667: Issue #4 "Good vs. Evil"

It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by Angels or by Demons, Heaven or Hell.

~Buddha

It was just like any other night. I had gotten off of work early and was packing a small overnight bag. It may have been our birthdays, but we weren’t doing anything different than we had the years before.

We were going to take a little road trip upstate and spend the rest of the week in the countryside with lots of cows and fields of wildflowers.

I knew that I needed the break, and I am sure Khaine did as well. Work had been stressful and we both just wanted to get away for a bit.

“You haven’t packed already?” The door to our studio apartment popped open and Khaine’s hulking frame took up almost the whole doorway.

“I didn’t have time, but I’m doing it now, aren’t I?” I threw up a sculpted brow in his direction.

“Always last minute.” Khaine breezed past me and grabbed his already packed duffle bag and slung it over his shoulder.

“You act like this is something different than we normally do every year on this day.” I rolled my eyes as I stuffed two pairs of black shorts into my bag.

“I know, but I want to get out of here soon—the weather is getting bad,” Khaine responded, changing out of his polished work shoes and into his steel toed boots.

“I thought the forecast said there was a hundred percent chance of nothing,” I responded. Khaine seemed a bit weird as he anxiously waited for me by the front door.

“The weather changes at the drop of a hat, Salome.” He was curt in his response; he never called me by my full name like that unless something was wrong.

“I’m ready; let’s go.” I wasn’t going to argue with him. He held the door open for me as we locked up our tiny apartment and got our annual journey under way.

(*)

“Quit fiddling with the radio.” Khaine gently slapped at my hand as I cycled through the stations.

“There’s nothing good on and you know I don’t want to sit in silence.” I grabbed the aux chord plugged into the front of the radio and attached it to my phone.

“A playlist sounds like a good idea.” Khaine agreed that the best way for us both to be happy with the music choice was for us to use one of our “Approved Road Trip Playlists.”

I hit the shuffle button as the bass bumped through the speakers.

“What’s the ETA?” I settled into the front seat and cuddled up to my plush cat that Khaine had given to me as an early birthday present.

“We should get there sometime after midnight, just in time for the birthday celebrations to begin.” Khaine flexed his hands on the wheel. I had noticed that he was sweating; it was hot out, but not that hot.

“Are—are you okay, Dr. Frankenstein? You look like something is bothering you.” I casually asked him. He was just staring straight down the road, gripping the wheel so hard I thought it would snap.

“I’m okay. Just really needed to get away.” Khaine responded, glancing at me from the corner of his eye.

No, you’re not. You’re not okay…

What wasn’t he telling me? We told each other everything—been best friends for years.

I lounged back in my seat and just stared out the window. Darkened fields breezed past us as we drove North of Las Vegas. By the time we turned thirty, we would be at the ranch.

It was Khaine’s technically, even though it wasn’t exactly his yet. His grandfather had bequeathed it to him in his will, but he was still alive. He was ill, laying in a hospital bed as he waited out his final days.

Khaine made sure to see him as often as he could, and this last visit had given him the keys to the house…permanently.

“This place is finally going to be yours.” I tried to steer the conversation towards something more light-hearted…but that was a failure.

“No, it isn’t, Sal. It isn’t going to be mine.” Khaine sped the car up as our headlights pierced through the night.

“I don’t think I quite understand.” It was already his, even though they wouldn’t sign over the deed till his grandfather passed.

“I lost it, Salome. It isn’t mine anymore.” Khaine’s voice was sullen as he finally turned his face towards me.

“You didn’t.” I was stunned; all I could do was shake my head in disbelief.

“I did. I had to. They were going to take away the nightclub…I’m in so much debt, Sal.” Khaine looked like he was trying to keep it together as he revved the engine and drove even faster down the long winding road.

“You gambled with your money too much, making too many investments in the wrong things…” I wasn’t trying to rain on his parade even more, but I had warned him.

“Thanks—thanks, Sal. That makes me feel so much better.” Khaine almost broke the steering wheel with the grip he had on it.

“I just wanted to help you, Khaine. But you won’t let anyone help you.” I turned to face my window in silence as I thought about what was just said to me: This would be our last year at the farmhouse…

I let myself quietly slip into a cat nap as Khaine sped on into the night.

(*)

I awoke when I felt the car decrease in speed. The steady sixty miles-per-hour that Khaine had been going at was like a gentle lullaby, but now it had slowed to a crawl.

“What’s going on?” I was groggy as I rolled away from the window and rubbed the sleep from my eyes.

“There’s a heavy fog up ahead.” Khaine pointed his thick finger at the windshield.

There was indeed a low-lying fog that seemed to be creeping at us down the road. Where could it possibly be coming from? It was an exceptionally dry night and there wasn’t an open water source for miles.

“What time is it?” I squinted at the dash clock; it was just about midnight.

“Happy birthday to us, huh?” Khaine sounded forlorn when he spoke. He sped up despite the thickening fog; he knew the roads better than most.

“Yeah. Happy birthday, Khaine.” I unhooked my seatbelt and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek, right as we entered the fog bank.

Khaine thought he could just drive right through it, but it had proven to be a not so easy task.

“I seriously can’t see a thing.” Despite being blind in the fog, Khaine kept driving rather fast.

“Maybe you should slow down,” I suggested. We had begun to weave a little, but Khaine insisted that he had the vehicle under control.

“I’ve got it, Sal. Don’t want us crawling at a snail’s pace all the way to the house; I want us to have as much time up there as we can.” Khaine was a little emotional, that much was clear. In our friendship, he was the one with the feelings; I was just cold and emotionless…or so I’d been told.

Khaine turned off his high beams and rolled the window down, sticking his head outside like a puppy, assuming it was easier to view the road that way.

He took one gulp of the fog filled air and began to cough violently, pulling his head back in the car. His eyes were watering as he slipped the glasses from his face and blindly tossed them at me. I opted for grabbing the wheel instead, as the car jerked violently into the oncoming lane.

“Jesus, Khaine! Put your foot on the brake!” I yelped as I directed the car back into its lane.

He took a deep breath and I watched his foot lift to hit the brake when his whole body went rigid in the driver’s seat.

Instead of the car stopping, the engine revved even higher. Khaine’s clunky booted foot had stomped down on the gas pedal when his body seized up.

If I didn’t get him to move it, we would both die.

“Khaine…Khaine!” My voice screeched as I shook him.

Then he started to scream. A sound like nothing I had ever heard before escaped his lips, ringing out inside the car. I wanted to cover my ears, but I had to keep my hands on the wheel as the car sky-rocketed to almost a hundred miles per hour.

Khaine’s hands were tearing at his hair as he writhed in his seat, finally pulling his foot free from the gas pedal. The car began to wobble violently as it decelerated and I strained to keep my grip on the wheel.

Khaine was still having one of the most terrifying seizures I had ever witnessed and I struggled with the idea of quickly letting go of the wheel and pulling the emergency brake.

The car was still going far faster than it should have as it came up over a hill and slid down the other side.

We were picking up speed again and Khaine had finally stopped seizing, but the problem now was that he was out cold.

The fog had seeped into the car and was now filling up the interior, blinding me from seeing which lane we were in. I had to pull the e-brake; it was our best bet with Khaine’s massive frame in the front seat.

In slow motion, I turned the wheel to the left and wrenched up on the emergency brake. The car immediately began to fishtail as I felt every bone in my body go on lockdown. The trees were flashing as the headlights spun in circles with the car.

I could finally move as the muscles in my body relaxed, but then the shredding pain started.

First, it was in my gut, then my chest, and then my arms and legs before it finally settled in my head.

Screams began to echo as I raked my nails all over my body, hoping that the pain and the spinning would stop.

I got my wish as the car came out on the other side of the fog, careened off the road, and struck a giant tree.