Lonely Road
Meanwhile, Vera Kingsley cruised through Greenly Bay’s quiet streets, the patrol car’s headlights slicing through the darkness past 8:30 PM. The radio crackled faintly with static, the only sound besides the hum of the engine and the occasional rustle of leaves blown across the road. She’d been driving for nearly an hour, her mind a tangle of worry—Kane’s abrupt radio cutoff, the cracked window at his cabin, the Thames’ unsettling confidence. The town felt too still, the streets empty save for a stray cat darting under a porch and the faint glow of a streetlamp near the old post office, where she’d once mailed letters to her sister back in Ohio. She’d circled twice, checking the diner where Hargrove still nursed his coffee, the mill where the night shift clanked away, even the church where late-night prayers sometimes echoed. No sign of Kane.
“Damn it, Kane, where are you?” she muttered, drumming her fingers on the steering wheel.
She had ransacked his house but there was no sign of anything stolen or a fight, but who broke his window? Where was he? Was he in trouble?
The diner’s neon sign flickered in the distance, reminding her of the time she’d split a milkshake with a rookie partner, laughing over spilled syrup. The Carey house kept tugging at her thoughts, a dark pull she couldn’t ignore. She turned the wheel toward it, the tires crunching on gravel as she passed the hardware store, its sign creaking in the breeze. Then—a blur darted into the road—a child, small and pale, caught in the beam of her lights.
She slammed the brakes, the car skidding with a screech that cut through the night, the steering wheel jerking in her hands.
“No! Watch out!” Her heart lurched into her throat as she threw the gear into park and leapt out, the door slamming behind her. The cold air hit her face, sharp and biting, as she ran to the spot, hands trembling, expecting a crumpled body. She dropped to her knees, scanning the pavement—nothing. The road was empty, the child gone as if they had been swallowed by the shadows.
“Where…?” she muttered, her voice cracking, confusion mixing with a sickening relief. She stood, turning in a slow circle, the streetlights casting long, distorted shapes. No movement, no sound but the distant hum of crickets and the faint drip of a gutter somewhere nearby.
“I guess I must’ve imagined it,” she whispered, rubbing her temples, her mind flashing to the time she’d chased a false alarm—a kid playing hide-and-seek near the lake. But this felt different. Returning to the car, she tugged the door handle—it was locked. She yanked harder, panic rising like bile.
“Come on, damn it! Open!” She pounded the window, the metal cold under her fists, but it wouldn’t budge. Her breath fogged in the air, her mind racing with images of Kane, the Thames, Martin. She kicked the tire, frustration boiling over.
“Stupid car!” she growled, remembering Joe, the mechanic, always joking about her driving skills. Finally, with a groan that seemed to come from the car itself, the door gave, and she slid inside, heart pounding.
She twisted the key—nothing. The engine sputtered, dead as a stone. She tried again, muttering curses under her breath, her hands slick with sweat. “Start, you piece of junk!” She slammed the dashboard, her thoughts drifting to the time Joe had fixed her flat tire in a rainstorm, grumbling the whole way. A cold sweat broke out as she glanced in the rearview mirror. A pale woman stared back, her face blurred like a smudged photograph, eyes hollow and unblinking. Vera whipped around, pistol half-drawn from its holster—empty. The woman was gone, leaving only the echo of her own ragged breathing and the faint scent of damp earth.
“What the hell was that?” she gasped, her hand trembling on the grip. The car jolted back to life, with the engine roaring as if it was mocking her suppressed fear. She gripped the wheel, her knuckles white, and floored the gas, speeding toward the Carey house. The night closed in, the road blurring beneath her tires, past the old schoolhouse where she’d once played dodgeball, and the chapter ended with her racing into the unknown, tension thick as the fog that once plagued the town.