It was spring, and there was a storm warning in effect.  But the man said he'd just had his car worked on so they had nothing to worry about.

They stayed in the capital until two o'clock in the morning, then started back to Prairie Cross.  There had been some lightning in the distance, but he thought they could make it before it started pouring.

That same night, a murder was discovered off the highway between Prairie Cross and the capital.  The local police called in the state troopers and they started a man-hunt for the killer.  They put advisories out on the radio for people in the area to remain indoors and not to open their door to a stranger.

The couple were about an hour out of the capital when the skies opened and rain poured down on them.  This section of road was under construction at the time and there were plenty of unpaved sections.  The car hit a pot-hole in one of the unpaved areas, and mud sprayed the bottom of the car.

The engine started acting funny.  It would rev up, then slow down to a low idle.  It coughed.  It almost died, and the lights went dim.

The man decided to pull over at the rest area and let the engine dry out.

They waited a half an hour, then he tried the engine.  It coughed, it tried to kick in, but couldn't catch.  They decided to wait a while more.

Another half an hour went by, then he tried the engine again.  It caught, gave a chug, and died.

It was almost three thirty in the morning now.  Rain was coming down in sheets.  Thunder rocked the car and lightning seemed to be hitting very close.  The man decided they couldn't stay where they were, so he decided he'd walk to the next town, only about a mile or so down the road.

His fiancee begged him to stay with her.  She was afraid of lightning, and she was even more afraid of the killer who was still on the loose.  He laughed at her, though, and pointed out that the killings had taken place several miles away, and the last thing the killer would do would be to stick to the main roads.

He started off.  His fiancee locked the doors and huddled down in the front seat, waiting.

The wind was shaking the trees around the rest area.  She thought she heard noises.  Pebbles hitting the car, loose paper flying across the bumpers.  Maybe a branch had broken on one of the trees, she heard something scraping at the roof of the car.  Or, maybe the noises had already been there and she just hadn't noticed them before.

Some time passed.  He should have arrived at the town by now and gotten the tow operator.  But there were no lights along the road, no sounds of an engine.  Just the wind and that scraping branch.

She dozed off, woke up, then dozed off again.  He wasn't back.  She was worried, but too tired to keep her eyes open.  She had strange dreams.

Noises woke her.  Talking, motors running.  She looked around.  Lights were shining on the car from a police car's headlights.  The blue lights on top were flashing.

An officer noticed her moving in the car and approached the window.  She rolled it down and he ordered her out of the car.

"But don't look back,"  he cautioned her.

Which of course made her turn right around.

The car was set back against the trees for protection as her fiancé had left it the night before.  But above the car, scraping the roof, was no branch.  It was the body of her fiancé hanging where the killer had strung him up.

The girl was never really normal after that.  She cringes when there's a storm, and her hair went completely white.