Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dave woke with a pounding head ache, behind the wheel of his car. He vaguely remembered getting here. He was parked behind a barn of an abandoned farm about three miles east of town. He often came here to be alone or to work on a design that was particularly difficult. The barn was set about three hundred yards down slope from the road, and a crumbling house lay between. Normally he could park here and stare out over the endless rolling fields and the small winding stream and pond at the bottom of the first knoll, and not worry about anyone bothering him. The difference tonight was that it was dark and he couldn't make out much past the front of his car, and the people he worried about bothering him didn't need to see him to do it. They bothered him plenty in his mind.
He felt sorry for the way he treated Hack. Hack was just a happy idiot who opened a can of worms with a bee hive in it.
"I'm such an ass, he thought to himself, I could have met him for lunch and talked him out of the ADA and it would have been forgotten. At least his part in it."
"If I wasn't such a coward to begin with... and tossed it out the window... If I had just stood my ground and not been emotionally drawn into something I knew wasn't right to begin with."
Ten million dollars is hard to turn down. But at what cost... Hack...? ... Maybe; my wife and kids...? ... Not for the world.
Dave opened the door of the SUV and eased out holding his head. He staggered around the front of the car to the edge of the barn to relieve himself. He tipped his head back to tame the throbbing, and then squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a strange warmth flow over him, along with it a feeling of being watched; a presence of some type... near by and getting closer. He opened his eyes and cautiously glanced around him, the feeling kept getting stronger. He tucked himself away, and nervously backed toward his car. He stopped and leaned against the front bumper, his head still thumping like a drum, he could hear a faint familiar sound. The sound of some small electric motor running in another room with a little tick every other second or so, very familiar but elusive; maybe it was the pounding in his head, but he didn't think so.
He could see two small spots of mist hovering waist level about three feet in front of him about a foot apart. He stood transfixed as they seemed to pulse and grow brighter and bigger. He screamed in horror when a pale hand came out of each to reach for him. He turned to run but his pant leg caught on the license plate, bringing him to the ground. He rolled over in a violent frenzy and crawled backwards on his hands and heels to escape the apparition that was after him. Looking up, whatever he had seen was gone. Scrambling to his feet, he raced to the door, climbed in, started the engine and spun his wheels halfway to the road. He had never been scared so badly in his life. He was trembling so violently, he could hardly keep the car on the road. He made it about a mile toward town when he thought he was going to be sick. He rolled down the window, then decided pulling over would be safer in his condition. Still shaking, he left the motor running and hurried around to the ditch to empty his stomach. When he finally finished he stood up and leaned against the fender. He felt the strange warmth start to spread over his body again; then feeling of being watched; following shortly after was the familiar electric motor sound with the tick. As recognition hit him like a brick, Dave didn't bother to wait for the hands to appear, he ran full out around the car. He had to get home for the sake of his family. What ever was haunting him was coming from his house. The familiar sound with the tick was one he heard every day of his life.
It was the distinct sound that only his refrigerator made.