Knock, Knock

"Jason, it's already two o'clock. My parents are going to kill me," Sara said to her boyfriend a little after two. They had been at the party since about eight o'clock that night, and she'd promised her parents she'd be home by midnight. Now, it was two hours after that.

"I know," He sighed before looking at his friends. "We really do have to go, guys."

"Okay, man." Jason's friend Tommy said, high-fiving him. "See you Monday in school, right?"

"Yeah. Maybe not 'til study hall, but I'll be there." He told his friend with a grin before he and Sara walked out of the house. When they were outside, he put his hands on her shoulders.

"Do you want to stay at my place with me?" He asked her in a quiet voice, kissing her lips lightly. She sighed, and looked at him.

"I'd like to, but Mom and Dad are already going to freak out on me. I should probably go home and explain things to them," She told Jason, who nodded as he got into his side of the car. They had been driving for about half an hour, since her house was an hour away, and suddenly the car came to a stop.

"What's wrong?" Sara said, looking at Jason. He cussed loudly, and then hit the steering wheel again.

"The car died. Of all nights it chooses to die, it chooses tonight." He grumbled, obviously not in a very good mood. He looked at Sara. "Look, if you want, I'll walk to the nearest gas station and get some help. There's got to be someone there."

"Jason, it's two o'clock in the morning." She sighed. "No gas station is going to be open right now. I guess we're just going to have to stay here until someone finds us, or until tomorrow morning when we can walk."

Jason sighed, adn then looked over at her. "I guess that's a good idea, too." He agreed, pushing the middle console up so that she could scoot closer to him. "But there's no way I can sleep now. I'm too wired up."

"Let's listen to the radio." She suggested, turning on the old dial. There were no music stations that would come in because they were in such a secluded spot, but there was a news station that came in loud and clear. They stopped on it to listen, since there was nothing else to do. If anything, they could say they had actually listened to the news over the weekend when they had to go back to school and go to government class.

"This just in," The reporter said over the station. This caught Sara and Jason's attention. "A little after one o'clock this morning, about an hour ago, folks, a prisoner escaped from the Waverhill Sanatarium just outside of Becktown. He is described to be very dangerous, and should be avoided at all costs. If anyone has any information on the prisoner, or has seen him, they should contact the Becktown sheriff's department. It is advised that children be kept indoors, and that no one wander around without a group of people until the man is found."

"Jason, I'm scared," Sara told him, her lip quivering a little bit. "What do we do?"

"I'm sure it's just a practical joke the radio station is playing, Sara. It happens every year." He said, rolling his eyes as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Jason, you don't know that." She argued. "I'm really scared now."

"Okay. Um...I'll walk up to that gas station, okay? It won't take me more than an hour, and I'm sure it's safe out there."

"But Jason, there's--"

"I promise I'll be back soon," He said, cutting her off. When he saw the look of fear on her face, he sighed and sat back down in his seat. "Keep the doors locked, okay? And hide under the blanket in the back seat if you'd like. Don't unlock the door unless you hear this on the side of the door,"

Jason demonstrated the sound by rolling down the window and hitting the car once with his fist, knock, and then waiting five seconds before he made the next knock with his fist.

This seemed to make Sara feel a little bit better, and she nodded with a fearful smile, leaning in to kiss his lips lightly. "Okay," She said. Jason got out of the car, and she left the headlights on for him to see by. She made sure all four locks on the doors were locked before she layed down in the backseat under the big wool blanket, like Jason had suggested she do.

Sara didn't know how long she had been lying there before she finally began to worry. It could have been twenty minutes or an hour, for all she knew. She didn't dare sit up from under the blanket, though. As worried as she was about Jason, he'd told her to stay under the blanket, and that's what she was going to do. Suddenly, she heard a single knock on the top of the car.

"Oh, please be Jason," She muttered to herself, tears forming in her eyes. She couldn't help but think of all the urban legends she'd heard and all the horror movies she'd watched throughout her lifetime. None of them ever had good endings.

"One..." She muttered, starting to count off to herself. "Two...three...four...fi--"

She was cut off by another knock on top of the car. She jumped slightly, and then laughed.

"Jason, you can--"

She was cut off yet again by another knock on top of the car.

"Jason, cut it out." She said, a little louder this time. Jason must be playing some kind of sick prank on her. "Jason? Jason! Get in here!"

Throughout the time she'd started talking, she'd heard three more knocks, all evenly spaced. She listened to it for several hours before, finally becoming too exhausted with fear, she fell into a troubled sleep.

-x-

Thud, thud! Sara woke up the next morning to hearing that sound on the side door of the car. She sat up with a jump, fearful, only to see that it was a policeman standing outside the car in bright sunlight, peering in through the window. She unlocked the door for him.

"Ma'am, how long has your vehicle been parked here?" He asked her.

"Um..I think it died at two this morning. I've been inside here since then," She told him. The cop muttered something, and then held her hand as he helped pull her out of the car. When they were in front of the car, she stopped suddenly, hearing the knock, knock sound again.

"What was that?" She asked the policeman, who stood directly behind her.

"Ma'am, it's best if you just keep walking forward and don't turn around," He told her. But Sara didn't listen to him, and turned around in the brisk November air. Her face turned ghost white when she saw Jason's body hanging from a tree, a lax expression on his lifeless face, his feet hitting the roof of the car...

Knock...knock...knock...