Road Burn

Isaac watched the flames in hope they would comfort his soul. He had been sitting at this side campfire away from the rest of the party for twenty minutes. One full plate of dips and another of apple cider donuts sat untouched beside him on the haybale. The wind picked up, scattering sparks toward him, but he didn’t make any effort to move or swat them away. He just continued to stare at the fire and sighed.

            “Mind if I join you?” said a friendly female voice. He looked and saw Emily Parson. She was one of his fellow chess team members from school. He even thought she could beat him. The day they practiced against each other, she developed a head cold and looked to be off her usual game.

            “Yeah sure” he said with a sigh. She sat down next to the plate of donuts and snatched one of the off the plate.

            “They’re launching pumpkins right now into the field. Man, Mr. Vreeland must have put in a couple days to build that catapult, you really ought to see it.”

            “Yeah, I saw it when I came in.”

            “What’s the matter? You were on top of the world when we left school today.”

            “I talked with Kathryn.”

            “You didn’t”

            “Yes I did. Anyone in my shoes would have taken his shot if he had the signs she was giving me.”

            “Isaac, she asked to be your partner in chemistry once and you let that go to your head fast. She probably was struggling and needed to get a good grade on a lab.”

            “Well, what about when she sat by me at lunch?”

            “While you were picking your jaw off the ground, I noticed she gave a quick glance over at Brandon Hinkel; he got red and looked away in a huff.”

            “So?”

            “So, that means they are only having a fight and she was trying to make him jealous, and you were the instrument. I thought you were supposed to be the captain of the chess team with that brain of yours.”

That last part she said more in a joking manner trying to goat him, but he just turned back to the fire. She took a bite of the donut then said, “Why would you want to be with a stiff like her anyway? I get she’s pretty but why risk Brandon throwing you in a locker or some other prank?”

“I don’t know. Ever since coming up from Arizona, everything is still new. I figured I could change my own path, not travel down the road everyone expects me to go down. If I dated someone like her, then I would be someone.”

“And to us non-jocks and non-cheerleaders, you are a nobody?”

“Look around Emily! This is the first party we’ve been invited to this year and the semester is half way over. We got invited because the posters were all over the school. Only someone who couldn’t read wouldn’t be invited. I just want for once to be invited by people that really matter.”

That last sentence hung in the air as the smoke wafted into the night sky. Isaac’s eyes widened, and his hand went to his mouth. “Emily, I..I didn’t mean that I…”

She got up from her seat next to him, “No I get it, no one likes to sit with a nobody.” She handed him a white knight chess piece, “You dropped your lucky charm, maybe it will help you find some new friends,” and walked off toward the party.

“Emily! I’m sorry…” he got up and began to walk after her. She dismissed him with a wave of her arm, not looking back. Instead of walking towards her, he saw a group of people gathered around a fire a little bigger than where he sat before. The quick flicker of light showed Katheryn’s face. Even though their conversation set him straight before the party, a small glimmer of hope resided in him. He overheard someone telling a ghost story. Urban legends and true crime podcasts were a hobby of Issac’s. He researched the Michigan Dogman and the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald upon his arrival in Northern Michigan. He quickly searched through his memory for any creepy stories and sat down by the fire.

Across from Isaac, Brandon Hinkel said, “I got one for you all. Last Halloween, I was driving home from an away game when another set of headlights raced up on me. They glowed red, and I could smell burning rubber and smoke. I sped up a little, but this guy kept riding my bumper. Finally, he pulled up next to me, and it was Hickory Henry.”

Hickory Henry was an unfortunate blot on the town of Timber Hollow, Michigan. On October 31st, 1973. Henry MacMillian had an accident on the backroads going toward the Cedar County Bridge. It was said he was fleeing from the cops. While he was a star on the football team, he often took jokes too far. After winning games, he would proceed to egg the other team's bus, even convincing a teammate or two to join him. But he was always at the center of it. After the football team won on October 31st, he had some more sinister plans. The police believed he had downed a few bottles of beer that were found in the school parking lot after the event. He drove out and found the other team's bus stopped at a Big Boy in town. Instead of egging this bus, he launched two liquor bottles with rags lit into the bus. It instantly caught fire, and within minutes, the bus was an inferno. Henry tore off in his 1968 Mustang as the fire department and police arrived.

Henry led the police on a high-speed chase through the countryside. Every so often, he would light a bottle and toss it back like a demonic version of Mario Kart. The police clocked him reaching upwards of 80mph around the winding turns. Right as they were about to call off the pursuit, hoping it would defuse the situation, the police saw the roof of Henry’s mustang sheer off by a large Hickory branch that had partially fallen over the road. The black mustang pitched and veered off the road, crashing into a cluster of trees right before the county bridge. Either by the booze or the engine itself, the car burst into a fireball. When the officers approached the car to see if Henry could be saved, they saw a grisly sight. Not only had the Hickory branch taken the roof of his car off, but a headless corpse sat engulfed in flames, still clutching the wheel.

The town was shaken up for the next few years. But after Henry’s parents moved away, things seemed to return to normal. But on the 5th anniversary of the event, a Semi-truck driver swore he was nearly run off the road by a charred black mustang with the roof torn off, and a headless driver wearing a varsity jacket. Every year since then, someone would claim to have seen Hickory Henry on Halloween.

Brandon continued, “…so I yelled to Henry, ‘Wanna race?’ and gave it a little rev of my engine. The pumpkin head nodded, and we took off. His car, even though it was charred, still moved like a sombitch. But I got across the county bridge by the church, and when I looked back, he was gone!”

The group erupted with laughs and jeering objections. Some even said Brandon must have been hitting the hard apple cider rather than the regular stuff. He responded, “Hey, if you don’t believe me, who dares to go for a ride with me or race me from here to the church?” At this challenge, everyone grew silent, except one.

“I’ll take that bet.” The occupants turned and looked at Isaac. “I’ll race you from here to the church.” Isaac thought he saw Kathryn briefly give a look of admiration at his answer of the challenge.

Brandon laughed, “Ok, Isaac, I could beat your old Chevy truck by simply running.”

“That is if you really did encounter Hickory Henry and you won’t chicken out of your own challenge.”

Brandon’s smile broke for a moment, and he knew Isaac had seen it. He laughed dryly, “Alright then, let's do it.”

The two vehicles stood idling in the road. Their headlights illuminated the forest road beyond them. The trees themselves looked like giant spectators, leaning over another to get a better look. The exhaust from both cars contributed to the light mist that began to settle on the country road.

Isaac looked over at Brandon, who revved the engine of his Dodge Challenger and smiled back at him. He yelled, “First to the bridge and back wins.” The parties' occupants now gathered behind and alongside the cars, cheering and shouting the countdown. Isaac looked over and saw Emily. She had a downcast look on her face. When their eyes met, she gave a slow shake of her head.

3…2…1…

With a screech then a roar, both vehicles sped off. The air wafted the stench of burnt rubber and exhaust into the night. Of course, Brandon’s vehicle covered 60ft by the time Isaac’s covered 30ft. But his 1983 Chevy did its best to ride the Challenger’s tailpipe. Isaac continued to press the gas harder on the straightaways. But even on the sharp turns, he would lose any ground he might have covered, as Brandon's car zipped around with no issue. He watched in dismay as the car sped out of sight around a turn. As he turned the corner, he braced himself to see a set of disappearing taillights.

The road was empty. A long hallway lined with trees on either side welcomed the late arrival. He debated pressing the gas hard again to see if he could catch a glimpse of Brandon’s taillights up ahead, but defeat finally took hold of his soul. He continued his speed as he drove through a wall of mist. His thoughts went first to Kathryn, how he wouldn’t live this down, as everyone would be watching and laughing as he rolled back to the party. Then he remembered Emily, how he had offended his only friend at the party. Maybe he should just go home and hope the weekend would ease some of the embarrassment by Monday.

These thoughts ran through his head, when a pair of headlights turned on behind him. He looked through the rear-view mirror. The lights crept closer. His first reaction was, “Did Brandon make a wrong turn? And now I’m in the lead?!” Isaac’s heart raced. Maybe there was a chance he could win, and he wouldn’t be a laughingstock. He could win Kathryn over and be someone. The headlights sped up now, closing in on Isaac’s car. In renewed vigor, he hit the gas, burping a cloud of exhaust and sending his engine into overdrive. He crested the hilltop, which showed a view of winding switchback roads going down the valley. At the bottom lay a straightaway, then the county bridge and the church! As Isaac’s headlights illuminated the night, another pair of headlights pulled up next to him, giving a red hue to the light cast before him.

It was not Brandon. Beside him rode a black mustang, chard, smoking, with the top ripped off. The driver wore a singed black and yellow varsity jacket. On his shoulders was a jack-o-lantern, which turned toward Isaac. The instant it locked eyes with him, the pumpkin burst into flames. Isaac gasped as the pumpkin head was lifted off the shoulders and hurled toward him. He hit the gas enough for the fire projectile to miss the window and land in his truck bed, catching alight. He barreled down the winding labyrinth of switchback turns of the road. He held his breath each time he would have to apply the brakes on turns to avoid rolling off the road, knowing it decreased his lead by seconds. He felt a concussion from behind as he saw through the flames the driver with another flaming pumpkin in hand. He gripped the wheel as he came on the last turn. As soon as he was clear, he slammed on the gas, fixated on the bridge and the white steeple beyond. He dared not look back to see how close Hickory Henry was on his tail. But he could hear the roar of the other car, and the hollowing, maniacal laughter from its driver.

With a loud bump, Isaac felt the rhythmic thumping welcome him and his car as they rolled over each plank on the bridge. Within seconds, he was on the other side under the moon’s glow, illuminating the white chapel’s parking lot. He turned his car to see if his pursuer was on his tail. He exhaled in relief as he saw the black mustang on the far side of the bridge. A cloud of white smoke billowed as the car circled in frustration, but did not cross the bridge.

Isaac took another breath and forced his hands to let go of the steering wheel as he watched Hickory Henry. By the third breath, his heart rate went down, and so did his fear. He was safe. He watched as the black mustang stopped spinning and sped off back toward the hill. Isaac opened his car door and stepped out. He took a deep breath of the cold Michigan air, and thought about how he would have a story and a half to best that Brandon Hinkel and maybe…

He heard the spirit engine roar in the distance. He looked further up the hill to watch Hickory Henry’s winding retreat, but after a few seconds, he didn’t see it emerge from the switchback.

The roar bellowed again in the night, this time closer.

Isaac looked further up to see if he had missed the car's ascent. Nothing. He looked back down to where the switchback and the straightaway meet and saw a pair of red headlights quickly appear around the corner, then race down the road. They were heading back toward him.

Isaac instantly began to shake and sweat. He heard the clink of his keys hitting the asphalt. He scraped them up from the road. He looked up and saw the mustang had cleared the distance from the turn to the bridge with breakneck speed. He saw the mustang hit the bump at the start of the bridge and was propelled through the air. Time slowed down as Isaac watched in horror as the mustang flew through the tunnel bridge. Its driver heaved up and with its right arm cocked with a fiery jack-o-lantern. Isaac watched the pumpkin leave Hickory Henry’s hand and travel closer until he was eye to eye with the jack-o-lantern. The pumpkin collided with his face, and before all went black, there was a feeling of the world being tipped up and ended.

When Monday arrived, and Isaac did not show up for classes, a search party had been organized. Brandon Hinkel was questioned, but was ruled out. He had turned off the road twenty seconds into the race and driven back to the party where they would jeer Isaac’s return. A resident who lives along the stretch of road told police he had seen Isaac’s truck climb the hill, but it was not racing a blue challenger, but a black mustang. While police dismissed the second driver, they cleared Brandon of any wrongdoing.

The search party, when they got to the church with the white steeple, found a couple of oddities. Two sets of burnt-out tire marks, a white knight's chess piece, and remains of a broken pumpkin. Many people have come up with their own theories of Isaac’s disappearance. Some say he left for Arizona without telling anyone and stayed. He had no family in Michigan, but did in Arizona. Some say he enlisted in the Navy. One resident swore he saw Isaac at West Pointe graduation. But in the halls of Timber Hollow High, many students believe he was one of the few who encountered Hickory Henry but didn’t live to tell the tale.

The End