The Last Turn On The Right

The wind outside was beating a branch against the window, and the night was cold, but not as cold as the fear that gripped me inside when I first met a demon, and I will never know a cold like that again, if I am lucky.

It was early October, and I had been invited by my boyfriend, Ed, to come and spend the weekend in the lodge he was managing in the mountains. It was a small lodge, and he said we would have privacy, so I agreed and packed for the trip. The air was crisp and cool in the mountains, and the landscape was a carpet of yellow, orange, red, and dark green, marking the start of fall.

The road began to narrow as I approached the small town where the lodge was located, and the town seemed practically deserted. It was a resort area, so it made sense that nobody was around in October, and that all the businesses had closed for the year. I never gave it a second thought.

Once I reached the lodge I was glad to get off the road, especially with night coming on and the air getting very cold. Ed had a nice fire blazing in the fireplace, and the living room was aglow with soft, white light. I could smell the fragrance of dinner cooking in the kitchen, and thought to myself about what a great guy I had in my life, and how maybe I should get a little more serious about him. Just as I was thinking that, he came around the corner with a glass of red wine for me, and a tray of cheese and crackers to tide me over until dinner was ready. We talked about how great it was to be away from the city. Before long, dinner was over and I was yawning, so he showed me to my own room downstairs, the room I think was his, and said he would be sleeping in the living room so he could stoke the fire all night, since it was the only source of heat in the lodge.

I got ready for bed, washed my face and settled in for the night. I was almost asleep, when I suddenly saw the image of a man, an evil man who was grimacing at me. I blinked and opened my eyes, suddenly not very tired, and there was nothing in the room except the dresser, bed, and the curtains blowing lightly in the night breeze that was coming from the open window. Then it happened, I could hear a noise that sounded like a body being dragged slowly across the floor, right at the foot of my bed, and I could hear evil laughter. I was paralyzed with fear. The air became very cold, and I could see my breath in the darkness that surrounded me. It felt as though icy hands were touching my skin, and I became so frightened I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and I couldn't even scream. My body was incapable of moving, though I wasn't sleeping, and I began to see an image in front of me take form, but the image wasn't a friendly one, it was a dark figure wearing a hood and a long robe of some sort, and it stared at me with eyes that appeared to be blood red.

I had heard tales of demons, but I did not believe they existed in this world, until now. The evil undead, who have never been in human form, but walk around among the living in areas where bad things have taken place, or bad people reside.

The figure slowly lowered his head, and I heard the clock in the living room chime three times, so I knew it was three in the morning. I began to pray that Ed would wake up and check on me, but there was no activity from the living room, or the world of the living. I risked a glance out of the side of my eye, but the dark figure had disappeared, as had the dragging noises at the foot of the bed. Once I was able to move, and my heart had resumed a normal pace, I reached over and switched on the lamp, and then hurried to get dressed. One thing I knew, I was not staying in that room one more minute than I had to.

I walked over to the door and slowly opened it, trying not to wake Ed, but he was nowhere in sight. I called out for him, but no answer, and then I realized the basement door was open. Grabbing a flashlight, I pointed it down the basement stairs, and at the foot of the stairs was Ed, dressed in black with white face paint on and symbols painted across his forehead and cheeks. I gasped, dropped the flashlight, grabbed my purse that was on the table, and ran for the front door, but when I got there it was stuck, and I could hear Ed slowly dragging his feet up the basement stairs. My hands were sweating and I was screaming at the top of my lungs, and gave the door a last jerk when the handle came out in my hand. I could feel the atmosphere changing, getting colder again, when I was able to shove the door out and run to my car.

I don't believe I have ever driven that fast on an icy road, and I slid horribly as I raced through the abandoned and deserted town, a town that indeed was nothing more than a ghost town for the living dead.