Very intense bolts of lightning lit up the blackened night sky, when suddenly a loud crackle of thunder shook the airport terminals towering windows as if it was an immense earthquake. I have to admit I was startled for a second, but swiftly walked through the sliding doors and right into the airport, which then sheltered me from the unpleasant weather, and made my way over to the car rental counter. Once there I asked the young woman behind the counter, whose name was Lynsey by the way, if they had any rentals available, preferably a compact car that gets good gas mileage. Lynsey checked her computer for any available rentals and said, “Mason, I have a white Chevrolet Cruz available.”

I quickly replied, “That would be perfect,” and I filled out all the necessary paper work that was needed and asked, “Lynsey, where can I pick up the car.”

She responded, “I will have someone bring it up to the pick-up area of the airport, which is right outside the airport terminal doors.”

I made my way from the warmth of the airport, out into the covered pick-up, and drop off area, when the brisk night air sent chills through my body, as if I had just jumped into freezing water. As I waited for the rental car to be brought up tiny droplets of rain blew in under the covering of the pick-up, drop off area, and hit me right in the face, blushing my cheeks, and felt like tiny needles piercing my skin. What seemed to be thirty minutes was only five when a white Cruz pulled up and a man got out and asked, “Are you Mason Williams?”

I replied, “Yes, that is I,” and he handed me the key fob and helped load my luggage in the trunk of the car. I did not bother with chitchatting because I was in such a hurry to get out of the rain and on my way, as it was already getting late. I got in the car and took off, driving out of the airport like a bat out of hell.

After roughly twenty miles or so, I had found myself driving on an unlit, unmaintained, two-lane road in a thunder and lightning storm that seemed to be never-ending. Do not get me wrong, I love thunderstorms, but did it have to be tonight of all nights. The rain was furiously coming down, forcing me to turn the vehicles windshield wipers on high, which then made them seem like they were violently slapping out of tempo on the highway. I had the vehicles high beams on as well and still could barely see a cars length ahead of me on the darkened two-lane highway when something caught my attention. The headlights were reflecting off something very shinny up ahead on the right side of the road. I wondered if it could it be a road sign, and as I got closer, I could tell that it was indeed a road sign, but I could not make out what the sign said, then it suddenly came into focus, Briarcliff Acres four miles ahead.

The trembling sensations running through my body ever since the sign had come into focus were trying to

tell me something, but at the moment I could not pin point what it was. However, I did know one thing for sure, and that was this trip to the Blackwood Manor was already proving to be very exciting and interesting. Somehow, I knew that this trip had something to do with fulfilling my destiny, and for now, I had no reason to believe any differently. Unbelievably, I have not investigated that many supernatural occurrences after learning that I had a destiny to fulfill by my guardian angel Ambriel.

As I entered the small town of Briarcliff Acres it truly seemed deserted, but then at this time of night surely everyone in this small town would be asleep. Bear in mind, it is definitely not Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps. Nonetheless, I drove on another thirteen miles when a sign came into view, a sign that said Deep Creek Road cut off two miles ahead. Even before I had went the two miles my imagination was running wild, along with the anticipation of not knowing what I would find once I arrived at the Blackwood Manor. I looked down at my dash for a split second to check the odometer to see if I had gone the two miles, as my navigation on my phone had stopped working for some unknown reason, and when I glanced up again at the road, there it was, the sign that said Deep Creek Road. Therefore, I took a left and kept an eye on the odometer until it had said I was just about to hit the four miles that Elizabeth had indicated that I had to go before I came upon the dirt road that led to the Blackwood Manor. What do you know? There it was, a dilapidated sign on the side of the road indicating that the Blackwood Manor was just down the side road. Go figure, and just my luck...it was an unmaintained dirt road that looked as if it had not been used in a very long time.

Elizabeth Blackwood had stated in her e-mail that it was exactly four miles from the Deep Creek Road cut off to the dirt road leading up to Blackwood Manor, so this must be it, being exactly four miles, and having an old dilapidated sign that said Blackwood Manor on it. I also remembered Elizabeth telling me to take the first dirt road on the left, and that it would lead me straight to the Blackwood Manor, so that’s what I did, even though it was the only direction that I could go.

The downpour made the narrow road very muddy and slick. I wondered if this could be the only way to the Blackwood Manor, and hoped and prayed that I did not get stuck out here on this unmaintained road in the rain at this time of night. Nonetheless, I remembered that Elizabeth had specifically stated that this dirt road was the only driveway to and from the Blackwood Manor in her e-mail to me. Therefore, I decided what the hell and started my way down the narrow, muddy road, which started to get very slick as I carefully navigated my way through the mud stricken road. Even though the car that I was driving was front wheel drive, which transferred more weight on my front tires for traction, and gave me more control over the vehicle. I had to keep my speed up just enough to keep my momentum going so I would not get stuck, but slow enough to still keep control of the vehicle.