Picking Up and Dropping Off
Something short.
Please rate.
Jerry stood outside the van, his nose wrinkled as he shoved quarters into the shop-vac outside Bill's Carwash on the very outskirts of town. The cushions of the backseat were covered in vomit, smelling of a sickly mixture of beer, vodka, and cheap pizza which did not combine well in the late evening heat. As he swept it up he cursed himself silently for picking up the two obviously wasted college students outside the bars and for taking them down one of the more curvier roads.
He was driving the old, lime green taxi van that evening, the one everyone else hated to drive. It was the first vehicle the cab company had started with and it more than showed. The whole thing was trimmed with rust and the AM/FM radio was long since gone along with the air conditioner and the heater. Every time you started it up it shuttered and groaned like it was about to fall apart beneath you. The company's owner, Mr.. Kokovich genuinely thought the car was lucky, believing it to be the soul reason his business got off the ground and refused to scrap it for parts.
As the loud hum of the vacuum fell away a crackle came over the radio.
"Jerry," the older female voice said. "Are you finished taking those two home?"
Leaning his thin body through the open driver side window, Jerry grabbed the speaker from the transmitter atop the dash.
"Yeah, Kim I just finished doing that," he said. "What's up?"
"A call just came in," she said. "There's a group of three that need to be picked up from 6 North Rudger Rd. And dropped off at Carlton Dorms on campus."
"A-Alright," he said, hesitantly turning back to examine the damp backseat. "I'll be there shortly."
Quickly, Jerry grabbed the can of air freshener from the back and sprayed its remaining contents across the stained and frayed fabric. Then he jumped in the front seat and turned on the van, cringing at the loud, sharp metallic sound it made and pulled out onto the sparsely populated road.
The sweet summer air filled the van as he took the back roads to North Rudger, smelling of bright flowers and leafy trees and rain soon to come. Dark clouds billowed in the distance, tinted reddish orange by the falling sun, half encompassing the bright full moon that lingered just above the horizon. While watching it approach Jerry smiled to himself, confident that any storm would drive up business and allow him to return home with more money lining his pockets.
North Rudger Road marked the outer most boundary of Lorenville, separating the town with its diverse, liberal university from the homogeneous and conservative populations of the surrounding rural towns. Overgrown barns and houses lined the road and signs reading 'No Trespassing' hung half faded from a dozen rusty barbed wire fences while the husks of old trucks sat half hidden by the tall grass. The asphalt fell to gravel beneath the worn tires and the branches of tall, wide trees closed out the sky.
Why anyone would choose to live out here baffled Jerry, and he began to wonder what kind of people he was picking up. His thoughts turned to a month ago when his friend and co-worker Holly was robbed at gun point by a man she picked up in the middle of Lorenville in broad daylight. Another friend of his, Carl threw a girl out of the same van he was driving now for trying to snort crushed up pills in the backseat. Would drunks and vomit be the least of his concerns tonight? He pushed the thoughts into the dark recesses of his mind as the van jostled down the country road.
The sixth house of North Rudger Road differed little from the other five he passed. It was two stories with a large porch and old aluminum siding splotched with mildew. A shed stood grass stained and worn to the side and miscellaneous yard equipment laid strewed about the brown yard. Standing on the front porch were two men and a woman who looked to be on the younger side of their twenties. Both men looked about the same with dark clothes and long hair, their arms around the woman who's crystal blue eyes were wide with anxiety and her marble skin clammy with sweat.
The sound of thunder rumbled deep and low as they opened the side door and climbed in.
"Have you got the money," the brown haired man whispered to the man with the sun toasted skin.
"No," he whispered back. "Sarah's got it."
"So," Jerry said, turning back to the three. "Where to? Carlton Dorms?"
"Yeah," the brown haired passenger replied.
The girl sat shaking in the middle, running her hands through her blond hair, her blue eyes to the floor.
"Is she alright," Jerry asked.
"She's fine," the man with the tanned skin said a little too quickly with a too wide smile on his face.
"Okay," Jerry shrugged, putting the van into drive.
He followed the country road for a few miles before turning off onto a smoother, paved road marked 'Lorenville, five miles ahead,' watching the young woman in the mirror all the while. She was definitely not fine. Her head swayed and her eyes darted fiercely about as sweat glistened on her forehead. It seemed to Jerry that the girl in the middle seat was in midst of a drug trip gone bad and that the house that they just came from belonged to their dealer.
"Please don't throw up," Jerry mouthed to himself. "Not twice in one night."
The last rays of the evening sun gave way to dark green clouds that flashed streaks of white lightning across the sky. Hot wind picked up the dust and dirt left behind by the taxi and threw them into fast, swirling clouds.
"Could you please hurry," the long haired man said. "We're kind of in a rush."
"Sure," Jerry said, stepping on the gas.
They wound quickly down the road as fat drops of rain struck the windshield and the sound of thunder boomed over the rattling sounds of the van. The sight of houses grew in number as they went, followed by auto-repair garages and trailer parks and restaurants and the overpass of the new eight lane super highway that marked their return to Lorenville.
In an instant the sky opened up and Jerry found himself near blind in the torrential rain. He stepped off the gas and crawled down the road, the blurry glow of the street lamps his only markers.
"What are you doing," the tanned skin man shouted. "We need to go faster."
"I can't see where I'm going," Jerry shouted back.
He was driving from memory now, trying to keep himself straight in the strong winds. He turned to the left, narrowly missing the curb and a parked car and crept onto campus. Carlton dorms weren't far, just a few blocks over from the bright red and blue lights of the art building they now passed.
The girl began to shake more violently, letting out loud, exasperated moans through clenched teeth.
"What's wrong with her," Jerry yelled. "Is she tweaking out!?"
"N-No," the man with the long hair stammered. "W-We just--"
The girl let out a bloody scream, thrashing in her seat, sweat drenching her pale skin as her fingers gouged at the splotched fabric.
"Help me hold her down," the man with the tanned skin said to the other.
With no visibility, Jerry rolled down his window and stuck his head outside. The sound of the falling rain was like a roar, filling up the streets as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. Using every ounce of concentration, the taxi driver maneuvered down the flooding road, trying as hard as he could to drown out the horrible sounds coming from the backseat.
And then he saw it, Carlton dorms just a half a block away. Relief fell over him, but just as he went to accelerate the van stalled out, gurgling and sputtering as it died in the middle of the road.
"Damn it," he yelled.
The girl kicked at his seat, becoming more manic and violent with each passing moment. Jerry's frustration and anger was beyond boiling now and with clenched teeth and wide eyes he turned to face the three.
"Out," he screamed. "You can walk the rest of the--"
In the flash of the lightning he caught the glint of fangs, long and vicious and then he heard the sound of cracking bones and popping flesh over the electric crackle of thunder. Quickly, Jerry switched on the overhead light, but as soon as he did the girl, with a single swing of her arm ripped the bulb from the ceiling, plunging the interior back into darkness.
In an utterly terrified frenzy both men in the back screamed something indiscernible as he heard the sound of ripping fabric and the cracking and popping which had grown louder and more intense. And then there was an inhuman roar so loud that Jerry instinctively covered his ears. He tried frantically to unlock the doors, but the electric locks weren't working again.
There was another roar and the shouting of the tanned skin man ceased. Then there was the sound of rending flesh emanating from the man with the long hair and hot, thick spray splattered across Jerry's cheek.
With his instincts now fully asserted, Jerry dove his thin body out the open window. The rain pounded at him, soaking his clothes and drenching his hair as he attempted to get back to his feet. Then there was the low groan of metal and the sliding door of the taxi was ripped off, sparking and flaring as it slid across the road.
The driver tripped and fell back to the asphalt, tearing his jeans and skinning his knees. As he turned around to face the van he saw a great hulking figure emerge from inside. It looked like a wolf in the orange blur of the street lamps, standing on bipedal legs with thick, snowy white fur covering its whole body. The thing stared intently at him with big, icy blue eyes, the same color as the woman who had seemingly lost her mind in his backseat.
Jerry couldn't believe what he was seeing. He tried to crawl away from it, but the thing reached him in a few great strides, pinning him to the ground with one massive arm. From deep within its throat emanated a low, powerful growl that made the scream stick in Jerry's throat. Its eyes were transfixed souly on him, seeming to glow as they starred at the man. It clenched something tightly with its other hand and as it moved closer to him it placed its hand's sticky contents into one of Jerry's open palms. Then it drew away.
As fast as the flashing lightning the creature bounded out of the street and darted into the inky blackness between buildings. The torrential rain fell to a to a trickle, spraying Jerry like mist in the howling winds. He laid there for a long time in a petrified state until the bright lights and loud honking of a car brought him back.
"Get out of the road," the driver yelled as Jerry stumbled to his feet.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
He went to wipe the icy sweat and water from his brow, but as he did he remembered he was holding something. Opening his hand he saw seven ripped and waded dollar bills, bloody and frayed. His fare for the night.