The Drive
Bump! I open my eyes. Darkness. The type of darkness where you can’t see in front of you and the headlights from the car get swallowed up. We’re winding down a road. Looking out the window, the glow of streetlamps can only be noticed every now and then. They illuminate branches of trees tangled together like broken limbs, their Spanish moss dropping down like cobwebs. Thank God we’re in the car. I think as we drive past a spooky white church. It’s small, wooden, and ancient-looking. The streetlamp hanging from the power line gives it an eerie yellow glow. If this wasn’t horrifying enough, the fact that Mom is playing a book about a creepy ghost girl makes it even worse.
You’re probably wondering where we’re going. Well, it’s spring break, and we are headed to a hotel down in South Carolina. As a sixteen-year-old introvert, I would much rather be staying at home reading in my egg chair. Mom and dad, however, said that fresh air and a change of scenery would be good for me. "Plus," mom said, "It will be fun to have a family trip."
“Reniece, I can drive now. Pull over when you get the chance.” Dad says.
“All right,” Just then a scary-looking gas station comes into view. Mom pulls over and parks the car. As she gets in the passenger seat, I look at the gas station. It seems abandoned. The windows are so dark, that I can only see my reflection and the pumps look rusted like they haven’t been used in a long time. Suddenly, mom’s book stops playing. “Hum, I wonder what’s happening?” She taps the screen a couple of times. Silence. There’s a creak as the trunk opens. I look back to see my dad is looking for something. I glance over at mom. She is staring at the gas station in apprehension. The door is wide open. Was it like that before? “Daevion, hurry and get in the car! You don’t know what or who could be out here!” For someone who loves horror, she sure seems freaked out.
“Yeah, yeah I’m just grabbing water. Anika, do you want your blanket?”
“Yes please,” I said shivering. I don’t know if it’s the cold air flowing in or the eeriness of the gas station, but suddenly I’m really cold. Dad tosses me my blanket and we’re moving again. We drive through a small town.
"My, this is quite the interesting city." mom says. The buildings are old with sprinklings of fast food places and modern shops every now and then. "I should take pictures of the architecture," she says pulling out her phone. "This will be great material for my book!" she adds excitedly. You see mom is a writer, so when she gets a chance to find new material for her stories she takes it.
All is quiet as we ride past. Streetlights illuminate the closed signs in windows. Traffic is light this late at night, so we don’t have a hard time getting through. Finally, after winding our way through town, we pulled up to our intended destination. The Grand Sanctum Resort.
