Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Patrick
Of course, it wouldn't be that easy. Because Krampus.
Eleanor's house was out in the boonies near Wayne.
The GPS said we'd be there in ten minutes, but the road we were on felt like the middle of Iceland.
There were dense trees on either side, zero lights or houses, and the road was thick with snow.
Gray drove slowly, being the responsible guy that he was.
So, when his car made a noise and lurched, and then cough-cough-coughed and died, we were only going about twenty mph, so it was grip-the-door-handle scary, not heart-attack scary.
Gray pumped the brakes and had to work the steering wheel hard since the car had power steering, but he got us onto the shoulder and the car stopped before we slid into a ditch. Or whatever was out there. I couldn't see, because the headlights promptly died.
We sat there in stunned silence for a moment. Then Gray tried the key. Nothing. Zero. Zilch. Like, engine? What engine? I've never seen an engine around here, sayeth the car.
"This is nuts!" Gray said. "I have half a tank of gas. It's acting like it’s bone dry!"
"Could your gas gauge be wrong?" I knew it wasn't wrong.
"No! This car is just two years old, and I had it serviced before Thanksgiving."
I sighed. I took Krampus out of my pocket and sat him on the dash. I looked at Gray. His eyes narrowed dubiously, but he didn't say anything.
"Do you think we could be hit by another car? We’re kinda sitting ducks here." I craned my head around to look.
"Shouldn't be," he said reluctantly. "There's a wide shoulder. And there's not a lot of traffic."
"You can say that again."
"There's not a lot of traffic," Gray quipped, but I could hear the edge of frustration in his voice.
It was the first time I'd seen him be impatient about anything.
I couldn't blame him. I, too, was hoping for a quick Krampus dump and then a speedy ride to my apartment where we could make the most of what was left of this Christmas Eve.
Or Christmas Day. I wasn't picky.
Gray hit the hazard lights, and from the red glow behind us, they appeared to work. "I'll call a tow truck," he said.
He picked up his phone, which I'd left in the cup holder between us. But I grabbed his wrist. "Wait!"
He looked at me questioningly.
"It's just… what kind of tow truck driver is gonna be working on Christmas Eve? Given my luck today, we'll get a serial killer."
He smiled. "We won't get a serial killer."
I pointed to Krampus. "Are you sure?"
His gaze darted to the thing and his smile faded. "We can't sit here all night."
Couldn't we? I supposed it wasn't the best idea in the world. It was going to get cold quickly. I released his wrist. "Okay."
He picked up his phone. I looked out the back window again, watching for lights.
"I can't believe this!"
"What?" I whipped back around.
Gray poked at a black screen. Pressed multiple buttons.
I gasped and put my hand over my mouth. "Oh no."
"It's dead," he said quietly.
I had no idea what to say. I just widened my eyes.
"How? The battery was a little low. Like maybe a quarter or a bit less. But it shouldn't be dead!"
"Well, I used it a few times. Sorry."
"No, it shouldn't be dead," he insisted.
"Do you have a car charger?"
He shut his eyes and shook his head. "I charge it at night, and it lasts all day. I'm not on my phone much at work. I've never needed a car charger."
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Krampus.
I nodded sagely. "Is it awful that I feel just a teeny bit happy that you now know how my entire day has gone? That this can't be happening feeling? That's the feeling."
"It does feel very… deliberate." Gray drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and looked at Krampus warily. "Okay. Listen, I'm going to walk. There were—"
"No!" I said immediately.
He put a hand on my shoulder as if to calm me down. "There were houses not a mile back. That's not a big deal."
"But it's cold! And snowing! And dark! And Krampus! You'll get hit by a truck. Or slip on ice. You'll end up looking like frozen Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining!" I made a stiff, eyes-rolled-up impression.
Gray chuckled. "It's okay. Krampus is your curse, not mine, I’ll be more worried about you sitting here alone in this car. But if I don't go, we'll be stuck here for hours. Maybe all night."
"I can live with that!"
He grimaced. "I can't. You've had a very rough day. You need rest, and you can't rest in this car."
I was about to insist that I could sleep anywhere.
But the truth was, I was rotten at sleeping in odd places, like on a plane?
Never happened. And I didn't want to start our relationship lying to him.
Besides, hopefully we'd be together for a long time, and he'd know soon enough what a sleep-weenie I was.
"You're not my doctor now," I said instead. "It's not your responsibility to make sure I sleep. I'll be fine."
"I hope that I'm more than your doctor." He leaned over and kissed me. It was brief, but it warmed me down to my toes. "And it's really not a big deal. I'll be back before you know it."
"Please don't go," I said, because I had a bad feeling about this.
But he'd already opened the driver-side door.
That's when we heard the first howl.