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The Passenger

Justin91

New Member
I realize this has been done a million times, so nothing new here. Just having a little fun.

Criticism and comments are requested...I need all that I can get. Be constructive if possible.

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“What the hell!” Jerry says to himself, as a black car screams past from behind, awakening him from a daydream. The car had come upon him so quickly he barely has time to react, swerving to stay out of the cars path, missing his Mercedes by inches.

“Learn how to drive stupid sonnavabitch!” He strains with his belly against the steering wheel as he tries to reach the pack of Marlboros on the floorboard that he dropped when he was startled. He finally grabs the pack with a shaky hand and catches his breath as he lights up a cigarette, the taillights of the passing car begin to fade away in the distant darkness. The cigarette only lasts a couple of draws. Taking the final puff and putting it out in time to see headlights spinning out of control in the distance ahead. Then darkness again.

“Serves you right, asshole!” he says as he hits the steering wheel with his beefy fist.

He slows down and scans the darkness on both sides of the highway for any signs of an accident. Finally, sparkles from shards of broken glass on the edge of the asphalt and, beyond it, reflections from a car itself in the tall grass of the median can be seen. There is no movement from the wreckage as Jerry illuminates the scene with his headlights stopping his car fifteen feet in front of the overturned hunk of metal that used to be an Impala. The grinding of the wheels still spinning can be heard as he gets out of the car and walks towards the wreckage. He can make out a murmur from a man coming from inside the Impala when he reaches drivers side.

“Help!” the voice is barely audible.

“Hello!” Jerry replies as he bends down to peer inside. He has a look of surprise that says how anyone could have lived through this.

“Help me!”

A figure emerges from the darkness trying to squeeze through the window of the overturned car from what used to be the driver’s side.

“Mister, you better lay still. You may be hurt bad.” He says as he reaches the man who is now lying on his back squirming halfway through the window.

“I’m alright, man. Just help me get out of this damn thing.”

The man from the wreckage is clad in black, blending into the darkness of Jerry’s shadow. Jerry steps close and reaches down to help him. He locks both hands under the man’s armpits and pulls him out being very careful.

“Sit easy, fella. Help will be here shortly. You sure you are all right? Are you alone?” Jerry says with a southern drawl, stooping down to get a better look into the vehicle.

“Yeah I’m ok. I’m not alone. The girl in the car…she’s dead.”

“Oh Shit.” He says bending down lower to see through the driver’s window. In the darkness of the car, the body of a girl is suspended upside down by her seatbelt as her limp arms and hair lie on the cloth roof of the car.

“Are you sure she’s dead?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty damn sure,” the man in black now standing behind Jerry answers as he places the barrel of the Smith and Wesson revolver to his head, cocking the hammer and pulls Jerry up by the shoulder with his free hand.

Jerry slowly puts his hands up over his head as the man in black turns him around where they can get a good look at each other. The man with the gun is a white man with black hair; there is insanity in the man’s dark evil eyes that was not there a minute ago.

“Mister, I was just trying to help,” Jerry says pleadingly as he slowly gets up.

“You are going to help. Move it!” the man in black says as he nudges him towards Jerry’s car with his pistol. “There are quite a few cops looking for me a ways back. They ‘as been chasing me since Texas. Lost my scent, but they’ll find it again. Keep walking to your car, you gonna be drivin me. I’m still shook up from that crazy bitch making me crash my ride.” Still pointing the pistol at Jerry, the man in black walks to the passenger side of the car.

“Now get in real slow and do nothing stupid.” Both men get in the car at the same time.

“Close the door and lets get movin.”

Jerry starts up the car and puts it in drive without making a sound. His new passenger keeps the pistol trained upon him as if Jerry were not an overweight middle-aged man. Jerry looks over at the man in black and sees the insanity has never left the man’s eyes.

“You actin pretty calm for a guy with a gun pointed at his head,” the man in black says as he reaches for the pack of Marlboros that Jerry had left on the dashboard.

“Don’t mind if I smoke, do ya?” he says laughing. “I didn’t think so. Where you from fat man? Ya sound like you’re from Texas. Only steers and queers come from Texas. Shit.”

“I’m from Louisiana.”

“You shittin me? Allbedamned!” The man in black laughs as he exhales a long stream of smoke. “You not from Baton Rouge are ya?”

“Yeah, actually I am.”

“Holy ****!” The man in his excitement lays the gun down in his lap. “It’s a small world!”

“Are you from Baton Rouge?” Jerry asks.

“No man, I am from Virginia Beach. That crazy bitch we left back at the car,” he says pointing back to the wreckage, “she was from Baton Rouge. Shit. Are all people from Louisiana as crazy as that bitch was?”

“I know a lot of people in Louisiana. I would say there are a few as crazy as you are,” Jerry taunts.

“But this bitch was real crazy,” the man in black says. “I met up with this broad at a truck stop in Tennessee earlier tonight. She had pretty-fine ass and tits, she asked me for a ride and, so I said ‘sure, woman. Get inside’. I told her I was wanted by the Oklahoma police but she thought I was jokin. So we were on our way, but she kept talking about the craziest shit. I was thinking maybe she was one of those Goth bitches… you know with the black makeup and stuff… because all she kept talking about was vampires, covens and shit.” The man in black lights up another Marlboro as Jerry listens to his ramblings. “She started freakin me out with all that witchy stuff so I told her to pipe it down a little bit. I know she was weird as hell but she still had those nice tits, so I pulled out my crank and told her to ‘smoke on this.’ I didn’t think she would do it of her own free will, but the bitch looked into my eyes and I knew she was gonna do it.”
“Well she went down and started doin her thing and she pulled my shirt up and started lickin my chest. I was about to tell her she was lickin the wrong spot when …do you know what that bitch did? She bit off my Goddamn nipple,” the man in black says as he pulls up his shirt. There is a gaping wound where the man’s right nipple should have been. “I pushed that bitch off of me,” he points the pistol at Jerry’s head for emphasis, “and shot her in the head. POW! Last nipple she’s gonna bite.” The man puts his shirt down and lights up another cigarette. “That’s when I crashed my ride. That bitch. Man, I loved that car.”

After a moment of silence passes, Jerry begins to laugh under his breath.

“Man what the hell are you laughin at?”

“I used to know a girl from Louisiana who was into all that vampire…or how did you put it…Goth stuff.” Jerry says as he reminisces. “She would sleep during the day and stay up all night. She loved the taste of blood even though she called herself the ‘anorexic of the vampires,’ because even though she had the bloodlust, she filled quickly.”

“What the **** are you talking about? You starting to talk shit like her. This bitch was no vampire, she was just crazy man!”

Jerry just continues laughing.

“You find this real funny don’t you.” The man in black shifts in his seat, agitated but curious. “What are ya saying…she thought she was a vampire?”

“Oh, I think so. And you know what? She is not alone. There are many, many others. They really look up to her. She can be so funny, I mean, Everyone loves Cayman.”

“What did you say?” The man in black now looks startled.

“Oh, that Cayman was something else. You ever read about the sirens in Homer’s Odyssey? Well we called her ‘siren of the night’ because she could get any man she wanted and they would do anything she wanted them to do.”

“Did you say her name was ‘Cayman?’”

“Why yes, Scott, I did.” Jerry says as he looks over at the man in black, who now has his gun trained on Jerry again, but the insanity in the Man in black’s eyes has been replaced with terror.

“How did you know…?” The man in black says as the cigarette falls from his lips.

“Your name?” Jerry says. Picking the lit cigarette off of Scott’s leg, he takes a drag from it. “I know more than you think you know. I know earlier today you killed three policemen after you and your pal…Devin was it?…When you two screwed up a bank robbery. Devin is dead by the way.”
Jerry’s face seems to be changing before Scott’s eyes. He is becoming more sinister…Evil.
 
I apologize for the length. Here is the rest…


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“You put a bullet in my Cayman’s skull back in your ‘ride.’”

Jerry is no longer watching the road; He is staring at his now terrified passenger; slowing the car down to a stop. Scott tries to say something, but nothing comes out as he sits staring at Jerry with his mouth open. Jerry is still talking, but Scott can only hear his own heart beating louder and louder in his head. Jerry’s teeth are no longer teeth; they are growing longer. The louder the heartbeat in Scott’s head grows, the longer Jerry’s fangs grow. He feels a rush of air and then strong hands gripping his shoulders from behind him. Someone had opened the passenger door and was now pushing his head sideways to expose his neck, he glimpses from the corner of his eye what looks like Cayman, his passenger from earlier.

“Impossible! Your…!” He tries to scream but came out a whisper as she sunk her fangs into his neck.

His heartbeat grew slower and quieter. Jerry bent forward to Scott’s neck.

Then nothing.
 
I'm a bit pressed for time right now, but I have quickly scanned through your work. One thing that jumped out at me immediately - you need to steer clear of using the term 'the man in black'. Sorry, but my instant reaction, was 'what, you mean Johnny Cash?'!
 
Actually just a quick generic description...just happens to be synonymous with Cash. I plan to fix this and other items as well...I do not like the names Jerry and Scott. I wrote this pretty quickly, it still needs work.

Mainly what I was working on here was writing in third person, everything I have written up to this story has been in first person. I do not know why...just happened thet way. I had several problems writing this one...as you can probably tell. I think the whole vampire thing is overdone...I just wanted to do a little story like you would see on the Twighlight Zone.
 
Reply

I prefer third person to first. Modern publishing wants first person, but I find it too confining and too many books use the limited view/knowledge of first person to enable them to throw in very poor plot twists (some work, but most don't and I have read enough that now even the those that worked on me long ago don't anymore).

About this story, yeah, basically standard stuff, but you did okay with it. Sometimes you have to work with tried-and-true stuff just to prove your ability with the tools of the trade. I won't fault you.

My only complaint is with motivation. I would be more interested in why things were done. Why does Jerry care enough to be searching for the bank robber (vampires that care?)? Why did Cayman bite off the nipple? I assume she could have taken over the situation just like Jerry did. Those things however can be worked out if you actually decide to develop the piece.
 
Justin91 said:
“Learn how to drive stupid sonnavabitch!” He strains with his belly against the steering wheel as he tries to reach the pack of Marlboros on the floorboard that he dropped when he was startled. He finally grabs the pack with a shaky hand and catches his breath as he lights up a cigarette, the taillights of the passing car begin to fade away in the distant darkness. The cigarette only lasts a couple of draws. Taking the final puff and putting it out in time to see headlights spinning out of control in the distance ahead. Then darkness again.

.


Also, this paragraph doesn't sound quite right to me; it seems a bit 'wordy'.

I think 'tries to reach' would be better replaced with 'fumbles for'. It also seems a bit ambiguous as to whether he dropped the pack of Marlboros or the floorboard! Maybe you could omit the 'that he dropped when he was startled'?

Also, instead of 'as he lights up a cigarette' would be punchier if you replaced this with 'as he lights up'. After all, you've already mentioned the cigarettes twice by this time, so I think it would be understood perfectly.

I'm also guessing that you're not a smoker?! Smokers don't 'light up cigarettes', they 'light up'!

Also, either 'the taillights.......' should be the start of a new sentence, or you should replace 'begin' with 'beginning', implying that these two things happened simultaneously.
 
Originally Posted by TerishD
I prefer third person to first. Modern publishing wants first person, but I find it too confining and too many books use the limited view/knowledge of first person to enable them to throw in very poor plot twists (some work, but most don't and I have read enough that now even the those that worked on me long ago don't anymore).

I have a lot of work to do in writing third person. I wanted to have the reader to see most of the story from the POV of the vampire, without knowing he is a vampire, and switch to the POV of the passenger/victim just at the end. Mostly I think I am trying to squeeze too much in less than 2000 words, and you are right, this does not leave a lot of room for development.

Another problem I had writing this was where to begin. I could have started with the passenger already in the car with the vampire and used dialogue and the news on the radio to tell most of the back story; I think this would have helped me avoid the awkward beginning.

With this story, I wanted to work on: third person/ multiple POV, a little action, surprise ending, and a fat vampire with a lot of bad habits...all this without the appearance of trying too hard...but it does seem a bit "forced".


Originally Posted by Denny
Also, this paragraph doesn't sound quite right to me; it seems a bit 'wordy'.

I think 'tries to reach' would be better replaced with 'fumbles for'. It also seems a bit ambiguous as to whether he dropped the pack of Marlboros or the floorboard! Maybe you could omit the 'that he dropped when he was startled'?

Also, instead of 'as he lights up a cigarette' would be punchier if you replaced this with 'as he lights up'. After all, you've already mentioned the cigarettes twice by this time, so I think it would be understood perfectly.

I'm also guessing that you're not a smoker?! Smokers don't 'light up cigarettes', they 'light up'!

Also, either 'the taillights.......' should be the start of a new sentence, or you should replace 'begin' with 'beginning', implying that these two things happened simultaneously.


Very good points...all make sense. The beginning paragraphs were the most awkward for me to write...I was trying a different approach than my norm.

You are right, I am not a smoker. I wanted to make the driver the farthest thing from the typical vampire as I could, a smoking vampire seemed to be the trick. This is what peer review is all about...pointing out the obvious.

Thanks guys for the feedback.

J
 
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