Devil's Comet

CHAPTER ONE

They were hoping to escape before nightfall but without a map it was impossible, every block in town looked identical. The fuel hand was a notch above `E' and their stomachs growled. Eight friends were traveling to a concert when they detoured off the highway and got lost. They strayed into an abandoned town that looked like a tornado had swept through. Houses were buried underneath trees and cars were toppled upside down. Paper littered the streets, cobwebs decorated the tree limbs, and desiccated bloodstains painted the pavement. They drove around in circles not knowing that they were being closely followed -- something else roams the deserted town in search of food.

The sun had retired for the day and their hopes of escaping were crushed. The autumn night hung cool, breezy, and dark. Atrocious clouds crammed the sky and the air scented with rain forecasting that a storm is brewing. Bolts of lightning abruptly sliced through the clouds as the monstrous roar of thunder rattled the sky. The rain quickly plunged down thrashing against the windshield. The temperature inside the mini van instantly turned hot and sticky with fog attaching to the windows with every exhale of breath.

“We have to pull over and wait until the storm is over,” Paul, the driver of the van said with a shaky voice. “I can't see anything. It's coming down too fast,” complained the part-time truck driver that wore a nicely trimmed goatee.

Paul parked the van next to a tree and turned off the engine.

“This is strange,” Tiffany, a passenger from the third row seat said in her soft voice. “This place does not show up on any of the maps.”

“I wonder what happened here,” Jason, another back seat passenger curiously asked in his sensual tone that matches his baby face.

"It's like we just drove off the map and into the Twilight Zone,” Paul joked.

“All I know is that we're stranded in the middle of nowhere and I can't get comfortable,” Jennifer unpleasantly complained about sharing a seat with Tiffany and Jason. “We've been driving through this ghost town for almost an hour. This was only supposed to be a 4 hour trip,” she snobbishly added as she sat next to Tiffany twirling her finger around the curls in her hair.

“Jason, try your cell phone again,” Mike, a hot tempered hooligan that occupied the front seat, suggested. “Yours was the only one that got a call through earlier.”

“No luck this time,” Jason said with regret. “My signal is completely gone now.”

They sat idle waiting for the storm to pass. They decided to listen to some music to distract their minds from the problems that surrounded them. Mike turned on the radio and tuned right into the middle of a news broadcast.

“The body count is now up to seven after the latest victim was also found decapitated this morning. The Police advise everyone to stay inside and to keep their doors and windows locked. If you have to go out, don't go alone. These killers are very dangerous. The Police also found evidence that lead them to believe that the suspects may be hiding out near Bear Creek in the town of Kelsville so stay clear of that area. We'll keep you up to date on this story as it unfolds,” the newscaster reported.

Tiffany cuddled in her fiancé Jason's arms. “Turn the radio off please,” she politely asked. “That's not helping to ease my mind at all.”

There was a heavy impact that thumped against the roof and captured everyone's attention.

“What the hell was that?” Mike questioned with a quiver in his voice.

Another impact occurred that shook the van. Everyone's heart pounded with fear.

“I think that a hail storm is about to start,” Kevin, one of the passengers from the middle row commented.

“I'm really scared,” Rachel cried as she nervously rocked in her seat between her boyfriend Bobby and Kevin.

Bobby stretched his arm around Rachel and pulled her head to rest next to the ripples on his colossal chest.

“Don't worry. We'll be out of here before you know it,” Bobby assured her while brushing the frizzy strands of hair from her face. “Besides, Kevin and I are both ex-Marines and plus slugger, you just bought a brand new bat and I have four new knives to add to my collection in back. Nothing is going to happen to you so try to relax,” he added.

“Yeah and speaking of that,” Jennifer said to Bobby and Rachael. “I don't understand why you two had to buy that useless junk. You could have bought that stuff when we got back home and why would you bring a knife collection on a road trip anyway? All that stuff is just taking up space.”

“Jennifer, don't start again --OK,” Bobby furiously shouted. “I'm a knife collector. I feel naked without them. Rachel loves baseball and you love shoes. No one complained when you had to go and buy five new pairs of shoes that you could have bought when you got home. And if you want to talk about hogging space, why did you have to bring three suitcases for a two night stay in a hotel,” Bobby irately responded.

“At the rate we're going we won't be staying in a hotel. We'll be lucky to get out of here in time to make it to the concert tomorrow,” Jennifer said.

“Everyone be quiet for a minute. I thought I heard something,” Mike strongly stated.

All conversations came to a halt. With the rain easing, the noise was easy to hear. It was loud and annoying.

“What's making that sound?” Rachel cried with a tear in her heavy brown eyes.

“If I didn't know any better I would say that sounds like a…oh my God,” Jason screamed in a petrified voice.