The police station was only a few miles west, and when Donna pulled in the parking lot, sure enough the blue Toyota pushed right on past. Donna swallowed hard and let her sweaty grip around the steering wheel loosen.
“Now I feel better.” She turned to Mo. “Next time keep your gestures to yourself."
“It wasn’t a gesture so much as it was a one-fingered wave,” Mo shrugged.
“Whatever it was, please just keep your fingers inside the car at all times.”
“Spoken like somebody with weird toes,” Mo scoffed.
That evening, Donna spent her first night in three years back at her parents’ house. She’d been forced to make the move when the store she’d worked at closed and she couldn’t find a replacement job by the time school started.
My last year of college and I’m starting it off by taking a giant step backwards…
And during that first night back home, Donna had a dream.
She was in a dark, thick forest - one that sheltered her against the torrents of rain pouring from the night sky. With each step deeper into the woods, she smelled pine needles and wet soil. And then...she caught the aroma of something else.
“Hello? Is anybody here?” Tree tops protested against the wind and an owl called out a lonely hoot, but nobody else answered. Donna held out her arms, because it was pitch black in that forest. She felt for obstacles, took a step forward. Then she took another. Twigs snapped and one pierced her left foot. “Damn it.” Her fingertips made contact with an obstruction. A tree? A rock?
It inhaled.
Donna stared frantically at the darkness. “Who's there?” Her voice was swept away in a wind gust. A branch snapped and a chill swept through the forest. The thing that breathed grabbed her wrists and pulled her close. Donna couldn't see, but she could smell; rotting flesh and...hate. Until that moment, it had never occurred to her that hate carried a scent. Lightning splintered the sky, streaming light through the forest. Donna saw what had hold of her. A tall man with skin the shade of decomposing flesh and eyes like death. She screamed, but thunder drowned it out. Or maybe it was his voice.
“It has been a long time, Donna.”
“How do you know my name?”
His chilling laughter made the trees tremble. “Why do you always play coy with me?” Another lightning bolt. His blood-colored eyes stared directly in Donna's blue ones, now wide with fear. “You are as beautiful as ever – blonde, blue-eyed and tall. A classic American beauty.” He looked her up and down before darkness sheltered her again. “A little skinny in this latest manifestation, but otherwise stunning.” His gaze, chilling but burning, made Donna feel vulnerable, and he seared her soul with his next comment. “That close call today brought back such a tragic memory, did it not, Donna?”
“What are you talking about?” she quivered.
“It was a blue car that killed your little brother, was it not? Your little brother Sam, who under your care, bolted in front of traffic and lost his precious life at the tender age of six. He would be fifteen now, would he not? A sophomore in high school. Instead, he is nothing but bones in a grave and a lost-soul stamped forever upon the heart of his mother and father. And you are responsible for his demise, are you not, my pet?”
Donna’s eyes stung with tears. “It wasn’t my fault,” she cried. “I was young -”
“Nonsense!” he snapped. “You were twelve - certainly old enough to keep an eye on a trusting, helpless baby brother. But instead of keeping an eye on him, you were busy watching boys, were you not, Donna?”
“No,” she shook her head frantically. “It wasn’t my fault.”
“Even the policeman said it was your fault. Remember? He wrote it on his report. ‘The girl was supposed to be watching her brother.’ But you were not doing your job of ‘brother’s keeper,’ were you, Donna?”
“What do you want from me?” she asked.
“I want to make your dreams come true,” he snickered. “Well, some of them. I can never give you the dream of your old life. Little Sammy is gone, by your own careless hand, and with him went your nice, normal life – a mommy and daddy and a little brother and you. Neat and tidy and orderly.” With that, he laughed coldly.
“Who are you?”
“I am your dream man, Donna.”
“I don't understand.”
“You will.” His laughter iced the air.
“Now wake up, angel. Your father is calling.”