Highway Part 16

Highway Chapter 12(continued)

Running again, the walls blur past me. The cheery smiley faces are no longer cute, for now they only seem macabre. The man is there, his dark hair matching his aura of black despair. I am frozen in horror, surveying the scene before me. Her body is limp and broken, lying on the floor. Blood is pooling out from around her, staining her white dress and leaving it maroon and tainted. I feel confused, for I know not who she is, but only that she had been important. I hear my own scream again, and watch in fear as the man rises from his crouch. He stands there in front of the woman, head down, still looking at her. Beside him is a sharp knife, and the light streaming in from the windows gleams against the silvery surface, catching the crimson drops as they fall from the tip. The air is sharp, the metallic smell of the woman’s blood, sickeningly sweet,  filling the air. I can’t see her, for her face is turned away. All I can see is her hair, once a beautiful copper, now tainted with the very same vermillion that is on the weapon. My legs shake, and suddenly they give in. the man seems to notice my presence for the first time and takes a step towards me, over her body. As he looked up from the ground, I saw his expression. His face was twisted with a wicked smile.

I jumped up in my bed, smacking the headboard. Cursing quietly in pain, I looked around in fear. The remnants of the nightmare clung to me like a parasite, turning every dark shadow in the room into a fearsome monster. In a moment of paralyzing panic, I thought I saw that smile in the darkness, but then it was over.  The darkness returned to normal, shadows were only shadows. The light from the moon filtered in, cascading into my room like a stream.

My hair was damp, for I had obviously sweated a large amount. I was still shaking, as if a shiver had overcome my body. Goosebumps rose up on my arms and legs, and I could feel how tense I was. . Why was I having these dreams? What were they about? They always had that terrible man in them, and now the woman. But she had been alive in the last one, and she had been hurt, if not dead in this one. Something about the dreams felt entirely wrong down to my very soul, and they scared me bad each time I had them it seemed. These were not like the nightmares I had as a child, ones of monsters or evil villains. These dreams were dark and painful, and remained for a long time, as if they had a message to tell me. 

Drawing in several shaky breaths, I attempted to calm myself by singing a lullaby softly. I didn’t want Matt to wake up in the next room, but I couldn’t sit here like this anymore. I had sung this lullaby since I was very little. I couldn’t remember who had taught it to me, but I had a feeling it had been someone very close to me. As I softly trilled the lullaby, I saw the octopus I had been given next to my pillow. Seeing its goofy smile gave me a bit of relief, and I drew it close it me, tucking it under my chin. I swayed softly as I continued to sing, feeling better with each moment. It was a soothing song,  despite perhaps being a bit haunting. I had known it as long as I could remember, and I could never forget the words. Something about it always calmed me down, even when I had been sad as a child. It was like magic.

Looking at my watch, it read 4:30. Matt would probably wake me around 6 or 6:30, I thought. Settling in with a hope of sleep, I soon realized that my efforts were futile. And so, with nothing better to do that didn’t make noise, I counted how many dots were on the popcorn ceiling. I lost count once, and had to start again. There were 1,536 bumps, stretching from one end to the other.

The day was starting to come to life outside, the sky becoming lighter and lighter until it was a pale blue. I was exhausted, from yesterday and now today, and felt my eyes finally becoming heavy. Of course, this was when Matt decided to knock on my door. I didn’t respond at once, for I was fatigued and did not want to get out of bed to answer him.

“Veronica?” he called, “Are you awake?”

I attempted a groan, and he seemed to hear me through the wall.

“Let’s not have a repeat of yesterday, okay? I don’t want our mornings to be like that.”

It was a reasonable approach, and I knew I would face consequences if I didn’t  wake up. Dragging my weary, bone-tired body out of bed, I went to answer the door.

“What?” I asked sleepily, the heaviness still in my eyes. The light coming from his room blinded me momentarily, but my vision adjusted. Matt regarded me for a moment, and I could only imagine what I looked like.

“It’s about time we started to get ready,” he answered softly, “is that okay?”

He was expecting a fight, I knew, but I was too tired to give him more than a mumble. I went to my sink, splashing my face with the crystal cold water, trying to wake myself up. Resolving to stay away from scary movies and sugar, I hoped I would sleep better tonight because I was so tired. I refused to believe these dreams were of importance, for I didn’t have any connection to things like that. I thought it merely to be some unfortunate circumstances. I had always had nightmares after watching scary movies.

I got dressed, putting on a pair of black shorts and a white, breathable t-shirt. Gathering my stuff, including the newly added octopus, I checked to see if I had everything and turned to leave. Matt was waiting for me, seemingly confused by the absolute lack of protest I was raising.

“Are we going?” I asked,  a bit of my attitude seeping back into my voice.

Relieved I had at least greeted him rudely, he nodded. We trekked out of the hotel, and departed on the road

“Where are we going?” I asked Matt, who was studying a map intently as we walked.

“We are head to a town called Smithington,” He replied.

Expecting the question that came next, he said, “It’s just a quick stop. I need to get a new map of the area. Then we will head to the bigger city Thicksville. There is someone there who I want you to meet, an old friend of mine. He is a drifter as well, but he has taken to staying mostly in the city. I think he has lost it, but he lives a mile out of the city and walks there every day. He likes to tell stories to the kids in the city, and the locals can’t do much about it.”

He sounds kind of like me, I thought to myself. When I voiced the thought to Matt, he smiled.

“I could agree with that, he’s just as crazy.” He said, giving me a snicker.

I pushed him, simply saying, “You sir, are a jerk.”

He only laughed. We traveled along the side of the highway, speaking little snippets of conversation along the way. Matt didn’t seem to be the kind of guy who talked a lot, but he would always answer my questions and carry on conversations we had engaged in. All I had to do was start the conversation. The road was an interesting place, so I never ran out of material. What was that hawk doing? Were those prairie dogs scared of us? Did owls really lick lollipops? He smiled at that one, before saying he hadn’t ever seen one doing it, but couldn’t be sure.

For being as wise as he seemed to be, and achieving this “inner peace,” he still was a kid at heart, always joining me in reciting jokes and puns. It made him even more endearing. Something about him was unlike anybody I had ever met before, and it wasn’t just that he knew about what I was feeling. He seemed to always know if a joke was a bad idea, or if I was mad how to make me forgive him. It was alien to me, and I dismissed it as just being thankful I had met someone who wasn’t unkind.

Still, he was the first person I thought I could call a “friend.” My feet had ceased to scream at me when I walked, but there was still a dull ache that occurred.  When we stopped to fill up our water from a nearby stream, I dropped onto my knees and sat down, resting them.

Matt glanced at me for a moment, but understood I was resting, and took an unusually long time to look at his map. I got up after a few minutes, wanting to rest more but understanding we needed to head out. 

We reached the small town, and I browsed the shelves of a nearby store while Matt talked to a heavyset man with a  mustache about the map. Hoping to find a gift for Matt to act as a return gift for my octopus, I was disappointed as I came up empty handed. I returned to where he was, still talking to the man.  He seemed to be giving Matt a hard time, and I came to understand that the thing that made me like Matt, made others bother him. This would have made me mad had I been Matt, but he wasn’t at all. His voice remained polite and breezy, and his stance was open and friendly. I supposed this was how he got around all the time, and I resolved to get him to teach me how to do it. Although I thought that the people who rejected us deserved getting yelled at, I also thought it would be good to get what I wanted without threats. If I was to do what Matt did, I would have to be friendly with locals.

Finally getting help from the man, we headed out of the town. It was soothing to the soul, walking beside this man and listening to the birds call each other. The sounds of streams and animals filled my ears. A Tumbleweed rolled by, crunching as it hit the ground, and then leaping confidently again like it owned the place.

“Hey, Matt,” I called.

He turned elegantly, walking backwards so he could see me.

“’Sup?” he said, nodding to me.

“How can you talk to those people so calmly? They purposely bother you.”

He appeared thoughtful before saying, “I just do. When I first drifted, I was rude to everyone all the time. But then I figured out pretty quickly this wouldn’t get me anywhere, and so I changed tactics. You have to maintain a voice that is casual, and non-threatening. Make them feel like you aren’t going to ‘bother’ them, and so stay as polite as possible. Obviously, if they’re really rude, you can say something to discourage that, but most of the time it’s just best to take a little bit of disgrace to get what you need. People like to feel they have the power.”

I tried to create the tone he used, asking him if it worked. He had to work with me on it for a little while, but after a time I could recreate the voice to use in situations. We walked an obscene amount of miles, the sun beating down on us, and I began to get irritable.

“Matt, we have been walking  forever. Can’t we take a break?”

I was sweaty, I was hot, my calves hurt, and I was just plain tired.