Sudden Fiction

The Still of the Night

It was the thirteenth night of December, and the streets were eerily quiet. Not a single leaf stirred. Even animals had taken shelter, hiding in the shadows. The light from the full moon bathed everything in a silvery glow, but the fog obscured the distant view.

Along the streets, every house was dark. No one dared to leave the house or even look out the window. Fear of death hung in the night air. It was heavy with anticipation of impending doom. The stillness was almost magical in its surrealism.

The rumble of an old, beat-up car broke the silence. It was as if someone had lifted a magic spell as the car stopped, in the middle of a street, with no warning. The driver uttered a loud curse before he got out of the car and looked around him in frustration.

He walked up to the closest house and knocked. There was no answer. He tried a few other doors but to no avail. He was wondering where the villagers were when he felt eyes at the back of his neck. Someone was watching him. Every house's windows were dark, so he couldn't make out who his secret observer was.

Something was terribly wrong, and he had no way of knowing what. 'One problem at a time,' he thought to himself. Before going in search of fuel, he'd change the tire—culprit of his current predicament. He sighed and walked back to his car.

"You are a brave soul to be outside on the thirteenth night," a crisp voice said, startling him. He was in the process of changing his car's tire.

"Oh!" He stood up and looked at the speaker. The moonlight made it easy for him to see into the warmest brown eyes he had ever come across. "Finally, I thought I've stumbled upon a ghost town or something." He laughed nervously.

It wasn't easy to pinpoint, but for some reason the mysterious woman standing in front of him made him feel like a scared child.

"Indeed," the woman drawled, as she circled him as if trying to look into his very soul. "Tonight is not the night to be out and about, Sir."

"Yeah, no kidding." He shuddered, more from dread than cold. "I was just looking for the nearest place to refuel my car and then, I'd be on my way."

"I'm also looking for some fuel," she said, stressing the last word as if it had some deeper meaning.

"You a-are?" he stuttered, leaning away from her. She was very close, he could feel her breath on his face.

"Yes, indeed," she whispered near his ear, "but for my soul." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes, and sniffed.

Fear paralyzed him, making it impossible to move a muscle. In horror, he watched her smile, this time baring her teeth—not so human teeth.

"Let's fuel up?" A darting tongue across plump red lips was the last thing he saw before his world went dark.