Board Thread:Writer's Workshop/@comment-29791712-20150325032318

It was fifteen minutes pass three in the morning. Dom’s headlights shone outside his silver Honda minivan, the circles of brightness stretching far beyond the endless road the young man was driving on. Bags hunched below his eyes, shaded with a purple and black dye. So far three cups of coffees and an 8oz. Red Bull was able to keep his eyes sharp and alert, his mind racing with fuel, and sleep in a very, very far away place. He thought he could maybe drive for another hour and a half, at most. After that, he’ll park somewhere furtive, and rest until dawn.

He glanced quickly to his right, only to find his girlfriend, Jasmine, staring out the passenger window, slightly sleeping. Dom figured that all of his passengers would be asleep by now, but it seemed as if one was barely awake. In a way he was glad of it. Driving with only the lonely silence to accompany you can sometimes leave your thoughts trailing off different routes. Paths you don’t want your mind to wander on.

He had been dating Jasmine for a little over a year and five months now. They began seeing each other during their junior year in high school, around the month of February. At the beginning of their relationship, it consisted of going over each other’s houses over the weekend, and getting to know each other’s family better. They liked each other very much before they went out. Don had Jasmine on his mind since freshmen year, a long and awkward time for a new kid in high school.

Dom’s mind was dubious on whether or not to spark a conversation with his girlfriend or not. His mouth craved for a discussion, but it seemed better to let everyone relax in his car while they could sleep. He decided not to wake up Jasmine.

Inside the car, darkness and shadows sketched throughout the whole area, the only visible light being the glow of the miles per hour meter and the other numbers and signs surrounding it. Dom checked his rear-view mirror, only to find an empty road behind his trail, and his best friend, Mark, sleeping heavily while snoring quietly. Dom couldn’t help but to chuckle at that.

Next to Mark was a girl named Nicole. She was Mark’s girlfriend, and they have been only going out for seven months, not much time has path between them. Mark always stated that he found blonde girls appealing, and he picked himself the right choice of staying with Nicole. Dom’s best friend had always been the handsome one of the two, able to receive glances at girls in high school when they used to study there, and scoring dates almost every weekend.

As for Dom, well he was fortunate to be with Jasmine. According to most people back at their high school, she was out of Dom’s puny league. It was true for the most part, Jasmine had a certain attractiveness any man and woman can find very joyful to look at. There wasn’t much special about Dom. He had wavy, black hair that he always brushed to the side with his hands. Don didn’t have much facial hair, even at the age of eighteen. Little stubs of hair shot out of his chin and upper lip, but other than that, that was it. His muscle tone in body wasn’t nothing too spectacular. Dom had some form of abs on his stomach, but other than that he was a skinny kid.

Jasmine, however, had lovely curves that Don found his hands always falling to. Every now and then, Don would wonder how on earth he was able to ever talk to a girl like Jasmine. The surprising thing about life was that, sometimes Jasmine would wonder the same thing about Dom himself. It was true in certain cases that some girls found Don rather cute or adorable, but they weren’t much of a threat compare to Jasmine. She, on the other hand, had boys sagging their tongues down every step she made by the second.

In the end of it all, both Jasmine and Dom fell in love with their inner beauty. The face they hold inside themselves which no other stranger will ever witness to see. This special and clandestine face was only reserved for a certain type of person, and both Jasmine and Don believed they were their own unique person.

Dom continue to watch the road with a thoughtful eye, taking in the black image portrayed in the night. The moon did an indolent job at providing light in this night. It wasn’t as luminous as he was so in love with seeing. The stars hovered above the moon like a king’s crown. To the right and left of Dom, he could see prodigious trees reaching high into the dark sky above, stretching at heights that tower even a big van like the one Don was driving in. The massive barks followed with Don as he drove farther and farther into their destination.

Once in a while, a car would pass by, their headlights hitting his car, shining a light that momentarily blinded him. The hollowness of the road was something Dom enjoyed, even as a kid going on road trips such as these to places like Miami or Virginia. He remembered being a kid, sitting on the back seat, and staring outside his window while his dad drove and listen to classical rock. He had an intriguing fascination with the forest beyond, and how mysterious and dark they gloomed. He always imaged some monster crawling its way out of the bushy trees, and jumping onto a car.

Now it was Dom doing all the driving. He decided to open a small gap on his window, to get some fresh air in. The summer night breeze outside blew by ferociously, picking up wind speed as fast as the car. With the velocity Dom was going, which was sixty-five miles per hour, it sounded as if the wind was cracking and braking, the powerful air flapping inside the car. That sound was music into his ears. A fresh breeze was able to relax the young man, even in his most petulant of attitudes.

Dom couldn’t quite remember actually planning on going to Georgia for a week during the summer with his friends. He assumed the conversation that lead to this field trip sort of happened between them, as it usually did. It seemed like a fantastic idea, since they all just graduated, and wouldn’t mind being together for a week out of state. It was there last summer before they all left off to college. He planned on majoring in English, hopefully becoming a successful teacher.

Dom picked up his Red Bull at his side, and sipped the caffeine and sugar with much delight. The taste sizzled in his mouth, and made his tongue tingle. He always enjoyed that sensation. Several exit sighs continued to pass by his sides, but he ignored them all. He had three-fourths of his gas tank filled, and he hadn’t had the urge to pee. Yet.

A ticking noise erupted near the back of the car. Dom had been hearing that sound on several occasion during the ride. It began when they finally left New York, their home state, and entered New Jersey. The others didn’t sense the noise, but he knew in his head that it was there. He refused to inform his passengers of it, because doing so would make Nicole panic. Don and her had been friends most of high school, starting sophomore year. One thing he knew about the blonde was that she could be startled by a fly. Putting the idea in her head that something was making a noise inside the car would make her twitch and feel uncomfortable the whole ride.

He waited to hear it one more time, but nothing came. He remember being a kid one day, as he was driving with his dad out somewhere, and hearing a similar tapping sound. It wasn’t necessarily a ticking sound, more of a squeaking one. Dom’s father later told his son that it had been one of the tires in the back. Apparently it had been leaking out air, leaving it deflated.

Dom, ever since then, always checked his tires in case something similar like that happens again. Having a deflated tire out in a highway could be dangerous.

The tapping sound returned once again, this time a bit louder than it usual was. Don grew concerned. He planned on pulling away for a second, waking everyone up and informing them what was happening. But so much calamity would rise inside the car, and right now Dom’s mind wasn’t in the setting to deal with such a problem. His only thoughts were on the road. He was making good time, and wouldn’t want to waste a second.

So, he let it slide. The minivan cruised along the road, not knowing that there was a demon lurking inside it.

The gnome stood on top of Mark’s head.

The diminutive creature scratched the top of his head, falling in love with the feel of the man’s hair. The gnome would enjoy poking out the young man’s eyeballs out. The tiny demon was only three inches in length, and one inch in width. Its head appeared as a skinless skull, but instead of the bone being white, it bared a vomit-green mixed in with a touch of black spots here and there. It contained oval-shaped eyes, which flared a ruby red light. The demons eyes illuminated the color with much dismal. The creature had rows upon rows of rapier, aligned teeth. It had the mouth of a shark, having teeth that could chomp the thickest of metals.

The rest of the elf’s body was naked, and also shade with the color green with black spots. Although it appeared very scrawny, the devil maintained incredible strength, most likely able to pick up a one-hundred and eighty pound jock like Mark. The hands of the gnome grew out sharp nails. With these fingers, the thing began to crawl and sneak around Mark’s face.

The elf reached his nose. There, it had his red eyes shine upon Mark’s sleepy ones. The demon wanted Mark to see it. That was the way it killed off its prey. He wouldn’t allow for such a peaceful death. It wanted to render fear and tremor onto its opponent. It only eliminated its prey during long nights like these, and when they are heavily sleeping.

The main reason why the demon contained such shining red eyes was because there is a spelled installed in them. Once your eyes are locked onto those stone-cold ovals, you are gingerly hypnotize in a paralyze state. You could no longer be able to flex a muscle, or move a single limp. Your actions go on pause, and your thoughts increase in horror. Those eyes give off a drug onto your brain, making paranoia your main mindset, and illusions come to life. You become lost in a trance which is unbreakable, and the world around you becomes your enemy. Shadows transform into demons of the night, inanimate objects float around with sinister grins, devouring your thoughts. The darkness becomes a void of helplessness and a world which Satan lives on. There, you witness the face of true and pure evil, an image which would break the mind of an angel.

Worse of all, your screams become inaudible voices. Your cries for aid are silent. Whatever cry you shout at the world, not a single living soul would be able to pick up even the slightest of sounds. You are left to scrap your own throat with your pointless yelps, and to bare the picture of hell.

The gnome’s eyes shone brightly on Mark’s face. The young man slowly awakes from his deep sleep, bothered by a light in front of him. He still had his eyes close, but within darkness, he saw a blur of redness swirling around the shadows.

Mark opened his eyes with a lazy effort, and the red shine grew brighter and brighter. With one quick motion, the young man widen his pupils, and saw in front of him the demon crouching on his nose.

Mark tried for a scream, but it was already too late. The magic was done, and the trance sunk deep into the young man’s mind. There, Don’s best friend was drugged with a venom coursing through his veins, creating images escaping straight from the inferno. The tress outside the car came to life, baring the spirits of demons. The tress stomp closer, and closer towards Mark. He tried to yell, his inner voice sounding desperate, but in the outside world, not a single squeak was heard.

It felt as if the darkness coating the inside of the minivan was a blanket, smuggling and choking Mark. The young man gasped for air, feeling his neck tightened, and shadowy hands circle around his throat, making Mark’s world grow dimmer and dimmer. See, what the demon does is that, during its victims torturing process, the thing slowly crawls down into the prey’s neck, and, using its sharp teeth, suck the life away of whoever is so unfortunate to cross path with such a devil. The gnome lurked its way into Mark’s bare neck. There, it planted its teeth deep within the skin of his throat. The elf began sucking the blood of the young man, filling the demon’s belly with an exquisite taste, and embellishing the gnome’s teeth with the red dye of blood of its victim.

During this ritual, the gnome is said to also suck in the soul of its prey. The more souls the demon collects, the more powerful it becomes. The stronger the illusion it renders. Its eyes shine with an even brighter redness. The elf’s teeth extend in length, and sharpen with a piercing point. This particular gnome only collected about a dozens of souls, yet its spells pack a hard punch.

Mark has died. In the end, the last images he saw before it became a puppet of the gnome’s belly was that of the forest trees stomping on his lifeless body. One victim eliminated, three more to go.

The gnome proceeded to go to Nicole, murdering the lovely woman of the man it just took. A similar situation happened to Nicole. She was awaken by a flash of red light, the hypnotizing stage came, and illusions dug out of the world. The fabric of space and time was ripping away beyond her eyes, and through those openings, monsters crawled out to haunt her. The images were stronger, more realistic this time.

Instead of feeling a choking sensation within her throat, Nicole felt as if a sharp object was piercing her neck horizontally, creating a deep slice that emitted hot blood. The laceration then immediately became infected, and started to poison her with an unbearable agony.

This was all an illusion of course. The gnome ceased control of her mind, and using her imagination, twisted the biggest fear Nicole could ever produce from her cranium. She tried to scream through her damaged throat, but an empty call was all that came out.

The little demon made its way to the base of Nicole’s chest, and once again rooted its teeth into another victim’s core. More blood came, more blood was consumed by the elf, and more blood coated his teeth. The thing was now slobbering with thick blood on its lips and mouth. The burn it brought to its tongue was addictive, and it was determine to receive more.

All while this was happening, Dom hadn’t the single clue of what a massacre was going on just inches behind him. He was lost in his own hypnosis with the black road, following its trail. He glanced at the rearview mirror for only a moment, just to find Mark and Nicole in the same position, appearing to be sleeping. Dom noticed that they both looked a bit startled, but came to the conclusion that maybe they were having a nightmare.

The gnome made a leap forward, and landed on the seat Jasmine was resting on. The thing was disappointed. In order to complete his task secretively, he had to not flare out his red eyes as bright as it was doing before. Doing so, however, would make the process of inducing the victim last longer, giving time for the prey to call for help.

With clandestine movement, the demon crawled to the very tip of Jasmine’s nose. It had no time to wait patiently and to awake the victim up with shining colors. Instead, the thing stabbed Jasmine on the nose, bringing immediate pain to shoot at her nostril. She awoke with a gasp, one that seem to have not startled Dom, surprisingly. The young woman widen her eyes, and saw the demon resting on her face.

The gnome overestimated its chances of success. Jasmine was able to let out a yell escape her trembling lips. This, of course, caught Dom’s attention. With his mouth open in shock, he turned his head to see what exactly made his girlfriend yell. There, his eyes laid on the demon. Dominic saw the green and black creature, laying its body on Jasmine’s nose. Blood dripped down the gnome’s mouth, leaving it to leak onto Jasmine’s face.

Before Dominic had any time to react, the demon turned its face, and look directly into his eyes. The trance was being transferred onto Dom. The young man felt his body numb, and the world around him swirl in an endless loop. Thoughts of fear for Jasmine, and trying to save her went away with the night breeze outside. His thoughts traveled to other depths.

Thoughts of complete terror and melancholic images. The gnome jumped onto Dom’s chest, and did his magic. The demon drew away blood, more than usual. The thing was beyond pissed. The young man had interrupted its work ethic, and now he would pay. The devil loved to take away the souls of young, beautiful woman, so the amount of rage it had on Dom for interfering with such a ritual made sure that he would suffer an agonizing death.

That was why it didn’t complete kill Dom. The gnome only took away enough blood to be satisfy with its belly. The thing was bloated with fresh blood and flesh, and would soon be escaping out of the vehicle by the small crack Dom made with his window.

All of this happened while Jasmine was half drugged, half aware of what was going on outside her eyes. Her muffled screams only came out little by little, sounding like she was suffocating. She was terrified for multiple reasons. Seeing her lover die rose an abysmal depression that her heart couldn’t handle. But the worst thought of them all, was that no one was driving the car.

The wheel twisted and turned inside the car, being not in control by anybody. Both Jasmine and Dom were too drugged to even move their eyes. Their only fate was to crash onto something.

As dying lovers, they both screamed through their muffled lips. It came out as the most depressing sound any ear could catch. Tears streamed down their eyes, knowing that they would die in one of the most pitiful ways.

Dom was aware of his surroundings, and looked down to see the little gnome resting on his chest. There, he could truly take a close look at the sinister creature that was lurking inside his car the whole drive. The demon grinned back at Dom, its sharp teeth appearing as tiny spikes, all colored with dark blood. The devil’s eyes were the worst part of it all. It wasn’t its hideous face, or its bare, wrinkling body. It was its eyes. They seem to shine deep into your soul, and distort the world you thought you existed in.

Dom was hallucinating. He turned his head with arduous effort, only to find his girlfriend having the same exact face as the demon below him. Dom tried to yelp with surprise, but nothing left his shaking lips. To Dom, Jasmine was a girl version of the gnome that was the cause of all this. She leaped onto Dom’s chest, and began biting at his neck’s flesh, ripping free pieces of tissues. This was all spurious, but to Dom’s eyes these actions were completely real in every sense.

The gnome watched with satisfaction as it saw Dom trying to breathe with ease. No one was driving the car, so the steering wheel twisted and turned left and right, no one in control. The demon turned its head to glance outside the windshield, only to find approaching headlights coming closer and closer towards Dom’s minivan.

With its work done, the gnome leaped out of the vehicle by the little crack that Dom made to get some fresh air. The demon landed on his feet onto the tar road, blood still roaming in its belly. It was full for the night, and would rest until sundown once again to target another prey.

With a quick turn, the gnome saw as the two cars collided, crashing into each other and blazing into life with burning fire and explosions. The little demon smiled as the four victims burned in a blaze of fire. 