Hooked on You

Rae gazed out of the window as the scenery flew past. It was dark now, and it felt as though she and Simon were the only two people alive in the world. The road was empty, the headlights lighting up the dense trees on either side of them, and in the gap the road created between the lush vegetation, the stars were visible, glinting and glittering far above them. Rae directed her eyes up, wondering if, somewhere far away, life on some distant planet was looking at the little speck that was Earth, wondering it anyone was looking back at them.

"What's on your mind, Rae?" Simon suddenly asked. Glancing at his girlfriend, he had recognized the captivated look upon her features. He liked her imagination. She would always come out with some thought completely irrelevant to any conversation they were having. Simon found it adorable and hilarious at the same time.

"Do you ever wonder if we're the only ones looking at the moon?" Rae asked dreamily, leaning her head against the window and continuing to gaze up. Simon chuckled.

"All right, Mulder," he laughed. "The truth is out there, right?"

Rae smiled at him, used to the joking, but Simon knew her mind was still light-years away from Earth.

Simon gently steered the car off of the main road, and instantly the interior of the car darkened as the tress grew denser and the darkness they caused became more prominent. Rae's attention snapped from the stars to the leaves, wondering about their structures, every tiny atom of their being, coming together to make the fluttering green leaves before her.

The car slowed to a halt, the wheels crunching upon the uneven road surface below its tires, and Simon secured the car in park and took his seat belt off. After a moment's hesitation, during which Rae reeled her mind back to the present, Rae did the same, and they turned and looked at one another, both of them smiling cheekily.

"It feels like when we very first started dating," Simon laughed softly. "And we used to sneak around, like kissing was the crime of the century."

"Knowing my father, it would have been," Rae smiled, also fondly remembering long nights spent driving, parking in remote places, snuggling up in the back seat with a blanket and the radio on low. They hadn't done it for a while, and this was the first time their work schedules had allowed it.

Simon reached out and gently touched Rae's cheek, though he gave no explanation as to why. He did that every so often, Rae had noticed, and she wondered if he was double-checking that she existed. They both knew that they had been very lucky to find one another. Rae smiled, slightly shyly, and Simon gave a warm laugh, reaching over and flicking the radio on.

"Let's see if there's any music from the old days, eh?" he asked, flicking through the channels. Snippets of the stations filled the car, some audible in their remote location, others just an annoying buzz of static and nonsense.

"Definitely not," Rae laughed, as some cheesy pop song filled the car.

"You said it," Simon grinned, as he changed the channel over again. The voice was slightly audible, but it seemed to be the news, and Simon reached to change it again before Rae reached out a hand to stop him.

"Listen," she breathed.

"We interrupt your normal broadcast to bring you some important breaking news," the radio host was saying, a sense of urgency in her voice. Rae felt a shiver go up her spine. She had a bad feeling about this, and suddenly the dark trees didn't feel welcoming and private anymore. She looked into them, seeing only danger and fear within their dark branches.

"I'm sure it's nothing," Simon began, but seeing the intense look on Rae's face made him fall silent again.

"We have been asked to inform anyone who may be in the Elvden Woods area, or on the many roads thereabouts, that there is a security risk at present. Police have warned all people to leave the area, and if they should see a lone male, travelling away from the area, they should inform the authorities at once. This man is dangerous, and has escaped from an institution for the criminally insane. Convicted several years ago for a string of sick murders, police have told us to make the public aware that his defining feature is the loss of his right hand. In its place, is a hook."

Rae looked at Simon, her eyes wide under her dark hair, the small light from the clock on the dashboard glinting in them.

"That's where we are, Si," she whispered. "In the woods she mentioned."

Simon shifted uncomfortably.

"It'll be fine, Rae," he said, reaching over to make sure that the doors were locked. "The doors are locked, we're not that far away from the main road, and if he is around, he'll be walking away from here."

"But what if he finds us and decides he wants a lift or something?" Rae squeaked. "I mean, nothing stopping him killing us too, and with a hook for a hand he'll hardly need any other weapons, will he? "

"Rae -"

"Please let's go back, Simon," Rae whispered. Her ears were straining past the report, past the sound of Simon's reassurance, straining out into the woods, convinced she could hear footsteps creeping closer, heavy breathing that would soon be fogging up the window ...

Simon looked at his girlfriend, knowing that she wouldn't relax now. Sighing, he put the car into reverse and slowly backed up, tyres once more crunching over uneven surfaces. Rae stared straight ahead, focusing on the spot they had just vacated, wondering if she were imagining the footprint-like shapes the headlights were illuminating.

The drive back was mostly in silence. Rae felt guilty, wondering if she had over-reacted and ruined she and Simon's night for no reason other than her overactive imagination and paranoia.

"Are you mad?" Rae eventually whispered, and Simon glanced at her in shock before looking back at her with a more composed expression.

"No!" he said. "Of course not - why would I be?"

"I just feel silly," Rae admitted. "Perhaps you're right, perhaps -"

"Hey, better safe than sorry," Simon said gently, and Rae nodded.

"We don't have to go home. Just get out of this area."

"Sounds good to me," Simon smiled, and he brightened considerably at the fact they weren't heading home. Rae was soon back to star-gazing, and after half an hour or so of twisting and turning through the dark and empty roads, Simon brought the car to a stop.

Their new location was beautiful - an open bank next to a small lake, which reflected the stars wonderfully. Rae felt a lot better out in the open, and she knew this showed in her expressions and body language.

"You want to head over there?" Simon asked, pointing to where the headlights lit up a picnic bench by the shore of the lake. Rae nodded, smiling, and Simon opened his door, letting in the cool night air. There was a slight breeze, but it wasn't too cold, and the air was crisp and fresh, a classic summer night.

Following Simon's lead, Rae climbed out of the car, and it was only when she turned to close the door behind her that she noticed the scratches all down the door.

"Simon, did we hit anyone?" she asked, crouching down to the level of the door and using her cell phone to shine light upon the nasty scratches.

"No, why?" Simon asked. He came around to Rae's side and swore viciously when he saw the damage to his car.

"God damn it," he burst out. "My dad's going to kill me, I've barely had it a year!"

He ran his fingers over the scratches, trying to work out how deep they were. Rae looked at him sympathetically.

"I'm sure you can get a filler and some paint for quite cheap," she told him. "There's no need to fork out loads in the shop."

"I suppose you're right," Simon replied, sighing heavily. "Ah well, I guess there's nothing that can be done at the moment. I'll get it sorted tomorrow, hopefully my dad will never notice. You have to wonder what caused it, though."

"Maybe you drove against a bush which had thorns?" Rae suggested, but she knew that was impossible, as the scratches were vertical and diagonal, whereas they would be more horizontal if her suggestion was correct.

It was when they decided to move away to the bench that had been their original destination that Rae saw the cause for the scratches. She froze so suddenly that Simon was several paces ahead by the time he noticed Rae wasn't next to him, and he turned to see her beside the car, staring at the ground, her eyes wide.

"Rae?" he asked. "Rae? Are you all right?"

Rae moved then. She jumped back and screamed, and the sound of it cut straight trough Simon. He ran to her, about to ask what was wrong, but then he saw it.

Lying on the floor, seemingly after slipping out of the gap in the door when Rae opened it, was a bloody hook.

Rae looked at Simon, wide-eyed.

"He was right outside," she whispered. "He could have opened the door and grabbed me!"

"Don't touch it," Simon said, even though neither of them wanted it, anyway. "I'm going to call the cops. Get in the car, it'll be safer there."

Stepping over the hook, her heart thumping madly, Rae climbed back into the car. After a couple of minutes, Simon joined her, instantly locking the doors.

"Can we please go?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"The police say we have to wait here," Simon told her apologetically.

"But he might want his hook back," Rae whispered, and both of them looked instinctively out of the back window. They hoped it was the trees moving out there.