somewhere behind him. He turned to look, but saw nothing. The sun had gone down completely now, leaving a thick, black blanket over the earth. There were no street lights here, and at this point, there was no moonlight either. Toby was not one to be afraid of the dark, but he had to admit, this felt creepy. He searched the darkness, listening. There was no other sound, and if there was movement, he could not see it.
He turned back to his car, tightened down the last lug nut, and lowered the jack. Once all the tools and damaged tire were loaded into the trunk, he got back into the car. It was seriously time to hit the road.
Toby cranked the engine and glanced into his rearview mirror. He switched his gear shift into drive, and hit the gas as he turned the wheel onto the road.
Thump.
Toby jumped and just about peed on himself and jerked his head to the left when something slammed against the driver’s side window. He slammed on his brakes and looked around.
“What the-” He had heard something hit the window and had seen some object out of the corner of his eye, but there was nothing there now. Maybe it was a bat.
Something felt off and Toby nervously hit the door locks, and then glanced back at the window, seeing only the black of the night. He quickly put his car into gear and started back onto the road. As he entered the lane and accelerated, a man appeared directly in front of him. He slammed into the man, and although he was not going very fast, the man rolled onto the hood, then off the side onto the road.
Toby slammed on his brakes. His body snapped forward and was instantly stopped by his seat belt locking into place, and then pounded back against the seat.
He drew in two sharp breaths and watched, waiting for the person to stand. “Oh, man. Please don’t be dead.” What was he doing in the road anyway? Where did he come from? We are in the middle of nowhere. Please get up. He could hear his pulse pounding in his ears. His breaths were coming fast. There was no way he just killed someone.
All on its own, his mind started clicking out a list of ways this was going to screw up his week. Wait, wait. He took a deep breath. Okay, I’m not that self-centered. I’ll just get out of the car and check on the guy. I may have to take him to a hospital.
He got out of the car and walked slowly to the front. He couldn’t see anything. Everything was black except the two beams from his headlights, illuminating the pavement in front of the car. Toby stepped into the beam of light and crossed in front of the car. He hesitated, and then reluctantly stepped into the dark on the passenger side. He switched on his flashlight and flicked the light back and forth.
Nothing. There was nothing there. Toby turned and looked behind him, and shone the light in a wide path around the side of the car. Still, he saw nothing.
He inspected the hood of his car. There was a pretty big dent, so he knew he wasn’t going crazy. If his mind wasn’t playing tricks on him, that was a pretty large man he hit. He could have just seemed that way rolling across his hood from out of nowhere, though. Exasperated, yet relieved to not see a dead body, Toby checked out the fender and the ground beside the car. There was not even a drop of blood.
“Hello,” Toby called out. There was no answer. He walked toward the back of the car, shining the light all around. He still saw nothing, so he rounded the back of the car and headed for the driver’s side door... Well, he had done his duty and stopped. It was probably some drunk wandering around in the dark – from where, he had no idea. The guy probably got scared and ran off.
Conscience cleared, Toby opened his car door and began to step inside when he heard a scrape across the ground behind him. He turned, and jumped when he saw a huge man standing behind him, only inches away.
“Wh- Oh, man. Thank goodness you’re okay. Look, I’m sorry I didn’t see you. What were you doing in the middle of the road in the dark anyway? That’s dangerous,” Toby rattled all this out nervously while the Neanderthal stood staring at him with those black, empty eyes he was beginning to think was some genetic flaw or vitamin deficiency in the people around here.
The man said nothing, only stared, and drew ragged breaths. Toby did not smell alcohol on the man’s breath, but there was some kind of funk there.
“Okay, anyway. You don’t look like you need to go to the hospital. Do you need a ride somewhere?” Toby could not believe he just offered this man a ride in his nice, clean car. This guy was disgusting and very creepy. Why did he keep staring at him like that? He hoped the guy would refuse the offer.
The man towered over him. He has those same jowls, the same black eyes, and horrible posture. The way he was staring at him was beginning to feel really awkward. Toby took a step backward and said, “Yeah, anyway, I’ll just be going now.”
As he turned to get into the car, he caught the man’s movement in his peripheral vision. Before he could move away, the man’s huge hand wrapped around the back of Toby’s neck and slammed his head into the top of the car. Toby let out an involuntary scream and his head hit the car again, then blackness.