Post by AeroMess on Oct 1, 2006 22:14:23 GMT -5
This isn't the best story I ever wrote, but you all can read it anyway!
Night Ride
disclaimer: This story is totally fictitious. I do not know the Most Haunted Team or Derek Acorah and have no right to write about them. I am merely a fan. The only characters I have a right to are Remy Collier, Evelyn Spencer, Uncle Rudolph, and the spirit Timothy. These characters are my own invention. I also do not mean to imply that I think Derek would or should divorce Gwen. That part of the story is just "poetic license"!
The white rental van pulled up in front of the secluded old house and rolled to a stop with a flash of late afternoon sun bouncing off the windshield. The sliding door on its side flew open and out jumped Karl Beattie onto the graveled driveway. Stretching the effects of the long ride out of his muscles, he gazed up at the house. The structure didn't seem particularly foreboding. It wasn't old by Karl's standards, although Americans might have considered it to be rather antiquated. He wondered whether this would prove to be a good place to film an episode of Most Haunted after all as he glanced back at the van in time to see Stuart Torevell get out of the driver's side. At the same time Karl's wife, Yvette Fielding stepped out of the passenger side door..
"It wasn't such a bad trip, was it?" Yvette asked him, coming close to him and taking his arm.
"No, not at all," he replied as he watched Stuart come around the front of the van and join them. "Actually, I think we're here early, aren't we, Stu?"
Stuart looked a little embarrassed, "Well, I haven't driven in the U.S. very often," he told them, "I wanted to make sure we weren't late! I guess we should have stayed overnight at the nearest town."
"It doesn't matter anyway," Yvette told him. "Let's see if the owner is here."
The trio walked across the stone walkway, between two patches of overgrown grass to the front door of the house and Karl took the initiative and rapped sharply on the door three times. They waited for a minute, listening, but no sound came from the inside and no one answered. Karl tried one more time, with the same results.
"I guess we are too early, then," Stuart sighed and they walked back out to the van. "At least we can get the equipment unloaded," he said as he opened the double doors at the back of the van. He began taking out the delicate electronic paraphernalia and stacking it carefully next to the van. Karl and Yvette both started to help, when the sound of another vehicle was heard coming up the wooded road.
"Must be Derek," Karl said, and as the dark green rental car pulled up and stopped near the van, Derek Acorah did indeed step out of the passenger side. He looked over the top of the car at Karl and gave a quick wave. Then Karl raised an eyebrow as the driver's side door opened and a pair of high heeled boots appeared, followed by a pair of shapely legs in snug black pants. The Most Haunted team's fashion consultant, Remy Collier got out of the car and moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and smiled at him. Karl merely nodded to her, wishing as he did more and more often lately, that Yvette hadn't asked him to hire Remy. Karl was very protective of the working relationships among his crew and worried that the young woman's flirtatious ways would disrupt it. Of course it was true that lately she seemed to have given up flirting with every young man around her. Karl wasn't quite sure what had caused the change in Remy, but it would seem she had her eye on one man only. And recently, it seemed that Derek and Remy were always together. Well, even if Remy had fallen for him, Karl doubted that Derek would ever take advantage of it. He was too much of an honorable gentleman to ever cheat on his wife. Although, having a much younger woman fall in love with you....any man might be tempted, even Derek. Especially since Remy looked the way she did. You had to admit it, she was beautiful with her long dark curls and eyes that sometimes looked blue and sometimes purple, fringed with long dark eyelashes. She had a terrific figure, too. Karl didn't think she was nearly as beautiful as his wife Yvette, but still.....He decided it would be a good idea to keep an eye on what was happening between Derek and Remy. It wouldn't do to have a personal attachment ruin the way the crew worked together.
The two of them walked over to the van and the group exchanged greetings.
"The owner's not here yet then?" Derek asked.
"Haven't seen a soul around here yet," Karl answered him.
Derek suddenly turned and gazed at the side of the house, as if he sensed someone being there, and sure enough, a few seconds later, a man came around the side of the house and walked up to them. He introduced himself as Timothy Spencer and began to shake hands with the Most Haunted Team, first Karl and Yvette, then Stu, Derek and finally Remy.
Remy reached for the man's handshake and when his hand touched hers, she almost shuddered. It felt horribly cold and clammy and she hurriedly let go. Timothy's dark stare met her violet colored eyes and he gave her a look that made her feel suddenly afraid, without really knowing why. She looked at the others to see if they had noticed anything, but got no indication from any of their expressions that they felt anything strange. She looked especially close at Derek. If anyone could sense something wrong, it would be him. But he was regarding this Timothy with his usual polite attitude.
"Sorry Evelyn isn't here yet," Timothy then told them, Evelyn Spencer was the woman with whom Karl had made arrangements to film inside the house. She had contacted him after getting his number from a mutual friend. She had recently inherited the old house from a distant relative who had passed away. Intending to make it her home, she had moved in, only to flee 5 days later in terror. Karl hadn't heard the entire story yet, but she had told him enough to make him think the house might be an ideal place to begin a new series of episodes on location in America.
"No problem," Karl told him. "We were early getting here ourselves."
Karl, Yvette and Derek chatted with him for a few moments longer, while Stuart and Remy continued unloading and sorting the various pieces of equipment from the van. Remy kept glancing over to watch the others, still getting a bad feeling about Timothy, but not knowing why. When she saw him stare at her with his dark, bottomless eyes, the feeling turned to downright fear. She realized that, even though she had met him only moments before, she was afraid and repulsed by him, and the way he was looking at her, she knew he was aware of her feelings. His black eyes narrowed as he regarded her and she hurriedly went to the other side of the van, where she would be out of his sight.
Looking back at the others with a leering smile, Timothy said, "That's a very pretty girl you have working for you there. Does she have a boyfriend? His comments and the way he looked caused a stab of anger to go through Derek's heart, even though Remy wasn't really his to get angry over. Timothy turned to look at him as if he knew what Derek was feeling..
Karl was the one who answered, "Uh, no, I don't think so." Then to change the subject, he asked, "So, do you think Evelyn will be here soon? We'd really like to get started."
"I can't imagine what's holding her up," Timothy answered. "Hey, I was just out back in the old garage, working on my car," he said. "Are you interested in classic cars? Maybe you'd like to see her while you wait," he offered. "I've done a great job of restoring her, if I do say so myself."
Karl wasn't really that interested, but he didn't want to be rude either. "Sure," he said, "Would you like to come too, Yvie?" Yvette agreed to go with him, but the others said they would stay to finish unloading the equipment.
Timothy led them back behind the house, where a ramshackle old garage sat, looking as if it would fall down any minute. He opened the door and they could see the old car sitting inside the dark interior of the building.
"She's a real beauty," the man told them proudly as they walked into the garage. Karl could see the vehicle had been lovingly restored. He was by no means an authority on American cars, but by looking at it, he guessed it to be somewhere between forty and fifty years old, and yet it looked like it must have when it rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, wherever that was. Karl said some admiring words to Timothy and ran a hand over the smooth red paintjob. As soon as he touched the car, he got a funny feeling inside. He wanted to take a ride in this car, and very badly.
"If you have the time before you start filming, I'd be glad to take you for a spin in her," Timothy offered, and Karl accepted immediately.
"Do you want to come with us, darling?" he asked Yvette.
Yvette looked at her husband strangely. He'd never seemed interested in any kind of cars before, old or new. Why now? She just chalked it up to politeness and said she would go back out and help the others prepare for the show.
"Okay, hun!" Karl said and Timothy opened up the passenger side door for him, then walked around the front of the car to get in the driver's side. Yvette went back out the door and walked back around the house to the front, where the others were still unloading the van. She heard the motor of the car roar to life and then the tires crunching on the gravel drive. Karl and Timothy came into her sight again for a few moments before they rolled down the driveway to the road. She waved as they passed her and Karl smiled at her and waved back.
Derek looked up as the car went by. When he saw Karl inside it, he got a bad feeling that something was wrong and Karl shouldn't be going anywhere in that vehicle. But right at that moment, Remy caught a chance when Stu and Yvette were on the other side of the van and put her arms around him, snuggling up against his chest. He hugged her gently and was distracted long enough that when he looked again, the car was already gone down the road. He placed a kiss on her forehead and softly told her to stop before they were seen. They separated and Remy went back to unloading. Still, Derek couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that seeing Karl riding in that car had given him.
Fifteen minutes later, the van was unloaded and the four of them sat inside it, resting and waiting for Karl and Timothy to come back or Evelyn Spencer to arrive. Yvette heard the sound of a car coming down the road and stepped out of the van, hoping it was Karl returning. But the vehicle that pulled into the driveway was almost new and the person that stepped out was a woman who must surely be Evelyn. Yvette came forward with her hand extended, and after she had introduced herself and they had shaken hands, she introduced Stuart, Derek and Remy, who by that time were also out of the van. Evelyn seemed surprised and asked whether or not Karl was with them.
"Oh, yes," Yvette told her, "he's with us. While we were waiting for you, your husband took him for a ride in the old car."
Evelyn got a strange look on her face. "My husband? I'm not married." she stated.
"Excuse me," Yvette said, "I guess I'm a little confused. When he introduced himself as Timothy Spencer, I just assumed he was your husband. He must be another relative of yours, then?"
"No, there are no relatives of mine living around here. Are you sure he said his last name was Spencer?"
Yvette answered, "I thought that was what he said. I could have been wrong, I guess." She asked the others, but they all thought Timothy had said his last name was Spencer also.
"That is certainly strange," Evelyn said, "But I guess there could be some other families named Spencer around here. I really didn't stay here long enough to meet any of my neighbors. Are you ready to go inside?"
Yvette would have preferred to wait for Karl, but she supposed they could at least go inside and get everything set up, so she told Evelyn yes. They carried the equipment in, after Evelyn had unlocked the door and opened it. Yvette noticed that Evelyn didn't step through the door while they were going in and out, she just waited until they were finished and they could all go in together. She realized then how frightened the other woman was of this place. By the time everything was inside and Stu and Remy were busy setting up, Karl had been gone about 45 minutes and Yvette was beginning to worry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For the first few minutes, Karl had just sat back against the plush upholstery of the car watching the scenery of the wooded area go by. It was nice doing this actually. He sometimes felt stressed, being in charge of production of Most Haunted, and this ride was very relaxing. It gave him a good chance to view the American countryside. But after a while he began to think he was being too quiet, so he tried to make conversation with Timothy.
"It's a lovely vehicle, really," he said to the man, "Did it take you long to restore?"
"No." Timothy answered him shortly, the friendly manner he’d had earlier gone.
Karl tried again. "Have you owned it long?' Suddenly Karl noticed that beneath the nice car smells of leather and polish, there was another odor. One that wasn't so nice. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed again, trying to place what it was, but he couldn't be sure.
"Since it was new." Timothy said in answer to his question.
Karl laughed. "But it must be at least 50 years old. You couldn't possibly have had it....since...it....was new....." His voice trailed off and the smell assaulted him again and this time he was able to identify it. It was a smell of death and decay. It reminded him of the time, when he was a boy, that a neighbor had passed away down the street. The body of the elderly woman hadn't been found for a few days and when someone finally noticed she was missing and called the police, all the neighborhood children had stood in the front garden watching. The police had knocked down the door and the smell that had emanated from that house was the same as what he was smelling in this car. Karl began to feel nervous, so he turned his head to look at the driver and said, "I need to be getting back now. I have to get the others started filming the show." He reached for the handle to roll the window down for some fresh air.
"Don't!" Timothy turned to look at him and Karl gasped. The man didn't look the same as he had back at the house. He had aged rapidly and as Karl watched him, he continued to get older by the minute. "You won't be going back, at least not right away." Timothy's voice sounded strange, raspy, as if he was having trouble speaking at all.
"What do you want with me?" Karl asked the man. He was worried. Was this another skeptic out to prove Most Haunted was a hoax? Karl had been plagued with people like this back home, but he had never expected it here in the United States.
"It's not you I want." Timothy answered. "The girl, I want the girl." He continued to age rapidly and Karl suddenly knew without a doubt that this was not a living human being he was dealing with.
"What girl?" he asked, trying to hide the fear he was so unaccustomed to feeling. "I don't know what you mean."
Timothy hoarsely croaked an answer, "That one who works for you. The one who calls herself Remy." Bits of hair and skin were dropping off of him by this time, littering the seat. Karl had never been one that scared easily, but nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He was beginning to be terrified.
"Why do you want Remy? You don't know her. You've never seen her before this day."
"I chose her as soon as I saw her. You know what I want her for." The corpse, if that's what it was chuckled in a lecherous way. Karl had a sudden vision of Remy screaming as she was held down and raped by this hideous, decomposing THING that was now sitting next to him, driving him who knows where in this ancient car. And when he looked back at Timothy, and saw a white piece of bone protruding out of the decomposing skin, he panicked.
He turned to the door of the car, intending to open it and leap out, no matter how fast they were traveling. But as he reached for the handle, the door lock suddenly snapped down by itself. He grabbed the handle and shook it up and down, but it wouldn't open. He turned back toward the driver to see that he had further decomposed and now was looking mostly skeletal. The bones of his hands on the steering wheel rattled as he continued to drive the car through the secluded woods. The legs of his trousers were almost flat against the seat of the car because there was nothing inside but bone. Timothy turned to Karl and began to laugh, a high pitched insane sounding laughter. There were no eyes left in his skeleton's skull and Karl saw there were maggots crawling in one of the sockets.
"All I want is for you to do is pack up your crew, leave the house and take Evelyn with you. Make up an excuse to leave Remy behind. Tie her up, knock her out, what ever you have to do. Then leave her there for me and I will take care of the rest. I want her so bad, I cant wait to have her." The evil corpse (ghost?) smiled in anticipation of what he was planning to do to Remy, showing rotten teeth in his grinning skull.
Karl yelled, "No! I can't do that to Remy! She's a member of my crew and one of my wife's best friends. I will not let you do anything to hurt her."
"Then we'll just keep riding until you change your mind," Timothy told him.
Karl faded in and out of consciousness during the long night's ride in the death car. Sometimes Timothy would look young and strong and other times there was just a skeleton at the wheel of the old vehicle. Karl had never been so terrified in his entire life. There was no way to get out of the car and all he could do was sit there and listen to the radio which was blaring out music from the 1950's. Karl recognized Elvis Presley, one of his favorites, singing "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time", and then lost consciousness again.
Night Ride
disclaimer: This story is totally fictitious. I do not know the Most Haunted Team or Derek Acorah and have no right to write about them. I am merely a fan. The only characters I have a right to are Remy Collier, Evelyn Spencer, Uncle Rudolph, and the spirit Timothy. These characters are my own invention. I also do not mean to imply that I think Derek would or should divorce Gwen. That part of the story is just "poetic license"!
The white rental van pulled up in front of the secluded old house and rolled to a stop with a flash of late afternoon sun bouncing off the windshield. The sliding door on its side flew open and out jumped Karl Beattie onto the graveled driveway. Stretching the effects of the long ride out of his muscles, he gazed up at the house. The structure didn't seem particularly foreboding. It wasn't old by Karl's standards, although Americans might have considered it to be rather antiquated. He wondered whether this would prove to be a good place to film an episode of Most Haunted after all as he glanced back at the van in time to see Stuart Torevell get out of the driver's side. At the same time Karl's wife, Yvette Fielding stepped out of the passenger side door..
"It wasn't such a bad trip, was it?" Yvette asked him, coming close to him and taking his arm.
"No, not at all," he replied as he watched Stuart come around the front of the van and join them. "Actually, I think we're here early, aren't we, Stu?"
Stuart looked a little embarrassed, "Well, I haven't driven in the U.S. very often," he told them, "I wanted to make sure we weren't late! I guess we should have stayed overnight at the nearest town."
"It doesn't matter anyway," Yvette told him. "Let's see if the owner is here."
The trio walked across the stone walkway, between two patches of overgrown grass to the front door of the house and Karl took the initiative and rapped sharply on the door three times. They waited for a minute, listening, but no sound came from the inside and no one answered. Karl tried one more time, with the same results.
"I guess we are too early, then," Stuart sighed and they walked back out to the van. "At least we can get the equipment unloaded," he said as he opened the double doors at the back of the van. He began taking out the delicate electronic paraphernalia and stacking it carefully next to the van. Karl and Yvette both started to help, when the sound of another vehicle was heard coming up the wooded road.
"Must be Derek," Karl said, and as the dark green rental car pulled up and stopped near the van, Derek Acorah did indeed step out of the passenger side. He looked over the top of the car at Karl and gave a quick wave. Then Karl raised an eyebrow as the driver's side door opened and a pair of high heeled boots appeared, followed by a pair of shapely legs in snug black pants. The Most Haunted team's fashion consultant, Remy Collier got out of the car and moved her sunglasses to the top of her head and smiled at him. Karl merely nodded to her, wishing as he did more and more often lately, that Yvette hadn't asked him to hire Remy. Karl was very protective of the working relationships among his crew and worried that the young woman's flirtatious ways would disrupt it. Of course it was true that lately she seemed to have given up flirting with every young man around her. Karl wasn't quite sure what had caused the change in Remy, but it would seem she had her eye on one man only. And recently, it seemed that Derek and Remy were always together. Well, even if Remy had fallen for him, Karl doubted that Derek would ever take advantage of it. He was too much of an honorable gentleman to ever cheat on his wife. Although, having a much younger woman fall in love with you....any man might be tempted, even Derek. Especially since Remy looked the way she did. You had to admit it, she was beautiful with her long dark curls and eyes that sometimes looked blue and sometimes purple, fringed with long dark eyelashes. She had a terrific figure, too. Karl didn't think she was nearly as beautiful as his wife Yvette, but still.....He decided it would be a good idea to keep an eye on what was happening between Derek and Remy. It wouldn't do to have a personal attachment ruin the way the crew worked together.
The two of them walked over to the van and the group exchanged greetings.
"The owner's not here yet then?" Derek asked.
"Haven't seen a soul around here yet," Karl answered him.
Derek suddenly turned and gazed at the side of the house, as if he sensed someone being there, and sure enough, a few seconds later, a man came around the side of the house and walked up to them. He introduced himself as Timothy Spencer and began to shake hands with the Most Haunted Team, first Karl and Yvette, then Stu, Derek and finally Remy.
Remy reached for the man's handshake and when his hand touched hers, she almost shuddered. It felt horribly cold and clammy and she hurriedly let go. Timothy's dark stare met her violet colored eyes and he gave her a look that made her feel suddenly afraid, without really knowing why. She looked at the others to see if they had noticed anything, but got no indication from any of their expressions that they felt anything strange. She looked especially close at Derek. If anyone could sense something wrong, it would be him. But he was regarding this Timothy with his usual polite attitude.
"Sorry Evelyn isn't here yet," Timothy then told them, Evelyn Spencer was the woman with whom Karl had made arrangements to film inside the house. She had contacted him after getting his number from a mutual friend. She had recently inherited the old house from a distant relative who had passed away. Intending to make it her home, she had moved in, only to flee 5 days later in terror. Karl hadn't heard the entire story yet, but she had told him enough to make him think the house might be an ideal place to begin a new series of episodes on location in America.
"No problem," Karl told him. "We were early getting here ourselves."
Karl, Yvette and Derek chatted with him for a few moments longer, while Stuart and Remy continued unloading and sorting the various pieces of equipment from the van. Remy kept glancing over to watch the others, still getting a bad feeling about Timothy, but not knowing why. When she saw him stare at her with his dark, bottomless eyes, the feeling turned to downright fear. She realized that, even though she had met him only moments before, she was afraid and repulsed by him, and the way he was looking at her, she knew he was aware of her feelings. His black eyes narrowed as he regarded her and she hurriedly went to the other side of the van, where she would be out of his sight.
Looking back at the others with a leering smile, Timothy said, "That's a very pretty girl you have working for you there. Does she have a boyfriend? His comments and the way he looked caused a stab of anger to go through Derek's heart, even though Remy wasn't really his to get angry over. Timothy turned to look at him as if he knew what Derek was feeling..
Karl was the one who answered, "Uh, no, I don't think so." Then to change the subject, he asked, "So, do you think Evelyn will be here soon? We'd really like to get started."
"I can't imagine what's holding her up," Timothy answered. "Hey, I was just out back in the old garage, working on my car," he said. "Are you interested in classic cars? Maybe you'd like to see her while you wait," he offered. "I've done a great job of restoring her, if I do say so myself."
Karl wasn't really that interested, but he didn't want to be rude either. "Sure," he said, "Would you like to come too, Yvie?" Yvette agreed to go with him, but the others said they would stay to finish unloading the equipment.
Timothy led them back behind the house, where a ramshackle old garage sat, looking as if it would fall down any minute. He opened the door and they could see the old car sitting inside the dark interior of the building.
"She's a real beauty," the man told them proudly as they walked into the garage. Karl could see the vehicle had been lovingly restored. He was by no means an authority on American cars, but by looking at it, he guessed it to be somewhere between forty and fifty years old, and yet it looked like it must have when it rolled off the assembly line in Detroit, wherever that was. Karl said some admiring words to Timothy and ran a hand over the smooth red paintjob. As soon as he touched the car, he got a funny feeling inside. He wanted to take a ride in this car, and very badly.
"If you have the time before you start filming, I'd be glad to take you for a spin in her," Timothy offered, and Karl accepted immediately.
"Do you want to come with us, darling?" he asked Yvette.
Yvette looked at her husband strangely. He'd never seemed interested in any kind of cars before, old or new. Why now? She just chalked it up to politeness and said she would go back out and help the others prepare for the show.
"Okay, hun!" Karl said and Timothy opened up the passenger side door for him, then walked around the front of the car to get in the driver's side. Yvette went back out the door and walked back around the house to the front, where the others were still unloading the van. She heard the motor of the car roar to life and then the tires crunching on the gravel drive. Karl and Timothy came into her sight again for a few moments before they rolled down the driveway to the road. She waved as they passed her and Karl smiled at her and waved back.
Derek looked up as the car went by. When he saw Karl inside it, he got a bad feeling that something was wrong and Karl shouldn't be going anywhere in that vehicle. But right at that moment, Remy caught a chance when Stu and Yvette were on the other side of the van and put her arms around him, snuggling up against his chest. He hugged her gently and was distracted long enough that when he looked again, the car was already gone down the road. He placed a kiss on her forehead and softly told her to stop before they were seen. They separated and Remy went back to unloading. Still, Derek couldn't shake the uneasy feeling that seeing Karl riding in that car had given him.
Fifteen minutes later, the van was unloaded and the four of them sat inside it, resting and waiting for Karl and Timothy to come back or Evelyn Spencer to arrive. Yvette heard the sound of a car coming down the road and stepped out of the van, hoping it was Karl returning. But the vehicle that pulled into the driveway was almost new and the person that stepped out was a woman who must surely be Evelyn. Yvette came forward with her hand extended, and after she had introduced herself and they had shaken hands, she introduced Stuart, Derek and Remy, who by that time were also out of the van. Evelyn seemed surprised and asked whether or not Karl was with them.
"Oh, yes," Yvette told her, "he's with us. While we were waiting for you, your husband took him for a ride in the old car."
Evelyn got a strange look on her face. "My husband? I'm not married." she stated.
"Excuse me," Yvette said, "I guess I'm a little confused. When he introduced himself as Timothy Spencer, I just assumed he was your husband. He must be another relative of yours, then?"
"No, there are no relatives of mine living around here. Are you sure he said his last name was Spencer?"
Yvette answered, "I thought that was what he said. I could have been wrong, I guess." She asked the others, but they all thought Timothy had said his last name was Spencer also.
"That is certainly strange," Evelyn said, "But I guess there could be some other families named Spencer around here. I really didn't stay here long enough to meet any of my neighbors. Are you ready to go inside?"
Yvette would have preferred to wait for Karl, but she supposed they could at least go inside and get everything set up, so she told Evelyn yes. They carried the equipment in, after Evelyn had unlocked the door and opened it. Yvette noticed that Evelyn didn't step through the door while they were going in and out, she just waited until they were finished and they could all go in together. She realized then how frightened the other woman was of this place. By the time everything was inside and Stu and Remy were busy setting up, Karl had been gone about 45 minutes and Yvette was beginning to worry.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
For the first few minutes, Karl had just sat back against the plush upholstery of the car watching the scenery of the wooded area go by. It was nice doing this actually. He sometimes felt stressed, being in charge of production of Most Haunted, and this ride was very relaxing. It gave him a good chance to view the American countryside. But after a while he began to think he was being too quiet, so he tried to make conversation with Timothy.
"It's a lovely vehicle, really," he said to the man, "Did it take you long to restore?"
"No." Timothy answered him shortly, the friendly manner he’d had earlier gone.
Karl tried again. "Have you owned it long?' Suddenly Karl noticed that beneath the nice car smells of leather and polish, there was another odor. One that wasn't so nice. He wrinkled his nose and sniffed again, trying to place what it was, but he couldn't be sure.
"Since it was new." Timothy said in answer to his question.
Karl laughed. "But it must be at least 50 years old. You couldn't possibly have had it....since...it....was new....." His voice trailed off and the smell assaulted him again and this time he was able to identify it. It was a smell of death and decay. It reminded him of the time, when he was a boy, that a neighbor had passed away down the street. The body of the elderly woman hadn't been found for a few days and when someone finally noticed she was missing and called the police, all the neighborhood children had stood in the front garden watching. The police had knocked down the door and the smell that had emanated from that house was the same as what he was smelling in this car. Karl began to feel nervous, so he turned his head to look at the driver and said, "I need to be getting back now. I have to get the others started filming the show." He reached for the handle to roll the window down for some fresh air.
"Don't!" Timothy turned to look at him and Karl gasped. The man didn't look the same as he had back at the house. He had aged rapidly and as Karl watched him, he continued to get older by the minute. "You won't be going back, at least not right away." Timothy's voice sounded strange, raspy, as if he was having trouble speaking at all.
"What do you want with me?" Karl asked the man. He was worried. Was this another skeptic out to prove Most Haunted was a hoax? Karl had been plagued with people like this back home, but he had never expected it here in the United States.
"It's not you I want." Timothy answered. "The girl, I want the girl." He continued to age rapidly and Karl suddenly knew without a doubt that this was not a living human being he was dealing with.
"What girl?" he asked, trying to hide the fear he was so unaccustomed to feeling. "I don't know what you mean."
Timothy hoarsely croaked an answer, "That one who works for you. The one who calls herself Remy." Bits of hair and skin were dropping off of him by this time, littering the seat. Karl had never been one that scared easily, but nothing like this had ever happened to him before. He was beginning to be terrified.
"Why do you want Remy? You don't know her. You've never seen her before this day."
"I chose her as soon as I saw her. You know what I want her for." The corpse, if that's what it was chuckled in a lecherous way. Karl had a sudden vision of Remy screaming as she was held down and raped by this hideous, decomposing THING that was now sitting next to him, driving him who knows where in this ancient car. And when he looked back at Timothy, and saw a white piece of bone protruding out of the decomposing skin, he panicked.
He turned to the door of the car, intending to open it and leap out, no matter how fast they were traveling. But as he reached for the handle, the door lock suddenly snapped down by itself. He grabbed the handle and shook it up and down, but it wouldn't open. He turned back toward the driver to see that he had further decomposed and now was looking mostly skeletal. The bones of his hands on the steering wheel rattled as he continued to drive the car through the secluded woods. The legs of his trousers were almost flat against the seat of the car because there was nothing inside but bone. Timothy turned to Karl and began to laugh, a high pitched insane sounding laughter. There were no eyes left in his skeleton's skull and Karl saw there were maggots crawling in one of the sockets.
"All I want is for you to do is pack up your crew, leave the house and take Evelyn with you. Make up an excuse to leave Remy behind. Tie her up, knock her out, what ever you have to do. Then leave her there for me and I will take care of the rest. I want her so bad, I cant wait to have her." The evil corpse (ghost?) smiled in anticipation of what he was planning to do to Remy, showing rotten teeth in his grinning skull.
Karl yelled, "No! I can't do that to Remy! She's a member of my crew and one of my wife's best friends. I will not let you do anything to hurt her."
"Then we'll just keep riding until you change your mind," Timothy told him.
Karl faded in and out of consciousness during the long night's ride in the death car. Sometimes Timothy would look young and strong and other times there was just a skeleton at the wheel of the old vehicle. Karl had never been so terrified in his entire life. There was no way to get out of the car and all he could do was sit there and listen to the radio which was blaring out music from the 1950's. Karl recognized Elvis Presley, one of his favorites, singing "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog, cryin' all the time", and then lost consciousness again.
