3.

The day is bright and warm; he drives at a leisurely pace on an open road with no particular destination in mind though focusing on the road is not the only thing his mind is concerned with. How can he not dwell on his recent activity? There is little or no activity or even life to speak of along his journey as he continues on along that road other than the scattered appearances of sheep and cows dispersed throughout the numerous fields either side of the long winding tarmac with which he is on.

The front driver's side and passenger side windows are wound a little over halfway down and the breeze is flowing freely through that black '58 Chevrolet Impala. Music plays loudly, and appropriate music at that, from the radio as the car is equipped with surround sound and he drives with one hand on the steering wheel while the other reaches out the window and taps repeatedly against the side of the roof.

'Highway to Hell' by AC/DC just indeed so happens to be playing at this particular moment and he just so happens to think that this certainly is a very fitting song to be playing even with the fact that hell may be an old Victorian house a long way behind him rather than being somewhere he is heading to. That fact that there is surround sound makes this moment somewhat surreal and things are not all that far off becoming a lot more surreal than what they already are.

Living easy, living free ... season ticket on a one-way ride ... asking nothing, leave me be ... taking everything in my stride ... don't need reason, don't need rhyme ...ain't nothing I would rather do ... going down, party time ... my friends are gonna be there too ... I'm on the highway to hell ...

Behind him, quite a distance away, he notices a semi-trailer truck moving and it appears to be moving at speed. It soon gets close and so close that he begins to worry for it looks as if this truck is preparing to go through him rather than go around and past him. What first appeared as a speck in his mirrors now almost completely fill those mirrors and does so in one hell of a frightening way.

'What the ...?' he speaks checking his mirrors once more before turning himself right round within the car to get a better look of what is coming up behind him.

The Impala soon is shunted, hit by the rather large, dark, and imposing devil sent truck. He lets his horn rip but there is no let up as the Impala is shunted once again. He attempts to change lanes, but this does nothing as the road is not the widest and the truck moves accordingly to shunt again.

Speed of both vehicles is nearing maximum. Truck is capable of more speed than the Impala for it moves close with ease and serious momentum. The first two shunts were slight though the third shunt would not be so slight, and he would barely be able to keep control of that Impala following that third shunt.

'Highway to Hell', the highway leading away from hell, has a hellacious and quite disturbing Semi hunting down a man who had just so happened to stumble upon something with which he would never have thought possible if he hadn't of witnessed it himself. Now, as you can imagine, he wished he never stumbled upon any of this at all as for he is sure that the house and the truck are in some way related.

One more nudge, quite a strong nudge and this time control of the Impala is lost. Its rear pushed forward turning the vehicle off at an angle forcing it to move completely off road. Luckily it drives straight into a field, not so luckily, he hits his head off the steering wheel as he tries to come to as easy a stop as possible.

Despite all that has happened and the knock he has taken, he gets out of the Impala and struggles for a moment or two with his balance as he moves back towards the road. The road is clear, not a soul insight and no sign of that semi-trailer truck. Surely it should still be in sight but there is nothing but the sight of heat rising, hovering from the tarmac up as if that truck had raised the temperature on what already had been quite the hot day.

A solitary crow comes out of nowhere, takes up a position nearby on the roadside and begins to cackle. If there is anything he would rather not see at a moment like this, then that crow would be it.

A little blood trickles down his forehead; with that knock he took in the car. He touches his forehead then takes a look at the blood which has transferred to his fingers. With the injuries he has picked up he can't help but attempt to leave the vehicle and in doing so he falls to the ground. Surprisingly soon he is being ushered through a hospital entrance though it takes a moment or two to realize that this is what is happening.

The rushing, passing luminous lighting hurts his eyes. Feeling more than a little confused and also feeling light-headed he takes a look at the person who is pushing the wheel-chair he is sitting in and in this moment takes in the fact that he is in a wheelchair. He takes a moment and decides to take in his surroundings for a moment before attempting to question anything.

He passes by a waiting area where he can see the lady with whom had spoken to him back at the café sitting and looking as if she is in quite some distress. A nurse is sitting to Gwen's right side and a priest patiently and solemnly stands close by understanding the severity of the young lady's situation. It is something the priest has come across before and probably will do again.

'I warned them not to go to that damned house' he speaks.

'What's that?' asks the orderly pushing the wheelchair.

'Ah, nothing, I was just thinking out loud.'

He is given the once over via triage and fairly soon thereafter is seen by an on-duty doctor.

'Good afternoon, sir, I hear you have taken somewhat of a knock to the head ... how are you feeling? Any nausea, dizziness or headaches?' Using a pen like torch the doctor checks his patient's eyes.

'I can answer yes to all three.'

'And there was loss of consciousness?'

'Yes. One moment I was by my car ... the next I'm here ... wherever here is ...'

'You are at the local county hospital, and it looks like you may have a slight concussion, nothing really to worry about however I would like to admit you for the night for observation and run you through some routine checks.'

'Sure, but I really need to be going, I need to get back to my car.'

'What you need sir, is to be getting yourself some rest. Your vehicle has been retrieved and will be looked after for you; however, I do recommend that you refrain from taking to the wheel of any vehicle for at least the next few days. If there is someone you can call or maybe, we can call on your behalf ...'

'No, there is no one to call; I will take your advice and rest. Thank you.'

Night comes, the hospital lights are dimmed, and activity is at a minimal level though he struggles to find any kind of rest at all. He can almost hear her voice speak 'find him' and for a split second he can see her standing at the end of his bed with her right arm and hand outstretched towards him.

Is this his mind playing tricks on him? Is the concussion making him see something that is not really there? Or has she come to remind him of the task which she has set for him? He is sure the latter is the case.

He sits up and gasps, almost hurriedly crawling backwards though there is only so far with which he can go. He then begins to take deep breaths for his heartbeat has most definitely quickened. A visitor arrives before he can completely compose or even attempt to compose himself.

'Hi, I am not sure if you remember me, but I would like to talk to you for a moment if that is alright?'

'... You are the lady from the café ... sure ... but did you see that just now?'

'See what?'

He looks around and does not see what he had seen only a moment or two previously.

'... Never mind ... I take it that you and partner went to that house?' he speaks looking round once more to make sure that his previous vision had indeed gone.

'Unfortunately, we did go there together, and I didn't feel in any way good about it right from the moment we arrived there.'

'I can take it that he went inside?'

'Yes, and for some reason I could not get in. You know about this place, right? Is my husband still alive?'

'What you tell me is in no doubt disturbing though it is interesting too. I won't lie; it is quite likely that your husband isn't still alive though on the off chance that he is I will need your help.'

'Anything, whatever I can do I will at least try. My name is Gwen by the way.'

'Alright Gwen, there is nothing we can do right now so go get some rest and I will see you back here in the morning.'