Nightmare Road - A Short Story [#28]

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            The road was pitch black as I drove down the empty highway at a steady pace. There wasn't a light source for miles, not even the moon. The only thing to distract me from the darkness of the night was the warm glow of my car's dashboard. It provided a small degree of comfort on the cold winter night.

            I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open. There wasn't a single sound to stimulate my senses. The night was silent, my car's speakers had failed and my phone was dead. The soft hum of my car's engine had become nothing more than a lullaby to my tired mind.

            I struggled to remain aware, fought to keep awake, but my eyes continued to drop. The more time passed the more the rings of darkness that surrounded my perception expanded. I pressed down on the gas, in the vain hope the increase in speed would invoke a sense of danger and adrenaline. Instead, the ring consumed my vision further, while my foot felt like a lead weight on the gas pedal.

            I needed to slow down and stop for the night, even if it meant a snooze on the side of the road. I reached my foot out for the brake, and pressed down with muscle memory, but found only air. I looked down confused. At my feet there was only a gas pedal, still pressed down as though it were held by an invisible weight. My foot was no longer on the accelerator, yet my car's speed increased further. I searched for the break, hoping my dulled mind was playing tricks on me, yet there was none to be found. I began to panic, the road was straight for now, but who knows how long before I would come to a sharp turn.

            Despite the horror of my situations my eyes refused to open and continued to close further. As I reached the crescendo of my panic, my eyes clamped shut and refused to move further. I wanted to scream, but my tired body could only croak out a groan. My vision was taken, my control was gone, my hands were sweaty and my heart was beating hard.

            I heard the screech of my wheels echo through the night as the car's speed increased more and more. My body betrayed me, my mind was spinning, the car careened out of my control. My sweaty hands began to slip from the wheel, my fingers so numb they could no longer move. I lost control, my mind sank into darkness as the car spun and crashed.

            As my mind emerged from the darkness my eyes finally opened again. I saw a pitch black road as I drove down an empty highway at a steady pace. Was it all a dream? Was I mad? Regardless I needed to stop and rest for the night. I reached my foot out for the brake, and pressed down with muscle memory, but found only air. My eyes clamped shut and again I wanted to scream.

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I hope you enjoyed my first horror story for my blog. I came up with concept months ago and forgot about it. You see, I made a whole list of short story publications I wanted to submit a story to, and drafted a concept for each one. However, this story got lost in the shuffle as I rushed to write some fantasy and sci-fi stories.
Speaking of horror stories, next month to celebrate October I have an extra-special sweet of horror stories planned. Look forward to "The Night of One Hundred Horrors" anthology, thirteen horror short stories posted over the course of one month. I'll be posting three stories a week for the entire month of October, plus a bonus story on Halloween.
Until then Read, Comment and Enjoy.