THE CAR

The tires screeched as the car lightly drifted through the corner. The calm, lifeless night was only being disturbed by the growl of the engine. The night lamps flickered as the revving car twisted and turned around the mountain roads under the golden shimmer. “Tell me Sophie, was all this necessary?” The guy driving the car speaks. His voice piercing through the engine’s grumble. Beads of sweat slowly dripping down his forehead. He looks hesitantly over to his rear-view mirror. Sophie was sitting with her eyes closed, unwavered by the twisting and turning of the vehicle. She sits in silence as the driver kept on speaking, looking at her through the rear-view mirror. “We were so good together. You were my perfect piece of puzzle.” He chuckles as he turns the car through the merciless turns of the mountain. “Remember that time? When we went to the beach and a crab clanged on to your skirt.” He kept chuckling as he remembered the fond memories. “You were so scared you jumped onto my lap and buried your face into my chest, screaming.” A soft chuckling voice came from behind. He looks through the rear-view mirror to find a faint smile emerging on Sophie’s face. “You should have looked at your own face when I showed you it was just a prank toy. It was hysterical.” He laughed as his face lit up, alternately, with every passing yellow streetlamp. The lights revealed some scratches and bruises, all over his face. His pitch-black eyes were as dry as a desert. As if something sucked the moisture out of them. His brown wavy hair was matted, with something gooey and sticky. But he didn’t seem to care. His hands, which were bruised to a greater extent than his face, skillfully slid over the steering wheel. “Those times were good. Simple and beautiful. Just the way I wanted our lives to be. I wish I could turn back time, to those simpler days, and relive it with you, just once.” Tears emerged from behind the completely shut eyes of Sophie. She sobbed slowly, catching the attention of the man. “Hey hey.... Sophie. Don’t be sad now. I promise you. After tonight, I won’t let a single drop of these precious tears fall from your eyes.    

 
          The car swiftly cornered through every turn. The speed never slowed down. The screeching of the tires kept getting louder and louder. And that’s when he heard the wailing of a police siren behind him. “Oh nice. Sophie. I am sorry but you have to hide. I have to handle these fools first.” Headlights from the police car behind blinded him for a moment. He slowly decelerated before bringing his car to a halt just between the dark spot between two streetlamps. He took out a damp cloth from the glovebox and patted down his face as he waited for the inconvenience. “Hi, I am officer Mark Simmons, License and registration please.” The policemen blasted his face with his torchlight. His scratches glistened under the bright white light. “What's the matter officer? I don’t think I have broken any rules now.” The officer directs his light away from his face and over to the license. “Hmm... Mister Fraser. Speed limit comes under the law too. And you were way above the limit right now. These are dangerous roads mister. I can’t allow you to run this fast here.” The policemen inspect his face, other than the bruises it was mostly identical. “Jeez, what caused all these bruises?” Fraser hesitantly said, “Ahh... I have a pet cat. You know how it is. If I fail to serve her in time, she doesn’t care who her owner is.” He chuckles, as the policemen too smiles, directing his light towards the back seat. “Are you travelling alone?” He rolled his flashlight through the car only to find emptiness. “It’s just me and my demons sir.”  He smiles, as the police officer started packing his light into his utility belt. “You can go now... just don’t speed on these mountains. You don’t seem drunk or anything, but you should go slow. If I catch you again, I have to charge you with a speeding ticket.” Fraser looked straight into the policemen’s eyes and replied. “I promise you won’t have to counsel me ever again, sir.” He patiently looked at the policemen, tracking back to his vehicle, when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned around and approached him again. “I am sorry to disturb you again, but would you mind opening the trunk? It’s just protocol. Fraser’s face became paler than normal. “Not at all.” He came out of the vehicle and walked sluggishly towards the trunk. He maintained a smile, but his heart was thumping like a derby horse. Time went slow, as the policemen arched down to open the trunk. A crackling voice abruptly emerged, taking both the men’s attention away from the trunk. The policemen left the trunk unopened and ran towards his car. He answered the radio and from his car only, waved at Fraser to go. Fraser instantly banged his trunk shut and returned to his driving seat. He looked through the side mirrors, the police car turned around and started pacing downwards. He then looked at his rear-view mirror. Sophie was back, as lifeless as before. “Phew, that was close. Let’s continue our destination is just round the corner” The car again started piercing through the moonlit asphalt of the road, darkness engulfed the night, not a single star was visible, only a big full moon shimmered. 
                                             As the car turned along the roads, the lifeless Sophie, sitting on the back seat started mumbling something. Earlier Fraser ignored it, then it kept on increasing and increasing. "Hey... how many times do I have to say it, Sophie. Stop mumbling words in front of me!”  Fraser became angry, his dry eyes suddenly popped with red vessels depicting his psychotic anger. The mumbling became louder and clearer with every passing sentence. Along with the mumbling, Sophie started weeping too, making him angrier with every single sound. “You never understand don’t you!” He started screaming, barely holding on to the twists of the road. “You started mumbling when you cheated on me. You started mumbling when you broke up with me. You started mumbling when you humiliated me in front of that stinky new boyfriend of yours. You don’t speak clearer or louder when you do wrong. Don’t you?” He banged his hand on the mirror, nearly cracking it. Sophie got startled, and again started mumbling the same thing. Every time, it became louder and clearer. “Hey stop it, you ungrateful, cheating bitch! I told you I was going to work on my anger. I even went to anger management for you. But you cheated behind my back. Made me a laughingstock. I was ready to change every bit of me for you. But you.... You couldn’t even wait 1 month? Stop mumbling those words now. The same ones which you kept mumbling when I came to your precious little house today. Sophie started sobbing and screaming the words which she was mumbling quietly. “I was always scared of you. You are a demon!  I was always scared of you. You are a demon!” He chuckled as her voice became coarser and louder. “Yes, keep mumbling and crying now. You were my angel, with whom I planned my paradise. But you threw me down after showing me my paradise. So, I, being the generous gentlemen I am, brought hell to you. I am a demon that you created, my dear Sophie. That’s why I made you watch when I decapitated your mom and your boyfriend. I loved every decibel of that cry.” He looked back at Sophie, who's crying became deafening now. Besides her, now her mom and her boyfriend emerged out of the blue screaming the same syllable, “I was always scared of you, you are a demon! I was always scared of you, you are a demon!” He smiled, “Ah... the whole family is here. I hope you enjoyed getting decapitated by me. I hope you went through hellish pain.” He then kept looking back, searching for something. “Hey guys? I think the number is off. One more should be here. The lifeless entities started screaming and wailing uncontrollably. The voices were tearing the silence of the night, robbing its serenity. “Ah... there she is. A small baby emerged on Sophie’s lap. Sophie started shaking uncontrollably. Her eyes were still shut. The other entities sobbed alongside her. The baby kept crying along with them. “Aww... how cute is your daughter. So soft and tender. The saw went smoothly through her neck. Like butter. You saw it didn’t you?” Sophies crying and shaking with her arms still holding her baby. The car turned and stopped, finally reaching its destination. “We are here guys. The place where I professed my love for you, sitting on this very car, which I bought to impress you. It was still the bravest thing I did in my life. If you count today’s events too, this was the toughest thing I did. And when you said that even you had a crush on me, you made me the happiest man. So now, we will finish the story from where it started.” The wailing and crying stopped. “We will never forgive you. We will never forgive you. We will never forgive you.” The ghastly entities sitting at the back roared these words in unison. The car started accelerating again, this time towards the cliff. The mumbling became louder and louder as the car slowly reached the cliff. “Yeah...... Yeah. Do I look like someone who wants forgiveness? I am happy I, for once, became the demon I was always supposed to be.” He laughed as he pressed the accelerator to the fullest. The car bumped once and met the sky for a moment. The severed heads of the unfortunate victims tossed around int the trunk, making a rumbling noise. “Sophie, in the end, me, you and this car. Finally united.”  he smiled as the car started going down, crashing over the hill. 
 
               The policemen ran into the horrific scene of crime. 4 headless bodies were found in a holiday home.  A man, his wife, his baby daughter, and an older lady, presumably their mother. “What a horror show this is. The detective present there said, “The whole family butchered. The wife was killed the last, and judging from the location of the bodies, she saw everyone die in front of her. The killer didn’t move anything, meaning he wasn’t trying to cover up his intentions or motives. From the looks of it, it might be a hate crime revolving around this wife. Chek her connections and past, we might find the headhunter.” The policemen started wearing gloves to search the house for clues. “Hey Mark, where were you man. Why so late?” Another cop nudged him in a friendly manner. “Hey...Dominguez. Nothing, I had to chase a speeding vehicle up the hill. He was going quite fast, so it took me a little while to catch. I got the news halfway past the cliff, so it took me a while to come d.....” He stopped talking abruptly. He then reached for a small photo frame from, situated behind Dominguez, and ran towards the detective. “Sir, I might know where the heads of these bodies are.” Detective became startled, “You found something already? Alright tell me.” He passes him the framed photo of the wife, with a younger but familiar man sitting on the bonnet of a car Mark was sure, he saw just a couple of hours back.