In The Dark

by Fictionator

The 2nd part of On The Road, still inspired by a movie. Enjoy

The dark surrounded the truck on the big parking. It was even difficult to distinguish the campmobile next to the truck. The minutes went by, and every one seemed to be an eternity. Rebecca had hidden inside the cabin, where she felt less vulnerable than in the cockpit, where she was clearly visible from outside. Jael sat right in front of the opening of the curtains. Sometimes they heard steps outside the truck or saw a shadow pass nearby. They all looked very tall and ominous in the dark.

Rebecca nudged Jael. "When will Carmen return with Daddy?" "I can't say, I don't know, what's going on in there. They're..." Jael pressed the little button on her watch to light the display. "They're away for 40 minutes now." Rebecca vanished behind the curtains again, but Jael knew, she watched her and the scenery outside through the opening. Then after a further eternity - as it seemed to both girls - Jael turned and whispered to her sister: "Stay inside, keep the doors locked, till Dad or Carmen or me will return." Rebecca squealed softly and quietly. "No! Don't go away! Jael, don't go there and leave me here!" "I'll be back in ten minutes or so, I promise." "Ok..." Rebecca tried to sound brave, but Jael had to swallow hard, as she didn't want to leave her sister alone here. However, her sorrows concerning her Dad Victor and her and Rebecca's newfound friend Carmen Vazquez were also too real to sit here and just wait any longer. Jael slipped to the right side of the truck, unlocked the door, opened it, swung herself out and jumped to the ground. Then she carefully closed and locked the door again and then walked on. If there were one of the shadows near her right now, she might have flewn to the truck again, but however, there seemed to be nobody outside the building now. Jael went on and soon vanished in the dark.

Jael reached the entrance of the tavern. There was no bouncer, so she opened the door to find herself in a porch. The walls, both doors, the floor, everything seemed to have some patina on it. Jael opened the inner door and now found herself in a huge hall, where many people were around, most of them busy with drinking. There were men and women in various outfits, various ages, various states of ebriety and most of them regarded themselves as very sexy and were busy with flirting. Jael looked around to find her Dad or Vazquez but couldn't immediately see either of them. So she stepped inside the room and walked around still looking for them both.

Rebecca sit in the cabin as long, as she was able to stand this. At last she slipped back into the cockpit, took the spare key, Vazquez had handed to them, slipped to the right of the truck, unlocked and opened the door and sneeked outside. As when Jael left, there was no one to be seen. Rebecca climbed to the ground and closed and locked the door again. Then she walked on the way, where first Vazquez and then Jael had vanished.

Jael felt a tip on her shoulder. When she turned around, she looked into the eyes of a girl or young woman, who smiled at her. She wore a leather dress, that fitted her black silky hair and dark eyes well. "Hi sweetie, my name is Pandora, what is yours?" Jael looked at the girl or woman - she was not able to estimate her age properly - with fascinaction. "Jael - my name is Jael. I'm looking for my people." Pandora smiled mystic and spoke with her voice, which seemed to sink right into the heart. "So let me help you along, just come with me..."

Rebecca reached the entrance of the tavern. She opened the door and the inner door of the porch and then was confronted with the same scenery as Jael 15 minutes before. The girl went on, and then she saw them all. Victor sat in a alcove with two young men and a bunch of young women or girls. Victor seemed to listen to the older of the men talking to him. And she saw, they were drinking. Next she saw Vazquez sitting on a bar stool right between to women her age, who were talking to her. And then she saw Jael sitting at a table next to another young woman. All of the three looked a bit dizzy, like they were kind of not aware, what was going on. Rebecca looked from one to the other, and then she felt a tip on her shoulder. When she turned around, she saw a woman very similar to the one sitting near Jael. "Hi sweetie, my name is Medusa, what is yours?"

Rebecca swallowed and backed away from Medusa, turned around and ran towards Jael. Jael seemed not to notice her even now. Rebecca took Jael's hand, when she stood right in front of her, and then Jael looked at her, as if she just was awakened from a dream. "Jael?" Rebecca gave pressure to the hand in hers, and Jael nodded, stood up immediately, and both girls went on. Next they ran towards Vazquez. Vazquez reacted the same as Jael, she looked at the girls, she were talking to and didn't notice Jael and Rebecca. Then they took each one of the woman's hands. Vazquez looked at both of them the same as Jael did earlier, as if she just had been awakened from a dream. "Carmen?" Both girls called her name. Vazquez nodded and stood up immediately, as Jael had done. The three of them went for Victor then. As Jael and Vazquez, Victor didn't spend a look for his daughters but kept listening to the older of the men, who just took a thick wad of money out and handed it to one of the women. Jael and Rebecca took each one of Victor's hands. "Daddy?" Rebecca said. "Dad?" Jael said. "Reverend?" Vazquez said. Now Victor looked, as if he just returned from a dream. Or was it a nightmare? He nodded. "Yes, you're right, and this is, what I'm going to be now." He stood up, and they headed for the exit. However, it was not going to be this easy. Soon several people were in their way, and three big guys blocked the door. To Rebecca it seemed, that some of the people morphed their faces into awful antics with huge fangs, and all of them were longing for them four. But then the situation changed again, as from one second to another people around them began to fight. The fight bursted out almost out of the blue, and there was no party or group identifiable. And then Victor and Vazquez and even Jael and Rebecca were engaged in the fight, with Rebecca holding herself on Vazquez' back and hitting their combattant from her upper position, with Jael holding herself on another combattant's back and smashing with all her force on his head, which didn't really have a big effect. However, at last the four of them reached the front door, which was no longer blocked by the three big guys, as they were engaged in fighting too. Soon they were outside the building, where they were greeted by the rising sun. They looked at each other. "Is everyone ok?" Victor asked. All of them had little blood stains on their collars. As it turned out, all four had been bitten in the sides of their throats during the fight. However the wounds seemed to be small. They returned to their cars and went inside the campmobile first, where Victor took care of the little wounds.

"What is going to happen now?" Jael looked at the others. "I don't know", Vazquez answered. "I only know, that we will stay in touch, I'm sure about this."

The sun rose over the scenerey after a short summer night. And journeys went on.