bed was loaded with pumpkins of
all shapes and sizes on their way to local Farmers’ Markets, with Hallowe’en just three weeks away.
Through the darkness, the truck’s headlights shone into the distance, revealing nothing but a quiet,
vacant landscape of vast fields and the casual solitary tree. There were not often many people on the
road so late at night. The pick-up had been the first on this stretch of highway for hours, and not one
car had passed in the time it had been sitting off to the side.
As the moon rose ever so slightly, its light poured, little by little, into the shadows that veiled the
finer details, revealing the truck’s distinct character...
A dent in the front fender.
A rusted scratch running the length of the driver-side door.
A duct tape patch where the lock used to be.
A blood-spattered bullet hole in the window.
Colin Downs’ sky-blue Yaris was a gift to him for making it through his first year at university.
This was the car’s first test – a four-hour drive home for Thanksgiving weekend.
Lee Patterson had called shotgun. He played with the radio tuner while Tyler Pitman, behind him,
passed the time by bouncing a football off the back of his seat. Opposite Tyler was seated Kene, his
not-quite-identical twin brother, and, between them, Keri Hess was squeezed, feeling the most of the
overcrowded seating.
They were still about two hours from home. Keri looked out the window, past Tyler, at the
moonlit scenery beyond. Then, she looked out the other side. There was very little to see in either
direction – just empty fields and vast stretches of withered corn stalks...and the occasional tree.
As far as her seatbelt would let her, she leaned forward, and hit Colin gently on the arm.
“Hey...can we stop at A&W?”
Colin nodded.
“How does that sound to the rest of you?”
Without waiting for any response, he added,
“Good, A&W it is.”
A vague movement in the rear-view mirror caught Colin’s attention. By the time his eyes focused
on the darkness, there was nothing there to be seen. But, something had been there. His eyes shot to
another hint of movement, this time out the driver-side window, and he saw what it was. A truck
was passing. It was a dark pick-up, barely visible in the night, its lights turned off.
He slowed slightly to let the truck go by.
“The idiots come out at night,” he said.
“Probably trying to get into town before the bars close,” said Kene, watching the faint silhouette
speed on ahead.
As fast as the pick-up had appeared, it disappeared beyond the reach of the Yaris’ headlights.
And, as fast as it disappeared, it faded from their minds – just a typical careless driver on a typical
Friday night. Lee finally settled on a station, then turned up the volume. He messed with the
equalizer until the small car was filled with the chest-pounding bass of Disturbia. This was one of
Keri’s favourite songs; with the beat pulsing through the seat, she forgot, for a moment, about the
pain throbbing in her legs from sitting in such a tight space for so long.
By the time Colin recognized the outline in the road ahead as a solid object, using the brakes was
futile. There was only a fraction of a second to prepare. The front of the car disintegrated with an
explosion of shredded steel as it impacted the rear of the stopped pick-up; the sound was harsh and
penetrating, of grinding metal and shattering glass. Pumpkins from the back of the truck erupted like
a tsunami of orange and spilled onto the highway.
Keri pitched forward, held in place only by the inherent strength of her seatbelt. The brutality of
the impact was beyond description, and seemed to cast all thoughts from her mind, leaving her
vacant and disoriented as the onslaught finally subsided.
It took a moment and a lot of effort, but Keri opened her eyes. She was staring at the floor – or
what was left of it, under a coating of broken glass. Gradually, the pain started to sink in. Her
forehead was pounding, where it had driven into her knee, and her seatbelt was cutting into her
stomach, though at least it had done its job. Her back hurt, and, for a few seconds, she felt numb,
unable to sit up or move at all, but as the shock faded, one by one, her senses returned. Still, she was
in pain, and the threat of causing her own paralysis by even the smallest of wrong movements was
terrifying.
From somewhere outside the car, she heard voices, muffled, like they were travelling under water
or through a thick wall. They got closer, and sounded feminine, but it was hard to tell. Then,
something Keri had no problem identifying; a gunshot. The shot was followed by a piercing,
horrified scream, then another gunshot, and a third in quick succession. Still frozen, half in fear and
half in pain, Keri heard the door to her left rip open, and felt the sudden loss of something she hadn’t
noticed before – a mass of some sort pressed against her side, pinning her to a similar impediment on
her other side. Then, it occurred to her: Kene? Tyler? But, she was given no time to think much more.
She felt herself being pulled back suddenly in her seat, and a hand, holding a heavy damp cloth,
forced itself over her face. She could breathe, but every breath brought with it the sickening sweet
smell of ether, and, finally, despite one last laden effort to fight against it, the substance did its job,
and she slipped into unconsciousness.
Unlike a sudden return from sleep, Keri awoke slowly, like a monotonous emergence from a dense
fog. The first sensation to flow in was the pain from the crash. The second was a feeling of tightness
around her wrists and ankles. Enduring the cutting pain, she carefully rolled her head in either
direction to get a grasp on her surroundings. She was stretched out flat on a solid wooden table in
what appeared to be the aged remnants of a back-woods camp or barn. Only four walls, supporting
nothing but the star-filled sky, stood to enclose her from the outside world.
Keri’s arms and legs were firmly secured with one long section of rusted double-link chain
running through splintered holes in the tabletop. She half screamed, half cried for help, and
struggled with the chain, furiously trying to break free. Pulling, twisting, straining, with every bit of
strength she could gather, for as long as she could, she fought, until all of her determination was
drained. Overwhelmed by the pain, tears drenching her eyes, she fell still.
Keri flinch as a heavy hand grabbed her throat, but she could do little else. She tried to scream, but
the grip was stifling. She could feel the warm, moist breath of someone leaning in next to her face. A
second hand forced her head away to the side.
Not a word was spoken, but Keri could feel her captor’s eyes staring her down...looking her
over...studying her. She could hear him groan, and his breathing was rough and forceful. Just by
listening, and by the way his hands shook, she could tell he was sick, possibly quite old. An image of
a frail, elderly man entered her mind.
The hand’s grip around her throat slackened, and Keri was able to get out a muffled,
“Who are you?”
There was no answer...only more breathing.
She swallowed, and tried again:
“Who –”
But she was cut off; two fingers thrust inside her mouth and lifted her head, then drove it back
down into the tabletop.
“Look at you!” said Keri, clapping playfully. “You’re so good. Pretty soon, you’re going to be
walking better than me.”
Keri’s parents sat beside her on the couch, their eyes trained on the 11-month-old waddling across
the floor for his first time.
They cheered as the child made his way, one uneasy step at a time, over to Keri. She stretched out
her arms and knelt down on the floor.
“Come to mommy, Cam.”
She turned to her parents.
“Speaking of ‘cam’, why is no one filming this? This cute little guy could be the next YouTube
sensation.”
She reached out to help the toddler up when he fell, but he needed little assistance.
“That’s all right,” she said, “we’ll just tell people you tripped. Keep coming.”
They sat up and turned at a sudden thumping sound from the kitchen.
“What was that?” Keri asked, starting to get up.
“Wait, I’ll check it out,” said her father. “You two stay here in case little Cameron decides to run in
a marathon.”
Keri’s mother shifted over closer to her as her father left the room.
“He’s adorable,” she said.
Keri nodded.
“Yes, he is.”
“So, you’re glad you...decided to keep him.”
Her daughter looked up at her, a broad smile lighting up her face. She had been sad for so long, it
was nice to now see her finding some joy again.
“Yes,” she said. “He’s....”
“I know. He’s something special.”
Keri watched and laughed as her son stumbled, then jumped right back up to his feet to try again.
“And,” her mother added, “you know you can count on your father and I to support you through
your last year of school.”
“Of course,” she said. “I know you’ll be there for me. You always have.”
A muffled popping sound from the kitchen grabbed their attention.
Keri stood.
“Dad?”
There was no response.
There was also no time to investigate further. A familiar figure appeared in the doorway, gun in
hand. Keri moved to put herself in front of her child, but was taken down by two bullets to the head.
Her mother started to scream, but was quickly silenced likewise.
The man walked over to the child. The toddler was now sitting crying in the middle of the floor,
staring over and his mother’s body, blood gushing towards him from two gaping holes in her skull.
He looked up and sniffled as the man hovered over him.
“My name is Alger,” he said, lowering the gun to his side.
The child struggled to stand, but suddenly found himself unable to. He had spoken a few words
already in the past couple months, but now he spoke one that he had never said before:
“Da- Daddy.”
The man had a sudden look of satisfaction appear on his aging face.
“That’s right,” he said, his gravely voice enticing the child. “I’m your daddy, and you’re coming
with me now. I have a lot to teach you.”