Peripheral Vision: A Supernatural Thriller(43)
“Fuck!” He growled in pain, but was still able to get both hands clamped on Sarah’s arm. He yanked back hard trying to pull her from the cab. In response, Sarah slammed her foot down on the gas pedal lurching the truck forward. Nick stumbled, losing his grip on her arm, but somehow, he still managed to reach up and wrap his hands around her throat. “This time I’m not letting go. I could’ve saved you.” He grit his teeth and squeezed as he pushed his way into the truck, climbing on top of Sarah, and at the same time forcing her head down on the passenger’s seat. His hands tightened even further around her throat. Sarah’s legs flailed violently outside of the driver’s side door as she choked for air. Her eyes seemed to cry up at Nick for mercy, but he didn’t care. She had humiliated him-twice. There was just no coming back from that. The end was near-he’d seen this look before.
Sarah struggled for air, her body already giving into the darkness that was taking over her, but her spirit remained strong. Sarah, her mind shouted, Save yourself! With new life, she stretched her arms out, her fingers searching for any sort of escape. And that’s when her hand landed on the open tool box on the floor of the passenger seat. Sarah’s fingers wrapped around the first thing she could reach. Her arm shot back from the toolbox and stabbed Nick straight in the neck. The yellow handled screwdriver jutted out from his throat as blood sprayed from the wound, splattering the inside of the windshield and all across Sarah’s face. Nick fell backwards out of the truck and rolled.
Sarah slammed the door shut behind him and stepped on the accelerator. The truck bolted forward, but then stopped short. She looked over in the driver’s side mirror and saw that Nick was still moving on the ground. She thought of the girls- the six crying faces. And she thought of her mother.
“No more.” She whispered and put the truck in reverse, slamming her foot down on the gas pedal. The truck bounced as it rolled over Nick’s body. Sarah screamed. Her mind raced and for a moment tried to betray her. I’m not a murderer. But this had to end. She jammed the gear shift into drive and again bounced over the Homewood Handyman. This time she didn’t scream. Instead she slammed on the brakes and put the truck in reverse a second time, but as she looked back, she caught her reflection in the rearview mirror. It was frightening. She was covered in blood- like a wild animal fighting for its life.
Sarah looked away from the mirror and up at the house. From the upstairs windows, the faces of the six girls in white stared down at Nick’s lifeless body. The girl's’ tears had stopped. Sarah also stopped. She sat there shivering in the idling truck, her hand stuck at attention on the gearshift, just listening. The headlights glimmered out over the shifting water of the Iktomi River. She half expected to hear sirens at any moment. But there was nothing. The world was dark and silent. Sarah shook her head trying to snap out of it. It was time to go. Time to leave this all behind- far behind. She wiped at the blood on her face with the back of her hand, inadvertently wiping blood across her mouth and her cold, quivering lips. She put the truck in drive. As she started to move, her tongue slipped out of her mouth, and she instinctively licked her lips. She swallowed. The brake lights flashed bright as the truck stopped suddenly. In the rearview mirror, Sarah’s eyes changed. They grew darker, stronger, with the hint of a smile.
Epilogue
Chapter 13
Nick's Story
As a child, Nick would sit outside in the tangled branches of the oak tree in his father's backyard and stare at the sky, dreaming of a different life, something far away from the small town he called home. A bigger city, a bigger life, a bigger purpose was out there somewhere, waiting for him. He just needed to reach out and grab it. Ah, but that's why children dream. It wasn't until his senior year of high school that he actually had the chance to escape the grasp of Homewood.
He was born, Nicholas Abraham Fielding, to a young, but relatively happy couple. The first and only child credited to the former Homewood High sweethearts, Jake and Mary Fielding. His father worked as a carpenter by trade, and his mother, while she was around, worked the counter at the Back House Cafe on Main Street. Mary had dreamed of a bigger purpose as well, and when Nick was only seven, she packed a bag, hitched a ride, and never looked back. Being a single parent is never easy, and for Jake Fielding, it was no different. Nonetheless, he managed to raise his son to the best of his abilities, and still put food on the table in the evening. Sometimes, if he couldn't find help, he would take young Nick along with him to the job sites and keep an eye on his son while he worked. From a very early age, Nick, began picking up his father's trade, and before too long it was a father/son team. By the time Nick was ten years old, he had already developed a talent for craftsmanship, not unlike his father.
Jake Fielding was a man of strong core values and a strict disciplinarian, but he never had to take a belt to his son very often. There were a few times over the years however, that Nick's father would have a bit too much to drink and either get into it with his son, or piss himself and pass out in the front yard. But there were other nights-the really bad nights-where he’d relapse into what Nick thought of as the outsider state of mind. It had introduced itself a few years after Mary skipped town, and only seemed to worsen with each appearance. It was on those nights, Nick found himself out back in the oak tree-climbing and climbing until he couldn't get any higher. It was on those nights, when Nick would dream of living in a big city somewhere. Some where, some city, where he could escape his life. Some where, some life, where he could leave this town and leave behind the outsider who was again wearing his father's plaid work shirt and ranting inside their small house. His father frightened him when he was like this, but even worse, he made Nick feel sorry for him. And Nick hated his father for that. It was something he could never forgive.