Hour Of Darkness

CH. 1 - "The Rider"

1...The Rider...

“Hey, big brother, I'm gonna be a little late.”

Clarice Stuart controlled the Jeep's steering wheel with one hand while she pressed a cell phone to her ear with the other. “Got a late start.”

Snowflakes hit the windshield as the wipers systematically swished them away. The Jeep's tires spit dirty slush as it sped down the rural highway. Towering evergreens, heavily burdened with snow, lined the highway, the tips swaying in a light wind.

“Well hurry it up.” Aaron spoke through the phone. “Or all the pies will be gone when you get here. Besides, mom's about to go into panic mode. You know how she gets.”

Clarice smiled. “Yeah, I know.” She said. “And hey, what're you doing, dipping into the desserts again? Mom'll kill you.”

She could hear the grin in her brother's voice as he replied, “Only if she catches me.” A brief pause, then, “So what made you late?”

Clarice stared at the slushy highway before her. Thicker snowflakes began to splatter on the windshield. “Bad dreams.” She said softly.

“Thee bad dreams?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you talked to anyone about them?” Aaron asked gently.

Clarice released a slow sigh. “You mean a shrink?” There was an edge to her voice that she knew wasn't warranted. “I'm not crazy, Aaron. I know what I saw.”

A black street bike approached the Jeep from the rear, guided skillfully by a rider dressed in black, his face concealed behind a black helmet with a dark tinted face covering.

“You were traumatized, Clarice.” Aaron said. “There wasn't anyone else there that night.”

“Then explain to me what happened?” Clarice insisted. “How did both those guys end up dead? You and dad were out cold, and mom...” Clarice faltered at the memory of what had happened to her mother. Something her mother never quite got over.

“I don't know, sis.” Aaron admitted. “But people don't just disappear into thin air.”

The street bike whipped into the opposite lane and sped around the Jeep.

“I wasn't hallucinating.” Clarice spoke low. “I saw him. He was there. He knew my name, Aaron.”

A pause, then, “I don't know what to tell you, sis.”

“I still see his face.” She whispered. “And his eyes...” Like fireflies on a lake. She remembered thinking that. Even twenty years later, she still remembered thinking that.

Slushy snow spit onto the Jeep's windshield as the bike whipped back into the lane in front of Clarice and zipped away, disappearing around a sharp bend. The windshield wipers smeared the slush, distorting her view of the road. Clarice pressed the washer button, squirting fluid onto the windshield.

“Listen, Aaron.” Clarice said softly. “I'm sorry for bringing this all up now. Lets just forget about it and-” The phone crackled with static. “Aaron?” Clarice frowned. “Aaron, can you hear me? I'm breaking up.” She could barely hear Aaron's voice through the static. “I'll talk to you when I get there. I love you.”

Static was all that answered her. She clicked the phone off and dropped it on the passenger seat.

She guided the Jeep around the sharp bend in the road and reached for the radio as the Jeep came out of the bend, taking her eyes off the road briefly. When she looked up, she screamed and clutched the steering wheel with both hands and instinctively stomped on the brakes, realizing her mistake too late.