BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

Groggily his eyes opened and he looked around, his head thick with post-sleep cotton. He sat up in bed and looked around, his wife was sleeping peacefully beside him. For a moment he couldn’t help but think he imagined the banging. Another group of loud bangs sounded through the house, his wife stirred awake. She sat up next to him sleepily.

“What is that?” her voice was raspy and her narrowed eyes peered into the darkness.

“I don’t know-” Another wave of bangs sounded just as the words left his mouth.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

“Stay here,” he rolled out of bed. Quietly he padded across his wooden floors to his closet. Shuffling things around he snagged his baseball bat from behind his clothes and walked out into the hall.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG

The noise bounced around the house leaving an uneasy silence in its wake. He moved to the front door slowly. The from porch light casting warped shadows through the painted windows. He glanced out the window, a thin shape moved back and forth in front of the door, looking as if it’s shaking. He reached forward, wrapping his hand around the door knob. He threw the door open to find the figure holding up their hand to knock again.

“Oh! Oh goodness! Please, Please help me! My car, I-I went off the road and-and I need help changing my tire. Please.” She was young, her blonde hair was stuck to her face with the blood coming from a gash on her head. She looked really beat up and his heart felt for her.

“Here, show me where,” he spoke quickly. Exchanging the bat for his car keys he turned to the stairs. “I’ll be back in a bit!” He ducked out the house and closed the door behind him. “Come on, I’ll come help you.”

“Thank you so much!” She cried. He guided her out of the house and to his truck. They got in.

He started the engine and they peeled from the driveway. The road was damp from where it had rained hours before. They drove in silence. After about fifteen minutes he began to wonder how far she went off the road. Fifteen minutes of driving was a good almost two hours of walking or running. Soon headlights cut through the foggy darkness. He slowed to a stop. The front of the car almost wrapped around the tree.

“Miss, I think you need more than a tire change?” He spoke carefully, though he was only answered by silence. Frowning he looked to the passenger seat to find it empty. Strange, you’d think he would’ve heard the door open on his old truck.

Getting out, he called out to try to find her but no one responded. She couldn’t have gone far; she probably didn’t realize how bad it was and went to have a moment. He walked up to the car, his feet sinking into the damp earth as he went. Turning on his flashlight he shined it in the passenger side window, the airbag had gone off. Just behind it, he caught the sight of a pale hand. His body went stiff. Slowly he moved to the other side of the car.