The Chosen by J S Donovan

Author:J S Donovan [Donovan, J S]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-24T22:00:00+00:00

16

Dead of Winter

With a cringe-inducing crunch, the truck rammed into Clarice’s Challenger. Her neck snapped forward. A sharp pain shot down her spine. Her wheels slipped on black ice and lost traction. The Challenger headed for the ditch.

Clarice’s bangs fell across her face as she twisted the steering wheel. Heart pounding mercilessly, she swerved. Her tires screamed, shaving the ditch’s edge. Chunks of frozen dirt and ice spewed out of the wheel wells. Clarice overcorrected and swerved into the opposite lane. Still processing what had happened, she regained control and glanced back in the rearview mirror.

The truck pressed up against her bent fender and nudged her forward. Every light tap wobbled her car.

Adrenaline-fueled, Clarice stomped on the gas pedal. Her body pushed back as her muscle car lurched forward. Black exhaust billowed out of her tailpipe, creating a small smokescreen. She raced ahead, trying to get as much distance as she could from the truck.

The dense snowfall blinded her. She took a sharp turn onto a single-lane road. A few seconds later, the truck rounded the corner.

Clarice used that to gain more speed as she zipped through the wooded area. She needed to get help, but was afraid to stop.

The truck’s driver side window rolled down. A gloved hand holding a pistol reached out.

Clarice’s eyes widened.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The driver opened fire.

Clarice swerved the car back and forth. A bullet ripped through the truck. The rest were near misses.

The truck driver pulled his gun back inside and sped up.

Clarice looked for a way off of the winding road. Woods flanked her on both sides. She struggled to keep focused as her anxiety increased.

She steadied her breathing in an attempt to regain control of her mind. The Christmas music blasting from the radio didn’t help her.

She shut it off and glanced up at the road just as a deer raced in front of her. She didn’t have time to brake. Sucking air through her teeth, she braced herself for impact. The deer ran. The light reflected its eyes like an opal in the sun. It made it to the other side of the road. Clarice had missed it by inches.

Holding steering wheel, her knuckles turned frosty white. She maintained control of her bladder. The snowfall prevented her from seeing more than fifteen feet.

In the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of something moving in the woods. It was the size of a bear. It ran on four legs. The blurring trees and dense snowfall masked its true shape. Clarice looked at her speedometer. She was going ninety-seven miles per hour. If the turns on the road were any tighter, she would roll her car trying to master them. Yet, somehow, this bear-like thing matched Clarice’s speed.

Ruah, she realized. Fear coiled in her chest like a constrictor snake.

She’d seen this one before.

Bristly hair clothed its shadow-black body. A white and red pattern painted its crazed face. Its milk-white pupils locked on Clarice. Its mouth grew wide, exposing rows and rows of crooked teeth.

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