Me and the guys drove down a dark road, our thunderous laughter seemingly echoing out every window of the Subaru. The night air was crisp and cool and the gentle breeze rustled the leaves as we flew down the back roads.
“Hey, John! What’s that?” My friend, Ruben, asked and pointed straight ahead from the passengers’ seat, blonde hair shimmering a light gold in the moonlight.
I squinted into the darkness up ahead waiting for my eyes to adjust. Sure enough there stood a tall figure. At least 6 or 7 feet. It’s arms hung far past its waist with long slender fingers. The black hair covering its face from view.
“What the-?” I asked softly more to myself than the guys, slowing down as we got closer.
“What is it?” Jimmy asked from the back seat his dark emo style hair promptly covering one eye. He’d never been that bright but in this moment we were all oblivious to what stood in front of us.
Slowing to a stop Mike, the only one in the car with bright green hair cropped close to his head, stuck his head out the window and called out, “Hey!”
The creature moved so swiftly and fast the only thing we did was blink and Mike’s head was detached and his body slumped out the window. We sat in shock for a millisecond as the creature let loose a high-pitched cry before I stomped my foot on the gas. The tires squealed and we zoomed forward. I drove and drove as my heart beat wildly in my ears and panic seized my mind. I kept seeing the image of Mike’s headless body. Soon sirens blared behind us and only then did we slow down.
“What you boys doing out here blazing down this street like some fireball from space?” The officer asked, with a thick southern accent, as he sauntered up to the window.
“I’m sorry, sir,” I panted out, “Didn’t realize we were going so fast.”
“Well next time I want you to make sure you.” He froze mid-sentence. Without a word he turned to the direction we’d come from and made a horrible gasping noise. “The Pale One. The Pale One.” He said over and over.
“Guy’s what’s he-?” Ruben began to ask but was snatched out of the passengers’ seat window.
“Ruben!!” I yelled out and tried to start the car. It wheezed and sputtered before giving out.
“What’s going on, John?!” Jimmy asked frantically a quiver in his voice. He was the youngest one of us all.
“It won’t start, Jim!” I kept turning the key over and over but it refused to start. I stopped and realized the deafening silence and turned. “Jim?”
The boy’s hair was pulled back and his mouth and eyes wide open frozen like a statue in a silent scream. He was horribly pale and I stumbled out of the car onto the road with a sob. Just a half hour ago we’d been at the bar. Hanging out like usual and now they were dead. All dead.
“We’re not dead, John,” I heard Mike’s voice say and looked up to see him standing a few feet away. His head was securely on his body. The only thing different was his deathly pale skin. Then I saw Ruben, then Jim. All fine.
“W-what happened? W-what’s going on?” I asked backing away.
“It’s just a bad dream,” They said in unison, “Just a bad dream that The Pale One can fix.”
I shook my head and kept inching away. Then I felt the thin fingers wrap around my head, obscuring my vision. The last thing I heard was my own screams.
