Chills of the Spine

The Hike

It was a cold stormy night as Jack drove through the mountains on his way to meet his parents at their cabin. The warm air from the heater caressed his surroundings as he was tired from driving all day from the city. The pitter patter of the rain was loud and heavy as it hit the car's metal exterior. Yawning, bringing his hand up to his mouth as he swerved a bit a car, he nearly hits honks loudly as it fades in the distance.

"Sorry, sorry!" he yelled out as if they could hear him apologizing, he quickly rubbed his eyes and turned up the music to keep himself awake. Taking a sip of his Redbull as it tasted metallic, he coughed as he put it back down curious as to the taste though shrugged it off as just the last sip of the energy drink. Beating his hands on the steering wheel to the beat of the music, he had seen out of the corner of his eye someone on the side of the road. Standing still as he drove by chills ran along his arms as he thought of the movies and stories, he heard of hitchhikers who pretended to be stranded in order to do something devious and evil. Though making a turn he saw the same person this time making it out to be a girl, driving by as he looked back curious as to how she got there that quickly.

Looking back to the road the girl was right in front of the car, swerving he lost control, spinning out as one of the tires ended up popping while the car drifted off to the side hitting the railing that overlooked down the mountain. Jack sat there gripping the wheel as he slowly took deep breaths trying to calm himself and figure out what to do next. Grabbing his phone, he tried to get a call out yet there was no signal.

"Great now what am I supposed to do," He asked aloud as he threw his phone in the backseat looking in the rearview mirror to see the girl's pale face, long black wet hair, and pitch-black eyes staring at him. He jumped and jolted looking back to see no one was there. He rubbed his eyes and decided to get out of the car, grabbing his umbrella and coat. Opening the passenger door as his side was pinned against the railing. He took another deep breath as he opened the umbrella and put his coat on, looking both ways as he waited for traffic, yet no cars were coming. He decided he might as well walk a bit down the road making his way down the mountain. Seeing a pair of lights, he waved trying to wave them down though they sped by as if they did not see him.

He cursed and gestured the famous finger that we all know and use when angered. After what felt like an hour of walking, he sighed as he looked over the railing to see the lights of the cabins. He was somewhat close and probably wouldn't take long if he cut through the woods. He had been coming here since he was a kid and never saw any animals, so he shrugged and lifted a leg over the railing then the next to only slip and slide down part of the mountain hitting against mud and rocks until he was stopped abruptly by a fallen tree. He laid there for a bit as he regained his breath and sat up looking to see if his umbrella was damaged beyond use.

Standing up he looked up curious how he was okay besides the bruising though it didn't really hurt much. The cold air was subsiding a bit and the rain slowed down, making Jack feel as though his luck was turning around. He began to walk in the direction of the cabins making his way through the woods hearing owls, and fluttering bats. He heard twigs break every now and then which he paid no attention to, as his mind was set on making it to the cabins. He dug around for his phone to see if he had a signal since he was close to the cabins, yet the realization set in remembering he threw it in the back seat during his irritated fit from not having signal. The feeling of his childlike actions made Jack feel even more dumb and defeated than what he was already feeling. Hearing a loud crunch under his foot as he looked down to see a white stick that caught his eye. He didn't remember any birch trees out in these woods as he looked around, seeing a large object in the distance. He made his way slowly over to it seeing a rusted yellow hue, finding out it was a bus. The bus was a yellowish orange color from the rust and rain, dented on all sides as if it had rolled down the mountain. Glass was everywhere as he walked around seeing clothes and bags thrown about looking in the back of the bus wiping the dirt off the glass that had managed to cling on only to see leaves and dirt with some more of the white sticks that he realized was bones. He took steps back tripping over something behind him looking at the skull of a human child he screamed and stood up quickly backing away as tears filled his eyes.

The pain of thinking about the terror those children must've been in, or if they even lived to reach the bottom, was something he could not imagine. He cried wiping away his tears and sniffling saying to himself, "When I make it to the cabin, I will call the police to get your kids home," he said as he turned to see a group of kids staring at him. They were all so young and pale, their eyes were sunken in and black. They moved in unison as they pointed in a direction that he realized was close to the cabins. Turning back, they were gone as he made his way quickly out of the woods to see his parents outside with the police.

'Oh mom' he thought as he assumed she must've called the police since he should've gotten there hours ago. He walked up slowly to see his father crying and his mother, curious as to what had happened he decided to make his presence known. "Mom I'm alright Dad why're you crying you never cry," he said aloud as he was smiling. Though no reaction to his voice nor to him as he stood there up next to them.

"How did it happen?" his mother said as her voice was trembling the sound of distraught lingered in the air.

"Well ma'am we assume he fell asleep at the wheel there was no alcohol or drugs in the car, and the other semi-driver said he swerved into him with out notice we can confirm he did die on impact since it was a head on collision," the policemen stated.

Jack heard this and couldn't believe it as he tried to touch his mom, his hand fell right through falling to his knees. He began crying until he felt a hand touch his shoulder, the little girl who he had been seeing this entire time smiled at him. She was no longer pale though full of life grabbing his hand gesturing to him to come with her. He stood up wiping his tears as he looked back to his parents then forward following the girl into the woods.