The Incubus

Chapter 10, Scene 10

Dinner was good. It was better than Rebecca thought it would be. She needed the chat more than she realized, and was grateful that she decided to finally give in and visit Tanya. Between Dominic and her colleague, she figured she would have the perfect balance of quality time she needed so desperately while Justin was away. All she wanted was a little bit of attention and someone to pamper her every now and again. Sometimes she wondered if Justin still remembered that she was pregnant. The thought of Justin immediately made her wish that he was there with her.

The dark and twisty back roads from the plot where Tanya leased her shoddy three-room apartment was the last place on earth a woman should be alone on in the late hours of the night.

The car sputtered and jerked forward.

No! Rebecca pumped the gas pedal furiously. Not here! Not now!

'Oh no,' she said and pumped the gas pedal again. 'This isn't happening!'

The car didn't care about her concerns and promptly cut the engine.

'No, no, no!' Rebecca cried out as she pulled the car over to the side of the road. Her legs felt unresponsive and her heart beat around wildly in her chest. The car finally came to a complete stop. The back roads in this area had no street lights, which left Rebecca alone and engulfed in total darkness. The only source of light came from the car itself. She tried to start the car again. It merely huffed once or twice and then died. She turned the key again, but this time she didn't even get a half-hearted huff.

Justin, I need you!

Rebecca took her cell phone from the glove compartment and searched for Tanya's number. She hit the dial button but immediately received an error tone. She looked at the screen and the words No Reception made her stomach twist into knots.

'Stupid cell phone!' She shouted and threw the phone down on the seat next to her. She tried to look at the surroundings outside, but the interior roof light inside the car blinded her.

Rebecca switched off the roof light and the headlights, and for a moment, was totally blind. As her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she could barely make out the silhouettes of trees and electricity poles against the cool blue night sky.

Rebecca shifted in the seat. Something was wrong. The feeling started as a faint tingle crawling down her spine, but soon grew into spasms of fear. She tried the key again, but again, nothing happened. Rebecca could sense that something of pure evil was lurking out in the darkness. Eventually it felt as if whatever it was, was coming closer; moving in for the kill. She could feel it and the feeling intensified as whatever it was closed in on her. She felt nauseous. She tried the key again, but fumbled and it took a moment before she could turn it in the ignition.

Nothing.

'Please help,' she said and almost lost it. 'Anyone. Please!'

She tried the keys again.

Still nothing.

A silhouette somewhere in front of the car made her freeze. Was someone there? There! She was sure of it. It moved! Someone or something was approaching the car.

'Start, you stupid thing!'

The car still didn't respond.

Rebecca felt useless and powerless as the fear inside her clutched her heart and numbed her legs. She flicked on the headlights and screamed when she saw someone standing in front of the car. The person moved to the side and around to her window. Rebecca screamed like she hadn't done in her life up to that point.

'Calm down,' a muffled voice spoke from outside the car. 'I'm here to help you.'

It took a while for Rebecca to regain control of her emotions. When she finally did manage to calm herself, she took deep panic breaths until her heartbeat returned to more or less a normal pace. She turned her head slowly and cried out with relief when she saw Dominic standing there. She turned down her window.

'Looks like this whole saving you business is becoming a habit,' he said with a smile.

'You...' she said and took a deep breath. 'You scared me.'

'I scared you?' he asked. 'Your screaming scared the hell out of me!'

Rebecca chuckled. She was relieved that someone she knew turned up to help her in the middle of nowhere. 'Wait,' she said. 'What are you doing here? How did you know where I was?'

'I didn't,' he said. 'It's quite an embarrassing story. Really.'

'Oh? How so?'

'Well, I drove around the neighbourhood to try and get to know the area. Before long, I was lost. I tried to back-track, but only managed to mess things up even more and eventually ended up here.'

'Where's your car?'

'Oh, just down the road,' Dominic said. 'I mistook the lights of your car for that of a house and began walking to save what little fuel I had left. When the lights went out, I tried to follow the road blindly in the dark until I almost walked right into your car. Imagine the fright I had when your lights went on right in front of me, followed by the screams of a banshee.'

Rebecca laughed, but her hands still shook. 'What are the odds? You really are a miracle sent from above.'

Dominic smiled. 'You got car problems?'

'You might say that,' she said.

'Pop the hood. I'll check it out for you.'

'Are you sure you know what you're doing?'

'Pretty much,' Dominic said. 'I'm no mechanic, but I know my way around.' He raised the hood of the car so that she couldn't see him anymore. She could only see his hands through the tiny gap, working here and there; pulling something and then turning something else. 'Okay,' he shouted. 'Give it a try.'

Rebecca turned the key and the car sputtered and whined before the engine growled to life. 'It's working!'

Dominic slammed the hood shut and pushed his chest out triumphantly. 'Mind if I catch a ride with you to my car?' He asked.

Does the sun rise in the mornings?  'Not at all,' she said, almost too enthusiastically. 'I can't thank you enough. You're a Godsend.' She dropped him at his car and he followed her home. After a quick cup of coffee that turned into an hour's worth of conversation, Dominic said goodnight, kissed the back of her hand, and left.