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Bitter Reckoning, Chapters 3
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“You have any bottled water?” she asked.
“Sure, let me get you one.” Bette reached out her hand. “But get inside now.”
Tina looked up at her, even taller now that she stood inside the RV. “I could swear I was awake. It was so real.”
“It’s okay.” Bette wiggled her fingers. “Let me help you up.”
“I’m sorry I woke you.”
“It’s fine.” Bette dropped her hand, apparently impatient with Tina’s stalling. She turned away from the door.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked.
Bette reemerged in the door frame, her shoulders drooping. “Tell me something.”
Tina held herself, shivering in the cold even with her coat and extra sweater on. “Okay.”
“Did Harlan tell you what happened to my last editor, to Alice?”
Tina glanced over at Harlan’s trailer. He’d told her not to talk about it. “Yes.”
Bette’s shoulders drooped even more. She covered her face with one hand and held herself against the door frame with the other.
“I’m sorry that happened to you,” Tina said trying to ease the awkward moment.
Bette dropped her hand. “To me?”
“Yeah, it must be a really hard thing. The betrayal of trust and everything.”
Bette’s face hardened. “Betrayal of trust? What exactly did Harlan tell you?”
Tina was at a disadvantage standing feet below Bette while her one socked foot began to tingle in the cold and her hands turned numb. She didn’t want to say the wrong thing, but she was clueless what that might be.
“He just said you two were involved and you had a fight and she got mad and drove off in one of your rigs with a bunch of expensive equipment.”
“And?”
Tina shrugged. “And she drove it back to LA and pawned the stuff.”
Bette scoffed, shook her head. She turned away from the door again, and Tina thought she’d gone back to bed. Apparently, she’d said the wrong thing. She glared over at Harlan’s trailer, angry at him for putting her in this position. She grabbed hold of the door frame and began to lift herself up. But just as she did, she caught a whiff of something pungent, a faint, rotting smell like flesh decomposing on the bone.
Suddenly, Bette was there and had her arm and was hoisting her inside. “You should try and get some more sleep.”
Tina gasped as Bette’s steely grip pulled her up. She faltered, being in only one boot, and fell against Bette, into her arms. She shrunk away embarrassed.
“I’m sorry about Alice,” Tina said. “He told me you’re still upset, that I shouldn’t mention her.”
Bette didn’t reply. Instead, she stored her flashlight and sat down on the bed bringing her basketball into her lap and hugging it. Her expression was unreadable.
To Tina, she looked angry, maybe guilty. As she waited for Bette to speak, she sat, too, and pulled off her other boot.
Finally, after a heavy pause, filled with the silence of the vast land around them, punctuated only by the soft bleating of sheep, a whistle of wind in the eaves of the buildings, Bette spoke. Her voice was flat, emotionless.
“Alice didn’t make it LA. She may have planned on it, but she never made it.” She pressed her forehead against the basketball in her lap. “Somehow she drove off the road, jumped a guardrail.” He voice caught. “She was killed in the crash.”
Tina covered her mouth. “Oh my God, Bette, I’m so sorry. He didn’t tell me that.”
Bette shrugged, slammed her ball down on its pillow, and switched off the light. “It’s not their way to speak of the dead,” she said. Then she lay down and rolled way, her back to Tina.
Tina stared at her shape, thought of how tall Bette had just stood, how strong her grip had been. Yet now, she seemed deflated, small and weak somehow with her grief.
This was Harlan’s fault, she thought. She hadn’t meant for this Alice person to come up, and she cursed herself and Harlan both. He’d always done this to her, always managed to put her in these awkward positions. And now she felt terrible and embarrassed, but she didn’t know what to do to make it better.
Frustrated and confused both over her weird waking dream and this revelation, she roughly plumped her pillow and readjusted her blankets. Before she lay back completely, however, she glanced through the windshield and noticed the light was on in Harlan’s trailer.
TBC
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Thanks for all the welcome backs and comments on the new story! It’s good to be missed!
For those of you wondering, here is a link to a story about a real haunted highway, not the 89 I use in my story, that I have drawn inspiration from.
http://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/01/the-highway-to-hell/
Let me know how you rate the “scare factor” of the story. I’m curious if it’s just me who gets weirded out by reading this or if it has the same effect on others.
Thanks again!
Thanks for the new Chapter BM.
Enjoyed it, despite feeling cold and switching every light on in the house on going to bed.
I love reading your stories despite being scared and, yes I get weirded out when I’m reading.
Looking forward to the relationship between Bette and Tina in this story and, in a weird way, the cliffhangers.
SG
I’m working on that slow build up. Let the “moment” mean something when it happens!!
Thanks for the great chapter!
I like first T&B meeting and conversation between them, and part with shadow was really exciting.
But i feel strange about Harlan – not about his crash on Tina, but something differnt in him.
Hi BM:
Wonderful chapter, really scary, chilling, and intriguing; the attitude of Bette’s crew toward Tina is a little suspicious for me, especially Harlan, like he is trying to get Tina, even knowing she is a lesbian; first it was the ‘green tea’ and she getting sleepy, then, he lied to Tina telling that Bette asked for her as the new editor, that the crew and family were waiting for her, not telling the complete story about Bette’s ex, like he is setting her up; but, I understand very well the apprehension of Kit.
I like the way Bette treats Tina, and how this one strives to get Bette’s trust and friendship.
But I’m not very clear, with all the hubbub in the RV, when Tina heard the noise and the entity trying to come in, why Bette didn’t wake up? Was all in Tina’s imagination? Was she being played by the entity, hallucinating perhaps?
Thank you very much for this terrific and at the same time frightening chapter; I’ll wait eagerly for the next one.
Thanks
P
Love it! I’m hooked love the thrill and mystery already…has a feel between The Village and Thunderheart… different I like it..and can’t wait to see Beete and Tina get closer… but poor Alice..or was it?..Thank you welcome back.
Maybe it’s because of the flu and my brain works a bit slower, but for someone who already got nightmares from the Hulk as a child, I think the horror till now isn’t scary enough to give me nightmares. Please keep it that way.
I don’t trust Harlan, what is his motive to lie to Tina?
I like the story so far.
Thank you for the update!
The Groves scared the shite out of me and so if this is more scary then I’ll know what I’m in for. However as of now not so scary in my opinion. For me The Groves setting was just really really eerie and the romance between tibette was amazing, really love that story! Hoping for a small rerun of sorts in this story :)
Kit said to Kody . “Something was after her, Joe. She was seeing things in the ruins. At first, I thought she was hallucinating because she was drinking the whole time we were up there.Alice…'” So I think Alice was seeing things like Tina’s seeing now, Bette didn’t believe Alice & because of that they were arguing back then & Alice took off because she was scared. Poor Alice!.
Very good, Dzungvo!
Yep, you gotta pay attention to the clues dropped in the earlier chapters to really anticipate where this is headed. Thanks for reading!
Hi BenMac,
It’s good to have you back! I love this story, can’t wait for the next update.
Those red high tops made me picture Ronald McDonald shoes for some reason. LOL
Harlan seems to be getting off on trying to humiliate Tina in some way, hence the weirdness of him not being honest about getting her work out there. Whatever happened in the past between them appears to have given Harlan a bit of a chip on his shoulder that gives off a dish-best-served-cold vibe. Not cool, man.
Has Bette already recognized the pattern that began with Alice? Did Alice ever tell Bette that she would smell something putrid before having these visions? Guess I’ll just wait until the story unfolds before asking anymore questions. Thanks for the update!!
Happy to see you are back with a new story! We’ve been patiently waiting for it and now will thoroughly enjoy it, I’m sure
It’s good to see you’re back and with a horror story to boot! Seems that this time poor Tina is haunted solely by evil souls. I hope that Bette will be able to come to Tina’s aid in time.
After only three chapters you have me on the edge of my seat already. Can’t wait for the next part. To me it’s feels a little like waiting for the next part of Stephen King’s “The Green Mile” back in 1996. Though I hope that you don’t let us wait for a month for a new chapter ;-)
Thanks for the link… Interesting story about the haunted highway! If I ever travel to that region, I’ll make sure to avoid that route for sure :-)
If only I could have the skill of a Stephen King! I love his stuff!
Yes, something is after Tina, but the real question is less about who/what and why. Same with Alice.
Thanks for reading!