The Hiker

Down and down the rabbit hole,

My dreams attach my mortal soul.

If I should lose the will to live,

The act will bear eternal toll.

 

 

The sun had set over two hours ago, and Michelle’s eyes had become adjusted to the now advanced darkness that laid ahead of her. She had been walking since late afternoon and had yet to be picked up. Along these winding roads, surrounded by the dense forests on both sides, it would be a miracle if someone were to give her a ride. Hitchhiking, she thought, was not on her itinerary; but then again, neither was paying ludicrous prices for basic hotel rooms. She had traveled to Australia by herself earlier that month. With her she carried a backpack filled with essential supplies, and a sleeping bag. Although she planned and did stay in hotel rooms much of the time, she knew some of her travels would take her inland where such things couldn’t always be relied upon. Michelle was cautious, yet optimistic. Regardless, as she walked by the side of the road, further into the dense forest, she began to accept the possibility of stopping and setting camp for the night.

It was now approaching 9 o’clock, and she had counted the 17 cars which had driven by her. She didn’t blame them and understood that not many people would be willing to assist a hitchhiker in the dead of night, especially in dense forest. However that didn’t mean she couldn’t swear at each car as it passed her in caution. Her experience tonight had left her with sore legs and a dry throat, and she had long ago lowered her extended thumb.

She decided then that she would walk a few metres into the forest and set up her sleeping bag. As she stopped however, she noticed her shadow in front of her. It almost gave her a fright, as her long and extended projection came from a low light somewhere behind her. If this was a car, it had been the first in over an hour; being a fairly worn and faded road.

As the lights made their way through the trees around the winding road, and as the faint hum of a car became more discernible, she knew that her potential salvation had arrived. Despite this, and the feeling of delight that she may not have to sleep tonight surrounded by insects, she also knew that hitchhiking is a dangerous act and that she should double check the driver before getting in. The lights made their way around the bend, and the headlights were approaching fast. Too fast. Just as soon as it had announced itself, the car was gone into the distance, with no evidence of it ever having been except for the utter defeat in Michelle’s mind, and the swear words they produced.

Michelle stood there, knowing this would indeed be where she would set up camp for the night. A moment passed as she mentally prepared herself for all manners of insects and noises she was to about to deal with, when she noticed something out the corner of her eye. In the road ahead, there appeared lights. The car from before had already left a minute ago, but its faint illumination stuck as though it had paused just around the corner. Perhaps, she thought, the driver had only seen her at the last moment, and could only begin to slow down around the bend. If this were the case, she knew the driver may begin to back up at any moment; but she wasn’t risking this opportunity and began to lightly jog around the bend ahead, toward the lights.

She made her way around, and just as she had thought, there before her was the car which had driven past a moment ago. Her immediate impression was positive. The car was a bright red, late model SUV in good condition; something she thought a soccer mum might use. As she approached along the side of the car, the engine remained on, with her walking through a light cloud of fumes. The driver side window was already rolled down, and as she walked around that side of the car, the driver came into view.

Before her sat a well groomed, well dressed man in his mid thirties with black hair combed to the side. The smile he gave her projected a look of understanding, knowing she must have been trying to get a ride for hours. “Where are you heading?”, the man said looking behind her, as if to check that she traveling alone. “As close to Tumut as you can get me?”, Michelle said, hoping he could oblige. The man threw his head toward the passenger side and said, “Hop in”. She walked around the front of the car, but as she did so she felt the mans eyes on her. Coming around the front of the car she also noticed something that caught her eye. On the front of the grating was what appeared to be dried blood and a few pieces of hair. Alarm bells immediately went off in her head. She made sure not to pause and look at the grating, acting casual, but inside she knew this was a warning.

As she opened the passenger door, putting her bag in the back, she made sure to keep a calm demeanor. Inside however, her mind was going a mile a minute trying to figure out if what she saw was blood and hair of an animal or a person. Was the hair blonde? Was it dyed? Did it have different shades or was it a solid color? She couldn’t remember, but the time for looking had passed, and she knew she couldn’t dwell on it or she’d be stressed the whole trip. As she sat down and closed the door, Michelle was reminded of how much she hated sitting in the passenger seat. It made her feel like she had no control, as she realized she’ll be in this car for at least the next hour. The first thing she noticed after sitting down came from the drivers side cup holder. There, carefully placed with condensation around it was a can of cider. She said nothing.

Everyone on-board and secured, the driver reached out his hand toward her, and introduced himself. “A pleasure to meet you, I’m Jacob”. She returned the introduction, all the while trying to guess if his facial expressions were hiding anything. It was at this moment that she became hyper aware of everything around her. She saw too much, but knew too little. Was this man going to try and kill her? She could only guess, all the while her heart beat out of her chest. In this panic attack, she managed to keep her shell calm.

Suddenly, Jacob extended his arm. The sudden jerking movement caught her off guard and made her jump slightly in reflex. He gave her a confused look as he continued reaching toward the back seat and fetched a blanket for her to wear. “I thought you looked cold”, he said as the started the ignition and began to drive. The jerking movement as the car pulled away was a friendly reminder that she was in too deep to leave now. He could be a serial killer or this could all be in her head; whatever this mans intentions were, she would be confronting them tonight.

The road ahead continued its twists and turns deeper into the forest. Each turn making help from the outside world less and less likely. As they drove, the silence was deafening. Hitchhikers, she though to herself, usually keep up their end of the conversation in exchange for travel, and so she tried to talk.

“Where are you heading this time of night?”, she said briefly glancing at Jacob. Her face scrunched as she immediately regretted asking the question. What if he answers truthfully and its not the answer I want? What if he hesitates? Then I’ll know he’s lying and that this drive was a mistake. She could only hope the response was something disarming, and thankfully it was, as Jacob immediately responded, “Heading to my parents house for Easter. And yes, before you say anything I realise its ridiculously late, but I was working late and have to be at the house early in the morning.” This calmed Michelle but something was nagging at the back of her mind. Yes, he didn’t hesitate, but he didn’t hesitate at all. He didn’t stutter or try and find any words. It was like he was reading from a script he’d written to ward off any inquiry he knew was coming. His story was plausible, but the shell it was wrapped in put her more on edge. She acknowledged his response and the car fell back into silence.

A full minute of further silence passed before Jacob returned the question, prompting her to have a moment of forgetfulness. She was focused on her situation, and not her destination. After retrieving her thoughts, she repeated herself from earlier, “I’m on my way to Tumut… to see some relatives I have there.” Jacob didn’t acknowledge the response; his eyed fixed on the road ahead, and his mind seemingly vacant of her voice.

Michelle realized that as each minute passed, she was getting more uncomfortable in the passenger seat. It was then that it started to rain. Not heavily, but enough to be called drizzle and prompt Jacob to turn on the wipers. Jacob made an offhand remark, “It’s a good thing I picked you up when I did”, but she only responded with an uncomfortable smirk. He wasn’t turned in her direction, so he probably thought she ignored him. He tried again. “I can probably take you another 60 kilometers to Talbingo, but then I have to divert. Sorry”. It was no problem, but she knew that was still a good 50 kilometers from where she needed to be.

The rain became heavier, the wiper setting became higher, and the driving became louder. She was uncomfortable in her seat and her surroundings made her unsettled. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jacob looking in her direction. Keeping her eyes forward, he started talking loudly, compensating for the rain. “YOU OK? YOU WANT SOMETHING TO EAT?”. She felt staying quiet seeming rude, so she accepted his offer. His hand immediately darted in front of her and reached for the glove box. Jacob opened it to presumably get some food and it was at that moment that her heart dropped. Inside the glove compartment, underneath some beef jerky and some opened pieces of mail, she could clearly make out the handle of a small gun. “What the fuck? WHAT THE FUCK? WHAT THE FUCK?”. She sat repeating this line over and over in her head. That gun wasn’t for hunting and this guy sure as fuck wasn’t a cop.

Jacob grabbed the beef jerky out from on top and slammed the glove box shut. Handing a piece to her she gladly accepted, but without a shred of emotion on her face. She was in shock without the ability to express herself. Paralyzed. She didn’t eat the beef jerky. The moment it went in her hand she forgot about it; her mind consumed with that gun and how fast he could in an instant, reach for it.

The rain grew heavier now, almost deafening, but she could no longer hear it. Her mind had switched off and her instinct had taken over. Every indication so far had led her to realise he was going to try something, and she thought only of how she could escape whatever that was going to be.

Looking around, there were only two options she could see. The first was drastic; Taking control of the steering wheel and veering into the trees bordering on each side. Too dangerous, she thought. The second option was the more reasonable, but only slightly less dangerous; Jumping out of the passenger door. She knew he would not stop willingly, and if she asked for him to pull over he would only commit his intent sooner, so her act must be fast and it must be soon. There was no time to waste. Looking at her door though, she needed to check something. The child lock was engaged and needed to be released. Before anything could be done, she needed to make sure it could work and disengaging the child lock was the first step toward this. Not hesitating, she lent her body against the door and head and arm against the glass, pretending to be resting. In this position she calmly reached her right arm underneath her left to reach the lock. She pulled, and nothing happened. Her heart sank back to where it was when she saw the gun, as her bottom lip started to tense with dread and defeat and realization of how fucking stupid she must be to hitchhike in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere.

In that moment of utter defeat and exhaustion, Jacob pulled the car over. Michelle had been too focused on trying to escape that she failed to hear the car engine rattle. She could only take his word for it as they had parked with the engine now off. The problem was, Jacob doesn’t move; he just sat there. She turns her head slightly and saw that Jacob had a strange look on his face, as if he was mulling something over..

Michelle asked “Do you need any h...”, when Jacob jumped over to her side, grabbing her by the arms that were trying to vainly escape through her locked door. She’s screaming for some help, any help, but he was smothering her mouth. She was fighting, and terrified at what he was going to do. She knew exactly what he wanted and she wasn’t going to give it to him. His arms were getting tighter around her chest, but she managed to pull herself free. She punched him in the chest and he let out a maimed noise. Crawling for his unlocked door and grabbing the handle to safety, Jacob grabbed her legs. He pulled on her jeans, and there was no comparison in strength. She was tugged back toward him, with her jeans around her thighs. “This can’t happen!”, she thought in her head. She was struggling and losing when he caught her off guard. Jacob threw her on the drivers seat and reached for her neck. His hands tightly clasped her throat, cutting off her air, as she felt a sigh of relief. As he began to strangle her and his hands became heavier, a noticeable smile appeared coming across her face. “Oh, thank god. He’s just a serial killer”, was her final thought as her vision slowly faded to black, and her body went limp.

Jacob continued holding his death grip for what seemed like a whole minute, before he was sure she was gone. But then something happened; a warmth began in his head. What was barely perceivable in the first moment, quickly became what felt like a fire in his skull. There was a horrible sensation of burning in his mind and it was the one place he couldn’t reach. Jacob screamed out in pain while clawing at his head, vainly trying to get to the source of this infernal heat. What was this and when would it end?

And then it stopped.

Michelle removed the hands from her head. Her mind went grainy for a moment and then cleared to normality. She unlocked the passenger side door and walked around to the drivers side. Opening it, her old body hanged partially out, requiring her to place it back on the passenger seat and close the door. She sat behind the steering wheel, taking a moment while letting out a sigh of relief. It was over and now she could continue onto Tumut. Before starting the car, she swished a mouthful of Jacobs cider to wash that awful taste out. Michelle hated beef jerky, but she loved the drivers seat.