Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

“No, no idea,” she answered. “Just said she was going for a walk, gave me a kiss and left. I was in the back so I couldn’t even tell you which way she went. All I can say is she did.”

Jim looked at the sky. It was getting dark out faster than he’d thought. Even if she’d left just before he’d arrived she still would’ve come back before dark for their date.

“She’s a good girl Jim. She’ll be alright,” she said seeing his concern.

He smiled at her trying to make her think she’d reassured him but she hadn’t really helped at all. He was still worried. Walking out to the road he looked both ways hoping to see her approaching. He saw nothing. Coming back to the porch Grandma tried talking to him but soon found his concern for her grand-daughter out weighed his social needs at that moment. Jim stayed for a few minutes before his impatience got the better of him and he stood to leave.

“You take good care of her when you find her Jimmy,” she said stopping him before he could take a step. “She’s a nice girl. She doesn’t need to be hurt anymore than she already has been, so you make sure you take care of her.”

He didn’t know what to say. Were his feelings that obvious? Had Jill confided something in her Grandmother? If she had what was it? He admitted things were off to a good start between then and he already cared for her more than he probably should this early on but it wasn’t like they were getting married or something. They were just dating. He was leaving soon too so who knew what was going to happen then. Maybe nothing, then again maybe Jill had told her Grandmother something. He wished he could ask but he knew she wouldn’t reveal anything to him. That would be too easy.

“Don’t worry Grandma. I will,” he said instead of asking his question. He quickly walked to his car only to have Grandma stop him again.

“Oh yeah Jim, I forgot something. That Maria girl came by looking for Jill about a half an hour before you got here. Don’t know what she wanted or whether that helps you any but there you go just the same.” He thanked her and got in his car.

Why would Maria come looking for Jill he wondered as he drove off. As far as he knew they didn’t like each other much less come and visit each other at home. He didn’t know what the problem was other than him. He didn’t want to seem conceited but they both seemed to have the hots for him. Every time he’d been around the both of them at the same time he felt like a fight would break out any minute. Jill usually tried to control herself and settled for just making a few barbed comments but Maria acted like she was in heat and he was the only male around that could satisfy her. He couldn’t understand why she didn’t just give up and go after Johnny. It was obvious from what he saw that he was in love with her. Johnny was a good guy too. Maybe she just couldn’t see it.

Trying to figure out where Jill might be he slowly drove down the road through the quickly gathering darkness hoping his headlight would spot Jill walking back to her house. Unfortunately he reached the end of the road and had seen nothing. Since he had no idea of where to look for her he decided he would do the next best thing. Grandma said Maria had come looking for her earlier. He might not know where Jill was but he knew where Maria was. If he couldn’t find the one he would ask the other. Hopefully she knew where Jill could be found.

Jim drove through town until he came to the second of the new restaurants that Maria had said she worked at. Driving through town was slightly spooky this time of night. It seemed like it something dead. Nothing was moving. There were no people about on last minute errands or even eating at the restaurants. It was as if the town was afraid to be out after dark. Jim could certainly understand that feeling. If it weren’t for Jill he probably wouldn’t be out either.

When he turned into the dimly lit parking lot outside the place his lights quickly picked out Maria’s form leaning against the rear of the building. At first look it seemed as if she’d been expecting someone. But that couldn’t be right. She must’ve just been taking a break. His mind was making him see things that just weren’t there.

He thought he saw her smile as the lights pinned her in place but wasn’t sure. He slowly got out of the car but left it running as she held her hand up to block the beams shining in her eyes. When he’d first seen her everything had appeared normal, at least as normal as someone dressed in a restaurant outfit could look, but as he approached he noticed something wasn’t quite right. Her hair which was had been perfect every other time he’d seen her now looked as if a small tornado had passed through it. Usually she was one of those types that had to have everything just right and in place before she’d venture out into the world for all to see but now her hair was hanging down in her face like an old mop and what he could see of her face was flushed and pink like cotton candy. Maybe she had found Jill and things hadn’t turned out the way she wanted. Jill was nowhere to be seen so he reached into the car and turned off the lights.

As he walked up she tried fluffing her hair into some semblance of its normal look but quickly gave up when she realized it was doing no good. Jim saw a flash of red on her knuckles as she did and immediately suspected something bad had happened to her. Looking around the parking lot he saw nobody in any obvious places lurking about but he wasn’t sure about the shadows. They were dark and uninviting and seemed to be watching him. Any manner of creature could be hiding there. Even a creature like the Goatman. Pete’s words were getting to him. Not wanting to pursue that thought he turned his attention back to Maria.

“The manager was getting a little too touchy feely,” she said before he could even ask anything. “He didn’t seem to understand that when a girl says no she means no.”

Jim was instantly relieved. Not because she had been attacked but because it was by something human. When he’d seen nobody upon arriving he’d thought for a moment that maybe she had found Jill and they’d had some type of altercation and that maybe Jill, had come out on the wrong side of things. Quickly looking around again he saw no sign of Jill but that still didn’t mean they hadn’t met. He was still suspicious but since there was no sign of anything else he had no choice but to accept her explanation.

“Oh, I thought maybe something else might’ve happened,” he said.

“Now what else would you think could happen?” she teased. For someone who’d just been attacked she was in a good mood. Maybe she was into that type of thing. He’d seen and heard of some weird things since he’d left town. Maybe they were catching up to the normal world in ways other than just getting a few new places to eat. Then again maybe not. Her comment just reinforced Jim’s earlier thoughts about her being to strange for him to have anything to do with. If she was into stuff like that he wanted none of it.

“So did you change your mind about our date?” she asked hopefully. “Managers don’t really appreciate it when you knee them in the nuts, so I don’t think I have to worry about having a job anymore, which means I’m free to do whatever you want whenever you want.” The last part of her little request was said in such a way that Jim knew exactly what she wanted. It didn’t get his interest like she probably hoped it would. Quite the opposite in fact. Having a mental picture of what she insinuated made his skin crawl.

“No actually, I didn’t come looking for you for that reason.” He could almost see her deflate a little but that wasn’t his concern, Jill was. “I heard that you had come by looking for Jill earlier and was wondering if you’d found her or not.”