The Shadow Anthology

The Driver

The sun hit the driver’s windshield and refracted off his sunglasses. They were black and hid his eyes well. His eyes didn’t waver from the horizon, even when met with the sun. He was unflinching. He hadn't yet made a single stop. There were bags under his glasses as he had now been driving for two days straight, though neither his vision nor his resolve had faltered once.

His long, black hair knotted against the open window. He looked behind him to check the passengers were still sleeping heavily. They were, but he could start to smell the consequences.

A day and a half ago the now-sleeping man had woken up. He attempted to strangle the driver and almost managed to derail the car, which would have plunged them all into a ravine. The driver, however, was prepared for this and drew forth a stinking rag of chloroform from under his seat. He pacified the activist with a flourish. After this, the driver gently lay down a freshly scented handkerchief on top of both passengers’ faces. Many times, he slowed the car down to confirm the unwilling compliance of his possessions, reapplying their medicine when need be.

The woman hadn’t yet woken up, though she did once fall on the floor. The driver watched as her fingers fell behind the broken mechanism of the seat next to his. He thrust himself away from the wheel and scooped her back onto the seat, beside the male passenger, effortlessly. He took back the wheel mere seconds before another crash was averted. The swerve in the road tilted her head, giving the notion of consciousness. Slowly, the driver leaned back to her and increased her dosage, allowing her to fall into a far deeper sleep.

He refrained from ever turning the disgusting radio on. He cared little for whether it worked or not but suspected the noise could have awoken his passengers and, if so, they could deduce where they were headed using the changing stations. He also restricted his use of headphones as they were bound to distract him from the roads or, more importantly, his passengers. This meant he had no use for a phone, along with the fact nobody had to know where he was at any time.

He had bought this car exclusively due to the amount of fuel it could retain, so he was furious when it began to run low. The driver was only a small matter of hours from his next destination and hated having to risk leaving the car unattended. The road seemed empty and endless until a service station finally appeared on the right side of the road. He smiled charmingly as a drove up to the barren oasis. Before leaving the car and its contents to fend for themselves, he sedated both of his passengers heavily one more time.

The station looked almost wholly dry and abandoned except for the dull cashier. The driver took to a pump and began to fill up his car. The first five minutes were wholly uneventful. During the next five he began to vaguely attract the attention of the woman at her desk in the building. The five minutes after that were filled with an unpleasant exchange of glances between the driver and this new woman. After a total fifteen minutes had elapsed, she left her post and came outside to ask the man if he needed help. Before she could approach the car, the driver came to her. He spoke with a Texan accent.

“Well Miss, this is a fine place you have. Just so cosy. I’ve been up and down all the great roads and I think your little...” he looked her up and down, and winked at her, “establishment might just be the best I’ve seen. Now, Miss, I have a long journey ahead of me so my tank should always be nice and full, don’t you think?” She blushed slightly and could only smile. “Now, if you ever run into any problems, you’ve got a man here who’s not afraid of getting his hands... dirty.” He smiled at her and winked again, causing her to laugh. “I’ll be inside in a minute.” He walked back to his pump.

The woman strolled whimsically back to her post as she thought this to be certainly one of her more eventful days. She had been enchanted by his manner and forgot she had ever even been suspicious of this captivating rebel. When the car was full the driver checked his back seat and confirmed the conformity of his passengers. He took his time walking inside and was careful to only display unnatural power and pride. The driver stretched his legs and flexed his muscles as the woman watched. From under his glasses, he watched her too.