Failed Summoning

No moon, no stars, just dark clouds and headlights. She continued driving in the near pitch black staying focused on the lines of the road and trying not to get blinded when another car passed her going the other way. She was headed home after attending a party with her friends, it had been a good night but she wasn't happy that she had to make the drive home tonight. She had hoped to spend the night with the cute guy she flirted with the whole evening but instead he had to go bail his sister out of jail and she was stuck driving for an hour to get back home.

She shifted in her seat as she remembered the events of the evening. There was a lot of flirting and teasing and innuendos being thrown between them and that was before they started dancing. On the dance floor things just got better; or worse considering he had to bail. They had grinded and groped each other on the dance floor as they felt each others 'intentions' out. It had let both of them breathing heavily and ready for some alone time. Then his phone had to ring.

She focused her attention back on the road and shifted in her seat again. Fresh panties would be needed tomorrow, she mentally noted. Thinking about cell phones reminded her to check hers, they had exchanged numbers before leaving the club and she had heard hers go off earlier in the drive. She slowed the car as she approached a stop sign and checked her phone. It was a hot text from her dance partner, wanting to know when they could get together and finish what they started. She wrote a steamy text back letting him know she would be back in town a couple of weeks later. She hit the send button and the phone let her know it would be sent when signal returned. She noted the bars and acknowledged that she had none.

She stepped on the gas again and continued the drive. The last half hour of the drive was always the worst, there was almost nothing out here but forest. She drove for about five minutes listening to the radio and shifting in her seat trying to get some release but it wasn't working very well. She surveyed the road ahead of her and didn't see any headlights coming at all, so she decided to take a more hands on approach to getting some release.

She used one hand to unbutton her jeans and slid the same hand into her jeans and panties. As her fingers touched the heated skin between her legs she let out a sign and bit her lip. She started working her fingers faster, knowing it wouldn't take long in her current state combined with the thrill of being caught doing this while driving. It didn't take her long before she was moaning and grinding her hips in the drivers seat as the radio hummed out a sexy tune. She could feel the pleasure growing and welcomed the release that would follow.

She was doing a good job of focusing on the road and getting things done downstairs when the radio decided to cut out leaving her moans as the only sound in the car as it drove. Sighing she removed her hand from her pants and went to adjust the radio. She stopped before touching the buttons as she realized her fingers were quite slippery. Not having any other option she stuck the fingers in her mouth and sucked them clean, the action sending a small wave of pleasure through her body. Finished cleaning, she returned to trying to get the radio to come back on. She cycled through all of her preset stations, but got only silence on all of them. Sighing again, she clicked the button to turn on the cd, but still only got silence.

Silently cursing her luck she decided to finish the drive in silence and return to the task at hand. She went to slip her hand back in her pants but stopped as she noticed a thick bank of fog in front of her. Silently cursing again, she put both hands on the wheel and turned off her high beams. She entered the fog at normal speed but was quickly forced to reduce her speed to a crawl. She concentrated on keeping the car between the fading lines of the road, slowing even further. She glanced at her speed and saw that she was under ten miles an hour, this would delay her arrival at home significantly. Oh well, better safe than sorry she thought and continued making her way slowly through the fog.

Her mind was playing with her as she traveled through the fog, shadows and light coming through the fog making it look like there were faces or people outside her car. She had read about this phenomena before and shook her head to clear the images away. It only partially worked. A few minutes into the fog and she was forced to slam on her brakes as a large shadow swooped in front of her car. She only caught a glimpse of it, it looked like large bird flying across the road. She forced herself to breathe normally as she tried to calm herself down. A few breaths later she removed her foot from the brake to resume her journey and the car promptly died. Forcing herself to calm down even further, she put the car into park and turned the key to start the engine again.

The engine hummed back to life, but died again when she shifted into drive. Cursing aloud this time, she unbuckled her seatbelt and prepared to go out and check the engine. She wasn't stupid when it came to cars, she had watched her father work on cars for most of her youth and knew the basics about getting a car to run again. She grabbed her cell phone to use as a makeshift flashlight and grabbed the handle on her door. She looked out into the fog to make sure she wasn't going to get hit and froze. Outside her door on the other side of the road there was a shadow.

It looked like a man, but it was at least ten feet tall. And it had glowing red eyes. A screech from in front of the car distracted her and she turned to see that bird shadow fly in front of the car again. She was starting to breath heavily now and she tried to mentally force herself to calm down. It's just the fog playing tricks on your mind, she told herself. She forced a few deep breaths and turned to look across the road again. The shadow was gone, but the fog was so thick now that she couldn't even see the road.

In fog this thick she didn't think she would be able to see anything under the hood to get the car working again, so instead she checked her cell phone again. Still no bars, in fact, the text she wrote earlier still hadn't sent. With no other option, she turned on her hazard lights, hoping to be visible enough that someone else on the road wouldn't run into her. She looked out the windshield and nearly screamed, there were 5 of the same shadows that she had seen across the road standing in front of her car. She scrambled for the lock on her door and heard the familiar click as the doors locked all around her.

She watched the shadows closely, trying not to meet the gaze of those red eyes. They didn't move, they didn't blink, they didn't do anything. The fog cleared a little bit and the shadows came into clearer focus. The tall body that looked like a mans body became the trunk of trees and the eyes stopped glowing red and were attached to owls in the branches of the trees. She started laughing at herself, what did she think they were? She hoped the fog would lift soon, it was really starting to mess with her. Looking around the car she realized that when she hit the brakes to stop, she must have turned the wheel as well as the car was turned towards almost sideways and facing the forest now.

With nothing else to do, she decided to try and start the car again. The car hummed to life and the noise startled the owls out of their trees and she watched as they flew into the fog. Another animalistic screech turned her attention and she was the large winged shadow flying into view again, but higher this time. She heard another animal screech and the shadow was gone, but an instant later her windshield was splashed with blood and something hit the hood of her car. She screamed as she saw the head of an owl roll off her hood.

She tried to push herself back into her seat farther as she tried to calm down, but only succeeded in pulling her still unbuttoned pants around her hips. She tried again to force herself calm, taking deep breaths and trying to focus on getting something productive done. She focused on getting her pants back on and fastened. WIth the way things were going, it wouldn't surprise her if she was forced to run for her life from some imaginary demon tonight and if it came to that she didn't want to trip on her pants as they fell around her ankles.

With her pants securely fastened again, she focused on her surroundings again. The trees were still in front of her, but were becoming more shadowy as the fog thickened again. No more owls were visible, which was a good thing considering her blood spattered windshield. The car engine was running and the heater was going. And there didn't appear to be any more shadows around the car for the moment.

Well everything seems to be in order, nothing weird currently going on, she thought to herself. Then she realized that the car was running. She quickly buckled her seatbelt again and shifted the car into drive again, where it promptly died, like it had before. She thumped her head against the steering wheel and sighed. She felt like she was stuck in the middle of a nightmare, and couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched. She shifted the car back to park and started the engine again. She figured if she couldn't use the car to go anywhere, she might as well use it to keep warm.

It wasn't particularly cold, but it wasn't warm either. She sat like that for a while, letting the heater in the car run while she watched the swirling patterns in the fog. It almost became a game to her, trying to make out shapes in the swirling mist. A breeze started to blow and the game became even more interesting. In the back of her mind, she knew that a breeze should start to lift the fog, but to her it just seemed to get pushed thicker by the wind. As the wind picked up force, the woman started to become more concerned. The fog was dancing all around her car now, and the wind was howling, even tipping her car with some gusts.

She forced herself to try and calm down again, even though she was really starting to get freaked out. She started hearing voices in the wind, and tried to shake herself back to reality. There wasn't anyone around for miles, how could there be voices in the wind. The wind and the voices continued despite her efforts not to hear either. She decided to try and get the radio to work again, maybe that would help calm her down. She clicked the button on the stereo to listen to the radio again, and to her surprise, voices started playing through the speakers. She felt relieved and settled down to listen to the radio dj, but instead of a radio jockey playing through the speakers, it was the same voices in the wind.

She could understand them now, as they came through the speakers. They were telling her to run, that she was in danger. Even though they were playing through her speakers, they sounded distant almost echoey. The wind picked up even more, shifting her car regularly now, and the voices became more frantic, trying to warn her that 'it' was coming. She laughed to herself, recognizing the signs of a nervous breakdown. There was no way this could be happening. She was either dreaming or hallucinating. She tried to focus on the events of the night, blocking out the increasing sound of the wind and the voices from the stereo. She tried to remember whether she had left her drink unattended long enough for someone to spike it with something.

The sounds were making it difficult, but she couldn't remember leaving her drink unattended. She didn't remember drinking any spirits either, knowing she had to drive home tonight. This didn't make any sense to her, she tried to turn the stereo off, but the voices wouldn't stop coming through the speakers. They had found a way to make themselves heard and wouldn't stop now. Once voice started to make itself heard above all of the others, it yelled at her to run, that there wasn't any more time to sit and wait. It told her she wasn't crazy and her life depending on her ability to focus. It started to scream at her louder, it was the only thing she could hear.

"RUN!!" It yelled. The woman covered her ears and screamed as loud as she could. When she stopped screaming, the voices were gone and the wind was quiet. She looked into the fog, but saw nothing. The voice whispered once more, quietly, like it was afraid it would be overheard. it said simply "it's here." And then she was alone.

No sound, no wind, just the fog.

She slouched in her seat, involuntarily trying to make herself invisible. The feeling that she was being watched was like a blanket that covered her now, but she couldn't see anything in the fog. She tried not to move, and to keep her breathing as quiet as possible. Any thoughts of this not being real had flown from her head, she was now in fight or flight mode and flight was winning. Repressed instincts took over and the only thing that moved on the woman was her eyes, scanning the fog for some glimpse of the danger that watched her. Time seemed to stop for several moments as the only thing moving was the hum of the engine. The woman wanted to shut the engine off to make the car less of a target for whatever was out there, but she didn't dare move and she thought the loss of the engine sound could give her away, so instead she sat in the driver seat as still as possible.

A crackling sound came from above the car and a large branch fell to the ground on the passenger side of the car. The sound scared her and she almost screamed, but she remembered the quiet voice in her ear and remained as silent as possible. A shadow passed in front of the car, larger than the trees and without wings. She held her breath as the shadow faded from view again. She silently cursed herself for not leaving the car when the voices told her to, for not running when she had the chance, but there was still part of her that thought this couldn't be happening.

She quieted that part of her, not caring if this was real or a dream. She steeled her determination, she was going to make it through this one way or another. She heard a sound from outside the car, it sounded like something large breathing. Something large breathing very close to the car. She remained still and waited.

The car shifted, like something had just nudged it. She waited and the nudge came again. Her breath was coming in short gasps now, as she waited for something bad to happen. She didn't wait long, the back end of the car was lifted off the ground, tipping her forward toward the steering wheel. The seat belt stopped her from hitting anything as the car was raised almost vertical. She stopped herself from screaming and hung suspended by the seat belt. A few seconds later, the car was dropped back onto it's tires and she was jostled around inside the car. When everything was settled again, she reached down and unbuckled the seat belt, preparing for the inevitable run for her life. Freed from the life saving device, she glanced in the rear view mirror.

She shouldn't have. Two sets of bright green eyes stared back at her in the mirror behind her car. A clawed hand descended in front of the eyes and the back half of her car was smashed, shattering the back window and spraying glass inside the car. She didn't wait any longer, she opened the driver door and sprinted ahead of the car and into the forest. The wind started again and she could hear the voices again, telling her to run.

This time she listened and ran. She didn't stop running and the voices and the wind seemed to help her. A terrifying run through the forest in dense fog with a creature that can destroy cars chasing you is not how she pictured the end of her night, but right now she just wanted to make it through the night. The voices helped guide her, stopping her from running into any trees.

She could hear the creature behind her, knocking over trees as it chased her. She didn't dare look back, she could only hope that destroying that many trees would slow the creature enough that she could get away. At one point during the run the voices told her to duck, having not been wrong yet, she listened to them dove for the ground, rolling and coming up in a crouch just in time to see a winged shadow swoop where she had been. She heard it screech in frustration but the voices were telling her to run again. She was beginning to slow but could still hear the trees falling behind her, although more distant. Her breath was coming in ragged gasps as her body wasn't used to this kind of exertion. Ahead of her she saw a light in the fog and sprinted for it.

She broke free of the fog and found herself in a clearing with a log cottage. The voices and the wind had stopped, but she didn't. She ran for the door to the home and hoped it was unlocked. She reached for the handle and prayed to whoever was listening. It turned and she was inside. She closed the door locked it and put her back to the door. She slid to the floor as she tried to catch her breath.

Her head was in her hands and it was several minutes before she realized she was crying. She wiped her face and pulled the hair out of her eyes and looked around. The cottage wasn't big, it looked like it had a den, kitchen and one other room which she assumed was a bedroom. The kitchen had a wood stove, and an ice box (not a refrigerator), and the den had a fireplace and some wooden chairs. Several stuffed animals decorated the cabin and the woman assumed the owner must be a hunter.

There were several birds, some beaver, and a bear on display in the den. She got up from the ground and stepped over to the window. She peeked outside, only putting her face in front of the window. Outside, the fog didn't enter the clearing for the cottage and she identified the light she had seen earlier as a kerosene lamp hanging from the roof. She looked into the fog and could see the shadow of the creature that had been chasing her. She could see it's shadow and it's eyes, all four of them, looking right at her.

She ducked back away from the window and braced herself for the cottage to be torn down around her, but it never happened. She peeked out the window again and looked at the creature in the fog, but it never came any closer.

Great, she thought, trapped here with no escape. She decided to look around the cottage to see if there was someway to call for help, or something to defend herself with. The kitchen had some decent knives for preparing food and she took one, keeping it in her left hand as she used the right one to search the kitchen. There was a lot of dried meat and it appeared that fresh water came into the house from somewhere. She left the kitchen and headed for the bedroom, but found the door locked.

Exhausted from the run she went back to the den. She found some firewood and some matches next to the fireplace and decided to make a fire. It didn't take long and soon the cabin was fairly warm. As a bonus, she found a fire poker and added that to her knife as available weapons. She found a blanket on one of the chairs and laid it in front of the fireplace. She made one last sweep of the house, looking for a cell phone or a phone, or even a smoke signal blanket, but found nothing. She pulled her own cell phone out of her pocket, remembering it, but alas, it still had no bars.

She sighed and resigned herself to a long sleepless night, staying vigilant in case the creatures in the fog decided to rush the cabin. She sat in one of the wooden chairs by the fireplace and set her cell phone and the fire poker in her lap and watched the fire as she listened for movement outside. Part of her knew that she should be watching out the windows for movement, but she never wanted to see those green eyes again. So instead she listened.

About an hour had passed before anything interesting happened. Several times she caught herself nodding off and had to check the cottage again to try and wake herself up. She was sitting in the chair with her weapons in her lap when the man walked in the door. When the man touched her on the shoulder she realized that she had dozed off again, startled she swung the fire poker at him. He caught it in his left hand, the same one he used to wake her. Realizing what she had almost done she dropped the fire poker and apologized. She looked at him and immediately recognized him as the man from the party earlier. Her head spun, she had so many questions and couldn't figure out where to start. She decided to start with the fog and the creature.