The train yard looked like a mafia dumping ground.
Rusty train cars resting atop oily tracks and a sharp, flinty sea of gravel. You would expect thieves to stash their treasure there, murderers to prowl there at night in search of their next victim.
That would probably be true if not for the fact that it lay hundreds of miles from the nearest city, and the town it was in had only 47 residents.
Forty-eight including Joe. The teenager of medium height and somewhat dashing features had been imprisoned here to live with his uncle for the entire summer, all two months. Time that could have been spent partying and picking up girls was otherwise spent wandering around town, bored out of his mind.
At about 3:00 every day Joe went through the train yard to his usual spot at the edge of a deep ravine. There he could sit and maybe get reception for his phone. He could go through social media, seeing posts of how much fun his friends were having. Mike and Jake and Christine.
All of them were there the night the car was totalled. None of them got as harsh a punishment as me, Joe thought.
Then again, it was his parent’s car he stole. And totalled.
Now fuming, Joe kicked a rock, hard. It flew through the air and hit the side of a rusty train car, making a loud clang that cut through the eerie silence.
Joe glanced up. Someone was sitting in his spot.
A girl, a little shorter than him. From what he could see she wore a black hoody and had long brown hair with blue highlights at the end, below her shoulders.
Joe kept walking, ready to approach her. Maybe this was someone, finally, whom he could talk to. Someone who could help him relieve the boredom.
“Hello?” Joe asked, only a few feet behind her.
She whipped around. Holy crap, he thought. She was hot.
She was skinny and had blue eyes and white skin. With a shock he noticed that she wore a hunting knife in her belt, and her hand gripped the handle. Then her look turned from one of apprehension to one of shy friendliness.
“Hey. Who’re you?” she asked in a soft voice.
Joe continued to walk over and stopped just short of where she sat. “My name’s Joe. Mind if I sit down?” It sounded good in his head, but stupid when it came out.
“No,” she replied, moving over slightly, her legs dangling over the edge of the ravine.
Grateful, he sat. She was staring at him and with those piercing green eyes it was kind of unnerving. He didn’t know why. He’d picked up girls before, he’d flirted before. Why was it so hard with…
“What’s your name?” he asked, glad to end the silence.
“Hayley,” she said. “You’re Joe right?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“Been here long?” she asked.
“No, only about a week. But I’m stuck here for the summer because this is my parents’ idea of punishment for totalling their car. It’s pretty boring.”
She laughed, which boosted Joe’s confidence.
“What about you?” he asked tentatively.
“Nah, I’m just staying here for a few days. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to own a motorcycle and ride all over North America. Town to town, living a free life. Now I’m doing it.”
She looked down into the ravine, a faraway gaze in her eyes.
Joe was momentarily stunned by this. He had never met someone with goals so meaningful, with such a clear vision for life.
There was something about Hayley that he was drawn to, more than just her looks. Her independence, maybe.
She looked at him. “And you? Any grand plan for life?”
Joe was caught off guard, and was about to reply that he didn’t really have any goals when a roll of thunder deafened the landscape.
He and Hayley both looked up at the grey clouds, then at each other. When the rain came crashing down they laughed and both sprinted to the train yard. They ducked into one of the old boxcars that happened to be open and Joe closed the door behind them. It felt like a tomb.
“Sorry,” he said, “I’ll open it again-,”
“It’s fine,” Hayley said. “I don’t mind the dark. Do you?”
“No,” Joe said, sitting down. He reached out to find her, and his hand brushed against her neck.
Joe felt her hand take his. Lightning quick she leapt on top of him, pinning him to the floor. He felt the knife point dig into his side but then her lips found his and he didn’t care anymore.
She pulled away for a minute and they were just breathing heavily. They kissed again, ferociously.
Then she stopped again, a hungry look in her eye.
“What?” Joe asked. He was this close to getting laid for the first time ever, and then she stopped!
“Have you ever felt the urge to murder someone?” she asked calmly.
“What. No!” Joe replied, shocked at the question
Joe suddenly felt uneasy; there was a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. He was startled by her calmness about the question and his response.
She smiled to herself. “I have an idea,” she said.
“This is a pretty good one.” Joe laughed.
“You know the old movie theatre in town? What about we do something fun tonight, and break in?”
“Yeah?” Joe said, the hint of a question in his voice.
“It’ll be fun, I promise. We’ll do it at like eleven. Can you make it out that late,” she said, excited.
“Yes!” he said defensively
Joe had to admit, it did sound kind of fun. It was almost like she had planned it all ahead.
She climbed off of him and awkwardly readjusted her hoodie.
Hayley smiled. “Don’t forget. The theatre, 11 tonight.” She slipped out of the train car and disappeared.
The rain had stopped.
Joe couldn’t believe what had just happened. He walked back to his uncle’s house in a dream-like state, thinking about the night to come.
***
With the darkness settled in like a black cat on a doorstep, Joe snuck out of the house.
His uncle would be at the local bar with his townie friends until like 1 a.m. anyway and he would never notice Joe was gone.
Joe hustled up the main street. It was deserted. The street lamps cast eerie pools of yellow light and Joe used them to help find his way.
The local newspaper office was a dingy building with a fading sign and dirty windows. Joe’s heart was racing so fast that he found himself needing to stop and calm down. He read the headline on the front page of that day’s paper.
For once it had real news.
FEMALE MURDERER ESCAPED NEARBY PRISON
Well that didn’t help.
Joe shivered, not sure why he felt scared. Casting a glance about, he started to run.
The movie theatre must have been closed for at least 25 years. It was small, like really small, with a grey stone exterior and half the sign’s letters missing. They looked like they used to light up, too.
He reached the entrance in seconds.
It was a wide bank of glass doors, all of them closed, and one had a jagged crack running through it.
A cold wind gusted and Joe wrapped his hoodie around tighter.
“Hey.”
He nearly jumped out of his skin, but it was just Hayley.
“Hi. Let’s get inside,” he said. “It’s chilly out here.”
They both tried all the doors. Locked.
Hayley pulled out a switchblade and was able to pick the lock on one of the doors. Joe thought nothing of it, and they were inside.
It was pitch black of course.
Joe could make out a wide lobby, with an old popcorn maker and a counter to buy tickets at. The layer of dust everywhere was thick.
She grabbed his hand and started to run. He started to run with her, his heart racing even faster now.
They went into the first cinema room. It was empty, except for a block of chairs and the screen.
Hayley led Joe to one of the chairs and he crashed down into it. She climbed on top of him, smiling. His hands went around her waist but she pinned him back. She had a maniacal grin on her face.
Razor quick, she unsheathed her hunting knife.
Joe’s eyes widened. “What’s that for?” he asked, alarmed.
She stared into his eyes, grabbed his neck and raised the knife high. “You!”
Joe screamed and forced her off of him. She plunged back, into the row of chairs behind her and he leapt up. Joe raced out of the room. Panicked, he stood for a second, not knowing what to do. He heard her starting to get up, growling. He needed to hide.
Joe bolted to his right, into a men’s washroom. He ducked into a stall, shaking uncontrollably.
What the f*** is happening, he thought.
Joe stopped breathing. He could hear her footsteps. Slow, methodical.
He couldn’t tell which direction they were walking in.
It seemed even darker now, he could barely see.
Then he remembered the news headline. Escaped female murderer.
Oh God.
He looked up. Right in front of him, skin was glistening, there was a glint in her eyes.
The knife flashed.

Her motorcycle was parked behind the theatre. She climbed on, wiped her knife, and placed it back in the sheath.
She licked her lips.
Another successful kill. Humans could never hold her for long and no one could stop her now.
She gunned the engine and roared off, laughing, into the black night.
Off to the next town.