It was the summer of 1996, when my friends Pablo and Ragnar joined me on a long road trip from California to Florida for Business. We knew the journey would be long, but we were determined, confident that together, we'd make it. As we crossed Arizona, the car was filled with the smooth beats of R&B music, setting a mellow vibe.
"Man, this is the life, isn't it? Open road, good tunes, and no deadlines...except maybe when reaching to Florida." Pablo said calmly.
"Yeah, but if we're gonna make it, you need to switch seats, Lionel. You've been at it for nine hours straight." Ragnar says worryingly."
I nodded ,feeling the strain in my back. Pablo took the wheel, and we all seemed relieved. But our relief was short-lived. Pablo's driving was...less than stellar, swerving slightly and occasionally veering too close to the edge of the road.
Ragnar (half jokingly) "Pablo, buddy, you drive like a drunk toddler, pull over before we end up in a ditch."
"What? I'm fine! Just... rusty. Haven't driven in a while you know." Pablo says in a cringy manner. "Also when did you see a Drunk Toddler." he says.
"Probably is his dreams Pablo, We know he gets those cringy dreams." I say, while cracking up.
"Alright i get it...just gimme the wheel now" Ragnar says annoyingly.
That was it. Ragnar took over until our next stop, Texas.
We ended up stopping at a cheap, run down guest house as that was the only option available. It was a guest house called Lo Loma Del Chivo in Marathon. The place was isolated, almost haunting, but we were exhausted. We didn't care.
The bed creaked as we lay down, and the room smelled like old socks. Yet, fatigue claimed us quickly, and we slept like rocks.
The next morning, stomach growling, we headed to the nearby Mexican restaurant, hoping for a hearty restaurant.
Ragnar scrunching his nose, "I'm pretty sure my toast just moved".
I, while poking my food say, "Yeah... let's just hit the road again, I think my eggs just blinked at me."
"Oh come on, just eat it. We have to get to Florida so make it quick." Pablo said.
We laughed, but deep down, we were all hoping the rest of the trip would improve. Soon after leaving Marathon, our car started to make unnatural noises. We all got worried and decided to check out what's wrong with the car, although none of us have experience in cars what so ever, luckily there was a small town nearby called called Abilene.
Pablo starts to fidget and shake nervously.
"Oi, what happened" I asked Pablo curiously.
"Uh, guys... I just remembered something. There are... Rumors about this place, They say there's a serial killer around here." Pablo says nervously.
"What?" Ragner said.
"Seriously, it was in the news." Pablo replied quickly while shaking in fear.
"Argh, you and your news Pablo." I say while rolling my eyes. "Seriously you sound like a bad horror movie."
But as Ragnar got busy checking under the hood, he suddenly disappeared. Panic set in quickly.
"Where...where is he? This isn't funny man!" Pablo yelling with a shaking voice.
I attempted to calm him down, but before I could think of what to do, a shrill scream echoed from the nearby forest. Our blood ran cold.
"That's... that's Ragnar! We need to go!" I say with my eyes wide with terror.
Without another word, we sprinted towards the sound, deeper into the dark woods. Before we could make sense of what was happening, everything went black.