Strange Encounters

As I walked over this lonely stretch of road, I counted my steps and watched the moonlight flicker among the trees. A fog crept over the asphalt, stirred by the wind, making it hard to discern where I was going.
Where am I going? I don’t know. I’m just walking…
Maybe it was the night, but I felt adrift in the shadows with no direction, the smell of autumn’s decay around me, the hard gravel of the roadside under my feet. Nothing but a misty horizon of desolation as my destination.
Am I eternally doomed to walk this long road?
A sound. The humming motor of a car. I turned. Headlights illuminated the night.
They’re slowing down. Stopping.
The passenger side window whirred open, and a young man leaned over the seat and smiled at me. “You need a ride, pretty lady?”
I smiled back and nodded, so he popped open the car door. Slipping inside, I sank into the seat and closed the door. The car remained idling. The driver leaned in, too close, his hand on my leg.
“How did you get stranded out here? Not the place to be walking alone. Especially at night. It isn’t safe.” He smirked.
Scooting closer to the door, I replied, “I was left out here. Can we get going?”
“Oh, yeah, sure.” The car lurched forward, back on the road. “Good thing I came along, though.” He reached over and patted my knee, his fingers squeezing. “A sweet thing like you shouldn’t be neglected. You needed a big, strong man to rescue you.”
“From what?” I pushed his hand away. He moved it back to the steering wheel.
“Guess you’re not from around here. This is Applewood Road. Known for car crashes, disappearances, people wandering with no memory. Legend has it that a ghost haunts the area.” He chuckled. “Just superstition, of course, but this road isn’t always safe.”
I smiled again, this time with a hint of fang. “I’ve never seen a ghost.”
Grabbing the steering wheel, I yanked hard, simultaneously unlocking his seatbelt.
He screamed, “What the hell, bitch!” and cursed as the car careened into a ditch, crumpling the front end. The airbag prevented him from going through the shattered windshield, but he smashed his head against the driver’s door.
Unbuckling my seatbelt, I wriggled from underneath the deployed airbag and pulled his unconscious body closer. I sank my fangs deep into his neck and drank my fill, savouring the sweet nectar of his blood until his heartbeat slowed, then stopped. I shoved his corpse back into the driver’s seat and licked my lips. The final touch was collecting a shard of glass from the dash and shoving into his neck to cover my bite mark.
Clambering out of the ruined car, I dusted off my clothes and climbed back to the road. I glanced back at the wreck.
“You were right, this road is dangerous.”
I laughed and started the long walk back to town. I had to inform the sheriff the job was done, and he had another death to cover up.
And one less predator roaming Applewood Road.