NightCurse

Something seemed totally wrong about sneaking out late at night. My mom would definitely kill me if she found out I did this. At least I had some means of self-defense if anyone were to attack me out there, but what if I were shot or something before I could even do anything? What if I were kidnapped and ransomed? What if someone accidentally hit me with their car, because they didn’t see me? What if I were fine and returned home before my mom even woke up?

I threw on an old, dirt-caked pair of Sketchers that were once white and began to climb down the tree right next to my window. My adrenaline rushed monstrously as I began the descent down the tree. I could hear and feel my heart pound in my freezing chest as I descended the nearly-leafless maple with thick, black branches in my back yard and landed with a “THUD!” I glanced at my mother’s window to be sure I didn’t wake her up by doing that, but her lights remained off. I then glanced at the silent, lifeless road. It seemed sinisterly quiet as I walked toward it.

There was absolutely no one on this road at this time-- not even some drunk guy coming home from drinking all night. Usually at least one car traveled on this road each night, but so far there was not a single soul on this pitch-black street. The only street lamp on was the one at the end of the street, and it began to dim away. As I walked past the light, I noticed various varieties of insects dancing around it. I shuddered as I noticed a gigantic, jet-black moth hitting against the light. I quickened my speed out of my stupid fear of moths.

I soon arrived at a dirt road completely surrounded by forest. At the beginning of the dirt road was a streetlight, but the only light actually on the road was the one that came from houses nearby. It was the type of road where some creep would be lurking, searching for his next victim. The wind began to push the trees backwards as it rammed through them.

Suddenly, I heard the scraping of metal against wood-- a tree, maybe, and I nearly jumped. I froze in my spot and glanced around nervously as my heart began to pound once again. I could see nothing but the outline of a tall figure-- about 6’7”-- about twenty feet away. When I tried to move my feet out, out of pure nervousness, they wouldn’t even budge a centimeter. The figure began to move toward me as I tried to get my feet to work. I then reached for my bag, but it wasn’t even there! I must have forgotten it when I dropped it to climb the tree! I was doomed!

I stared at the long blade in its gigantic palm with stringy fingers. This blade had pointed teeth and a short, round handle. The metal chain on the figure’s legs clinked against itself as it took each dooming step toward me. I suddenly began to back up slowly as it inched toward me. In a few seconds, it dropped the blade, which now really looked like a saw for cutting trees, and the figure’s wrinkly, freezing hands gripped my wrist and pulled me toward it.

“Who are you?” it shouted in a man’s rough, raspy voice as it squeezed my wrist nearly numb.

“I, I, I, uhh…” I began to panic out of fright as his strong, wrinkled hand squeezed my wrist even harder.

“What’s such a younger girl doin’ out here at this time? Doncha know what cud happin if ya come out this late yerself?”

“Yeah, but I, uhh--”

“There’s no excuse for coming out dis late, young lady! Why don’t ya let me drive ya home?”

There was something strangely ominous about this guy, but what was it? Maybe it was the way he talked? No, the way people talk usually don’t bother me. Maybe it was just because he’d scared the crap out of me before. That must’ve been it. No matter how much I told myself to calm down, however, my instincts told me to break out of his grip and RUN! That’s exactly what I tried, too.

I yanked my brittle hand away from his tight grip and bolted back to where I had come from. I then heard the pounding of his boots as he darted after me with the saw in his hand. I sped up a bit, but I was already running near my top speed. Saliva globbed up in my throat after about two minutes of running so fast, my heart began to pound like a monster playing drums, and my lungs felt almost empty. After five minutes of darting down the road from this guy, I felt like just giving up, because I was overwhelmed by the suffocating fatigue.

Finally, however, I saw the blinding streetlight at the beginning of the dirt road. There I saw a beet-red Accord with the lights on inside. There was a younger man in the black of it that appeared to be in his twenties or early thirties. His hair was bright orange and spiky, and he had a thick, fuzzy mustache the same color as his hair. Pretty odd guy… He was reading some sort of book or something, but when he heard me running, he shot his head up from his book. His eyes looked black from where I was, but they were probably brown or something. He was wearing a chocolate-brown and sky-blue striped shirt and black skinny jeans.

He suddenly slid the door open and darted at me. I bolted the other way and ended up into the Accord’s front and onto the ground. He seized me and tossed me into the Accord’s door. I then saw the other man, and he was about to jump into the driver’s seat when I noticed something in my pocket-- the round can of pepper spray! How did it get in there, and how hadn’t I noticed it before! Before I was able to use it, however, the Accord sped toward the highway about a thousand feet from us, and we were soon almost on it in about five minutes. When I tried to move, the guy with the orange hair threw me against the seat and gave me a quick punch in the shoulder. This was definitely not going to be easy.

I reached into my pocket and grabbed the can of pepper spray. The guy knocked it out of my hand and threw me onto the ground. The can ended up under the seat, and he was looking for something in his other pocket. I bit his other hand furiously, so he flinched. He let out a sharp, shrill yelp as blood drained from his hand and onto my clothes. Yuck! I fumbled for the pepper spray as he placed a small bandage on the bite. As soon as it was in his eyes, he rubbed them angrily as he let out an infuriated whine. The other guy looked back at us for a second and said, “What the fuck! You actually let that bitch--” Before he could finish that sentence, I slid the door open hastily and did a barrel-roll out of the Accord.

When I was out, I realized that I was on Corner Street, which was about ten minutes from the nearest mall. Hopefully, they’d have some sort of payphones and some coins on the ground. There was no way at all I was going to trust a complete stranger to give me some coins to call someone after what just happened! I was even a bit afraid to go out there! I just hoped that guy wouldn’t find me and kidnap me again.