Hostel M2

M2-Part XXV

"I can explain all of this," Maloney started as soon as he emerged the apartment behind Miles who marched furiously towards the parked vehicle. "I mean, you can't tell me you don't suspect anything unusual with all that's been happening. Man! This isn't what we do."

"Shut up! And get in the car," Miles ordered, grinding his teeth in fury.

~*~

It was a silent ride towards the outskirts of town, following the address of the cometary where Mr. Jones had been said to be buried. Since he heard of Professor Wells' death, Parker's mind had been disorganized as for some reason, his mind kept replaying various moments he's had with the late V.C.

They'd been on the road for 40 minutes already, speeding through miles of empty road, occasionally coming across another vehicle after driving a long distance. The sun was starting to set, the large golden ball of fire slowly fading behind floating clouds. After driving for almost an hour, they finally pulled over at an equipment store.

"We'll need to get some things," Professor Parker finally said after going silent all this while. Henry didn't have time to reply and Professor Parker stepped out of the car almost immediately and strode in the direction of the store.

"Looks like you and your old man having a time out eh," the old man at the counter asked in a distinct Northern accent. Henry scoffed and then nodded so as not to look rude. If only it was as simple as a 'time out'. He looked in the direction of Professor Parker who was moving around the aisles, searching for things.

Henry's phone rang, it was Chris. Henry let out a heave, why was he calling now, to find out if they were still alive? He answered the call only to hear Chris' unstable voice which he tried putting off as nothing significant as he asked for their whereabouts. The question was quite absurd to Henry as he saw no point to it until Chris explained he'd changed his mind and was going to meet up with them later on. Henry couldn't help but suspect something unusual after he'd ended the call as Chris wasn't one to be lured into things like this.

Professor Parker showed up with two shovels n hand and a few other things in the trolley. The old man at the counter gave a fragile smile as he took the items from the trolley to the counter.

"I thought y'all were going to have a time out in the country," the man said, "but with all of these items here, I really can't tell."

Henry looked over the items; 2 shovels, a spade and an axe alongside a bag of salt, 2 packs of battery pairs as well as a flashlight and-

"How far away is the cemetery?" Professor Parker asked.

A bag of salt dropped from the man's hand which seemed to have shivered for a moment, the expression on his face reflected the thought of absurdity that must've crossed his mind when Professor Parker asked the question.

"We're going to see a relative who stays around the area," Henry added in an attempt to make Professor Parker's question less awkward. The old man gave Henry a look that spoke volumes of him being unconvinced as he looked over the items again. Spades, shovels and an axe. Those didn't look like gift items for a relative.

"You, you should get there in less than an hour," he muttered, stuttering as he spoke while packing up the things they'd bought.

They settled the bills and then started for the vehicle, all the while, the old man's eye remained fixed on their every movement giving Henry the creeps. Professor Parker on the other hand didn't seem to take notice of the man's change in behavior; perhaps his mind was yet to get over the death of the vice chancellor.

As they loaded the trunk of the vehicle, Henry talked about his conversation with Chris earlier and had suggested they waited for him to come but Professor Parker had brushed off the idea, saying he'd meet them at their final location.

One could understand if the professor was eager to get this over with and return to his normal life but Henry on the other hand had a hint of doubt and feared that they'd even make it back-at least alive- and so wouldn't mind stalling the inevitable for a few extra minutes.

Darkness was starting to cover the earth and the cold air which drifted in the atmosphere caused a shiver to run down Henry's spine. A flash of nervousness drifted through his body and his pulse picked pace as his eyes met the old man's as he peeked at them from the store. The reaction of the man when Professor Parker had asked the questioned replayed in his head making Henry's blood start to run cold as his mind wondered what the night held in store for them.

The engine revved to life as the car crawled out of the parking lot and into the highway once again, heading in the opposite direction from where they'd been coming. The drive was an almost silent one but for the tiny sound of the radio playing an old school track and the jumbling of the items in the trunk of the car as they sped through the still-under-construction road.

Professor Parker kept his attention fixed on the darkness in front of him, only seeing as far as the headlights could carry in this creepy blackness that enveloped all around him. Often, his mind drifted away to his family which he'd left back at home and how he hadn't even said a proper goodbye to his wife, Lara but he always tried not to think of them and instead, diverting his thoughts to what was about to do-what he planned to do, what he hoped he could do- in the next couple of minutes.

Henry jerked up from the seat when the car swerved recklessly, veering off to the rougher edges of the unfinished road. His heart jumped in panic as Professor Parker struggled to bring it to a halt and he couldn't really tell if it had happened all of a sudden or if he had already started to doze off already as one hand still clutched to the seat belt across his chest and the other held on to the dashboard.

He tried to steady his harsh breathing before getting himself together to say anything to Professor Parker who also looked stunned at what had just occurred.

"What just happened?" Henry finally breathed out.

Professor Parker gave Henry a startled look, staring into the side mirror and then the rear view. "You didn't see that?"

See what? Henry was going to ask but before he could say anything, Professor Parker had already pushed open the door. Without a word, Henry hurried to unlock the belt across his chest and then joined Professor Parker outside.

It had definitely gotten colder and it was certain with the breeze that blasted Henry's face as soon as he stepped out of the car. Professor Parker had already gotten out the high voltage torch which he always had in the trunk of the vehicle.

Cold air puffed out of Henry's lips as his eyes squinted when the torch came on. Professor Parker walked back in the direction they'd just come from, flashing the torch which flooded quite a distance as it seemed like he was searching for something.

"What's it Professor?" Henry asked, quite lost with what was happening.

"I thought I had run into a man," Professor Parker said after a moment of silence. Henry walked up to his side, peering as far as the torch's light went.

"Well clearly there's no one here," Henry said, looking around in the darkness that surrounded them, the cold crisp breeze hitting him hard.

"But-" Professor Parker paused halfway his sentence as he turned the torch to light all around them, his eyes still curious. "Let's get out of here."

"I'll take the wheels," Henry said as they walked back to the car, "you should rest a bit."

They ducked into the car and as Henry refocused the rear view mirror, he could've almost sworn he had seen something move in the darkness behind them. He checked the time, 9:01 P.M. For a second there, he wondered where Chris was at the moment.

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