Dying to meet you...
In the darkness they rode for what seemed like an hour. Sally had slid over next to Dan and he could feel her trembling against his side. Oddly, he was calm as he recalled some of the dreams from before. He also felt a shiver race up his spine as he remembered the bizarre note that Megan had given him days earlier.
“I knew you then, I know you now,
I watched you then, I watch you now…
What was whole is split, what was split did die,
But you never left and so I cry…
The rose will bloom when spring doth come,
The rose will die, in winter’s sun.
What was will be and what could not, will…
I loved you then…I love you still”
It was the I love you still that troubled him most but he wasn’t sure why. Perhaps the unknown was what made it troubling? The fact that Megan had no reason to love him anymore – his connection with her was long dead. Then the gnawing, nagging reason slowly crept into his understanding… perhaps she intended to hurt Sally.
Megan followed closely behind the caravan in ANNIL8R. Directly ahead of her was the GNX driven by Zane. She giggled as she thought about the terror she could hear in Sally’s quivering voice just before she slapped the tape over her mouth. She could see the beads of sweat on her forehead, glistening in the dome light’s harsh illumination. She liked the idea of having bound Dan’s and Sally’s wrists with the same tape… tape that cost so little but worth so much at times like this. Tape that would be used to create memories – or, to erase others.
This would be a night she would make sure that Dan would never forget – even though he would want to - for the rest of his life…
Zane enjoyed the feel of the Buick in his control. The car was one he had secretly envied for years and to have the steering wheel in his hands was almost too good to be true. So what did it matter if it wasn’t his car? If it all went as Megan said, it would be his – just for the asking.
He watched the brake lights of the Suburban come on and followed it as it turned into an old abandoned airstrip, just off of Miller Road. They were way out in the country now, in an area surrounded mostly by farms that were covered with orange groves. The pavement of the access road was wet with dew and he could see the tracks from the GMC in front of him.
The caravan continued coursing its way back to what was the old parking area/control tower section of the former airport. All the buildings save one were long since rotted away, the fairly new hanger-like structure was a stark contrast to the pieces of foundation and block strewn about the concreted area, interspersed with weeds that were now dead.
As they neared the large silver building, the driver in the GMC hit a door opener and the huge sliding doors pulled apart as the entryway lights came on. Inside, it was dark but the headlights from the vehicles seemed to dance off of several shiny forms of metal and polished wheels. Zane, who had never been in the building but had heard Megan speak of it once, was shocked to see the outlines and shadows of what looked to be several performance cars of all makes and genres. Nearest the door was a what had to be new Porsche 911 TT AWD sitting beside what appeared to be a ’71 GTO Judge in Orbit Orange. Beyond that he couldn’t tell other than to see the outline of what might be a ’67 or ’68 Shelby. To the left of the door he saw another Marauder with no plates but what looked to be an identical car to the one Megan was in behind him. Next to the black Merc sat a late model Cobra Mustang as well as a Subaru WRX STI. He could also see the grille of what looked like a Viper of some vintage but he couldn’t see it well enough to tell what it was exactly. Either way, he knew he was now near what Megan had jokingly referred to as “Motor head Heaven”.
The GMC pulled up and stopped just outside the doors of the building with Zane to its right and Megan directly behind the large SUV. As she stepped from the car, she could smell the diesel’s exhaust and rotting oranges in the night and felt her face sting from the cold wind now whipping the leaves across the macadam. She pulled her parka up close and could feel the weight of the Sig in the right pocket, comforted by the thought of its part in her plan.
The driver and front seat passenger got out of the Suburban and each opened a door. The driver pulled Sally out to his side; the passenger pulled Dan out to his. Both of them were cold, having not gotten used to the fall weather now upon the area. Dan struggled to see beneath the crack in his blindfold but all he could see was the ground and some shadows upon it. Then, he heard Sally being shuffled ahead of the truck and he was pushed in the back to move forward with someone holding his left arm for balance. He could tell they were now very close to a building because the warmth of its interior hit his face like Florida sunshine. He could hear huge fans moving heated and dried air toward and around him. The **Click** of several switches (lights?) could be heard and then he realized that yes, lights were coming on because he could barely make out a dim glow from beneath the blindfold. Some sort of electrically operated doors were now humming closed it seemed behind him and then latches were heard being actuated.
Abruptly, someone was behind him roughly removing the blindfold and suddenly the brilliant light from within the building assaulted his eyes. His wrists ached from being pulled so close together and he looked frantically for Sally, seeing her over to the other side of what now struck him as some sort of storage building loaded with very fast cars. Some people he had seen at the track were inside, and Megan was standing with her back to him watching some seedy character remove Sally’s blindfold.
As soon as it was off, Sally’s eyes locked with Dan’s and they both felt better because of it. Almost simultaneously, two of Megan’s accomplices pulled the tape from their faces. Both winced as they felt the sticky material trying to remove the first layer of skin. The guy behind Sally pushed her towards Dan and on past Megan. Megan turned only after she whispered something to the guy nearest her who then exited the building through a solid steel door. She turned to face her hapless victims but stood silent for a brief moment, just looking from Dan’s face to Sally’s and then back. An odd grin was on her lips and her eyes were dark and spooky.
“Come on Megan – it’s time to end this little charade of yours.” Dan was never one to hold back.
She only smiled as she approached him.
“I’ll give you that, Danny boy… you always wanted to tell me what to do. But things are a little different now, aren’t they? Hmmm?”
She circled Dan slowly, her hand upon his shoulder then near his neck. She touched the skin lightly as she stepped behind him and then on around, her eyes looking at Sally all the while. Then, as she neared Dan’s shoulder, she scratched his neck hard with her nails, which made Dan jerk away.
“Aw… c’mon Dan. I’m just playing… did I hurt you?” she teased.
Dan saw her hand in her right pocket now and then it came out with a pistol in her grip. He didn’t speak but he heard Sally gasp. They both felt their fears rise in their throats, as they knew they were not likely to be able to talk Megan into doing the right thing.
As Megan stood in front of Dan she paused – then, she brought her right knee up sharply into his groin and the lights blinked in his eyes as the pain surged through him. He didn’t fall but he wanted to throw up so badly that he could taste the bile. He stooped slightly at the shoulder as two guys grabbed his arms to keep him from either falling or lunging towards Megan. He could hear their chuckles and he hated them for doing so.
Megan laughed as she spoke.
“Did that hurt a little teensy, weensy bit Danny? I hope it did – because you deserve everything that is going to befall you tonight. You see, I brought you out here for a reason… a very GOOD reason. I owe you something Dan and I want to give it to you. And you Sally…”
She turned on her heel to face Sally and stepped right in front of her.
“You, you little whiny, husband stealing bitch – oh, yeah, you… well, you’re going to get yours too. But that will be later. Actually, I’ve got a proposition for your husband that, depending upon his choice and how it works out, will either just kill you – or, it will kill you.”
She had the Sig now near Sally’s face, rubbing the cold blue steel against her left cheek.
“Does that feel good, Sally? Cold, hard steel feels so sexy, I think. Do you like it, Sally?”
Sally didn’t flinch. Her eyes never left Megan’s and now she was too mad to be frightened. They had to find a way out of the building, her and Dan. They needed to get away and see if they could still make their plan work. But how?
Megan turned back to Dan.
“Dan – look over your left shoulder.”
He turned and saw the cars with the Marauder catching his eye first.
“Am I supposed to be impressed with what must be your car collection, Megan?”
She smiled. “Well, the car you raced tonight was not the same car that raced you a while back on the street. THAT car over there is the car that left you sitting at the light. That is the car that has never been beaten. THAT is the car known affectionately as ”ANNIL8R”.”
“You see, Dan – you didn’t really win tonight; because you didn’t REALLY beat the best car. So that’s why I brought you here – for a ‘private’ race. With some very interesting stakes for you if you win and some very serious ones for you if you lose.”
Dan’s mind was whirling with concern. It was very obvious that Megan had lost touch with reality with the gunplay, the abductions, the threats and the attack just moments ago. His stomach still reeled with nausea as the pain in his groin throbbed horribly.
“Megan, I’ll say this one time. Let us go and I’ll see to it that you get the help you obvious-“
BAM!
She kneed him once more in the groin and now he fell hard to the ground, the pain blinding him and the tears soaking his face.
“SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!!! I don’t need ANY HELP!” she screamed at him as she leaned over him. Two thugs restrained Sally as she tried to go over to Dan’s crumpled body.
“Lift him up, Zane. Get him to his feet” she hissed.
Zane and another picked Dan up but he could barely stand. The pain was unbelievable and suddenly he lost the fight to keep it down. He bent forward and vomited hard, gagging at the bitter taste in his mouth as his stomach emptied itself.
Megan laughed.
“You better get to feeling better Danny. You’ve got a race to run. And trust me – you do NOT want to lose it. It will mean the world to Sally on how well you do.”
She laughed as she walked away.
“Get him cleaned up, Zane. They’re out taking the tarps off the strip now and prepping the race area. We’ll be ready in about 30 minutes. Then – it’s Showtime…”
To be continued
In the darkness they rode for what seemed like an hour. Sally had slid over next to Dan and he could feel her trembling against his side. Oddly, he was calm as he recalled some of the dreams from before. He also felt a shiver race up his spine as he remembered the bizarre note that Megan had given him days earlier.
“I knew you then, I know you now,
I watched you then, I watch you now…
What was whole is split, what was split did die,
But you never left and so I cry…
The rose will bloom when spring doth come,
The rose will die, in winter’s sun.
What was will be and what could not, will…
I loved you then…I love you still”
It was the I love you still that troubled him most but he wasn’t sure why. Perhaps the unknown was what made it troubling? The fact that Megan had no reason to love him anymore – his connection with her was long dead. Then the gnawing, nagging reason slowly crept into his understanding… perhaps she intended to hurt Sally.
Megan followed closely behind the caravan in ANNIL8R. Directly ahead of her was the GNX driven by Zane. She giggled as she thought about the terror she could hear in Sally’s quivering voice just before she slapped the tape over her mouth. She could see the beads of sweat on her forehead, glistening in the dome light’s harsh illumination. She liked the idea of having bound Dan’s and Sally’s wrists with the same tape… tape that cost so little but worth so much at times like this. Tape that would be used to create memories – or, to erase others.
This would be a night she would make sure that Dan would never forget – even though he would want to - for the rest of his life…
Zane enjoyed the feel of the Buick in his control. The car was one he had secretly envied for years and to have the steering wheel in his hands was almost too good to be true. So what did it matter if it wasn’t his car? If it all went as Megan said, it would be his – just for the asking.
He watched the brake lights of the Suburban come on and followed it as it turned into an old abandoned airstrip, just off of Miller Road. They were way out in the country now, in an area surrounded mostly by farms that were covered with orange groves. The pavement of the access road was wet with dew and he could see the tracks from the GMC in front of him.
The caravan continued coursing its way back to what was the old parking area/control tower section of the former airport. All the buildings save one were long since rotted away, the fairly new hanger-like structure was a stark contrast to the pieces of foundation and block strewn about the concreted area, interspersed with weeds that were now dead.
As they neared the large silver building, the driver in the GMC hit a door opener and the huge sliding doors pulled apart as the entryway lights came on. Inside, it was dark but the headlights from the vehicles seemed to dance off of several shiny forms of metal and polished wheels. Zane, who had never been in the building but had heard Megan speak of it once, was shocked to see the outlines and shadows of what looked to be several performance cars of all makes and genres. Nearest the door was a what had to be new Porsche 911 TT AWD sitting beside what appeared to be a ’71 GTO Judge in Orbit Orange. Beyond that he couldn’t tell other than to see the outline of what might be a ’67 or ’68 Shelby. To the left of the door he saw another Marauder with no plates but what looked to be an identical car to the one Megan was in behind him. Next to the black Merc sat a late model Cobra Mustang as well as a Subaru WRX STI. He could also see the grille of what looked like a Viper of some vintage but he couldn’t see it well enough to tell what it was exactly. Either way, he knew he was now near what Megan had jokingly referred to as “Motor head Heaven”.
The GMC pulled up and stopped just outside the doors of the building with Zane to its right and Megan directly behind the large SUV. As she stepped from the car, she could smell the diesel’s exhaust and rotting oranges in the night and felt her face sting from the cold wind now whipping the leaves across the macadam. She pulled her parka up close and could feel the weight of the Sig in the right pocket, comforted by the thought of its part in her plan.
The driver and front seat passenger got out of the Suburban and each opened a door. The driver pulled Sally out to his side; the passenger pulled Dan out to his. Both of them were cold, having not gotten used to the fall weather now upon the area. Dan struggled to see beneath the crack in his blindfold but all he could see was the ground and some shadows upon it. Then, he heard Sally being shuffled ahead of the truck and he was pushed in the back to move forward with someone holding his left arm for balance. He could tell they were now very close to a building because the warmth of its interior hit his face like Florida sunshine. He could hear huge fans moving heated and dried air toward and around him. The **Click** of several switches (lights?) could be heard and then he realized that yes, lights were coming on because he could barely make out a dim glow from beneath the blindfold. Some sort of electrically operated doors were now humming closed it seemed behind him and then latches were heard being actuated.
Abruptly, someone was behind him roughly removing the blindfold and suddenly the brilliant light from within the building assaulted his eyes. His wrists ached from being pulled so close together and he looked frantically for Sally, seeing her over to the other side of what now struck him as some sort of storage building loaded with very fast cars. Some people he had seen at the track were inside, and Megan was standing with her back to him watching some seedy character remove Sally’s blindfold.
As soon as it was off, Sally’s eyes locked with Dan’s and they both felt better because of it. Almost simultaneously, two of Megan’s accomplices pulled the tape from their faces. Both winced as they felt the sticky material trying to remove the first layer of skin. The guy behind Sally pushed her towards Dan and on past Megan. Megan turned only after she whispered something to the guy nearest her who then exited the building through a solid steel door. She turned to face her hapless victims but stood silent for a brief moment, just looking from Dan’s face to Sally’s and then back. An odd grin was on her lips and her eyes were dark and spooky.
“Come on Megan – it’s time to end this little charade of yours.” Dan was never one to hold back.
She only smiled as she approached him.
“I’ll give you that, Danny boy… you always wanted to tell me what to do. But things are a little different now, aren’t they? Hmmm?”
She circled Dan slowly, her hand upon his shoulder then near his neck. She touched the skin lightly as she stepped behind him and then on around, her eyes looking at Sally all the while. Then, as she neared Dan’s shoulder, she scratched his neck hard with her nails, which made Dan jerk away.
“Aw… c’mon Dan. I’m just playing… did I hurt you?” she teased.
Dan saw her hand in her right pocket now and then it came out with a pistol in her grip. He didn’t speak but he heard Sally gasp. They both felt their fears rise in their throats, as they knew they were not likely to be able to talk Megan into doing the right thing.
As Megan stood in front of Dan she paused – then, she brought her right knee up sharply into his groin and the lights blinked in his eyes as the pain surged through him. He didn’t fall but he wanted to throw up so badly that he could taste the bile. He stooped slightly at the shoulder as two guys grabbed his arms to keep him from either falling or lunging towards Megan. He could hear their chuckles and he hated them for doing so.
Megan laughed as she spoke.
“Did that hurt a little teensy, weensy bit Danny? I hope it did – because you deserve everything that is going to befall you tonight. You see, I brought you out here for a reason… a very GOOD reason. I owe you something Dan and I want to give it to you. And you Sally…”
She turned on her heel to face Sally and stepped right in front of her.
“You, you little whiny, husband stealing bitch – oh, yeah, you… well, you’re going to get yours too. But that will be later. Actually, I’ve got a proposition for your husband that, depending upon his choice and how it works out, will either just kill you – or, it will kill you.”
She had the Sig now near Sally’s face, rubbing the cold blue steel against her left cheek.
“Does that feel good, Sally? Cold, hard steel feels so sexy, I think. Do you like it, Sally?”
Sally didn’t flinch. Her eyes never left Megan’s and now she was too mad to be frightened. They had to find a way out of the building, her and Dan. They needed to get away and see if they could still make their plan work. But how?
Megan turned back to Dan.
“Dan – look over your left shoulder.”
He turned and saw the cars with the Marauder catching his eye first.
“Am I supposed to be impressed with what must be your car collection, Megan?”
She smiled. “Well, the car you raced tonight was not the same car that raced you a while back on the street. THAT car over there is the car that left you sitting at the light. That is the car that has never been beaten. THAT is the car known affectionately as ”ANNIL8R”.”
“You see, Dan – you didn’t really win tonight; because you didn’t REALLY beat the best car. So that’s why I brought you here – for a ‘private’ race. With some very interesting stakes for you if you win and some very serious ones for you if you lose.”
Dan’s mind was whirling with concern. It was very obvious that Megan had lost touch with reality with the gunplay, the abductions, the threats and the attack just moments ago. His stomach still reeled with nausea as the pain in his groin throbbed horribly.
“Megan, I’ll say this one time. Let us go and I’ll see to it that you get the help you obvious-“
BAM!
She kneed him once more in the groin and now he fell hard to the ground, the pain blinding him and the tears soaking his face.
“SHUT UP YOU BASTARD!!! I don’t need ANY HELP!” she screamed at him as she leaned over him. Two thugs restrained Sally as she tried to go over to Dan’s crumpled body.
“Lift him up, Zane. Get him to his feet” she hissed.
Zane and another picked Dan up but he could barely stand. The pain was unbelievable and suddenly he lost the fight to keep it down. He bent forward and vomited hard, gagging at the bitter taste in his mouth as his stomach emptied itself.
Megan laughed.
“You better get to feeling better Danny. You’ve got a race to run. And trust me – you do NOT want to lose it. It will mean the world to Sally on how well you do.”
She laughed as she walked away.
“Get him cleaned up, Zane. They’re out taking the tarps off the strip now and prepping the race area. We’ll be ready in about 30 minutes. Then – it’s Showtime…”
To be continued
