A Cool Breeze in the Desert Sun
Scorching rays of sun beamed down with tremendous power, washing over the barren wastelands of Nevada, with a lone strip of worn, beaten asphalt road cutting across 3,000 miles of wilderness. A metallic dark old blue Mustang sped along the deserted highway, the growl of the Mustang’s powerful engine piercing the air.
“Did you see that sign a few miles back?” Nadine Jimenez asks as she shifts in her seat to look out the back window.
“What are you talking about?” Joey looks at her with a raised eyebrow.
“That sign back there, didn’t you see it?” she shifts some more in her seat as if it would help her get a better view of said sign. Nadine turns to look at him, the open window causing her long black hair to whip wildly.
Joey looked into the rearview mirror. “What did you see?” The undertone of his question hid irritation. Nadine gave it no mind and shook off the anger that emerged in her.
“There was a sign back there, didn’t you see it?” Nadine turns in her seat once again, looking through the back windshield, studying the horizon.
“No, I didn’t see anything. What did you see?”
Nadine, still looking out the back windshield, replied, “It said the point of no return and had something hanging from it.” she explained with slight worry, “It looked like a skull.”
Joey, unconcerned, replied, “It’s probably nothing, just some backwoods hillbilly trying to get some attention or something.”
Nadine had a look of concern painted across her face, “I don’t know Joey, this road is pretty deserted, and I haven’t seen a single car, gas station, or even a house since yesterday morning.”
Joey glances at Nadine as they go around a sharp bend, “What are you worked up about? It’s just a stupid goof, don’t stress over it. Kind of like those road signs with bullet holes in them.”
Nadine sighed, looking out the window and watching the desert pass by, “if you say so babe,” she replies softly, finally relaxing in her seat, the curiosity dying down, her eyes slowly closing as she drifted to sleep listening to the sounds of the tires spinning on asphalt.
Nadine woke up with a jolt, the dream she was having still lingering in her mind. She couldn’t quite remember the dream, but the fear she felt was still there. The engine of the Mustang purred loudly as the landscape sped by. Joey had one hand on the wheel and his other placed on his head, slightly tilted. His eyes stared straight ahead, blank, and expressionless.
“Hey babe, is everything ok?” she softly touched his arm.
He looked at her with a side glance, “Yeah everything is ok. Just getting tired.”
In the distance the sun was beginning to set, the colorless sky showing sprinkles of stars, the moon was a bright silver disc spotting the dim sunlit desert.
Nadine had drifted off to sleep once again as they drove in silence, Joey glanced over at Nadine studying her features as she slept, wondering what dreams she dreamt. He slowed the vehicle down to a crawl as he turned down a worn dirt road, a vast structure stood erect in the deserted desert, illuminated by the bright pale moonlight. He pulled up to the structure and killed the growling engine, Nadine softly stirred in her seat, and he continued to look at her before quietly exiting the vehicle.
Darkness was all that Nadine could see as she opened her eyes, she had been gagged and bond with some sort of cloth covering her head blinding her. The sound of silence was heavy as a sharp metallic point skidded across her bare neck. Terror began filling her as she heard Joey whisper, “The Gods have brought me home.”
Nadine’s pulse raced as she struggled against the binds. The cold, metallic edge pressed closer to her skin, sending shivers down her spine. Her mind raced through the last moments of consciousness before she woke up in this nightmare, piecing together the eerie changes in Joey’s demeanor.
“Joey, what’s going on?” Her voice was muffled by the gag, but she tried to convey her fear and confusion.
The silence in response was suffocating.
To Be Continued...
