The monster they made - A Fanfiction to King's "Christine"

Avenge the loss

The autopsy had confirmed what Nathan told the police. The killed man was Alex Shawn. Elizabeth went to school, like she was supposed to, but she was not able to finish at least one week. On the third day it was enough, even the teachers showed her what they thought: "She is a culprit and even if the police is letting her go. She is the only one I could think of who would be capable of doing so, she is the troublemaker after all, those are always at fault." They were harsh, blaming her for every mistake, and her classmates hurt her. It was unbelievable, but Christine was unharmed when she left the building, tears in her eyes and color over her whole jacked and her face. "At least you are fine", she whispered as she was yanking her jacket off and throwing it away. "I liked that thing", she cursed, "but that much color will never come off completely. Jasmine and her lapdogs have the whole school in her hands. Guess I will never graduate here..." She started the engine. "I am the victim, but they only want to see me the villain, I am at fault so they can ignore their own failures!" She grabbed the steering wheel hard. The radio was playing a soothing melody. "Thank you, Christine, you are always there for me, you believe in me when no one else will do it. I love you." A love song cut in and the woman smiled. She reached over, following the curves of the radio, her hand trailing further, over the dashboard, over the gearshift and back to the steering wheel. "I will go clean myself and then we will see where this road is leading us. I guess we should tell Jacob I will not come back for a while..." She drove home, her parents still at work. She hurried inside, washing her face, grabbing a bag, filling it with clothes and necessary things. She made herself a sandwich and left as fast as she could. Over at the junkyard she just saw a police car leaving. "Elizabeth", it was James, "you were right, they talked to us." - "And now?" - "Nothing. They left without another word. Do you want to talk to Jacob? You look tense." - "Yes, James, I want to talk to him." - "He is in his office." And Elizabeth pushed past him, entering the building she remembered the first time she came here, all the time she spent here. "And this will be the end", she whispered, shaking her head. She entered the office with a bad feeling. "Oh, Elizabeth, shouldn't you be at school?" - "I should be, yes, but yet again I was blamed for a murder I could not have conducted." - "It pains me to see someone like you in trouble... Maybe I shouldn't have sold you the car. You changed, your life is a mess since that day, right?" Elizabeth crossed her arms: "I did not change too much, I just stand up for myself." - "Maybe you have done that, but it is strange, isn't it? I trust you, I said that and I will repeat myself if necessary, but I am worried about you. Something is wrong, I know it, I can feel it. Maybe that love is the reason? Maybe that car is?" - "You have no fucking idea", Elizabeth was speaking loudly, anger in every feature," You know nothing, Jacob. I loved working here, but this is over now. Everyone is telling me Christine is a monster, but you guys are. You do not understand what we have, you only think it is unethical, I am a freak for loving a car, you might not say it out loud, but I know what you are thinking, I know the look in your eyes. You do not understand me, you do not want to understand me and you will never understand her. Maybe I will come back, but for now? Have fun with the paperwork, Jacob." She left, pushed James out of the way and ran over to Christine. She followed her curves, as smile began to appear. "We will leave them, Christine. They will never accept us." And she started the engine again, backing up. James was coming over, worry in his features, but he was not able to reach Elizabeth, his eyes following the tail of that cursed red Plymouth.

A figure opened the door of the hospital for mentally insane: "I know you want me to stay", the woman said, "but I am leaving. I will go to the police! That woman killed my boyfriend and nearly killed me. I will show her." She was held back, but with pain in her features she pushed and kicked the person away from her. She left, not stopped anymore. It had been a long time, five days since Alex was brutally killed. Every step hurt, but she was leaving, taking a bus to the next station. She had no phone and who would believe her? She had to talk to them personally, they would have to listen. When she finally reached the police station it was around noon. "Miss? Is everything alright? Should we call an ambulance", a young black woman came over, leading her to the next free chair. "Everything is alright. My wounds are not new, four days, but now I want to report it. I guess the green Dodge Challenger was found?" - "Yes, ma'am, did you see something?" - "More than enough." And the black woman went over to an officer and talked to him. He gestured to the sitting woman and she went over, nearly tripping, but she was standing proud. "You are?" - "Susan Briggs, Sir. I was the girlfriend of the man who died when he fell down the cliff, Alex Shawn." - "So you have some clues for us?" - "More than that. I was with him and barely survived. You saw me walking, I saved myself, but I was not able to help Alex out of his car. I needed to flee and I collapsed in front of the hospital for mentally insane in the next town. They held me captive, tended to my wounds, but did not believe me when I wanted to tell you about the accident, no, the murder. So I left when I felt strong enough for coming here." - "I see... So, Miss Briggs? What happened that night?" The woman was shivering, the pictures in here mind painful, but she began to speak: "Alex and I were parking close to the forest. It was a nice place... However, something blinded us, high beam, and we left. Somehow we thought we did something forbidden, we were scared by the sudden appearance of the light. However, soon we were followed by that thing. Alex tried to lose our follower, but was not able to. I tried to find out what was following us, yes, a car, but what car? When I realized I did not know what to do. It was a red Plymouth Fury, Sir, and I know only one person driving one. Elizabeth Tayler. She was also accused for the murder of Jasmine Anderson a few weeks earlier, but she was called innocent. That woman always had a problem with us, we do not know why, Sir, and we all believed she would be able to kill someone, especially since she got that old car. We went past it once, it got damaged while she had detention, and she nearly attacked us, a teacher stepped in and I do not want to think about what could have happened if no one appeared." The man was using a computer. "Elizabeth Tayler? Yes, I found the file, but the consultant said this car of hers was not damaged or repaired recently. It was a car present when Miss Anderson was killed, the way the crime scene looked like. We believe it was around midnight when the murder happened, two days later we came to your school. If someone killed her, the car couldn't be repaired perfectly in just one day. The paint must have been scratched deeply, dents in the bodywork, some burn marks and even a broken tank. The consultant did not find anything unusual. However Miss Tayler was also interrogated for the accident or murder of Mister Shawn, her car was inspected by a colleague of mine, nothing was to be seen. What about the day your boyfriend died? Maybe we will reopen a case where Miss Tayler is yet again a culprit, dependable on what you tell us." He did not sound too happy, like he will not believe her anyway, but Susan still tried to explain: "Alex took small alleys, and one which was wide enough for his Dodge, but not the Plymouth. Somehow it pressed though it, the fenders dented and breaking. The same car followed us again and broke though the guard rim. Alex tried to shake it off, but he was not able to. We ended between the guard rail and the front of that monster. I do not understand how, but it was pulling us while driving back. I was able to escape, I hurt myself pretty bad, but the Plymouth made a turn and pushed Alex over the cliff. The front was broken when I saw it again, like a maw... I fled and was only able to escape death because I was able to reach one of the ladders on our bridge, it crashed into the bridge pier. I do not understand what happened, why it happened, but that woman tried to kill us too. And she failed with me. And something is wrong with her car. I saw it damaged, but the next day it was like nothing happened at all." The man scratched his head. "I will write that down, but do not think too much of it, really. Like I said: The car was checked on and nothing indicates it was a crime weapon, especially in a case like that one. Like a maw? Miss Briggs, I am sorry for saying that, but maybe you shouldn't have left the hospital..." - "You do not believe me, I see. You are making a mistake letting that monster walk around unpunished. She should be executed, she killed my boyfriend and my best friend since childhood." She stood up, bowed her head and left. The black woman was looking after her, worry in her features, but this was not her fight to take.