"Traveling The Lost Highway"

Taking a wrong turn can lead you down THE LOST HIGHWAY!

“Traveling The Lost Highway”

By Cody Williams

 

1

            Michael slammed the door at the rear of his GMC SUV shut and walked over to the driver side door. He opened the door and got into the SUV. Michael took the car keys from his right blue jean pocked and put it into the ignition. He started the SUV and put the SUV in reverse. He backed out of the garage and driveway. Michel put the SUV into DRIVE and began driving down the street.

            Michael just turned 57 years old. He had thinning blonde hair and was quite thin. He was only about five feet and five inches tall. His wife, Victoria was to his right. Victoria was 55 years old. She had short gray hair and was too quite thin. In the back seats of the SUV were their grand children, Mike and Kyra. Mike was 14 years old while Kyra was 16. Kyra was a quite attractive young lady and was the head cheerleader on the spirit squad. Mike was often called her “looser little brother.” He loved playing video games and bothering his older sister as most 14 year old boys do.

            Michael was taking their grand children to Joyland, a local theme park it the neigboring city of Abington.

            “Where are you going?” Victoria turned to Michael and asked him as she saw him pass up the turn off and continue on the two-lane highway.

            “I’m going a different way. I’m taking the back road, it will be faster.” Michael said to her.

 

2

            After about thirty minutes of driving the highway, Victoria began to notice differences. There was less traffic and the sky went from sunny and clear to cloudy and dark. Vegetation went from green and lively to gray and dead.

            “Michael, are you sure you know where you’re going?” Victoria asked him. Michael hesitated for a moment before answering.

            “Umm, yes. It’s just around the corner.” He replied as they passed a sign that read THE LOST HIGHWAY.

            “Just around the corner? That’s what you said fifteen minutes ago.” Victoria said to him. “Did you even read what that sign said back there? THE LOST HIGHWAY? What the hell is that?” She added. Victoria bent over and opened up the glove compartment and pulled out a black Garmin GPS. She plugged it up with a car charger into the cigarette lighter. She turned it on and began typing in the address.

            “What the hell are you doing?” Michael asked her.

            “Typing in the address to Joyland.” She said. They looked at the GPS as it began calculating.

 

3

            POINT OF ORIGON CANNOT BE FOUND! The GPS said after several moments of calculation.

            “Are we there yet?” Mike said yawning and stretching from the back seat.

            “No Mike. We don’t know where the hell we are.” Victoria said.

            “Hey, take it easy Victoria.” Michael said looking over at his wife.

            “No Michael! I will not take it easy! The God damn GPS doesn’t even know where we are at!” Victoria screamed at her husband. Victoria looked out the window and saw that the more they traveled The Lost Highway, the more it seemed as if they were in the middle of nowhere. She looked back out of the windshield as they were coming upon a crossroads. On edge of a crossroad was an African American male. He looked approximately 27 years old and was playing a guitar. The man was wearing a black suite and a white button up dress shirt with a red and white tie. He was wearing a brown cowboy hat and black leather boots.

            “Stop and ask that man for directions.” Victoria said to her husband pointing at the street musician.

            “Now Victoria…” Michael started prior to being interrupted by Victoria.

            “No Michael! We did it your way! Now we do it mine!” Victoria screamed at her husband. Feeling frustrated, Michael slammed on the breaks and pulled off on the side of the road just beside the man with the guitar. Michael got out of the car and walked over to him.

            “Hey buddy! We are a bit lost. Do you know the best way to get to Joyland from here?” Michael asked him. The man continued playing the guitar and singing blues. “Uh, buddy?” Michael asked the man again. The man stopped playing the guitar and looked up at Michael.

            “You lost you say? You more lost that you think.” The man said to him. Michael looked at the man with a confused expression. “You lookin’ for Joyland are you? There’s no Joyland ‘round here. In fact there’s no joy…period.” The man said as he looked down at the ground and then backs up at Michael. “The name is Robert Johnson.” The man said as he extended his hand to Michael. Dumfounded, Michael grabbed it and shook his hand. He looked back at Victoria and then back at Robert.

            “How do we get back?” Michael asked Robert. Robert shook his head.

            “There ain’t no way back from here. You done gone too far.” Robert said to Michael. “There are only two points from here.” Robert said pointing his index finger to the road across from them. “You can to that way to meet with the head man himself. The dictator ‘round these parts if you will. Or you can go down this street and meet with the second man in command. Either way, you gotta meet with one of them.” He said.

            “You mean to tell me that there is absolutely no way back?” Michael asked Robert in disbelief. Robert nodded his head yes.

            “Well, is there at least somewhere to eat in this s**t bowl?” Michael asked the man. Robert looked back up at him and nodded.

            “There’s a nice little dinner down the street from here that Ted owns. But I would keep that pretty young girl in the back seat of your car as far away from him as possible.” Robert said as he pointed down the road behind him. Confused, Michael began slowly walking backwards to his SUV. Robert looked down at his old guitar and began playing and singing “Me and the Devil Blues.” Michael quickly leaped into the SUV and started it up. He put it into DRIVE and turned right to go to the dinner.

 

4

            “Where are we going Michael?” Victoria asked him as they were speeding down the road. Michael continued driving faster and faster paying no attention to Victoria. “Michael! Slow down! Where are we going? Did you ask for directions?” Victoria asked him.

            “Yes I asked for directions. It was just a waste of time!” Michael told her.

            “Well, where are you going?” She asked him.

            “I’m going to a dinner down here. That’s what the guy said. We’ll see if anyone there can help me.” Michael said.

            “Did he tell you anything about the dinner?” Victoria asked him.

            “No, he just said that it was owned by a guy named Ted.” Michael said. They continued driving for several moments in silence until finally reaching the dinner. Michael pulled the car in a parallel parking place and got out of it. He heat was now almost nearly unbearable. There were not many people in the street but the people who were looked as if they were experiencing complete torture. They had small horns growing out of their foreheads and some had long red tails coming from right above their a*s. Victoria and the kids followed and they all walked into the dinner.

 

5

The dinner was dark only to be lite up by a red neon light. It was almost completely empty. Michael led Victoria, Mike, and Kyra to the dinner. Nobody was there. He rang the bell waiting for someone to come by and service them. A man then came from the back. The man had wavy black hair and was wearing a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and was wearing had what looked like burn marks at the base of his fore head.

On the left side of his chest over his heart was a golden nametag that read TED BUNDY. Ted walked over to the counter and looked at Michael.

“How can I help you guys?” Ted asked Michael. “How are you doing pretty thing?” Ted said pointing at Kyra. Victoria reached over and grabbed her pulling her close to her.

“We just need some help. We need directions to Joyland.” Michael said to Ted. Ted shook his head and glared at Michael.

“There’s no way out of here! There’s no going back! Your only hope is to talk the almighty dictator.” Ted said. “Who knows, if you impress him like I did, you could become one of his favorites.” He said to him. They began to slowly walk out of the dinner before a new customer came in.

“There he is! My favorite customer!” Ted said. The man was old. About 78 years old and was bald and had a gray beard. “The famous leader of The Manson Family! How are you doing Charles?” Ted asked him,

“You know, same old same old.” He said. Michael and his family slowly began walking back and back until finally reaching the door.

“Hey where are you guys going?” Ted asked looking over at them.

“We got to go talk to the dictator.” Michael said as they began opening the door.

“No! Why don’t you guys stay for a while? Especially you pretty thing.” Ted said pointing at Kyra. Charles and Ted began growing horns out of their heads. They opened the door and darted outside.

“Get ‘em!” Ted said as they all began running towards them. They ran out side and quickly got into the SUV. The devilish men and women began crawling in the SUV while Michael began digging in his pocket for the keys. Ted Bundy then put his hand trough the back window beside of Kyra and grabbed her by the hair.

“Get off of me you creep!” Kyra screamed as Ted tried to pull her out of the car. Michael placed the key into the ignition and started the SUV. He put it into DRIVE and drove off with Ted Bundy hanging out the window. Victoria reached into the glove compartment grabbing a pair of sissors and stabbed them in the arm of Ted Bundy. Ted let go and tumbled out of the SUV.

 

6

            After driving several minutes at thirty miles over the limit, they began to hear sirens from behind them. They pulled off on the side of the road and locked the doors. Michael reached over and grabbed the driver’s registration. The police officer got out of the car and walked to the driver’s side window of the SUV. He was wearing a light brown jump suite and a mustache just under the base of his nose. It was non other that second in command, Hitler.

            “Do you have any idea why I pulled you over?” Hitler asked Michael. Michael’s mouth dropped open. “I can tell by your lack of horns that you’re not from around here. Anyone who isn’t supposed to be here I have to take them to the dictator. Get out! It’s time for you to meet the almighty dictator!” He said opening the door and ordering them out. He placed handcuffs on each of them and led them to his car. She shoved all four of them in the back seat and slammed the door shut. Hitler got in the front seat and started the police car.

            “I hope he doesn’t go easy on you! I hope he lets me you each of you in the gas chambers. You know how much I love them.” Hitler told them as he drove off.

 

7

            They arrived to the center of the city where a black castle stood. Hitler parked the police car and got them out of the back of it. He led them up the hill to the front entrance.

            “Hey Joseph it’s me Hitler. I have some new scum here for the almighty!” Hitler said to his friend Joseph Stalin. Joseph opened the door and Hitler took them to the thrown where he sat. He had red skin and a long pointy goatee. Horns were growing from his head and a pointed tail was growing from his a*s.

            “Hitler, my boy! Nice to see you!” The devil said. Hitler knelt down in respect.

            “Almighty Satin! I have brought you outsiders! Shall I put them in the gas chambers?” Hitler asked him. Satan reached up and began rubbing his chin.

            “No, I don’t think that will be nessissary, just leave us alone for now!” The devil said to Hitler. Hitler bowed and exited the room.

            “I don’t feel the need to put you guys in the Gas chambers. But I have to punish you for trespassing!” The devil said.

            “We just got lost! We didn’t mean to trespass!” Michael argued.

            “Enough!” Satan screamed. “There’s no way out my boy! No what so ever. I sentence you to eternity in the pit!” Satan said pointing to the camber. Hitler came back into the room and picked them off of their knees.

            “Let’s go you maggots.” Hitler said taking them down into the dungeon.

            “What is down here?” Michael asked Hitler.

            “Shut the f**k up!” he said as he took them to the end of the room and stabbed them each to a wooden table. “This is a little something se like to call The Pit And The Pendulum! You will experience the sheer pain of the blade cutting through your torso for eternity.” Hitler said beginning to laugh. The walked over to the edge of the room and flipped on the switch and the blade began swinging. With tears in their eyes they began looking over at one another only to notice that they two have began growing horns.

            With every scream from the blade cutting through their torso, Hitler and Satan began laughing with enjoyment.

 

Copyright 2013 by Cody Williams

Courtsey of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS

A division of TTP Entertainment

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Author's Note

This one took about all day to write! I know it's another long one but bear with me. I hope you enjoy it!

Reviews

[dw817]

⊰ℛℛ⊱
Just pointing out a bit. You have the words, "SUV" written in here 13-times, mostly at the top. If you think that's a bit much, you wrote "hitler" in here 17-times and the word Michael 45-times. Always try to use synonyms and pronouns when you can to break up familiar already known patterns in writing (he, she, him, her, it, they).

You are not giving the age of the SUV or mentioning the attire of Michael and company so likely that in itself would have turned a few brows and looks for the 1900s. But reading more into this I see they didn't so much time travel as dimensionally travel to - and well - for lack of a better term - hell.

As for Charles Manson, Hitler, etc. That is a bit - umm - implausible. You might look to C.S. Lewis (yes, same author as The Chronicles Of Narnia), look to his, "Screwtape Letters" for a one-on-one conversation between two demons and their client whom they are trying to corrupt, whom they call their patient.
http://bit.ly/4ezqEV

Evil in itself is not so black & white and true evil is not so much fond of hurting people as some may like to believe as evil leads people to believe they DESERVE to be hurt for their sins.

True evil is not dark, nor does it wear the familiar horns or have a pointed tail. No, true evil shines like the brightest and prettiest star and often takes the guise as someone innocent who is a devout follower of religion, to distract others from true beneficial work in the world.

This is explained in part in the Screwtape Letters in the 2nd chapter and does make logical sense.

It is only the hidden and ulterior motives that separate demons from men - and even if then ...

And - that might be a difficult story to write indeed, but I hope you will consider it, Cody.

Oh, and BTW to the best of my knowledge (being silly) there are no policemen in hell, not really. Just lots and lots of lawyers - clearly out of work. :)

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for taking the time to read it DW!

-CW

[Nia Hope]

Very twisted and definitely not what I had expected. Awesome job

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Glen Yumang Manese]

Cody - this as a hard read...the repetition of the same words...If I am not convince in the first paragraph...my thoughts usually lose interest...I believe this needs a rewrite and then repost for others to read the material...but as is just hard to read and stay focus with the story line...this is your work do what you may...

[Prritiy]

nice story though i myself dont particularly relish dark ones.

you have been writing too much dark have a change then switch back, i guess that will help, other suggestions i see you got already

best wishes

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading! I don't see myself as a horror writer, I just love the genre! I do have two fantasy stories on here that is a part of my ongoing Lost Empire short story series.

Thanks again!

-CW

[Prritiy]

you are welcome

[Douglas White]

Very, very reminiscent of Stephen King's "You Know They Have a Hell of a Band". The idea isn't bad, but your lead into it was very predictable. You still overdo the minor details in your writing, and that really breaks up the flow of your story.

Example:
(Your first paragraph)
Michael slammed the door at the rear of his GMC SUV shut and walked over to the driver side door. He opened the door and got into the SUV. Michael took the car keys from his right blue jean pocked and put it into the ignition. He started the SUV and put the SUV in reverse. He backed out of the garage and driveway. Michel put the SUV into DRIVE and began driving down the street.

A better way to describe this would be:

Michael put the last of the bags into the back of the SUV and closed the rear hatch. He pulled his keys out of his pocket, pausing for a minute to think of anything that might have been overlooked, then got into the driver's seat. Turning the key in the ignition, he allowed it to idle for a few seconds as he put his seat belt on, then backed out of the driveway. Finally, they were on their way.

The second paragraph helps connect the reader to the character - not by describing every movement, but by detailing the small, yet familiar things that most people do when going on a trip. (Thinking about what was missed, idling the car while putting on the seat belt.)

Put less effort into describing every movement, and more effort into describing the small familiar things that everyone can relate to, and that will connect your characters to the readers.

Also, work on your lead-in to the heart of the story. You don't need a (literal) signpost to tell the characters they are lost. Let them wander a bit and discover it for themselves.

Finally, work on your characters. Your characters tend to be flat, two-dimensional, and uninteresting. Flesh them out, let them react naturally instead of how you "think" they should react. Look around you at the people you see every day. Would they -really- react that way in that situation?

[L.Edward]

Interesting story, very imaginative with an all star cast. Reminds me of a Stephen King story where various famous people make a cameo. Thank you for the read request.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks so much for the review!

-CW

[L.Edward]

Your welcome!

[Leslie Philibert]

Fine write that I only had time to scan. One small point ; introduce the characters gradually, if you include too much detail it works rushed, keep the reader guessing, take time !

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for reading!

-CW

[Dayran]

The story creates an interest ... in that ... it refers to the things we do in the world ... that creates a heaven or hell in the lives of the living. That's new ... but I think you could have found a more interesting way to present it. Good attempt.

[Cody Williams]

thanks for taking the time to read it.

-CW

[Marie]

This is a ghoulish story for Halloween...not too long at all; it held my interest all the way through, and I generally wont read long works. dwi17 pointed out some defets, so I won;t--but you need to check your spelling.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for the review Marie!

-CW

[A. H. Pinley]

Besides the grammar errors, the story was fun. Why throw Robert Johnson in the mix? I know legend has it he made a deal with the devil. Needs some tightening up.

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for the review!

-CW

[Marie]

Why not Robert Johnson. I thought he made an excellent addition.

[Cody Williams]

When I wrote it, I wasn't quite sure if people would get that reference.

[Marie]

You have a point. I heard the story of Robert Johnson years ago, but it's not something everyone will know about.

[Angel]

Whoa...that was one helluva ride!!

[Cody Williams]

Thanks for the review Angel!

-CW