The Darkened Highway

The Darkened Highway Chapter Nineteen

Tessa and I followed Ben up the stairs. The disturbance we heard just moments before hadn't made any more noise. I wondered what he was feeling after our last engagement. There are no words to explain what came over Tessa and me. We were in total sync, acting as a unit. There was this overwhelming instinct that took over. At that moment, the desire was so primal that there was no room for any other thoughts. It worried me how this new behavior that I had would affect him. He didn't have a choice in this. Before all this, I never would have imagined he would cheat on me or me on him. Things were spiraling out of control, and to add to that, our lives were in danger.

The shadow cast of the trees greeted us as we exited the fuel station. There was nothing to explain what had caused the disturbance we all had heard. The eerie stillness of the forest had returned. The environment seemed to be muted the closer we came to the RV. I half expected a monster to jump and scare us. The tint of the light from the sun seemed dulled, almost a black and white monotone. I had the feeling we were in a horror movie. Tessa squeezed my hand, and the rhythm of her heart was beating fast. 'Had she caught the scent of her beast?' It was as if the forest itself was stalking us now.

We loaded up quickly, driving away from the fuel station. We were hoping the map we found would help guide us to out this forsaken forest. Happy greeted Tessa and me the moment we stepped in.

"Good boy!" Ben said as he went to pat Happy.

Oddly, that caught my attention, Happy ignored him. Instead, he went straight for Tessa and me. Ben seemed surprised by this, and so did I. He nearly knocked me off my feet.

"What's gotten into you, Happy?" I blurted.

"He must be worried about you too," Ben said.

"I don't think so," Tessa whispered, sitting on the sofa.

Happy hopped in her lap, licking her face. I wanted to ask what she meant, but I stopped myself. I didn't want to know the answer she'd give us. Maybe I thought my actions would protect Ben; he was just as much a victim in all this as we were. I hoped and prayed that we all would make it out of this forest alive. Ben sat in the driver's seat while I sat beside Tessa on the couch behind the driver's seat. Somehow, I sensed she was uneasy, and I knew she was waiting for something to go wrong.

___

We sat in silence for a long time. I held Tessa tightly in my arms as the scenery out the window passed by unchanging. Tessa popped her head up from my lap, but I already knew what she had heard. There was a low rumble coming from the front of the RV motorhome. The sounds of clanking grew louder for several minutes before Ben took notice. There was a change in our speed as the clanking turned into loud bangs and smoke plumed up from the front of the RV motorhome. It banged and sputtered loudly as Ben brought the RV motorhome to a stop. He'd had no time to pull over as the smoke was turning from white to a black smokey cloud. Ben shut the engine off, hitting the steering wheel in frustration.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I dunno, the engine started to break down," Ben replied.

"Can you fix it?" Tessa asked nervously.

"I'll go look. Both of you stay inside."

He didn't have to tell us anything more than that. I hadn't planned on getting out. What I feared was something pulling me out again. Ben grabbed a toolbox out of a storage compartment. I half expected Happy to jump out the door behind Ben, but he didn't budge from his spot between Tessa and me.

We waited in silence while Ben looked at the engine. Tessa had this look on her face that was bothering me. Something was on her mind, and I had to find out now while we were alone.

"What's wrong? You've been silent since we left the fuel station," I asked.

"It's nothing. I was just ashamed of how I acted with your boyfriend," Tessa replied.

"Listen, I think something is happening to us. Something we can't control or understand. Ben knows this isn't how I am. You feel it too, don't you? We're different in some kind of way. You know it and so do I."

"I know if Clarence was here... He could help."

"What do you mean?"

"It was his idea to use silver. He had other plans, too. Some of them kept the beast away."

"That's great. What did he do?"

"That's the problem; I forgot, or I don't remember. The beast took me many times. But Clarence would always find me."

"Maybe you'll remember in time."

"We don't have time. He's not playing games anymore. He knows..."

"What does he know?"

"That Ben had you and me too..."

"How would he know any of that?"

"When Clarence made love to me, the beast became more aggressive. It was when Clarence saw him. When our camper broke down. He saw the beast, but not in the form I had seen him in. He saw the actual beast, the man that was the beast."

"What??? I don't understand what you are saying."

"The beast showed himself to Clarence in his human form. I never saw it, but they fought."

"Are you saying that he tempered with your camper to break it down?"

"I don't know for sure."

Her words triggered an urgent alertness in me. I jumped up, looking through all the windows. I relaxed a bit after finding no sign of any threats.

"If he's there, we won't see him unless he wants us too."

I studied her face for a moment. She was right. He could fool us. The beast that stalked me tricked me as well. 'The cameras might see him when I couldn't' I sat in the passenger's seat, accessing the console. The system came up, and I went straight to the exterior cameras. As I clicked through them, again I had a sense of relief. Just to make sure, I went through the camera twice, and my heart skipped a beat. I tapped on the holo-Keyboard in a hurry as I checked again, confirming my fears. Ben wasn't near the back or at the front of the camper. Neither was Happy, both were gone with nothing but an idle open toolbox. He hadn't taken his pistol or rifle with him. 'Shit, I'm smarter than that!' I cursed myself for not thinking about the cameras before now.

"Ben's gone!" I blurted.

That's when I realized the figure sitting beside her. A tall, rugged, yet muscular man with broad shoulders. The hardships of his life show on his staunch oval face. He had deep eerie gold eyes that solicited fear from those that encountered him. His long black hair was messy and rough, with an even rougher beard. But there was a masculine and handsome feel about his appearance. The clothes he wears are simple but practical. He was shirtless, showing the true extent of his physical physique. A lean yet very muscular chest stared me in the face. He had his arm around Tessa as if he knew her intimately. The only problem was she wasn't just terrified of him; she was terrified of what would happen now. Her beast was out there and mine was here with the two of us in his human form.

'Ben???'

I sat paralyzed in a trance. The man that was the beast stalking me was right in front of me, and there was no doubt. His eyes beckoned me to come to him. Before I realized it, I had done what he commanded. I slide out of my seat, crawling towards him. A primal urge had embraced my body. My womb shivered with anticipation. Any attempt I made to break his hold on me met with failure. I crawled in front of him, staring up at him. He reached out, pulling me from under my arms to him in one swift motion. My body refused to resist what was happening. He wrapped my legs around him and gave me a deep, long kiss. Our tongues locked around each other. His hands grip my behind as he caresses it. My body shivered as he felt up and down my neck. We kissed passionately before he picked me up. Tessa opened the cabin down, leading us outside.

In a flash, he was carrying me through the forest. The only thing I saw was the forest passing by as the camper disappeared. I turned my neck to see Tessa racing just feet in front of us. 'Where was he taking me?' Then I realized where. That eerie tree I'd always wind up at. 'Why was it important?' His eyes were more confident than I had ever seen. The way he held me made me feel safe. My arms wrapped around his body, holding on tighter.