As two red lights ran into the distance and the roar dimmed to little more than the call of a crow, John’s brain began to work overtime. What was that thing? No animal moves that fast. It…it must have been some kind of demon!
John caught his breath and walked on, trying to ignore what had just happened. There was no way he would hang around waiting for it to come back, that was for certain. He continued on much more quickly. He could barely see where he was going, but he’d made the walk so many times that he knew the route by instinct. He found the bottom of his hill a few minutes later. John trekked up it, making sure not to slip and lose his catch, and eventually reached the front door of his house. But something was wrong.
* * * * *
Sarah and David carried on driving through the fog, barely able to see ten metres in front of them. Sarah’s heart was about to pound out of her chest from the incident with the fisherman. He was there, clear as day, she thought. We went straight through him. But that’s…
David hit the brakes, hard, and swerved violently to the side of the road. “What the hell are you doing now?!” Sarah shouted.
“We’re lost. And look, there’s a bloke right there. Maybe he can show us the way back to the hotel.”
“What bloke?” Sarah looked through the window and suddenly saw a dark form next to the car. Hang on…he wasn’t there a second ago was he? “Yeah, or maybe he’s a lunatic who wants to steal the car. It’s nearly midnight, David!”
“Oh come on. You always think the worst.” He wound down the window and the man leaned in. He was gaunt and had a straggly beard and greasy hair. “Excuse me, mate-”
“Any chance of a lift?” said the man in a thick Irish accent. He didn’t seem drunk or otherwise inebriated. “I’m only going down to Wexford.”
“Ah!” said David, “Yeah, sure. Actually, we’re going there ourselves but we’re a bit lost. Do you know the way?”
“Ah sure I do, thanks a million!” said the man as he made to get into the rear of the car.
“No,” said Sarah, “Wait a minute. If you want to get in, you sit here in the front. You’ll, uh, be able to give directions better from here.” Sarah was lying. She just didn’t want him sitting behind them in case he had a weapon.
“Ah sure, OK. Ta.” Sarah got out, let him in, then moved into the back. David pulled away and drove into the fog once more.
Shane Rynhart 