It was a treacherous drive; four hours at the very least if you only stopped once and kept up a steady speed. She stopped once to fill up gas at the halfway point even though her tank was nearly full. Paranoia had set in long before she ever started the journey. After all, a million things could go wrong. 

The fear had caught hold of her the minute her friend called to tell her she couldn’t join. As she paced the room, she ran through every possible scenario. What if the car ran out of gas and she was stranded in the forest, alone at night? What if she lost control of her vehicle and ended up in the lake? What if the car broke down for some unknown reason and there was no one within hundreds of miles to help? What if they saw her and continued on anyway? What if she was mugged or drugged or assaulted or raped at a remote gas station? What if vampires and werewolves weren’t just myths? After all, not only was this the Ted Bundy state, she was also headed into infamous vampire and werewolf territory. 

Taking a deep breath, she stopped the car and walked out. A man approached her; he was bigger than her. He was wearing a uniform, and while that should have provided comfort, she shifted nervously, eyes darting to find any other signs of life, anyone walking around to whom she could holler for help. There was no one out there but the two of them. She looked around and could see another man inside the convenience store. No one else. Not as far as her eyes could reach. For all she knew, they would probably kill her together.

“Could I help you, ma’am?” he asked.

“Oh, uh, I just need to top off my tank. Also, do you have a restroom?”

“Yes, I can pump the gas for you if you wanna go use the bathroom. You’ll go through the front here, and Mikey inside will give you the key. Exit through the side door and go down the alley. It’s on the left-hand side.”

The minute he mentioned the alley, she felt beads of sweat run down her back. There were two of them and only one of her. Her luggage was still in the trunk, so she opened up the gas cap to let the man could fill up the tank, locked it the minute it was open and headed for the door. Too distracted by her imminent death and peering over her shoulder in case the man chased after her, she ran, shoulder-first, into the door.

“Hi, uh, the man outside asked me to grab the restroom key from you.”

The man she stared at was rough and burly, too strong for her to take on even though they were approximately the same height. More sweat collected, this time on her upper lip, and her throat felt so dry it was hard to swallow.

“Yes ma’am. Here you go. Walk out this door right here,” he said as he pointed to the door to his right, “then you’ll see it on the left at the end of the alley.”

She faked a smile and walked out the door, still rubbing her stinging shoulder. As soon as she peered into the alley, the pain disappeared. Even in the daytime, it wasn’t well-lit and seemed like an endless path into darkness. Shrugging, she hurried down the alley. She had already placed her car keys in her right hand, with the big key jutting out between her pointer and middle fingers. As the restroom came into view, she exhaled.

She put the restroom key into the lock and turned it as her heart rate dropped back down and her breaths slowed to a normal pace. The light flickered in the background while a small breeze rustled some leaves that brushed the bare skin of her shin. When she finally unlocked the door and pushed it open, she felt her legs give out.