Nancy Screw and the Coming of Age (18+) Chapter 21

Chapter 21

A Secluded Shed

Nancy found herself about thirty minutes later feeling stranded like the car. She kept along the road that seemed to come full-circle in the darkness that haunted it. Ghost Pines was kind of like that. There were many parts that seemed to disband and then rejoin at inconvenient places. It was not newcomer friendly in that manner. Even Nancy, who had grew up just outside of the community, had trouble navigating it in the off chance she found herself there. Still, she found herself following the road that lead into the heart, coming across no other cross street. But as she came up to the next turn in the road she stopped to catch her breath and to listen. Her ears grew more receptive to her surroundings as her breath reached a lazy pace. She could hear crickets in the distance, the croak of bullfrogs, and the sound of an owl’s hoot, manifesting a nervous calm. But Nancy liked all of nature’s orchestra. It took her back to childhood fishing and camping trips to Mt. Admiral. She breathed in the night air; it, too, was full of richness from the springtime blossoms. She smiled at these memories and continued on along the new stretch of road. Before long, Nancy found herself in a dense part of the woods that the little moonlight that had been let in all the while, couldn’t breach. And, as the road led into it, she found herself perplexed and almost hypnotized by a single light off in the distance. It looked like a house. Nancy advanced along the safety of the road in an effort to quickly close the gap. Within five minutes she found herself a few hundred feet from the source; a small wooden shed. And there, partially dignified by the light, was the elusive vehicle the three had been following. Nancy looked for a way to sneak up to the building in a safe and accommodating manner, but found none and was forced to trudge through the pitch black, save for a sliver of light to guide her to their location. Nancy braved it and took her chances. She moved slowly, doing her best to avoid snapping any brittle twigs or falling and maiming herself. Anything to stay conscious and quiet.

She got closer and closer still. Now she could hear the light tones of conversation inside. About sixty more feet to go. The conversing inside stopped and a window blinds opened, revealing a window Nancy hadn’t caught; a window right in front of her!

She jumped down and scrambled behind a nearby tree. She turned her head and saw a man’s face peering out of the window into the darkness right where Nancy was. From where she was she could hear Margaret. From this hiding place she was actually able to understand words.

“You’re being paranoid. There’s no one out there but the wind. And a few deer.”

The face in the window grimaced at its failure to disprove her assumption.

“Come on, we’re almost ready,” Margaret’s voice scolded him. “Stay focused.”

Out of the corner of Nancy’s eye she could see the face disappear and the blinds come back to their usual order. Nancy advanced once more. As she got closer she could hear a third voice from inside. It sounded like it wasn’t in cooperation with the other two. It sounded scared. And it definitely sounded like a man’s. Could that be, Nancy thought. Could that be Charles Turner? Just then her thoughts were shattered by the sound of something frightful. She heard what sounded like a drill start up. Its high whine sent nerve-racking chills that crawled up and down Nancy. Then came the screaming and pleading. And as suddenly as it had started, it stopped as though it never happened.

Is he dead? Did they kill him!?

“Please, please, I can’t do it. You understand, right? It’s not right,” a man’s voice inside pleaded.

He’s alive. He’s still alive!

Then another cut it off. This one, too, sent chills all through Nancy. Not because it was crying out for help, but because she had recognized it. It was the same voice that Nancy heard that night when she was trapped inside that closet within the guest bedroom of Margaret Turner’s house.

“You wanna walk out of here? You sign these papers!”

“Paul, I—.” Nancy heard a sickening slapping of flesh and a loud thud. The man inside moaned. The other snapped back.

“I told you never to call me that. You don’t speak my name, you dumb bastard!”

“Honey, grab me the drill.”

Nancy’s eyes grew wide with fright. She had to do something. Her mind raced. Could she risk getting caught by those two again? This time, they had power tools and were looking for a reason to use them. Practice made perfect. She had to do something, anything; a diversion, a distraction, a way to buy that poor man inside some time. Precious seconds were ticking and there were little more to spare. Nancy ran up along the shed’s perimeter, much like she had Margaret’s house, and turned the corner where the front entrance stood. She pounded loudly on the door and shot back to her spot on the woods.

“What was that!?” An irate voice accompanied the stomping of feet and the scraping of wood and metal latches. The front entrance door flung open and slapped carelessly against a supportive wall. From behind the tree, Nancy could see Margaret scanning the woods with those alluring, hypnotic eyes. Nancy froze against the tree. She could hear heavy footstep breaking into the line of twigs and foliage. She could see the beam of light from the flashlight Paul held in his bloodstained hands. The beam of light cut a path that involved walking right past the tree that concealed her. Nancy couldn’t move. She knew she would have to leave it up to fate or something better to make it out of this one. Make a run for it? She dare not. They had a car and maybe even guns. Who knew what these two were capable of. She closed her eyes and clenched her teeth.

“Shit, get back inside,” Paul’s voice whispered harshly.

“What are they doing so far out here?” Margaret’s voice grew distant as she, too, disappeared inside. Nancy could hear the pleading of the incarcerated man once more and then his words were muffled. He sounded like he was suffocating. When Nancy heard the door to the shed close, she opened her eyes and understood what had spooked the two so. Once her judgment, it was now her salvation Nancy saw beyond the distant tree lines, as the lights of the police car burned through the night in extraterrestrial waves. The lights went out in the building behind her and, from her hiding place, she saw Margaret and Paul race out to their car. From inside, Nancy could hear them argue briefly as they took off about who had knocked on the door. The other seemed to ignore the question altogether and address the issue at hand. Why had the police shown up? Nancy crept around the house hidden from the road before the two could pass by. It was by this stroke of luck that she was allotted even more time for the rescue. The two shouldn’t be back tonight, but Nancy couldn’t take that bet. She had to work fast. She assumed, however, that the police car came to the secluded community of Ghost Pines for only one purpose; to respond to the call Beth had made regarding her car.