A Horror Anthology

The Wrong Path - @m_bell

Part I: The Girls

Jaden squinted his eyes, but all he could see was a curtain of rain. It drummed hard against the windshield and the roof of the car, drowning out the radio. Everything was dark. The heavy clouds above blanketed the sky, shutting out any evening light. 

"I can't see a thing."

Alis stared out the right window, arms crossed over her chest. She made no sign that she heard him. He stole a glance at her and sighed. Her face was still set in a scowl. She had been sulking all day.

"Uh, Alis. I think we should stop. I don't want us getting into - "

"What? You don't want to crash another car?" she interrupted.

Jaden decided to ignore the comment. He knew that replying would just fuel another argument.

He stopped the car when his headlights shined upon a sign. It lead down an exit. 20 km to Crown Lake Hotel.

"Awesome. We'll just stay at this inn for tonight," he said. He smiled in relief. He couldn't wait to get out of the car. Being confined in such a small space with Alis' foul mood wasn't exactly pleasant.

He turned off the main road and up the exit. It winded through wooded hills for a long while. The dusk darkness began washing over the clouded sky. It made it even more impossible to see ahead. Jaden was getting fed up of squinting through the rain.

Eventually, the path forked left and right. No signs indicated which way to go.

"That's weird." He stopped the car and leaned back in his seat, rubbing tired eyes. "Left or right, Alis?"

"You want me to pick?"

"Yeah. If you don't mind. I've been driving since this morning and I'm exhausted. It's... really draining being around you when your like this," he said. The words just spilled from his mouth before he had the chance to stop himself.

"Oh, and why am I in such a terrible mood, Jaden? I wonder," Alis said, straightening in her seat and fixing angry eyes at him.

Jaden groaned.

"I said I'm sorry about twelve times since last night. It was an accident, Alis."

"Accident? Getting drunk is not an accident!" she yelled. Alis looked ready to pounce out of her seat to attack him.

"It's just... yesterday was a really stressful day," Jaden replied. It was a terrible excuse and he knew it.

She glared at him.

"The fact that you got piss drunk again isn't what I'm most mad about! Why didn't you call a taxi?"

"I know. I know you're right. But the car would have gotten towed," Jaden added. Terrible excuse once again. Why did he bother replying?

Alis' eyes fixed him like daggers.

"I'm pregnant, Jaden. In case you forgot. I need you to grow up. You could have died!"

"I'll buy you a new car. Anything you want. I won't do it again. And... I'll stop drinking, Alis."

She scoffed at that.

"Sure, you will. Just drive. And you pick," Alis retorted, turning her back to him and staring back out her window.

"Fine. We're going left." He pressed his foot on the gas and turned down the left path.

It winded down a long while, minutes passing by in awkward, tense silence. As he drove onward, the forest started to close in around the car. The path got narrower. Tall, gnarly branches on either side reached across the road to form a sort of roof above them.