Next in line

"I told you before: I don't know what you want from me, but please, leave my family alone."

"Believe me, Barbara, I don't want to do anything to your family." The man said in a stern voice.

"How do you know my name?" Barbara asked frantically.

"I heard you on the phone a few minutes ago. Now get in the car."

"----. ----. Wait, why can't I scream? Why the hell can't I scream for help?"

"I honestly don't know. I wish I knew but, it didn't do me any good. Every attempt to scream and it was like I couldn't do it." He motioned to the car with the hand the gun was in and she got into the driver's seat while he slid into the backseat. "I've been kicked in the nuts by a mugger and I screamed so loud my dead mother heard me. But the time when I needed to the most and - nothing. Nothing."

He sat silently. Barbara started the car and drove. She didn't know where they were heading, but she knew they were going in the opposite direction her family was in and she was content knowing that.

The man was still in the backseat, sitting silently. The gun in his hand was hidden from view of any passing cars, but still trained on Barbara. Every so often she would try to scream, but nothing came out. She didn't stop trying to think of a way out. She did, however, try to buy herself some time.

"What happened to you?"

"What?" Barbara caught him off guard.

"I asked what happened to you. Earlier you said that you tried screaming but it didn't work. Did something like ... this happen to you, too?" She looked at him in the rearview mirror.

He just sat there. He turned his head and stared out the window at the setting sun.

"Yes. Something similar to this. I was walking to my car in the parking garage after work when someone snuck up behind me. It was a woman. She told me to get in the car and drive. I tried to scream, but nothing came out. She told me she tried that too but it didn't work out.

Along the way she gave me directions to turn onto a lone road. Then she told me to pull over and step out. We did and then she told me to get on my knees with my hands on my head. I did and I asked that she not hurt my family. She said she has no intentions of hurting them.

I asked her why was she doing this to me, why me. She started to tell me all she knew. She told me that her name wasn't important because she wasn't going to need it much longer. Her family was safe and that was all that she cared about. Someone else put her in this position just as she would put me in this position now. She said that some kind of ... evil force made someone start an endless vicious cycle that sent us and all those before us down this path that we will continue to walk until the end of time.

I told her that I didn't buy it. She continued on saying that others thought the same thing and they didn't listen. Great tragedies befell the people that did not do as the evil force commanded them. She said that it was kill or be killed. The evil force wants death. Death by any means neccessary. You can't talk to it but it will talk to you if you need a little more "encouragement" to follow it's orders.

What she was saying was horrible, but I still didn't believe her. She said, "I'm going to count to 3 and you either take the gun from me and kill me, or you will be dead." Then she started counting and I had to decide. I'm not proud of my decision. I never was one for making the hard choices.

I grabbed the gun and shot her in the chest. She fell backwards. She clutched her chest and thanked me for ending her part in this cycle. Then she died. I dropped the gun, got in the car, and drove back home."

"So what happened next?" Barbara asked.

"Pull over here and I'll tell you." The man replied. Barbara pulled over.

"I went home and I was traumatized. My family was safe but now they were living with a murderer. How could I live like that? The next day nothing happened. Same for the following day. On the third day, I was driving home when I was stopped at a red light. I noticed the people on the street. One person caught my eye and then I heard it. I heard the evil force's voice say, "Kill that one."

I said no outloud. When the light turned green, I drove off. Before I went to sleep, I heard the voice again. It told me to kill that person or a great tragedy will happen. I said no outloud again. The force didn't bother me the rest of that night. That was the night when sleep became a thing of the past for me.

I had horrible nightmares. Stuff that no one should see. When I woke up the tv was turned on to one of the news stations. They were talking about what happened downtown."

"Wait. They were talking about the thing that happenes downtown a few days ago?"

"Yes, Barbara. The voice came back and said, "This is what happens when you disobey me. The next time you do not do as I say, your family will be a small part of the next one." I couldn't believe it. I still kinda don't. But I couldn't let my family suffer the consequences of my inactions. That's when I got dressed and I left. I couldn't think of what to tell them so I left without saying a word.

I've been on the move since that day. I fell asleep yesterday and the nightmares were back except worse. Earlier today I saw you. The voice told me to kill you. I've been following you since. Get out of the car now." Barbara slowly got out of the car and he did too.

"Get down on your knees, hands behind your head."

"Look, you don't have to do this. Maybe that woman drugged you. Maybe you been on a bad trip for days now." Barbara pleaded.

"You wanna know what halpened to her body after I killed her? I saw it when I turned the car around. It faded away. It turned to dust and blew away. The gun too. That doesn't happen every day, Barbara. How do you explain that?" He pointed the gun at her head.

"That further proves my point. It wasn't real. It never was real."

"Ask me something that I would have absolutely no way of knowing and the voice will tell me the answer. Go on and ask me." He held the gun to the side for the time being.

Barbara thought for a moment.

"Fine. What did I do when my dog, Zak, died?" Barbara was confident he would not know the answer. The man closed his eyes for a few seconds and then opened them.

"His name wasn't Zak, it was Mark. He died because he was old. You grabbed your stuffed penguin, Mr. Chuckles, and you asked him if he could ever die of old age and you pretended that he was talking to you and said only if you ever thought that was possible then he could die of old age. Then he asked if the two of you could have milkshakes and dip fries in it."

Barbara was speechless. She couldn't believe he knew. She never told anyone that before. She started thinking that maybe this evil force was real.

"Even if the evil force told you that, there is still no way I'd be part of this ... vicious cyle." Barbara struggled to say.

"That's just it Barbara, you're already apart of it." He pointed the gun at her again. "But I don't think it's a cycle. I think it's more like a chain. A chain that someone could one day break, and then everyone would be free.

Maybe not the ones that were already claimed, but the ones the chain wants to have next. Maybe it's you, maybe it's the one after you, or maybe even one decades from now, but I hope it will be someone. Someone has to break the chain. Someone will find a way. We have to have hope. Without it, everyone the evil force has lined up to be apart of this is doomed."

"Your right." Barbara stood up and put her hands down at her sides. "Maybe someone will break the chain." She readied herself.

"Don't worry, Barbara. I'll make sure to give you a 5-star rating."

The man got ready to pull the trigger when Barbara took the gun away from him. She turned the gun and shot him. He clutched his chest and fell backwards.

"Thank you. Thank you for releasing me from this hell."

"You're gonna straight back to hell now, you delusional asshole!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "I will not be part of your bad trip! I am not apart of some deadly chain. You're gonna die without the satisfaction of me believing a word you said." She dropped the gun.

"No. No! Don't make the same mistake I did. Don't let innocent people die! Your family! Think of your family!" He held out his hand but it quickly dropped. His head turned to the side. Barbara got back into the car.

"Drive." A voice told her.