Fear Over Caution

Fear Over Caution: A short story for Halloween by Sienna

Strange things happen in our lives from time to time, which are unexplainable...

It was dark, almost midnight and the road I was travelling on seemed endless. There were trees on either side bordering open farmland, although in the darkness it was hard to tell. All I had was my headlights guiding me along the road and in the time that passed, not one car moving in the opposite direction did I see.

All I had for company was a CD playing continuously. Once it was my favourite, but for some reason during that days driving I had saturated myself with it. The music had become repetitive and I began to yearn for a welcoming change. But still, it was company and I was glad I had it.

The long journey was the longest I had ever undertaken so far in my life. I was warned about the distance and the alternatives I should have considered. It had been a long day getting as far as I had and now I was in the wild open countryside miles from any large towns or cities only a few hours away from my destination. I was running two hours behind schedule thanks to unpredicted traffic problems on the highways that afternoon. I needed a rest. I was tired and hungry. But soon I would reach the place I was heading for, which made me feel as if I had achieved something so far. It kept me going.

If only nature would be in perfect balance. My head was set on reaching that goal, my body was now telling me something different. I drank too much bottled water earlier and was beginning to feel the effects, almost desperately. I was beginning to drift in my thoughts, trying to overcome the quickening anxiety I was beginning to feel. The darkness outside and being so far away from home suddenly began to hit me. It was so very late and I was alone.

Then I saw him. He stood in the distance waving me down with both arms frantically as the headlights shon on him in the middle of the road. I slowed down to a stop and waited for him to walk towards the car. I was unsure at first, keeping the window tightly closed with both my hands firmly gripping the steering wheel. He knocked on the window with his knuckle a few times and spoke;

"Can you help me? Please?"

I looked at him. He was in his thirties and quite well dressed in a grey suit. His necktie was open and my first thoughts were that he might have been a traveller like me, with his car broken down somewhere. But where? Although possibly desperate for somekind of help he seemed calm and pleasant. I rolled down the window leaving a slight gap, enough to hear what he had to say clearly. I was cautious of strangers in strange places and my safety was paramount in my mind.

"I have got myself lost it seems. I've been walking along this road for hours looking for a village or service station. So far, nothing." He explained, with a cute smile that complimented his looks. "Please, can you help me?"

I knew there was nothing in the direction I had come from. The last thing I remembered was a tiny farmhouse miles back and before that, an unknown village even further. I wondered which way he was heading, so I asked him and he pointed in the direction I was going.

"Have you broken down?"

"Sort of." He replied, shrugging his shoulders. "Please help me. I know I'm not far from Hinchcliffe Hall, just further up the road. And that's where I guess you are heading?"

"I am yes. Are you a guest?"

"Not quite. But I will be when I get there." He started to grin, making light of his comment as if it was meant to impress me. "Look all I need is a lift. It must be a few miles away, that's all."

I started to think. He was looking for a village or service station. Now he was telling me he was heading for the same location as me. I was probably over cautious. I looked at him and then turned off the music.

"If you have broken down, then where is your car?" I asked. He stood up straight and shrugged his shoulders again, this time in frustration. He placed his hand on the roof of my car and leaned to stare at me.

"Look, miss, all I am asking for is a lift. Look at me." He pointed a finger at his face. "Do I look dangerous to you? I mean do I? Come on! Give me a break will you." I gripped the steering wheel harder and thought. Maybe he was harmless and maybe, just maybe I was being over cautious. I looked back at him and nodded for him to get in.

He sat beside me rubbing his hands. "Fantastic!" he shouted. "You don't know how much I appreciate this. If only you knew how much trouble I've gotten myself into today trying to get where I'm going. Things just seem to have got from bad to worst in the past few hours."

I started the car moving again, picking up speed to a reasonable pace and just listened to what he had to say;

"When I started out this morning I thought, Jackie boy today is going to be a good one. And I was wrong. Nothing is good about this day I tell you." He seemed friendly, talkative and so full himself. "You know what I mean? Of course you do. I am so pleased you came along right now when you did. I really do appreciate this."

"Are you on the course at Hinchcliffe Hall?"

"Is that what it is? A course?" he replied. He slapped his thigh. "Of course, I should have known. That's why you are going there, right?" His reply was certainly weird, but I played along with him and nodded. "You are a student, right?"

"Not really. I am a researcher. The company I work for sent me on a refresher course. What about you?" I was not letting him take advantage with his questions. For some reason he seemed to be searching for information. He was stranger than I thought, knowing very little about what was happening at our destination. He remained silent for a while, thinking, then he replied;

"You know, this area is so strange to me. I have never been here before."

"Me either. I'm not used to these far away places in the countryside. I am used to the city."

"I knew it! You are a city girl. Kind of freaky being out here miles from civilisation eh? And look how dark it is. Not one human soul apart from you and I for miles around." His manner was becoming even stranger as I felt his eyes looking at me intently. But I kept my eyes on the road ahead, not turning once to face him. And I was becoming desperate. He was company that I did not desire at that moment in time.

"What are you listening to?" He flipped the CD player and removed the disk. "Oh I see you are into smooth stuff. That's cool, I love heavy metal myself." He threw the disk behind him onto the back seat.

"Wow! Hang on! What are you doing?" I asked. His action was certainly unexpected.

"It's crap!"

I started to slow the car so that I could face him. "Thankyou, I really appreciate your opinion. But why did you throw it like that? Don't you have any respect?"

"Look, just keep driving miss. I like you a lot. So don't spoil this. I appreciate the lift and my day isn't going too well at all." There was a rapid change now in his manner, which made me feel suddenly nervous. "Just keep driving, ok? Don't ask questions."

"Wait a minute. Why are you being suddenly aggressive in your attitude?"

"If I told you what my problems were you would not believe me. And I told you to keep quiet, ok?" He found my folder under the dash and started to search through it. His actions quickened, taking each slip of paper and reading them quickly before tossing them back into the rear seat. I was being pushed to my limit and fearing him even more. But I kept on driving. Who was he? What had I done?

"Excuse me?"

"Shut the fuck up!" he snapped. "I told you once, keep quiet and drive." I stopped the car and held the steering wheel even tighter. "What are you doing? I told you to keep driving." I was now desperate to get rid of him. But I had already made the mistake.

"I'm not moving any further until you give me an explanation." I could feel him staring at me, but I did not look back at him. There was a few minutes of silence and then he thumped the dash with his fist, throwing the empty folder into my lap. I closed my eyes praying that this whole episode was just a dream I was having, wishing that I had drifted off to sleep and I was parked at the side of the road taking a nap. But it was real.

"You are just a bitch." He pointed his finger at me. "Like the fucking rest. You don't care bout guys like me. You always think the same way. Lets see how much I can tease this guy and dump him."

"Get out!" I shouted. It was the only thing I could think of saying, but it was the wrong thing to say. I realised that immediately when he sat watching me. I could feel him getting even angrier. And I waited to see what his reaction would be, fearing the worst scenario. What had I done? What could I do?

His hand touched my shoulder gently. "It's ok miss. I understand. You are like me right now. Tired and desperate for rest and only a few miles from civilisation. Our destination just ahead." His voice turned sympathetic again. Then his grip grew tighter. "You and I are in the same boat here. You know that?" I opened my eyes and turned to face him. His smile seemed gentle, yet behind it there was a mad man. I knew he had a problem and I needed to play along with him. It was the only thing I could do. I nodded, agreeing with him.

"This whole world is so fucked up." He said, looking into the darkness ahead. "I mean, why does this have to happen? Why do I have to do this?"

"Do what?"

He turned and looked at me. "Rape you?" My heart began to race at the very suggestion. And the look on his face said it all. His intentions were becoming more realistic. His eyes looked at me as if looking beyond my clothes, guessing what I had and what I could give to him.

"No. You don't really want that."

"How the fuck do you know what I want?" He shouted, pressing and gripping my shoulder even harder and then he took my face in his hand and held it painfully in his grip. I felt vulnerable, my mind thinking all kinds of things that could happen.

"Don't hurt me, please." I pleaded. But I noticed I was feeding his desires. He began to laugh at me, extracting some level of fun from his power over me. But, I was not going to accept that. I could not allow him to do this to me. Something told me inside that I had to fight back. There was a chance and I had to take it.

Quickly I swung my arm and struck him on the side of the head with my fist. Using my other hand I grabbed his crotch and squeezed. He yelled in pain, releasing his grip on my face. But all it did was make him grab my arms tightly, holding and restraining me with all his strength. And with total frustration, I began to weaken, releasing my emotions in tears. My efforts to retaliate and escape had failed miserably.

As I stared back at him, restraining my own panic, I released my grip. His eyes bulged with pain and I knew the more I struggled and squeezed in retaliation, the more I would get hurt. It was as if we had reached an impasse, a point where neither of us could go further without hurting each other more. His grip on my arms loosened.

"You certainly are a fighter Miss." He said, raising a grin on his face. I sobbed, keeping my stare firmly on his eyes. Maybe it was over? Maybe he had second thoughts? And as he released me and sat up, I reached back and opened the car door.

I managed to get out into the darkness, feeling the road against my bare feet and I began to run away, ahead, anywhere but with him, as far away as I possibly could before stopping to look back. He was not following. And all I could see was the headlights beaming.

I stood still, gathering my thoughts on the situation I had found myself in. Taking deep breaths I noticed something was not right. Something had changed in the way things were. The headlights shon down onto the road revealing a figure lying there. I blinked; making sure that it was not an hallucination, before slowly moving back towards my car.

The figure lying in the road was the man. He was limp, arms spread out and face staring up at me with open eyes. I looked down at him, expecting him to grab my leg and I was ready to run again if he tried. I stood for a while and then realised that he was not going to move at all. He was silent and dead. I noticed the pool of blood that gathered under his head and knew there and then that he had been injured. His legs stretched out, almost under the front of the car.

I stepped to the side and leaned against the bonnet, still looking at him, taking a deep breath. And I gathered my thoughts once again. Now things became much clearer. The clear images flooding back into my mind instantly. I suddenly remembered the man waving at me in the headlights and instead of slowing down, I kept moving, pressing my foot further onto the gas. And the only thoughts on my mind at the time was what I had just experienced.