Danger

“I wasn’t sad…I was empty. Life had no meaning for me.” Her gaze was no longer on the here and now yet she drove impeccably. “And then one day the pain of existing was greater than the love of my family.”

Cruising slightly above 70 miles an hour in the middle lane they passed out of Rhode Island and into Connecticut.

“Drugs didn’t work anymore. Cutting no longer made me feel. So, I killed myself.” Despite her conversational tone all of Tim’s instincts were screaming at him to tread cautiously.

“How did you end up here?” Tim was trying to give her an easy out if she wanted to avoid delving too deeply into the emotional toll this discussion must be causing.

She did.

“I was given knowledge of what I needed to do.” Rachel moved seamlessly to the new topic. “Then I was standing outside the hospital in the dark. I knew where you were and how long I had to get you.”

“Now we’re all caught up Sparky, lets get where we’re going!” At this she narrowed her eyes and crouched over the steering, faux determination lighting her eyes.

Tim shook his head with bemusement, Rachels quicksilver emotions keeping him off balance.

“Since I’m the navigator then let me navigate.” He pulled the (his?) phone out and opened the maps app. “Anything I need to know about our route?”

“Not that I can think of. Try to find the quickest route that’s also easy.” She drove them into Connecticut, the sun starting to sneak above the top of Rachels window frame.

Tim checked up and down several route options. The drive itself, while long, seemed mostly straightforward.

“Crossing borders going to be a problem? We’ll have to get into and through South America. I think I have my license but I’ve never even had a passport.” Telling her that felt oddly embarrassing.

“Shouldn’t be. I think we’ll be able to walk through like it’s nothing,” Rachels attention was currently very much to the left side of the highway, where more then one small dirt crossroad snaked behind bridge supports and bushes.

“Old habit.” She smiled when she noticed his gaze. “I can spot a cop a mile away.”

“Driving like this you’d have to.” Mostly under his breath.

Fate proved Rachel immediately wrong as one of those dirt roads deposited a flashing police car behind them as they drove past, red lights pulsing.

“Shit! Shit! Fuck!!” Rachels hands clutched the steering wheel as she depressed the gas pedal all the way to the floor, gears screaming their protest as she tore through them.

“What the fuck?!” Tim was shocked at this overreaction from her. “You were going like ten over. It’s a ticket! That I’m guessing we don’t need to worry about paying.”

The end of even that short speech found them pushing 100 miles an hour, swerving around the afternoon traffic as it got in their way.

“They’re trying to stop us.” There was fear in her voice. Fear and rage. “They fucked with the wrong person.”

Tim was heretofore only an observer, powerless to change the outcome in any way. Rachel sped down the highway, their car gamely keeping a cruising speed pushing towards 115 miles an hour. Red lights strobed against their mirrors, filling the interior of the car in wavering crimson shade. Tim was too afraid to turn fully around, but this clearly indicated the police car was directly behind them.

Rachel was not currently filling Tim with any sort of confidence. She looked more terrified than he had ever seen anyone. The speedometer crested over 120 miles an hour, the speed starting tremors in her arms. Small trembles that spread as the car accelerated further. Tim wasn’t sure what her game was, clearly out running their pursuer was out of the question.

As if to answer his unspoken question, Rachel switched to the middle lane, still speeding up, gas pedal floored. A frantic look in Rachels side view mirror gave Tim a sickening view of the police car directly behind them in the lane they had just vacated. Rachel let off the gas ever so slightly and changed her grip on the steering wheel.

The police car took this seeming indecision as a chance to get ahead, surging forward next to them in the high-speed lane. As soon as their unwanted escort hit their gas Rachel pumped the brakes, slowing for a moment then twisting the steering wheel the right, trying to muscle the screeching car off the highway. Rachel was attempting to turn the car far sharper and faster than it wanted to, fighting the steering wheel against inertia and the deeply offended ABS. Sand spun from beneath the tires as Rachel barged onto an exit ramp just as it ended, bumping through the widening triangle of grass that separated the highway from its offspring. Tim saw brake lights in the middle of the road they had just evacuated as Rachel slid the car down the exit, sand on the shoulder of the road offering no purchase. The car wobbled to normal before they bumped up against the far-right curb, resulting in a pretty fucking awesome escape. Tim told Rachel as much.

“Holy shit that was amazing!” Shakily, a bit in awe, “Will we be safe now?”

“Thanks.” She let loose a cocky laugh that helped ease Tim’s tension. “We should be ok. I’m stunned they even followed us at all. It’s rare… Bad luck or a bad sign I’m not sure.”

“I thought you were scared shitless there!”

“I was.” Rachel was a bit more somber now. “We can’t let anyone stop us.”

She thought a moment as she turned right off the exit.

“You know what this calls for?” She asked.

“What?” Tim wasn’t sure what the proper etiquette was post escaping supernatural predators.

“A cigarette.”