Johnny Blaze drove down the highway. He was enjoying the peace of a wide-open road at night. He could feel the rider underneath his skin but, as there was no evil about, it was merely in the background keeping him warm. Both parts of him were content.
However it was getting late and he had been on the road all day so he turned off into the next rest stop.
There were a few bikes already outside along with some car and a lone truck. Johnny decided to get a drink before looking for a room and walked into the bar. When he entered the was the obligatory everybody-stares-at-the-door moment, but as he could tell there was no evil there Johnny just smiled back and walked towards the bar.
*
The bartender looked up as another customer entered her bar. Although you sometimes got families on road trips or lost tourists they usually came earlier in the day. At this time of night it was bikers or truckers and this guy was definitely a biker. Although he seemed a little clean cut despite all the black leather, maybe he was just a Sunday biker.
As she watched him smile at the regulars before heading over she changed her mind, lone strangers were usually more weary when first entering the bar. Oh sure, she knew none of the guys would harm a fly, but they didn’t look it.
Performing the roll of bartenders everywhere she asked, “What’ll it be?” if she was surprised by the soft Texan drawl she was more surprised by the request. “I don’t suppose you have any jellybeans, do you?”
She just looked at him and plonked a bottle of beer on the counter.
“Thanks.” He said laying down some money and taking a seat.
A few moments later Bear came in. Bear got his name because that was exactly what he looked like, a big mean grizzly bear that just woke up and wasn’t happy about it. She watched with interest as he hulked over to the new guy.
*
Johnny turned as he heard a deep voice from above him. “That your bike outside?” As he looked up at a menacing bearded face he expected the Rider to push to be released so he was surprised when a voice in the back of his skull whispered ‘Innocent’.
Johnny blinked and realised the guy in front of him was expecting an answer. “Yeah.” The man smiled “It’s a nice bike.” Johnny smiled back “Thanks. It was my Dad’s.” The man pulled out a seat and sat down “Bear” he said, holding out his hand. “Johnny” he introduced himself and they started talking about bikes.
Some time later found Johnny and Bear still talking, (Johnny was delighted to find another Carpenters fan) when the door opened again. Johnny looked up along with everybody else. Suddenly he stood up and pointed at the man entering the bar. “You” he said, unaware that a growl had entered his voice that hadn’t been there before. “Guilty.”
A heavy hand landed on his shoulder. “Are you all right?” asked Bear. Johnny blinked as he realised what he was doing. He lowered his hand as everyone watched him strangely. He gently put his bottle on the counter saying “Em…I think I’ll just get some fresh air.” Then he all but fled the bar.
Outside he took a breath and walked over to his bike. Looking at himself in one of the mirrors he said sternly “I am not going to freak out all the nice people in the bar. I am going to wait and follow that man when he leaves.”
Satisfied, he nodded to himself and walked back into the bar. As he made his way back over to Bear he noticed that the man was talking to a young woman. “That’s Charlene, works over at the motel. You might want to head over and book a room for yourself soon.”
“Yeah,” He replied noting Bears look of concern “that might be a good idea.”
The bartender came back over. “Want another?” she asked looking towards his abandoned bottle of bear. “I think I’ll stick to water.” She nodded approvingly and handed him a pint glass of water. He drank half of it in one go in a vain attempt to quench the fire inside.
The man he had pointed at came over on his way out of the bar. “What was that about, earlier?” He looked average, a bit on the wimpy side. Defiantly not a biker and doubtfully a trucker.
“Er, nothing. I thought you were someone else.” A small part of Johnny noticed that he really sucked at lying. The rest of him was clutching his glass of water trying not to react, as he could practically smell the innocent blood spilled by the man, who smiled, looking harmless, as he followed Carlene out of the bar.
“Whoa.” Bear’s voice snapped Johnny’s attention away from the door “Look at that.” He was looking at Johnny’s water that had started bubbling, steam rising from the top. He left go quickly. “I think I’ll go find out about that room now.” “Right. See ya.” Bear said still looking at the glass. Johnny quickly left the bar; thankful Bear was the only one who noticed what had happened.
He walked over to his bike looking around. There were too many people close by for him to risk changing, not if he wanted to keep a low profile. But it seemed his quarry was leaving. A blue ford was driving off quickly and Johnny knew that it was the man who he was looking for. Starting up his bike he set off. He decided he would follow for a while until he was sure there would be no witnesses before he let the Rider take over.
*
Out on the road Mark Wallace smiled down on his unwitting passenger. He may not be strong but he was sneaky and most importantly, he knew where he could get any number of drugs to knock someone out for however long he wanted.
Charlene lay unconscious in the passenger seat unaware of anything around her. Mark’s smile turned into a frown, he didn’t know who that guy was tonight but he gave him the creeps, but he wasn’t going to let that stop his fun.
He did this about once a year. He knew there were stretches of road that didn’t see people for weeks, sometimes months. He could pick someone up, have his fun and dump them never to be heard from again and no one ever found out.
Mark was thinking of his plan when he noticed a strange light behind him. It didn’t seam like a headlight. Looking back he saw something that made his jaw drop. It was a man, no a skeleton, riding a motorbike, completely on fire. “This isn’t real” he whispered as the apparition drew level with his car.
Terrified he could only watch as a hand reached out and griped the side of the car, bending the metal. The rider pulled the breaks on his bike, slowing him, and the car, down with him.
Mark couldn’t move, even when the door was ripped off its hinges. The last words he heard before pain and damnation were; “Look into my eyes.”
*
The Ghost Rider tossed the now unresponsive body back into the car slightly disappointed that it had been so easy. It was then that he noticed the unconscious girl in the passenger seat.
Flames dying down to a harmless blue he picked her up and brought her over to his bike, kicking the car to the side of the road as he went. Looks like he was going to stay in that motel after all.
Johnny managed to get Charlene back to the motel before she started to wake up. He was able to convince her that he had found her asleep at the side of the road (technically true) and everyone just assumed she had fainted.
He lay down on his bed as dawn approached feeling satisfied. All in all it hadn’t been a bad nights work for The Ghost Rider.