Devil’s Road

The thick gray clouds blocked out most of the light giving the street a dark appearance and making my heart race. It was a strange feeling, to be so afraid with no conscious reason to be afraid. I walked quickly watching as the clouds swirled and moved in odd patterns that I’ve never seen before. I was used to New England winters and the cold that could creep in unexpectedly, but this was different. The wind was fierce, but not cold. The clouds were uncommon, the dulled daylight that managed to shine into them showed swirls of colors not normally seen.

I sped up positive that something was going to happen. Across the street a man took off running. His hair whipped around his head in a frenzy and his clothing was torn and bloodied. I froze, watching him. I was in a kind of shock, this wasn’t normal. A moment after he ran by three young men ran after him, they were laughing and screaming, calling to him. I watched him look back once and then turn a corner, his eyes were desperate. I could feel his fear because I was also afraid.

I started walking again, eyes peeled for any dangers. Across the street the world seemed to have lost its mind. I saw groups of men and woman chasing people. I saw people dying in horrible ways, ways that made me feel like I was going insane. A young man in a black and white stripped T-shirt was chased until he tripped, then a group of women tore him apart with their hands. They were literally ripping at him like zombies in a horror movie. The crazy people across the street would stop and stare at me, but they did not cross the street. Their victims would see me, stop and scream, begging me to save them. I was tensed, ready to run but no one came toward me. They would glare at me; I would shiver, shake, and tremble. Then they would go back to whatever insanity they had been engaged in before.

My heart thumping painfully I began to run, I had no idea where I was going. I was just running before the madness could reach me. I stumbled against a wall and stopped to breathe when suddenly a knife sank into my leg. At first I did not feel any pain, the shock was too great. After what seemed like hours my leg began to burn and I squealed. I looked up and across the street was the wild looking man I had seen being chased by a gang. His eyes were wild and his hair red with blood. I realized abruptly that it was not his blood that turned his clothing red, not his blood that dripped into his eyes from his hair.

He lifted another knife and with a flick of his wrist threw it at me from across the street. I screamed and fell to the ground, the knife in my leg digging deeper as I landed on it. The pain was so intense that I felt my vision going black. I yelled at myself, I couldn’t pass out, the man would kill me. With a shout of glee the man raised another knife, aiming again. This time I would not be able to move away, his knife would find my flesh and there was nothing I could do. I stared at him, uncomprehendingly, the knife taking up all of my vision.

The man shouted and threw the knife, it sang as it bit through the air. I closed my eyes , braced for the pain. After a long moment I realized the pain had not come, had the man missed? I squinted and what I saw made me open them further. Standing next to me was another man, he was impeccably dressed. He wore a dark suit and shoes; his hair was black and his skin pale. In his hand, which was decked out in ruby rings, he held the knife. The man across the street looked sane for a moment, and very much afraid.

“She is mine.” The man said and while his voice was barely more than a whisper it carried across the wind and over the screaming in the street. The wild man heard and dropped to the ground, begging and crying. I could not understand what was going on. Suddenly the well-dressed man threw the knife back toward the wild man and it landed perfectly, deep in his back. The wild man screamed and the well-dressed man smiled. The blade began to glow and without cause it burst into flames. The fire spread down the wild man’s tattered clothing and within moments he was engulfed in flames.

The well-dressed man turned toward me and I began to tremble in earnest. His eyes were the deepest blue and they seemed to see into me. He knelt beside me, careful not to let his knee touch the sidewalk. Without a word he reached down and pulled the knife from my leg and I bawled. My screaming faded into hysterical sobbing and the man smiled, pleased with the sound of my pain. He reached up, his hand inches from my face and I pulled back, but there was nowhere to go.

He laughed softly and reached out, I closed my eyes tightly. Time passed slowly, I was afraid to open my eyes. When I finally did open them I realized I was on the school campus lawn. A dream? I began to realize that I had fallen asleep lying in the grass while studying. Laughter bubbled up hysterically. I gathered my books together and stood quickly but fell. The pain shot through my leg was unexpected and shocking.

I pulled up my jean to show a nearly healed wound in my leg right where the blade had cut me. Panicked I looked around. The wind began to whip around my face as thick gray clouds moved in. I saw a man wearing a black and white stripped T shirt run past me.

“Better get home, big storm’s coming!” He yelled at me as he went. Suddenly I realized that I was on the wrong side of the street, I was on the side of madness. Leaving my books I stood and tried to hobble across the road. Stopping in the middle of the road I saw a man waiting for me, a man with deep blue eyes and a well-kept black suit.