MicroHorror

Jason hated these trips to the country. Even with a bonus and a percentage of what he sold the trips were taking their toll. He had been invited to dinner that night. Alicia. 35, tall, raven-haired and full lips. How could he pass all that up? And yet he was going to have to. If, by some freak chance, he did make it back home in time he was too damned tired to be in any mood for love.

He hit the steering wheel with one hand then turned the stereo up with the other.

As he neared the outer limits of the city, the sun had just set. The horizon was a dwindling glow of pale orange and the first stars were twinkling, almost hidden in the sun’s final rays. He turned his headlights on, illuminating the “Black Spot” sign–indicating a particularly dangerous part of the road. He paid it no mind and maintained a speed that was a full fifteen kilometres over the limit.

Suddenly a voice screamed in his head “Mine!” and the steering wheel was spun with a force so powerful that it sent the car spinning across the four-lane highway. Jason grabbed the wheel and with white knuckles and a pounding heart he managed to steer the car back from the edge of the road. Fighting the urge to slam his foot on the brake he eased the pedal down instead and finally the car came to a stop. His shirt was saturated and his forehead was dripping sweat, despite the fact that it was a late autumn evening. He felt giddy and was having difficulty getting his breath back, but after a few minutes of huffing and puffing he finally felt ready to continue on his way.

“Mine!” he heard a man’s voice shout and again the steering wheel was snatched from his grip, though as the car had barely had time to start moving Jason quickly regained control.

His hands wrapped themselves like vices around the outer rim of the wheel. His foot went hard and then light on the accelerator; he couldn’t decide whether he should get the hell out of there or take things easy.

Then he noticed the willowy, cloudy figures beginning to appear at the side of the road.

“Mine!” screamed a female voice inside his head.

“Mine!” shouted a man’s voice.

The steering wheel was being wrestled from him, but he refused to relinquish his grip on it. He refused to let whatever it was these things were get the better of him and send him crashing into a tree.

“Mine!” boomed a deep voice as the steering wheel was again given a sharp tug.

The car swerved into the oncoming lane. Jason held his breath as his eyes scanned the highway ahead. For a moment he imagined that he saw a set of headlights and he gritted his teeth waiting for the impact, but the lights were ghostly figures, tearing towards him through the growing darkness.

“Mine! Mine! Mine!”

The voices screamed and clamoured inside his head. He wanted to press his temples, press the voices out, but his hands were kept busy on the wheel.

A woman’s pale face appeared at the windscreen and as she opened her mouth to scream the flesh fell from her skull and was sucked into the night by the g-force of the car.

“Mine!” she shrieked, and then Jason felt the sharp sting of a palm across his face.

He screamed as his car veered off the road and crashed headlong into a giant eucalyptus tree. The force of the impact sent him flying through the shattered glass of the windscreen. He heard the snap of his neck, some other-worldly laughter and a brief spray of stars exploded in front of his eyes before darkness consumed him completely.

“Mine!” laughed the spirit as she ventured back to the side of the road to claim her next trophy.