Michael Hunter - Come Get Me

Maria gave no directions so Jim decided to drive whichever way he wanted. He was following Main Street leading in the direction of Tommy’s house and then the country beyond that. Even though he was doing the speed limit the edge of town was fast approaching and she was just sitting there pouting. He wished she would stop acting like a child and give him directions like she said she would. He had no idea where to go. The only thing he knew about Tommy’s death was that it had happened off in the woods somewhere. Looking out the windows he figured that could be anywhere. The town was surrounded by an intermingling of open fields and woods. If she didn’t get on the ball soon he would have no choice but to stop and force her to tell him something. He didn’t know how he would do that but he would figure something out if he had too.

The last vestige of civilization came and went and still she said nothing. What he could see of the town was slowly getting smaller and smaller in his rear view mirror and he was about to slam on the brakes and demand to know where they were going when Maria finally said something.

“Turn right,” she whimpered.

Jim stopped and looked to his right. There was no road there. He was about to tell her so when he noticed something. There was a small path that led out into a field. Beyond that he couldn’t see. The darkness wouldn’t let him.

“That’s not a road ya know,” he yelled.

“Well, that’s where your precious Jill went so if you want to find her then that’s where you have to turn,” she yelled right back.

Cursing under his breath he turned and drove into the weeds at the edge of the road as directed. After driving for so long on a smooth surface he was unprepared for what the field held for him. Ruts and bumps and holes seemed to jump under his tire with a frequency that was unbelievable. Most of the time when you looked at grass swaying in the wind it looked so smooth and gentle that you thought you might be able to lie down and take a nice relaxing nap in it. You never thought about what might be underneath that calm exterior. Jim’s poor car was now finding out. The two of them were being thrown around from one side of the car to the other. The only thing that kept Jim where he was supposed to be was his vice like grip on the steering wheel. He felt Maria slam into his side a few times and could’ve swore he felt her coping a feel but he was too busy trying to avoid what few holes and hills he could. He didn’t really want to have to pay for a new suspension on the rental car but, Jill was out here somewhere so he didn’t have much of a choice.

They drove slowly down the road bouncing up and down whenever they hit an especially big hole until Maria yelled for him take another right. The road they turned onto wasn’t much better than the other but it seemed to have a few less holes than the previous one so Jim counted himself lucky. After being on the new road only a few minutes she had him take another turn and then another. The second one he almost missed because it was so overgrown with weeds. This type of twisting and turning continued for the better part of a half hour before she quietly told him to stop. He strained his eyes trying to penetrate the darkness surrounding the car. From what little he could make out, there was nothing there.

“Where are we?” he asked suspiciously.

“Just give me a minute,” she snapped.

“What? Are we lost? I thought you said you told Jill how to get here,” he demanded.

“We aren’t lost I just need to get my bearings,” she said angrily. “I’m sure your precious Jill is safe and sound. Now would you shut up and let me think?”

Just when Jim was resigning himself to being lost in the middle of God knew where she told him start driving again. Almost immediately after that she had him take a left. As he spun the wheel trying to avoid a tree that loomed out the darkness he thought he saw the headlights pick out the form of a person standing not twenty feet away.

“Who was that?” he asked as he hit the brakes.

“Who was what?” Maria answered.

“That,” he said pointing. “I saw someone standing a little ways that way.”

“I didn’t see anyone,” Maria said spookily. “Maybe there’s some sort of monster out there or something. Who knows, maybe it already got Jill and now it’s coming for us.”

Her words brought images of the Goatman flooding into his head. This was crazy. He was out in the middle of nowhere, with one of the weirdest people he’d ever met, looking for a girl he hoped liked him and oh, by the way, the Goatman was after him and his only remaining living friend. Pete wasn’t the only one that needed to have his head examined.

“Maybe there wasn’t anything after all,” he stammered.

“Course there wasn’t, sweetie. You’re just excited. That’s all. You know, I could take your mind off all that stuff.” He glanced over and saw her unbuttoning her top. She’d already gotten it down far enough that he could see a little bit of some dark colored lace from her bra in the light from the instrument panel.

“How much longer?” he asked as he quickly looked back in front of them. Whatever answer she might have said, he didn’t hear. Just out of reach of the headlights he saw a big shadow move across the road.

“There it was again!” he yelled.

“There’s nothing out there,” she huffed. “If you’d just look over here long enough you wouldn’t even care what was out there.” Before he could catch himself he looked. The buttons on Maria’s top were undone and her bra was in plain view. The lace he’d seen ended up being just about all it was made of. He knew he should look away but he couldn’t. He was a man after all. His eyes seemed to strain to see what was hidden underneath the lace. He was sure if it was lighter he’d be able to see everything. He was just reaching for the interior light when something struck the car. Startled by the impact Jim snapped back to reality and looked around.

“It was probably just some animal or something,” Maria said trying to swing his attention back to her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve got something much better for you to look at.” “Maria I’m out here to find Jill, not to watch you act like the whore you are,” he said as he fought to keep control of the car and himself. He refused to give her the pleasure of making him look at her. He regretted doing it the first time but he hadn’t been able to help himself. It was just a natural male reaction, he told himself. “Put you damn clothes back on and tell me where to go and no, hell is not an option.”

“You know you want me Jimmy,” she purred. “I saw you looking. You liked it, didn’t you? If you’d just look again you might see some more things you like.” He could feel her inching closer but he’d had about enough.

“Look you stupid bitch,” he yelled as he slammed the brakes, “I’m not going to do anything with you. I thought I got it through that thick skull back at the restaurant but I guess not.” He’d held himself in check long enough. It was time to vent a little on the target of his anger. “You’re here to help me find Jill. End of story. After that you can go back and live in your little fantasy world. Right now tell where the hell I need to go. Other than that keep your damn mouth shut.”

Before when he’d yelled at her she’d looked almost ashamed of herself. Now she just returned his stare almost like she was challenging him to do something more. He was sorely tempted too but instead just held her look. He refused to be the first to look away. After a few more seconds the contest of wills seemed to be over. Maria looked away and started buttoning herself back up.

“It’s right up here,” she grunted. “Keep going up over this hill in front of us. It’s on the other side.” She was back to her pouting routine. Jim started forward again thanking god this ride was almost over.