Collide

by Shelly Crane

  My blood was boiling. If I knew I could’ve slammed the door on his foot and had it closed shut, excusing the pain I would cause him as a casualty of war, I would have done it. Instead I was stuck in a banter of stupid and drunk.

  “I didn’t say you were a hooker, don’t be so dramatic. Just let me in. Please, girly, please...please?” he crooned and begged sweetly.

  “No, Matt. Leave or I’ll call the police for real this time.”

  “Go ahead! I’m sure Barney would love to watch this!”

  Barney, the one standing in the picture beside Matt while he wore his ‘I’m With stupid’ t-shirt under his gown at their high school graduation. He was no better than Matt and somehow had managed to finagle himself onto the police force and they both used that to their advantage at every turn.

  “Danny is here.”

  I was reaching then, goose bumps running themselves down my arms, betraying me, making me shiver in front of him so he could see me afraid. Matt drunk was much more persistent than Matt not drunk. He wouldn’t leave on his own. Crap.

  “Ha! I’m five years that boys senior and I’m bigger, not to mention better looking. Go ahead! Wake him up! Danny! Daaanny!”

  “Idiot! Shh!”

  “Hey! Watch it! Don’t talk to me like that. Do I need to break down the door, Sherry, or are you done playing games?”

  Think quick. Think.

  “Ok. Ok. You know what, Matt, you’re right I guess. I do kinda miss you too. I just didn’t want to say you were right. I’m sorry. Back up and I’ll open the chain.”

  “You’re not tricking me are you?” He eyed me but I could see the relief on his face.

  “Matt, you know I can’t lie. You said so yourself.”

  “Alright, that’s my girl. You won’t regret this. You know I love you, girly, and I’m gonna make it all up to you.”

  I saw his foot move back and waited until it was all the way out because I only had one shot at it. As soon as I saw it was free, I slammed the door and pulled the deadbolt home.

  The banging and cursing and idiot speak and empty cycles of apologies went on for almost two hours. Why was he so persistent? What the heck did I have that other girls didn’t that he couldn’t resist?

  I was short and awkward. I’d seen plenty of better bodies. My hair was brown, mud brown no less. My boring brown eyes didn’t scream starlet, they whispered movie extra. I was a nobody. What was it with him and what was with Danny? I hadn’t been able to get a wink in since I got home and he was still snoring.

  I was surprised the neighbors hadn’t called the cops themselves making the situation worse. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d encountered Barney in cop mode. An idiot with a nightstick and a gun and a donut gut with no brain. I’m not cop bashing, this guy ate donuts long before he was a police officer.

  All of a sudden the noise stopped and I couldn’t help but wonder what he was up to. As I pressed my ear to the door and tried to peek out the gap in the door jamb I fully expected him to jump out and scare me laughing but I saw no one.

  I wouldn’t test my theory by opening the door, and though I was certain he had given up, I knew I wouldn’t get a wink of sleep tonight.

  I’m on the ridge. The moon is back and the city is buzzing with life beneath me. I have a letter from ‘Travel Journal’ in my hand but I’m afraid to open it. I also have a crappy cup of Coffee Place coffee in my cup holder. Danny’s jacket slung across the backseat where he forgot it, where he always forgets it.

  My cell buzzes. I check it, a text from Matt saying he’ll be late picking me up for dinner and a movie tonight. Then I realize, I’m dreaming. I’m rewinding my life back to the way it was before the bad news, the hit, the visitors or beings or phantoms.

  I try to wake myself up but I glance up and all I can see is a dark shadow figure walking in the road as I turn my head to survey the area.

  He is a silhouette under the street lamps. I can’t tell if I know him or not but somehow I feel like he’s familiar. Like I shouldn’t be afraid. I say hello and wait for an answer but receive none.

  He’s still walking, though it seems like he’s not making much progress for someone that isn’t that far off. Again I say hello and he stops. He points up to the sky. As I take my gaze from him slowly and reluctantly I see what he’s pointing to. I gasp as I see the red moon slowly eclipsing over and is no longer visible, making the stars shine brighter than ever.

  It’s so dark, I can’t see anything around me. Pitch black now. I hate dark. No sound. Utter silence and darkness except for my suddenly quick breaths.

  Fumbling quickly for my keys to turn on the car lights, I gasp as I hear the strangers voice right next to my ear and feel his extremely warm breath on my neck.

  “Wake up, Sherry.”

  Bright lights. Was I still dreaming? No. I had somehow positioned myself in such a way that the one stream of light coming in between the curtains was right on my face. Something else was in my face…feet. Gross, Danny!

  I must’ve fallen asleep not too long ago on the floor with my head laid back on the couch. Danny was still snoring.

  Ingrate.

  I wondered if I should have woke him up and warned him about Matt. He might decide to come back.

  “Danny. Danny.” Shaking him slightly doesn’t cut it but punching his arm does the trick. “Danny. I’m headed to work. Listen, Matt was here last night, drunk. He might come back tonight so, be careful and don’t open the door for him ok?”

  “Why didn’t you wake me up? I woulda handled him, like before.” He rubbed his eyes with his palms and blinked but, I could still tell he was upset.

  “Before he wasn’t as drunk and last night and it was daylight. I don’t want you trying to go up against him to defend me, do you hear me? If you got hurt because of me...”

  “That’s what brothers are for.”

  “I thought brothers were for mooching and sleeping all day.” With a smile I headed out but not before saying, “Be careful. Do not open that door! I mean it.”

  The ride in my car was bumpy though the roads were smooth. When I was a kid I always wanted a rabbit, but not this kind. I wanted the furry cute kind that was forbidden in our house because ‘animals are living creatures with minds and souls of their own, not our prisoners or playthings’.

  If mom only knew about the poor innocent turkey slices in my brown bag lunch today, she’d disown me.

  I missed my parents, though the deep end of the crazy pool was getting kind of full these days. Who knew when they would give up and come back to society.

  So, instead I had the Rabbit. My white ‘79 VW Rabbit with a few dents and dings that just gave it personality. As much as I loved to complain about it I also loved to defend it. For whatever reason I loved this car, I wouldn’t trade it and I’d drive it until it’s last leg fell off.

  The previous owner wasn’t as in love with it as I was. They tried to fix it up but ended up just messing stuff up and then leaving it half done. For instance, I probably had the only Rabbit in America with a bench front seat, of course, that means I don’t have an emergency break either.

  I couldn’t restore it myself, I just figured one day I’d be able to get someone to do it for me. Unfortunately, that cost money, money that a job at ‘Travel Journal’ would have provided.

  Was it really wrong to almost hope something will happen just so I can stop photographing bogus claims?

  Of course, that was terrible. I couldn’t be alone in this though, right? It had been almost a year since the strange things started happening and for me that was a year too long to do the same story. Maybe I could talk Medusa into letting me cover something else today, quickly looking away before she turned me to stone.

  Medusa’s refusal and following reel of cackling laughter sent a shot of fire though my already sleep deprived headache. Her waving me off like I didn’t matter as she turned didn’t help either.

  The office was beginning to be what I always dreaded it would become. A
place where I didn’t want to go but was stuck because no other offers were open to me. I apparently wasn’t as good at my job as I thought I was or at least wanted to be. I was the youngest photographer at the paper though, that had to count for something.

  At least Danny was happy at the Coffee Place. I surely couldn’t have made that statement without lying.

  Funny, how you can go through a whole day and speak to no one. Other than my boss and Danny that morning I literally spoke to no one. Again, in a city this size, being alone really was a skill.

  Following Madison wasn’t the worse thing I could’ve have been stuck doing. She wasn’t a talker either and we could sit in silence comfortably, but as soon as she needed it, her 75 watt smile would turn on and she would be in story mode, asking all the right questions and making all the right facial expressions in response.

  The older gentleman posed for his picture with his dead cat in a brown shoe box, covered in a huge green bow. That huge pointless bow on a cat casket freaked me out almost as much the dead cat inside it.

  He told us that one of the visitors had looked at his cat and the cat had fallen over dead right there on the sidewalk. He tried to get the government to test it for alien residue but the FBI had refused and he was perplexed as to why.

  He thought if he went to the media, they would take his claim seriously. Unfortunately, he picked the wrong paper for it to be credible. Poor guy. How were people getting so enthralled in this stuff?

  After picking up some fast food dinner, a couple burgers, I pulled into my driveway, looking around first for Matt. Seeing nothing I stepped out of the car and locked my door, putting the top up. I walked over to the mailbox juggling my purse, the food, my jacket, my camera and keys. I cut the end of my finger on the rusty broken letter on the mailbox, the envelope on top showing a bloody fingerprint on it and the mail added to the juggling act.

  I was preoccupied with that and didn’t think to look back around, though I couldn’t have out run Matt even if I wanted to.

  And then, there he was, standing not ten feet from me, me in between my locked car and the supposed to be locked house. He said nothing at first just stared, silently.

  I tried not to gasp but I felt my breathing pick up involuntarily. I tightened my hands to stop the shake so he wouldn’t see, but I could feel them start to tremble. I silently cursed myself for not reporting him to the cops already.

  He wasn’t drunk that time, I could see his eyes were clear. Why was he staring at me like that? Like he hadn’t seen me when he was just here harassing me last night. Should I run? Should I even try and give him the satisfaction of chasing me? No, I froze.

  “Matt?” I barely whispered out his name but I knew he could hear me.

  He furrowed his brow at me, looking confused as I said his name. He looked horrified. Then...he finally spoke.

  “Sherry, don’t run. Don’t be afraid.”

  A New Kind Of Fright

  A New Kind Of Fright

  Chapter 3

  “Matt. What are you doing here?” I said as soft and pleading as possible. “I told you last night that I don’t want you here. Please, just...leave me alone... Are you trying to scare me? Do you want me to be afraid of you?”

  I tried to use my sweet innocent voice, hopefully pleading with something humane still left in him.

  “Sherry, listen, please. I know you’re scared of me and I know this sounds crazy but I need to open your mind and just listen to me for a minute, ok? I need you to come with me.”

  “Um...it’s late. I’d really rather just go inside. I had a long day and don’t really feel that good.”

  I stepped he stepped.

  “Sherry, please, just trust me.”

  “Are you kidding?” I squealed. “What do you want, Matt?”

  “I need you and Danny to come with me. Right now. You’re in danger.”

  “There is no way I’m going anywhere with you. You’re not drunk are you?”

  I thought not but something was definitely wrong with him.

  “Please, Sherry,” he pleaded. “We don’t have time for this. Just come with me. I’ll let you drive.”

  “Oh. That helps,” I said sarcastically but regretted it for fear of angering him.

  He paused. He paused and stared so long I thought he wouldn’t say anything else and then...

  “You don’t have to fear me. I’m not...Matt.”

  “Matt! Stop it! It’s not funny!” I yelled as I mentally catalogued everything in my purse, searching for something to use as a weapon but was coming up with nothing.

  “I’m not trying to be funny, Sherry, just listen. The strange things going on in your world...” he started as I began to inch backwards towards the stairs.

  He saw and made the same small advances towards me.

  “What? What are you saying?”

  “Matt...died, Sherry. I know this is odd and unsettling for you and I’ll explain everything later but we don’t have time. I’m here to help you and we need to leave, right now.”

  I couldn’t handle it anymore. Matt’s freakish behavior could only be a distraction for something bigger that I was not ready to deal with.

  I turned and pushed my legs to their full speed dropping the mail and everything else but he was already right there in front of me. Impossible! He reached for my wrist and turned me so fast my head swam and my vision blurred.

  He grabbed me, covering my mouth with his insanely warm palm, and pushing my back against the wall by the stairway, holding me there, his body pressed against mine to keep me still. All I could hear is my gasping breaths muffled through his hand.

  I closed my eyes shut tight and tried to brace myself for the desecration of my body, but exactly how do you do that?

  Nothing.

  I opened my eyes cautiously. He was just standing there, staring at me, holding my hands above my head with one hand and his other was still over my mouth, gently. I thought about trying to bite him, but the last time I bit him, it didn’t end so well for me.

  He just stood there, for at least a minute. Not a word. Just looking into my eyes, breathing heavy with confusion, like I’d never seen him do before. Looking unsure of himself. Not at all like Matt.

  Finally he licked his lips and spoke.

  “Sherry, I’m gonna uncover your mouth, please don’t scream. I’m not gonna hurt you, I promise, that’s not what I’m here for. I just need you to listen to me. It’s very important, and we don’t have time for this. Can I uncover your mouth?”

  Sure, but would I scream? Probably, but as his hand slipped slowly from my mouth and up my arm to my hands with the other, I didn’t make a peep. I just stared with frightful anticipation of his next move.

  His eyes flicked back and forth from my features. My mouth, my eyes, my hair. He was definitely upping his game of trickery.

  “I’m not Matt, ok, I need you to understand that. After everything going on, the moon and the visitors, I’m sure you can comprehend this. I’m. Not. Matt. Matt died in a car crash about five hours ago in Orland Park. He was drunk and was out there by himself in his truck. I know your world has noticed the strange events taking place. I am a part of that and I’m on your side but...they’re coming. I need you to believe me and to get Danny. We have to go. Now.”

  Wow, Matt was really reaching. Does he think I’m so spooked by all this that I would believe this cockamamie story? Last night his story was he saw one. Tonight it’s he is one? What did I ever see in him.

  I tried to squirm, move a leg, pull my arms down, something, but he was holding me so tightly, surprisingly not hurtful, but I still couldn’t budge. He didn’t seem upset by my squirming, just held me tight and watched me closely.

  “Matt- I mean, whoever you are- let me go, and then we’ll talk, ok? I’ll go inside to get Danny and I’ll be right back and then we can go. Ok?” I lied, badly.

  I couldn’t lie and everyone who knew me knew it, including Matt.

  He must have heard the lie too
because all of a sudden his left hand slipped under the hem of my shirt, rubbing and searching my belly and back, like he was looking for something...specific.

  Then my skirt, same thing, checking my inner and outer thighs and behind my knees. It was all I could do not to knee him somewhere painful but he was still pressing against me as much as his searching would allow.

  “They haven’t gotten to you yet have they? I don’t feel anything. Whew. Ok,” he rushed the words out in a breath of relief, it seemed, as he looked around.

  He was talking to himself more than me so I just stayed quiet, trying to process and think of what kind of angle Matt could be using. Why the charade? He could overpower me in a second. Why the game and why was his breathing so out of control?

  “Sherry. I can see that you still don’t believe me so, I’m sorry about this, but I can’t waste anymore time. I never meant to come here as Matt, that was a huge mistake. I hope you’ll forgive me for that someday.”

  He barely finished his sentence before he poked something in my arm. I could feel the prick but had no time to react. I couldn’t stay awake and only seconds and it was black as night. My eyes closed against their will though I was still conscience, but couldn’t see or move. My arms and legs went limp as I started to slump to the ground.

  What? Why would Matt do that? Was he kidnapping me?

  I could feel him catch me up before I fell and throw me over his shoulder, bend, quite easily actually, and grabbed my keys from the ground, walking me to the car. He unlocked it and put the top back down, impressively with one hand.

  The cold, scratchy and torn leather of the rabbit was biting against my legs as he placed me, gently, in the back seat. Then he left me there. Silent minutes passed in the dark, alone.

  My skirt was bunched up past the comfortable point of my thighs but I couldn’t reach to pull it down. Suddenly I heard voices and I panicked but soon recognized them. Danny and Matt were coming and I felt them climbing in.