Chapter 2: The Drive

It’s dark and quiet as I drive through the desert. We decided to leave later in the evening to get to Colorado in the morning. Maggie, my love, was ecstatic to go but now she’s passed out in the passenger seat. I was hesitant about going back home but she pushed me to go. Maybe getting out of Sin City would be nice for a change. We packed up after I told her and we waited till it cooled off before heading out. She was excited to meet one of my family members. Even though her family remains a mystery. She has a slight snore right now but it’s probably the only thing that’s keeping me awake at the moment. It’s still nice to have company though so I can’t complain. It’s a long drive and I didn’t miss this never ending section. I know it’s late but I haven’t seen another car or light in awhile. Even though I have a sleeping passenger I still feel very alone. My mind wonders about what could be going on with my brother. He seemed spooked. We went through a lot as children. I’m not normally an emotionally charged person but my feelings and darker thoughts have been filling my mind on this adventure. I start to feel depressed. Lost in the solitude of open road darkness.

The highway feels as if it’s getting darker and darker. Like an old memory. I’m probably just exhausted though. I didn’t get much sleep the night before. Plus this section is boring. Nothing for one hundred miles it feels like. Then my headlight reflects off something. A figure on the side of the road as I race by. My heart races. It was so fast and I’m so tired I don’t know if it was a person or something else. It looked pale and skinny. Maybe it was just a pole but it gave me goosebumps. I didn’t get a good look but it seemed odd. I look in the rear view mirror but it’s already gone. I check the time and it’s 3:00 am. The witching hour. What are the odds? What would anything be doing out this late I ponder? I’m just exhausted. As I look back up front something big with four legs runs across the road. I swerve for a second. My heart races again as I regain control quickly. I’ve heard stories of strange beast out in these parts. Legends that are thousands of years old. Maggie starts to stir a little. I keep going for a ways to increase distance. I don’t wanna find out what that thing was. Hell, was it even real?

I keep going several more miles before pulling over. I turn the car off and open the door. I feel a cool breeze as I step out and walk around and sit on the side of the road. It’s beautiful out. The arm of the Milky Way glows overhead. It’s quite the sight. Lucky to have a nice clear view. I see a meteorite fly by from the corner of my eye.

“Well I guess I should make a wish” I softly say to myself. As I sit alone in grief. I wish I was a better big brother. I’ll go months without hearing from Zach, but I wasn’t always reaching out. I startle for a second after I feel an arm go around my shoulder. “Sorry, I didn’t hear you open the door.”

“My bad, looked like you needed some company. You’ve been going non-stop. Are you alright? What happened back there when you swerved?” She says

“Sorry about that. I hoped I didn’t wake you. Something ran across the road and I have no clue what it was. It didn’t look like a deer. This section is terrifying at night. I’d rather go through our ordeal in Nepal then stay out here. Are you sleeping fine?” I reply.

“I still don’t even talk about that. I wonder sometimes if you had nightmares before that. You talk in your sleep a lot. Sometimes about that and other times you are crying for your family. You know I’m here for you! You don’t talk much about your past. What happened?” Maggie ask me as she squeezes me tighter. I’m surprised because she’s normally not touchy.

“I’ve always had weird dreams. Alien abduction shows terrified me growing up. Skinny grey beings with big black eyes. Hell I thought I imagined one a few miles back. God, I’m weird and losing my mind. When my mom disappeared on my birthday everything changed. We woke up in a meadow far from our tents. She had just told us she was pregnant with our little sister. All I remember after was waking up covered in bruises and cuts like I was running through the woods. None of us could remember anything after. They found another abandoned tent down by tree line that looked freshly setup too. The police and news blamed my dad. They never had proof and he kept going all the way out there every weekend to search for her. Even spent a few days in jail. They never even found a drop of blood from her. The media ruined him. He lost his job. Then he started getting into supernatural stuff and distancing from us. A few years later he disappeared too. The police and media still thought of him as a double murderer so they didn’t care. We figured he finally gave in and killer himself. The media thought the same thing as well. So Zach and I had to stay with relatives. It crushes him. He started having trouble in school and drinking young. Then got into drugs. I got out of there the first chance I could. I had my heights set high in the mountains, but I wish I was a better brother to him. I feel like I abandoned him.” I tear up a little bit and put my face in my hands.

“It’s not your fault. That’s terrible. I’m sure he still cares about you. That’s some traumatic stuff. I’m so sorry you grew up like that. You’re a good person and you deserve to be happy. You’ll see him shortly…” Maggie tells me as we hear howling in the distance. She squeezes me tightly. God, I love this woman, but our relationship is kind of weird and mysterious. We look in the sky. A light zig zags across the sky in the distance. That’s a weird shooting start I think. As the howling comes back and sounds closer. “Let’s get going. That gives me goosebumps. I’ll drive. I want you to get some sleep.” She says then gives me a kiss on the cheek as our adventure continues on.