03~ In The Middle of Nowhere

I glanced at the red light that started to blink on the dashboard several miles back. I had no idea what it meant, but I don't think it was good.

I was on my way to meet my friends Brenna and Nicole, and I don’t think I was more than ten miles from the town I was looking for. The scenery was beautiful, but it was unlike any thing I'd ever seen. I was born and raised in the city and couldn’t remember if I’d ever touched a tree. 

The car sputtered, bringing my attention back to the present. “Oh, no, no, please don’t do this to me!” I cried. “Just go a little bit farther.”

The car decelerated, and then a puff of smoke came from under the hood. I pulled over to the side of the road, and it was barely crawling when it sounded like it coughed, and then nothing.

I put the car in “park” and turned the key before pressing my forehead to the steering wheel. After several calming breaths, I pulled my phone out to call and found I had no reception. 

Hell, what was I thinking? I was in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen a car since I left the last big town, which was an hour ago.

God, nothing has gone right for me lately. I've been fired after working at my job for six years, and the CEO had given his niece my position. My boss called it downsizing. But I call it bullshit. Well, I won't say it's my own loss. No. After a month my boss got me fired, I came across Xavier. At first it wasn't a casual meeting, I hated him at that time. 

Well, let's just say, I still had the anger in me then. And the fact he is a CEO, I felt every CEOs was the same. So I try not to give him the face he wanted. One of my best friends was being stalked, and I was terrified for her. It turned out that my ex boss had some one spying on her which made him twice scarier than he already is.

So, a decision was made between us three. We chose to leave the city together. We all had shitty upbringings and very little family left. When we met in high school, we gravitated toward each other and had never left each other’s side even until now. And here I am, fucking stuck in nowhere!

I tried to calculate how many miles I’d have to walk to the town, and I knew I’d never make it by the time it got dark because the light was already dimming. Plus, I would bet my savings there were some dangerous animals in the forest around me. I didn't want to bother calling Xavier, I didn't want to feel like I can't protect myself without him. And by the way, he asked to follow me but I refused due to some certain reasons. 

Some thing thumped against my trunk. My head snapped up, and my stomach twisted with anxiety. The first thing I did was make sure the doors were locked. I turned and glanced out my back window before looking in my rearview mirrors, and nothing.

I lowered the driver’s side window an inch so I could listen for any thing. Nothing was there. The relief was enough to relax my abdomen, reminding me of my most pressing problem. Right at the moment, my biggest issue was that I needed to go to the bathroom, and there wasn’t one for miles. I had no idea how to do it outside, but I couldn’t wait any longer. It felt like my bladder was going to pop out in any second of hesitation.

I had nothing to pee in the car and refused to pee on my pants, so I looked around for a Kleenex and opened my driver’s-side door. I carefully looked around before making my way to the back of the car. I first scanned the area before I pulled down my pants and leaned my lower back against the fender, and God, the relief was worth the humiliation of peeing against my car. 

It helped that no one would ever know about it except the birds and squirrels. I wiped myself, pulled up my jeans, and got a bottle of water out of the car to wash my hands. When that was done, I felt almost human and more optimistic about my situation. Stretching my shoulders, I looked around the area. If I weren’t terrified, I’d think the place was really beautiful. Maybe later, when I got settled and learned more about it, I’d appreciate it more.

A soft scuffing sound behind me made me turn. The sight before was some thing I couldn’t comprehend. It was huge and hairy but wore jeans, a flannel shirt, and boots. The fact that the thing had snuck up on me without me hearing was some thing I just couldn’t understand. My head was tilted all the way back so I could see its face. 

Fuck! The thing was a giant!

I made a turn at the other side to take a run but this giant creature was second ahead of me. Before I could make a second step away, he was already standing right in front of me. My heart was pounding harder than I can ever imagine, and the only thing my head could think was….

Is this the end of my world?

Now, I was beginning to regret why I refused Xavier to follow me. If only I could predict the future and see this coming, I would have told him to accompany me no matter what. I thought of turning back to run, but I could feel this creature could read my mind. So, I stood back. Terrified, I stared back at its ugly face.

"Wh… who… are y… you?" I stuttered in fear.

The response I got was ten times scarier than listening to the thunderstorm. I froze in fear, mentally praying Xavier would come find me. But before my brain could interpret any thing else, I felt air blow on my face. My eyes shut close, and before I could get them opened again, the creature was gone.

Not the type of gone you think, some one or some thing just stopped him from hurting me. Could it… 

Could it be Xavier?