The Driver

Rachel was resisting the urge to tell Dennis, 'I told you so,' as he was currently kicking at the flat tire on their Honda Civic. Rachel had her arms crossed across her chest, her coat pulled tighter around her. They were in the middle of nowhere, with nothing in sight. They were on an empty road, with only fields of land, stuck in the cold that could have been much worse if snow had been involved. Dennis eventually stopped kicking the useless tire, and turned away, avoiding looking in Rachel's direction.

"Are you going to say anything?," he asked.

"I was thinking of it, but it won't miraculously fix the tire, so…no."

Dennis threw his hands in the air.

"I'm sorry, alright. I thought…"

"I wanted the tires to get checked. I told you that the tire looked lower than usual, and you didn't take it seriously. You promised you were going to take care of it before we went to visit my mother."

Dennis massaged his temple.

"I forgot. Alright? That's why I didn't -''

"You didn't forget, Dennis. You have always seen yourself as a 'know it all,' and you decided to ignore me. Typical."

"You're right. And I'm sorry, Rach. I should have listened to you."

Rachel and Dennis were quiet for a couple of seconds, and on instinct, they reached for each other's hands. Despite the multiple arguments between them, they were good for each other. Their friends and family couldn't believe they had been together for almost a year, but their relationship runs purely on honesty, proving that a relationship will indeed survive if a couple is always open with one another.

"I love you," they said in unison.

The couple shared a brief smile, before they got to work on what to do about their situation.

"We don't have any phone signal, do we?"

Rachel took out her phone, checking again for any bar signal.

"Nope."

"Shit."

"So…what does that leave us with?"

"Maybe we should hitchhike."

"Den…you know how I feel about that."

"Not every single driver is dangerous, babe."

"I know that, but what if we end up with one?"

"The chances of ending up with a possible serial killer is pretty low."

"I'm sure that's what every single victim in True Crime told themselves before they got in with a stranger."

Dennis started to walk away from the vehicle, looking for any sign of cars on the road.

"You really need to stop watching that crap, Rach."

"As messed up as this sounds, True Crime can be beneficial to other potential victims. You remember that one where this woman's car broke down, and she was stuck with her baby boy in the backseat? Some random stranger offered her a ride, and she was tortured by this man, while her baby boy was left in the backseat during the whole thing. It was so fucked up."

"Yeah, I remember. Thank God she made it out with her kid. But that won't happen to us."

Rachel put her hand on her hips, watching Dennis act like a dumbass searching for a car.

"And how do you know that?"

"I just do."

Rachel couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face when Dennis turned back around to wink. She took out her phone again to search for any sign of life, and then she heard Dennis yell in her direction.

"Babe! There is a car coming!"

Two headlights were moving straight toward them. Rachel put her phone back in her pocket, feeling dread creep into her chest. Dennis waved the car down. It pulled over, a couple of feet behind their own car. Dennis walked over to the window, as it was rolling down. Rachel gasped when she noticed it was a man. Just a man, from the looks of it. She tried desperately to send some kind of signal to Dennis, even a psychic signal for the hell of it, but he was already preoccupied talking to the stranger.

"Sorry to bother you sir, but we really need help. Our car has a flat, and we have no spare. Could you take us back to wherever you came from, so we could call someone for help? We're visiting my girlfriend's mother right now, and I'm sure she is wondering why we are taking so long to get to town."

"Oh, shit. Hop in the backseat. I can take you both to town. I'm heading home for the day, but I'm sure my wife will understand why I'm taking to take a while to head on home. It will make for an interesting story for the day. She digs those kind of stories."

"Great! Thank you so much!"

Dennis walked over to Rachel, taking hold of her hands.

"Come on. I promise you, we are going to be alright."

"I don't want to go with him."

"Babe, please. What, do you want to wait for someone with a whole ass family in the backseat?," Dennis whispered.

"I've also heard stories where the whole family is dangerous too."

Dennis let out a frustrated sound from his lips.

"Babe, I promise you, we are going to be alright. Please. Let's get going. Your mom is probably freaking out right now."

Rachel bowed her head, her eyes studying the man from the window. He looked harmless, but that's what most of the crazies looked like. Rachel gave a small nod, and she let Dennis pull her toward the car. She could feel her body tense up as they both crawled into the backseat of the car. The vehicle had the smell of a place she did not belong, and this realization made her even more nervous. Dennis took hold of her hand, giving it a light squeeze. Rachel closed her eyes, as the driver turned the car around, heading back to town.

Dennis and the stranger started to make small talk. Rachel ignored both of them, and felt a bit of anger as Dennis started to share personal stories of theirs with the man. To be fair, he was getting personal about his wife, but that didn't mean to share their own relationship with a stranger. Dennis was always the most extroverted one among the two of them, but sometimes Rachel felt that he liked to share a bit too much.

There was one time where the two of them had gone to a party that was hosted by two assholes that Rachel wasn't fond of. She only tagged along, since this party was taking place in her boyfriend's workplace, and she tried her best to pretend she was enjoying herself. Dennis' boss was a total prick, and his wife gave off rich snobby vibes. Dennis had made the mistake of sharing a personal thing between them. It was supposed to be a joke, but it really pissed off Rachel afterwards.

The party was serving hot dogs, and Dennis told these strangers about a time when Rachel had once eaten about five hot dogs, and it had led to a diarrhea episode. Rachel got so embarrassed and outraged over this, and she refrained from speaking to Dennis for the rest of the night. He did make it up to her with a simple apology, and they spent the rest of the night making fun of his boss and wife, including the hot dogs, that shockingly tasted pretty cheap.

They weren't a perfect couple, but they truly did love each other.

Rachel caressed Dennis' hand, he looked at her for a quick second, and she felt a small bit of pride when she noticed the affection in his eyes.

"You really love each other, huh?," the man asked.

Dennis nodded.

"Yeah. We do."

The man chuckled.

"My wife and I do too. We never got to have kids, but at least we have each other."

"She's lucky to have a good man like you," Dennis replied.

"Indeed."

The man started to pull the car over again.

"What are you doing?," Rachel asked.

"I'm sorry, I'm getting the urge to take a leak."

The man pulled the car to a stop, and then he turned around to point a gun at Dennis.

Dennis and Rachel both put their hands up at once.

"What the fuck?," Dennis shouted.

"I had her on my lap, but I hid the gun before I found you two."

"Her?," Rachel asked meekly.

"My wife."

Dennis barked out a nervous laugh.

"You fucking piece of shit."

The man smirked.

"Be careful with your next words, sir. Now, here is what is going to happen. You're going to tie up your girl here, and I'm going to tie you up. Then I'm going to spend a couple of hours alone with your girlfriend. Then once I'm finished, you both can go home."

Rachel and Dennis looked at each other. The man could not read their expressions. They were both now eerily calm, even though the two of them had been showing signs of panic beforehand. It was unlike anything he had ever seen before with his other victims.

Before the man could reply or pull out the wires for the man to tie his girlfriend with, the boyfriend leaned over and took a bite out of the gun. The man yelled, and dropped what was left of his weapon in the car. The boyfriend thoughtfully chewed on the gun, his teeth making a clinking sound against the parts. The woman looked amused, as she watched her boyfriend finish chewing. The man opened the car door and made a run for it.

Then he felt himself fly in the air. It was like something had kicked at his legs, and he fell on the road, crying out when one of his legs landed wrong. Tears were in his eyes, as he looked down at what was left of his leg. It was broken, bending backwards. The boyfriend was standing right by him, his head tilted to the side. His girl was next to him, a big smile on her face.

"I told you he was dangerous," the woman said.

"I'm sorry, babe. I guess those True Crime shows are educational."

"It's alright, Den. What should we do about this one?"

The boyfriend leaned over to the man, who was now acting like a blubbering mess. He was putting his hands together, begging for mercy. The couple both smiled at each other, and they charged at the man. Their mouths were wide open, exposing very sharp teeth. Bits of the gun were still in Dennis' mouth, but that didn't matter. He was going to have a much better meal, and that bitter taste would be covered up by the human meat.

Luckily no other cars ever passed by, so they were able to enjoy their meal in peace. The man stopped screaming after a couple of seconds had passed. They had gone for his face first to bite off his entire face, and Rachel was the one who got to bite off this part of him. Dennis allowed it, because he knew it would make her feel better. It was his form of an apology, and that was why they worked so well together.

After they were done, the two of them were covered in blood. Rachel brushed a hand through her hair, grimacing at the mess. She pulled out a piece of skin, and she popped it into her mouth.

"Mmm. So tasty."

"You're still hungry, Rach?,"

"This will hold me up until we get to my mom's."

"She's going to be pissed when we tell her about the meal we already had."

"I'm sure she will understand. And by the time we clean ourselves up, we can eat."

"I don't like having my meal cold."

"That didn't stop you before."

Dennis touched his stomach, letting out a burp. Bits of skin were stuck in his teeth, and he used his tongue to slurp up the pieces.

"Yeah. You're right. When was the last time I ate a cold meal?"

"I think that was literally last week. Remember that bitch we killed? We left her body in the house for a bit, because we didn't have time to clean up."

"Oh. Yeah. Cold can be good sometimes."

Rachel leaned over to kiss Dennis on the lips, not before using her tongue to dab at the blood on his face. Dennis smiled, doing the same to her.

"I love you, Rach."

"I love you, too."

The couple laughed, held hands, and made their way to the man's car. They took off down the road in the opposite direction, to dispose of the car, and to hopefully find a way to get themselves cleaned up before dinner. Rachel's mother was going to be disappointed they already ate, but she would be relieved once they ate her meal.

She always chose the best meat.

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn