Chapter 1
Mark Sherich had to piss. He had to piss with a passion. He glanced down at the illuminated clock that graced the dashboard of his rented Honda Civic. 3:13. He knew he really didn’t have time for a pit stop. Salina, Kansas, his destination, wasn’t but another 30 miles up the road. 30 miles was nothing. Was nothing anyway, as long as you didn’t have urine leaking from the corners of your eyes!
Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He tried to find a satisfying position, one that might allow him to endure the pressure on his bladder for another 30 miles. After a few seconds of exploring, he gave up. It was useless. “When nature calls, you have to answer,” his grandmother had always told him. She always made sure everyone went to the bathroom before they climbed into the vehicle with her. It didn’t matter if you had to go or not, whether the trip was to the grocery store five minutes away or to visit relatives 300 miles away; she always made you use the bathroom before you got into the car. Mark laughed to himself as he reminisced.
“Nature’s not calling Grandma, it’s screaming!” he said to himself. The leather of the driver’s seat groaned as he shifted his position again. It was no use. He couldn’t ignore the inevitable. He had to pull over.
Another green sign greeted him in the darkness and flew past. Salina, 27 miles. That was enough motivation for him. He put his right turn signal on and slowly drifted to the shoulder. No close exit, no rest area, Mark had to make use of his natural surroundings.
He put the Civic in park and unbuckled his seatbelt. Reaching for the keys to shut the engine off, he pulled his hands back and thought better of it. He made a quick glance to the rear view mirror. Nothing was behind him. “That’s what’s good about this state. Kansas, home of Dorothy and Toto and land so flat you can see traffic for miles.”
Mark reached for the handle of the door and pulled. The cool night breeze penetrated the warmth he had created in the car. He shivered a little. Even though his 5 foot 8 inch 280 pound frame was well insulated with body fat, the wind was freezing. As he brought his legs over and planted them onto the concrete of the Interstate 70 shoulder, he suddenly had second thoughts.
“Hope nothing freezes and falls off,” he said chuckling to himself. Not that anyone would notice. At 35 years of age, Mark had only been laid one time, and that was by someone he had to pay for. Mark just didn’t have time for relationships. Relationships were too expensive, both in dollar amounts and in the sense of time. Besides, he had his job. That was the most important thing. “My job,” Mark said snapping back to reality and becoming focused again on his purpose.
It was now 3:20 am. He had a business meeting in Salina at 8:00, just less than 5 hours away. With all luck in his favor, he could relieve himself here and then travel the additional 27, 28 miles to Salina and his reserved hotel room. Hell, he’d even have time for a few hours sleep if he wanted them. Sleep was just like relationships to Mark, a waste of time.
He pushed himself up and out of the car. He stuck his arm out and caught the upper part of the door to balance himself. He swayed a little. Mark didn’t know if this was from being stuck in the car for the last eleven hours straight, or the fact the only thing he had put in his enormous cavern of a stomach was a few cups of coffee. It didn’t matter. He had his balance now, time to take care of business.
He looked back up the Interstate again for any fellow travelers. He saw nothing but the night up the road. “Not a great deal of traffic at 3 in the morning around here huh,” he spoke to himself, a habit of his that he had long decided to break, but never accomplished in doing.
Mark walked towards the back of the vehicle and around the trunk to the edge of the shoulder. He looked out into the darkness ahead of him. He couldn’t make out much. Not a great deal of light was around due to the absence of the moon. Mark glanced in the sky trying to locate the friendly object. Again he saw nothing but emptiness.
“Must be covered by the clouds from that storm system moving in.” Mark had listened to forecast after forecast dealing with the weather in that area. A great many people had warned him back home in St. Louis to be careful in that area in the month of March. The weather was pretty unpredictable. It hadn’t bothered Mark one bit. One long day in Salina and he would be home anyway. Back in good ole St. Louie.
Mark faced the edge of the shoulder. Unzipping his Dockers, he took a deep breath. A gust of wind blew just as he revealed himself. He stumbled over his breath, caught off guard by the chill that ran through his body.
“Damn!” he cursed as he tried to urinate onto the hard frozen grass below him. Nothing came.
“Damn!” he cursed again under his breath. He hated when this happened. It was sort of a curse of his. Sometimes it was hard to perform under pressure. He wasn’t sure if that was the fact he was peeing on the side of the Interstate or the extreme cold. Maybe it was a little of both. Mark knew he had to piss, he just had to relax. He glanced back up the Interstate again. No sign of anyone in either direction. Just him and the empty night air. Good, he would just close his eyes and……………
The warm stream exited his body. “Ahhhhhh!” he moaned as the sound of the urine splattering on the ground seemed to echo in the still surrounding area. Mark kept his eyes closed as the remnants of 4 cups of coffee left his system.
Then the sound came. Mark startled so quickly that he jerked and a small bit of urine splattered on his shoes. He cursed again as he redirected his aim and flipped his foot to wipe his shoe on the grass.
A twig snapped somewhere in front of him.
“Hello?” Mark’s voice boomed. He quickly shook off the last bit of urine and zipped his pants up. “Nothing like getting caught with your pants down.” He joked. He strained his eyes. He saw nothing. Nothing replied to his call.
He turned his head and cocked his right ear in the direction where he had heard the sound. Silence. Mark shrugged his shoulders as he turned to go back to his car. Suddenly, something slammed hard into his back forcing him to hit the trunk of the Civic and fall to the shoulder of the Interstate. Even though he was a little obese, Mark found the energy and quickness to roll completely over and jump to his feet. He brought his hands up to his chest in a defensive formation and prepared himself for whatever had made contact with him. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. His eyes widened in fear at what he encountered.
Within an arms length of him stood a woman. At least what was left of one. Her body was covered with some sort of red substance. Mark immediately assumed it was blood. Her eyes were glazed over and wide open, maybe in fear or shock. One hand was held across her throat, clutching it. Mark looked as he saw streams of the red substance flowing from her neck, between her fingers, and down the front of her shirt. Her other hand was out stretched, reaching out for Mark. Out for help. Her mouth opened and closed as if she was trying to communicate with him, but no sound emitted from her vocal chords. Mark backed up and pressed his body against his vehicle.
“MMMMMam, are you oooookay?” he asked not realizing the stupidity of his question. She continued to advance slowly towards him with her arm stretched out, reaching for his body.
“Achhhh, welcccccc.” Sounds finally came from her mouth as did more liquid. Mark knew now for sure it was blood as it spewed forth from her throat, and now flowing freely from her mouth as she tried to speak. It was a dark color. Dark, crimson red.
She latched onto his right arm and squeezed. Mark tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong. Her nails embedded themselves into his flesh. He too tried to scream or yell or speak, but nothing came out. She pulled herself close to him. Her eyes were almost on the same level with his. He could see the helplessness in them. Could see the life oozing out. He felt the blood begin to drip on his arm. Again he tried to jerk free.
Another blow came from behind and knocked him forward. The lady’s grip was broken. Mark’s face rubbed the asphalt of the shoulder and he cried out in pain. Wind knocked out of him, he tried to quickly roll over again as he had done earlier, but only managed to get to one knee. He glanced up.
He met the gaze of the woman’s eyes as she lay a few feet in front of him. He could only make her out from the neck up. Some black form or object was mounted on top of her, blocking the rest of the view. The form was very large, very dark, and very hairy. A smell penetrated Mark’s olfactory canals as he had to turn his nose away for fear of vomiting. His ears were the organs that picked up the most detail from the activity before him. He seemed to be hearing a slow, soft, wet sucking sound. Mark began to shiver as he forced himself to turn back to the woman and the dark form.
When he built up enough courage to look, the woman remained, but the thing atop her was gone. Mark looked closely at the lady. Her neck was a chewed up grotesque mess. Blood and other unfamiliar liquidous material flowed freely from the deep gash. Mark looked at her eyes. They were tilted back up to the night sky, lifeless.
Mark was awakened by something. Sheer panic or simply the reality of his own mortality. He pivoted his body and turned for the car. Even though it was a few feet away, it appeared as if miles of distance separated himself from its leathery interior. His muscles worked together as he propelled his body forward, what to Mark seemed as if in slow motion. He focused his eyes on the steering wheel and the light of the cab. He would not turn around. Would not look back at the darkness, or the woman on the road.
Each footstep took an eternity as he got closer and closer to his destination. He reached for the door and for safety. Just as he felt the cool metal of the Civic, Mark was thrown to the ground again. He rolled and rolled heading for the center of the Interstate. His back hit one of the reflector strips and he came to a stop and rested in the center of the two lanes.
His head spinning, Mark looked up expecting the creature to be upon him. There was nothing but the night sky. Mark let out a deep breath and looked about. Again he saw nothing threatening. To the right of him was the Interstate median. To the left was his vehicle and the remains of the woman he had encountered earlier. That was it, no menacing creature in view.
Mark began to laugh. He wasn’t sure why, but he laughed a deep, guttural laugh. He rolled about on the Interstate in hysterics not wanting to stand, just soaking all of the experience in. Tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. He dropped his head back against the cement of the Interstate and took another deep breath. Then the growl came.
He quickly turned his head to the rental car parked on the shoulder. An enormous black mass was resting on the roof of the Civic. The thing was growling at him, watching him, watching him with giant red eyes. Mark looked as the beast opened its mouth revealing several large, pointed teeth. Mark began to cry. He closed his eyes and prepared for his fate.
Seconds past. He still heard the low grumbling of the creature, but the attack never came. Mark, shaking in fear, opened his eyes to see what prevented his demise. The beast still was perched on the top of the vehicle glaring at him. Its eyes glistened with anticipation. Mark didn’t understand.
“What’s the deal?” he screamed. “Are you lazy?”
The beast just looked.
“Come get me you dumb son of a bitch!” Mark yelled. He was tired. Tired of being the victim here. Confused and terrified, he jumped to his feet. The beast watched him as if he was entertained by its prey’s sudden burst of energy
“I said come and get me! I am right here! Right here!” Mark took a few steps towards the creature. He expected it to jump down from its perch and attack. To rip his throat out as it had done to the lady on the side of the road. Instead, it just sat there.
Confused, Mark began to back away from the beast. He began to think he could get away. Maybe this thing was full and bored with him now. Maybe it would leave him alone. Maybe…….
Mark looked to see the beast turn its head, looking up the Interstate. Curious, he followed the creature’s gaze.
All Mark saw was the extreme close up of a semi truck’s headlights...
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