The Darkened Highway

The Darkened Highway Chapter Thirty-Three

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 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 hoped the map we found would help guide us to this 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, and 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 exclaimed.

"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 knew she was waiting for something to go wrong.

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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 from my lap, but I already knew what she had heard. There was a low rumble coming from the front of the RV. The sounds of clanking grew louder for several minutes before Ben took notice. Our speed changed as the clanking turned into loud bangs, and smoke plumed up from the front of the RV. It banged and sputtered loudly as Ben brought the RV 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.