Alone In The Darkness (4 page)

Jennifer exited the bar stepping out into the orange glow of the street lighting. The clouds had cleared briefly revealing the stars above. The temperature had dropped and she shivered pulling her rain jacket close to her lips. She let out a deep breath, a cloud emerging from her lips disappearing into the night’s air. She reached into her pocket for her keys. From down the street she heard the sounds of cars honking and in the distance the freeway in the death throes of the evening commute. A breeze picked up and the tall cottonwoods shielding 100 year old homes began to sway under its force.

She rounded the corner of the bar and followed the line of parked cars. She opened the door and fell into the old seats. The car came to life and she lowered the seat belt into the connection. She looked up at the stereo which read,
no connection
. She looked around the car and finally felt her jacket pocket. 

“Shit,” she muttered. Jennifer turned off the car and quickly retraced her steps back into the bar. The quiet evening gave way to the bar’s bustle and lights.

“Back so soon?” said Amy.

“Yeah, I just left my phone under the counter.” She opened the cabinet and pulled out the phone, putting it into her jacket pocket. “You ok for the night?”

“No worries here, I’ve got these amateurs”, Amy smiled.

She patted Amy on the butt, “Don’t let them run all over you.” Jennifer looked at the men in the front row and pointed to them, “I’m talking about you yay-hoos”

They hollered as Jennifer exited the bar. She rounded the corner and opened the car door. Her radio came to life as she pulled away down the street and onto Broadway. Another turn and she merged onto the highway heading west towards Lake Stevens.

Her music faded and a ringing came across the speakers. She leaned over and pressed the accept button.

“Hello,” she said into the void.

“Hey sunshine.”

“Hi Grandma, how are you?”

“I was just checking to see if you were off work and heading home. “

“Yes ma’am I am. Thank you for checking. I’ve just got to run to the bank to deposit tips from the night and swing by the store. Do you need anything?”

“No sweetie I’m fine, but thank you. How was the take tonight?”

“It went well.”

“Any issues?”

“Just a pile of harmless drunks and the neighborhood regulars.”

“That’s good. You working at that bar always make me nervous, but I’m happy you're heading home.” Her grandmother owned conversations often switching subjects at will, “I was on the television and was flipping channels. I was between my shows. Did you know that Survivor show is still on? The people were running around naked, can you believe it? Now they had everything shaded out, but those poor people were out there with no sunblock. I can’t imagine the burns.” Jennifer was smiling as the voice rolled over the speakers.

She leaned back in her seat enjoying that her day was through and that she would soon crawl into bed and sleep. “That sounds really interesting Grandma. Now I’m getting into town. Did you watch Judge Judy yet?”

“Oh my goodness, I couldn’t help it, I watched without you. They was arguing over a dog cleaning bill. They had the cutest dog, it reminded me of Remmy, my old dog. You remember Remmy? You were real young at that time but boy was that dog smart.”

“Yes I do remember Remmy….” She was cut off as her grandma continued. 

“This dog too was cute as a button and did tricks for the Judge. I think it was one of them puggies or something like that. Real small dog.”

Jennifer smiled, “Grandma, I’m going to let you go. I’ll see you in a little while. “

“Ok, I’ve got the cop show here if you want to watch.”

“I’ll see about what time I get home, but sure. I’ve got tomorrow off and I can stay up a little tonight. Save me some of that pie from last night.”

“Alright, I haven’t had any.”

“Somehow I don’t believe you. Love you.”

“See you soon. Love you.” Jennifer could hear Judge Judy’s voice in the background as she ended the call. The music returned to the car as she merged off of Highway 2 and onto the 204.

From behind Jennifer, Steven’s head appeared. He rose up in complete silence taking over the backseat and settling behind her head, sitting perfectly upright and still. The reflection of oncoming traffic lights illuminated the car reflecting off his dark body in the backseat, his eyes stared blankly into the back of her head. Fabric covered his mouth and nose as his chest rhythmically moved up and down.

Jennifer continued down the empty road and caught the green light merging onto Highway 9 heading south. Steven sat outside her vision. He glanced through the windows behind and around the car. The road was empty and the light ahead flipped from green, to yellow, and eventually to red. Jennifer slowed the car to a stop as the music continued to play masking Steven’s movements behind her.

Steven’s left arm lifted up and grabbed the side of her seat. His right hand lifted and the glint of light reflected off the gun barrel. He moved slowly and pressed the lock on the driver side door. The entire car responded and locked the remaining doors. The sudden action by the car jolted Jennifer as she quickly looked to her left just missing the retracting hand. The figure shifted and reached forward pulling the car into neutral. She heard the clicking of the shifter and she saw Steven's arm retreating behind her. She turned to see a set of eyes looking down at her. Panic and fear began to swell inside of Jennifer as she stared at Steven’s face.

Steven grabbed her mouth muffling a scream and pressed the gun against her head. She reached out and grabbed the steering wheel and smashed the gas pedal. The car roared to life but did not move. She pressed the gas again and again and still no movement.

“Take your foot off the gas.” Steven yelled. She could feel the heat of his breath on her forehead as the gun dug into her skull. She let out a muffled scream that ended in a long cry as the tears fell into the kidnapper’s hand.

“I'm not going to hurt you, but I need you to cooperate.” Jennifer's chest fluttered as she continued to sob. “I want you to follow my orders, but you need to listen to me.”

The light turned green. Steven could see the reflection in the rearview mirror that cars were cresting over the hill and they needed to move fast. Jennifer’s eyes stared at Steven’s, but she continued to cry.

“You need to drive this car to your bank, you need to do that now or I will be forced to dump your body on the side of the road.” She could barely register what was happening to her. How did he get into the car she thought? He leaned in, “Do you understand me?”

She sobbed but nodded.

“I'm going to put the car into drive and I want you to take me to the bank.” He pressed the gun into her head and shifted into drive. “Now go.”

He lifted his hand from her mouth, “Please let me go, please.” She could barely speak over her tears and panicked breathing.

“Drive.” Steven’s voice boomed in the small car.

She cried out and looked around assessing her situation as if it were the first time she stepped into a car. From behind, vehicle lights approached and a car passed on her left. A car slowed behind them and honked its horn before swerving into the next lane and continuing on.

She lifted her foot from the brake and the car began to roll. “What do you want from me?”

“Just go to the bank.” The gun continued to press against her head. She looked in the mirror to try and identify the man in the back. She saw the cloth around the face and his eyes scanning ahead and to the side.

“Which bank am I going to?”

“Your bank.” He turned his head slightly like a dog and she could see his cheeks rise up. She knew he was smiling.

“What do you want? Why my bank?”

“Just shut up and drive.” She pulled away from the light and continued down the road.

The shopping center was empty save a few cars cozied up outside the corner bar. The lights from the bar flooded the parking lot and a soft drum of muffled music could be heard. The car sat idling in a parking space pointed at the bank with the lights off. Inside two faces focused on the brick facade as the gun pressed into Jennifer’s neck. The blue light of the bank sign fell across her face. Her cheeks were wet with tears, melting mascara, and smeared lipstick. Her chin quivered in fear and her eyes were puffy and red and looked exhausted from the sudden change in her life.

“Reach down and hand me the tip money.” She silently reached down and pulled up the cash between two fingers and passed it over her shoulder. Steven quietly thumbed the money with one hand. It was over one hundred dollars. He added the money to his jacket pocket.

“Listen to me. You’re going to roll up to the drive through ATM.” He pointed over her shoulder. “I need you to take out 600 dollars from the bank.”

“Please no,” she muttered shaking her head.

He continued, “When you're done I want you to drive behind the grocery store and park the car.”

She began to cry again and her head was in her hands.

“You and I do not have time for this now. Move now Goddammit!” He pressed the gun into her neck. Jennifer released a short squeal and her hands weakly lifted trying to protect herself.

“I just want to go home. Please just let me go home.”

“Listen to me, if you get me the money, I promise you this is over. You will get to go home and watch your shitty TV with whoever that was.” Jennifer felt violated, a private moment with her grandmother was spied on by this criminal. She had felt terrified up until now, but this made her angry.

“I think you’re lying.”

“Well you either do it or the lights will turn out forever.” She wanted to get home but there was no easy way. She resigned herself to finishing this last task. She turned on the car lights, shifted into drive and pulled around to the ATM. Steven sunk down into the seat and pulled the gun back from her head.

“Stay calm. We will be in and out,” His voice seemed to come from the bottom of the backseat. She knew that he was hiding from view. Jennifer looked at the machine and stared into the camera pointed directly at her face. She mouthed,
Help Me Please.
She inserted her card and followed the instructions. Steven could hear the machine come to life as the twenty dollar bills were pushed out. In his mind he knew this was the last of the debt. There was a relief coming over him and for the first moment that night he felt that he may be able to get out of this alive. He felt some remorse about robbing this woman, but he was more concerned about surviving the evening.

Jennifer shifted into drive and drove through the parking lot. She was trying to make herself noticed and was failing to observe any driving lines. She carelessly rolled through stop signs exiting the center. She hoped that there might be some officer sitting quietly ready to make a quick $200 fine. She rounded the corner and parked behind the store.

“Pass the cash back.”

She handed Steven the money. “Please let me go now, you’ve got what you want.”

“I need you a little longer,” He thumbed the money. “Get back onto the road and head north. I’ll tell you when to turn.”

“Please…you promised, you promised you would let me go,” She began to cry.

Steven's arm moved and the gun fired. The car lit up for that fraction of a second, two bodies could be seen clearly as Jennifer followed the gunshot with a deafening scream, her hands shaking next to her face. Steven’s ears rang through the screams as smoke rose from the hole in the passenger seat. Steven shook his head and reached around Jennifer’s neck to pull her back. He raised the gun to her temple. She was silent, tears streaming down her face, mouth open to the car roof.

He paused between his words, “Do you think this is a fucking joke?” She could see the whites of his eyes as they looked down on her, the vein pulsing above his eyebrow as he pulled back. She began to cough from the force on her neck. He let loose, “Slide over now.”

She moved across to the passenger seat and sat in a fetal position curled towards the door. The intense smell of gun smoke ran up her shirt. Steven kept his hand on her shoulder as he slid into the front seat. His hand wrapped around her shirt and bra strap, stretching both and revealed red scratch marks and the white of her chest. He pulled his feet to the pedals. He put the gun down on to the ground and shifted the seat back. He turned to Jennifer and pulled the seatbelt across her, shoving her back into the seat and clicking her secure. He reached with his left hand and shifted the car into drive.

He turned the car around and left the shopping center, entering the road and heading north as a light rain fell onto the glass. Jennifer had withdrawn in shock and remained curled up in the seat beside him.

“This is almost over. I’ve got an errand to run and it’s over.”

Jennifer showed no response to Steven. He looked across to her and removed his hand from her shoulder. She pulled it back feeling the release, in an effort to distance herself from him.

Steven knew to let the situation calm down. It had gotten out of control and he regretted shooting the car. He pulled away and drove down the dark highway. He crossed dark nameless hills with distant lights of large homesteads spotting the landscape. Tall evergreens dominated the dark night, wrapping the road, and hiding the evening sky. Steven’s mind drifted as the oncoming cars passed him. Their lights drowning his vision. His mind left the car and focused on his goal, returning the money to Juan.

The side roads passed by as Steven eventually applied the brake illuminating the road behind him in a red glow. The car slowed and turned onto the gravel dirt road. Steven proceeded cautiously avoiding the carefully placed road holes. Each would swallow a car and were filled to the brim with rain water. It was never easy to get there. Steven passed the dummy mailbox and turned down a side easement with a broken wooden gate. He came up to a small speaker box. Steven cranked on the handle lowering the window. He pressed the combination and a beep sounded.

“This is Steven, I need to speak with Juan. He is expecting me.” There was a long pause. Steven took this time to pull the money from his jacket pocket. He collected the money into a single wad and placed the rubber band to form a roll. His eyes moved to the girl. Her only movements were the rhythmic pulse of her chest as she breathed quietly. Steven shifted and pulled his jacket off. He carefully lowered it across the girl leaving only her head exposed. Jennifer pulled back quickly as the jacket rested on her shoulders.

To Steven’s left a light went from red to green. The speaker cracked alive and a man with a thick accent said, “The pool house.”

Steven knew that the pool house was not a luxurious beautiful white building with music, women, and fun. It was the junk area on the property, where junk was burned and the old oil drums would be stacked high. He had been there once before. He remembered being shocked by the scale of the junk site as Juan explained to him its meaning:

“Steven, this is the pool house.” Juan looked at Steven with his arms around his shoulders. Steven held the shoebox full of bagged meth. “Do you see those drums? Those are 55 gallon pools.” Juan smiled at him. Steven just stared forward. “I get them cheap, naturally food safe drums, I wouldn’t want any issues with oil or other nasty things. In the long cool winters here in Washington sometimes a nice warm pool is the best. The best way to get them warm is to pull them up against a bon fire. Kind of like a redneck Jacuzzi,” Juan’s eyes remained focused on the barrel and he walked out ahead of Steven pointing to the welder, “It is important to make sure someone who is in the pool is secure. You wouldn’t want an accident to happen so close to the fire.” Juan turned petting the barrel, “To make sure that you get the true spa experience.”

Steven shivered slightly and glanced at the clock, 10:50. He had made it just in time. Steven knew that Jennifer could hear his voice, “Stay still and don’t move. These people won’t help you. They might even make it worse. Just stay down and pretend to be passed out.”

Jennifer’s eyes opened and she peeked over her shoulder. She could see the red glow on the windshield ahead of her. The glow was dancing and she could smell a burning fire.

Steven rolled up to the edge of the pool house. The fire danced between piles of wooden pallets, old cars, and rows of oil drums. There was a metallic smell in the air that burned the nose. Silhouetted against the fire were four men. One man was poking the fire with a long rod and the other three turned to the headlights. Steven could see two shotguns leaned up against the welder. He pulled into a spot. The man with the rod turned and began to walk to the car.

He tapped the rod on the ground as he walked, “Steven, Steven, Steven.” He glanced at his watch and smiled. “Good boy, just in time.”

Steven reached down, pulled out the roll of money, and put his arm out. The man lifted the red hot rod to Steven’s arm. He could feel the heat and he pulled back slightly.

“Toss it here.” Steven threw the money to the man.

“Juan it's all there, man.” The man thumbed the cash and placed it into his pocket.

“And just in time. I was starting to get excited for you.” He looked into the car, past Steven, to the passenger seat. His voice lifted, “Who’s this? You brought a friend?”

Steven looked to the passenger seat and then back to Juan. “Just a girl, man. She is nothing special.”

“Nothing special, you say?” Juan’s eyes ran down Jennifer’s jeans and along her legs. “She looks special.” His hand tugged up on his pants.

Steven tried to defuse the situation, “She’s just wasted from earlier and I’m heading home.” Jennifer’s eyes were very wide as she hid her head beneath the jacket. She could hear the panic in Steven’s voice. What had he gotten her into? Who were these men?

Juan’s head turned smiling to the three men, “
Chica del drogadicto.”

Steven pressed, “Juan I need to go, am I settled? I paid up and on time”

“Oh yeah you're paid up. I can imagine you have a busy evening with your girlfriend.” His tongue flicked his teeth.

“I’ve got to go to a party tonight. Just have to head home first.” The three men started walking towards the car.

“It’s a long way home and there’s a party going on here. You guys can stay.”

Steven lowered his arm to the gear shifter and placed his foot above the brake.

“Steven,” Juan rolled the cash in his hand and presented it back to him, “I’ll give it to you for the girl. I’m sure you have to pay someone back for this.” Steven paused and Jennifer’s heart skipped a beat. Steven considered the wager but knew that Juan would kill him just for knowing he had the girl. This was not a deal he should make. The men were nearing the front of the car. He could see their eyes focused on the girl curled up in the front seat.

The men were too close. He locked the car, shifted into reverse, and he smashed the gas. The wheels began to spin throwing rocks and dirt into the air. The three men ahead of him fell back with their arms protecting their faces from the flying debris. The car gained traction and began to roll backwards away from the fire. He gained speed and flipped the wheel turning the car as it slid along the gravel. He shifted the car into drive and pounded the gas. The car pulled back onto the easement. Steven’s eyes focused on the road ahead of him as flashes lit up his rear view mirror. The first bullet flew over the roof of the car as the shot echoed through the trees. Jennifer screamed in fear pressing her head deep into the seat.

Steven yelled at her putting his arm on her head forcing it down, “Stay down”. Another shot rang out and he could hear the bullet fly by the open window. He lowered his head and the car fishtailed on the gravel. He hit the gas to put distance between the flashes. Steven stared at the rearview mirror waiting for headlights to follow him down the road. He was breathing heavily and his hands were white from gripping the wheel. He hit the main easement and slid the backend of the car around the turn. The flashes stopped and he didn’t see any lights following him as he sped away to the highway. He pulled onto Highway 9 and continued north.

Jennifer was sitting up now looking at Steven, who was glued to the road and nervously gazing at the side mirror. Steven continued down the road for a couple miles keeping his focus on any approaching lights. There were none. He relaxed and settled back into the seat.

Jennifer said, “Are they coming for us?”

“No. I don’t think so.”

“Are you sure? They were shooting at us.”

“No. I think they were just trying to scare us,” Steven knew this was a lie. He had heard the bullet scream by the window just inches from his head. He didn’t want to imagine what would have happened if they were a better shot.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Work.”

“Work?”

“They will know what to do, because I'm fresh out of ideas. My mind is fried and Tyler will know what to do. I trust him.”

Jennifer knew now what she had suspected all night, he was never going to let her go. She began to tear up again, leaning back against the headrest. She knew that she needed to get out of the car. She had to take a chance somewhere. She thought to herself, could she throw herself out of the car? Not as this speed, she would die rolling down the embankment.