Obsession

Epilogue

W hen I opened my eyes I saw a dim light illuminating the woods in front of me. The horn was weak and barely sounding—but there, like a muffled scream. I was still seat-belted into my driver’s seat, and my head was pounding.

“Fuck me.”

I reached up to touch my forehead and it smarted the moment my finger grazed the skin. A goose-egg knot had formed on my head, undoubtedly where I hit it on something.

The windshield had a large crack in it, but was still intact. The wiper blades were still swishing back and forth, slower than they should. Perhaps the battery was dying.

Rain was falling down in sheets rapping its rhythm on the roof of the car. When my focus finally came in I could see that I was spun sideways against the guardrail on the edge of the road. The guardrail that undoubtedly saved me from careening off the side of the mountain was bent and crooked, but held.

I turned the key in the ignition, and the car spluttered.

I turned the key again, and the car sounded like it wanted to start, but still didn’t.

“Third time's the charm, c’mon baby please… please start.”

I turned the key again and the motor came to life, the fan blasted from the vents and I reached over to turn the little knob and dial it back a notch.

As I shifted the car into reverse to back away from the rail and the side of the road a loud creaking and scratching noise made me cringe.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake don’t pop my tire, just let me get home.”

The car spun its tires for only a second before it broke free, and I slammed on my brakes to stop from backing into the oncoming traffic lane on the blind turn.

I shifted the car into drive, and slowly started the rest of my drive back home. I looked at the clock on my dash and it was barely an hour after I had left the bar. I must’ve knocked myself out when I swerved for that …whatever it was on the road.

I shook off the feeling of deja vu and my head still throbbed from the impact. I could see a small crack in the plastic trim that separated the door and windshield holding a few pieces of my hair and a splotch of blood, undoubtedly where I banged my head.

I could still hear the echoes of the men claiming “you’re mine.”

“Man, what a wicked dream.” I laughed off the strange feeling in the pit of my stomach as I continued the drive around the blind corner.

“I need to lay off the dark romance books for a while.”

I shook my head and chuckled at my own imagination running wild. Completely negating the fact that I had just been in a car accident.

When I opened my eyes and focussed on the road again, there was a big dark object in the middle of the road.

“No, not again! Move!” I yelled.

The pain reverberated in my already achy head as I slammed on the brakes and cranked the wheel to attempt to avoid the black mass in the lane.

My car slid to a stop just as a man wearing all black held his arm out in front of himself. Blurred by the rain, I could still tell it was a man.

“You have got to be kidding me.”

I rolled down the window with the channel locks that were clamped to the crank inside the door of my junky car.

“What are you doing in the road?” I questioned the stranger.

“Looking for you, Renalta.”

THE END