I had no choice but to walk the half-mile from the motel to the fairgrounds, where I hoped my car would still be parked.

All the way there I still felt weirdly great.

I kept expecting a massive hangover to hit me, but it never came. I didn't even have to pee, and I wasn't really thirsty at all. I honestly don't think I'd ever felt more rejuvenated in my life.

It was only when I reached the highway that I realized something was wrong.

It had to be the Saturday evening of fair weekend, but there wasn't a single car on the road.

The traffic should have been bumper to bumper, even worse than it had been last night. Any other time of year, an empty highway would have been perfectly normal. But not tonight.

I walked faster. My footsteps through the gravel at the road's shoulder was the only sound I could hear. It occurred to me, hurrying along while the sun sank into the mountains way off in the west, that I hadn't seen a single person since I'd woken up. Not one.

The lights at the rodeo arena were on. And most of the street lights too.

But as I approached the fairgrounds, all of the carnival rides were totally dark. The Ferris wheel's motionless silhouette rose up over the feedlot's corrugated tin roof. There was no blaring carnival music, no roar of souped-up engines at the Saturday-night destruction derby, no cheers from the grandstands.

I hopped the fence into the parking lot.

There were only a few cars left. I was so relieved when I spotted my little gray sedan, parked all alone in the dimming evening light, that I practically ran to it.

I'd lost my set of keys along with my phone, but thank God Shawn had insisted that I keep a spare hidden under the battery. I popped the hood and found the extra key right where it should have been.

But the car door wasn't locked. Which was odd, because if there was ever I time I'd be sure to lock my car door, it was during fair, especially if I'd parked in the public lot.

I wanted to get out of there as soon as I could and go home, or maybe to my parents', or to Ian and Danielle's, and to figure out what the hell was going on.

I tried not to think about the unlocked door for now and I jammed the key into the ignition. Just as I put the car into drive I noticed something on the passenger seat.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Please VOTE 🌟 before continuing! Thanks! ;) xxBailey