Jeff Marlow

“Hi, my name is Jeff Marlow and you can call me Jeff; nevertheless, I’m on my way to Canada. Where you heading to, stranger?”
“Well Jeff, it must be my lucky day, because I’m heading to Canada myself. By the way my name is Chad, Chad Wagner.” He said to Jeff.
‘I can’t tell him that I’m on the run from the police, I can’t tell him that I have been convicted of murder.’ Jeff though to himself, ‘If I told him, he wouldn’t get in, and I just want someone to ride with me.’ Jeff is driving a giant 1992 ford club wagon. It’s green with faded paint and rust almost all the way around the bottom. It’s not his first choice but he thought if he was going to steal a car to run with it, it better not be to fancy. As Jeff and Chad cruise along the highway they make small talk about the families they had, their homes, and their jobs. They find out that in many ways they are similar. They’re even both about the same age. The also look alike minus their clothes. Jeff is in a nice suit and Chad has on a old leather jacket he probably bought in the late eighties.
“Do you have any kids Chad?” Jeff asked.
“Yea,” Chad replied, “one girl and one boy.”
“That’s weird, me too.”
Looking at Jeff you would never suspect that he could be on the run from the police. And you could almost never guess he would be on the run for murder. He just doesn’t look like a killer. Maybe that’s why he’s able to move around without being noticed too much. He’s a pretty average looking guy that keeps to himself, in his mid thirties, and he is a bout 5’10’’ with dark black hair. He wares glasses but he is not warring them right now. He weighs about 180 pounds and is not very muscular. After about an hour Chad caught Jeff a little off guard with one of his questions.
“So why did you leave all that behind?” Chad asked Jeff cautiously.
“Well its kind of complicated,” Jeff responded, “I just needed to get away for a while until things cool down a little bit, what about you?”
“Same as you, I just needed to get away.”
Although Chad thought he knew exactly what Jeff was talking about. He really had no idea. As hours went by Chad started complaining about his ass hurting. Jeff didn’t want to stop though, he knew that if he stopped anywhere for too long of a time he could get caught. Chad continued to complain and Jeff continued to ignore him. Finally after about an hour of Chad’s consistency Jeff agreed to stop at a hotel for a few hours. He also made him wait until they crossed the border of Utah into Idaho. Jeff being a little paranoid made Chad check them in to a old Motel 6. On the way to their room they spot two young women that give them a look and start to giggle. Jeff thinks the women look too young for Chad and him, but it doesn’t stop Chad. Plus the more people that he had to carry along with him on his trip means that they would have to stop more often for bathroom breaks, and food. Everything in Jeff’s body said that talking to these girls would be a bad idea, but Chad had different ideas.
“Look at that Jeff, two nice young ladies for the taking.” Chad whispered to Jeff.
“No, we can’t,” Jeff declared, “Were only staying for a little bit then we got to leave.”
“Well why can’t we have some fun while were here?” Chad begged.
“Fine, if you can get them to come with us you can, but I‘m not going to help you.” Jeff exclaimed.
“Help, ha! I don’t need your help.”
After a few moments of talking Chad had convinced the two young ladies to come back to their room, much to Jeff’s doubts about him. Chad left the two girls with the room number and told them to come by later. Jeff, still amazed by Chad’s ability to pick up two random girls, gives Chad an awkward look.
“What, you didn’t think I could do it?” Chad cheerfully protested.
“No, actually I didn’t think so.” Jeff said still in shock.
“Well never doubt the master,” Chad said jokingly, “really all it takes is confidence remember that, anything is possible with confidence.”
Jeff thought about what Chad said about the confidence. He wondered that if he had more confidence maybe he would be able to do things like Chad. Not have regrets for anything you do. Just do it, and do it with confidence and you shall succeed.
‘Whatever he is just crazy.’ Jeff concluded.
When the two girl got back to the room they introduced themselves. On was named Kara, and the other was named Kayla. ‘No last names, the girls must of thought that they weren’t going to know us for very long. We introduced ourselves back and that’s how it began.’ Jeff thought.
Kara started first, “What are you guys doing here in Idaho.”
“Were on the run,” Chad said jokingly, “No really were on our way to Canada.” Jeff looked almost offended by Chad’s comment but decided to let it go.
“That’s so weird,” Kara started, “so are we; although, our car broke down a little ways down the road so we had to walk to this hotel for tonight.”
As Chad and Kara hit it off Kayla sits in the corner of the room staring at the television. Chad and Kara are laughing and having a good time, but Kayla sits.
‘I kind of want to go over and talk to her but I don’t want to seem like an asshole guy that just wants to get laid tonight. Kara, who seemed like she loved to talk would probably be a pretty nice mach for Chad. Kayla on the other hand has not said one word yet and it kind of intrigues me.’ Jeff though. Then Jeff gets blindsided by Kara.
“Would you guys mind if Kayla and I were to tag along with you,” Kara blurted out, “please, please, please, we’re heading the same direction as you guys and we really have nothing here for us anyways. Our families abandoned us and we’re just trying to make it to Canada for a fresh start.”
Jeff thought about it and came to the conclusion that even though the girls would probably be an inconvenience at first they would most likely grow on us. Also Chad never shuts up, so with two girls in the car he could be more occupied.
“Yea, come on Jeff they can ride with us.” Chad eagerly declared. Jeff was happy to have more people coming along though. He always says the more the merrier. He was still kind of unsure about the situation though. Jeff contemplated, ‘How are they both traveling to Canada just like us. Maybe they are undercover cops that are going to bust me. No, they can’t be if they were I would have already been caught. As a matter of fact how weird is it that all three of these people are going to Canada just like me. Well, it must just been a coincidence.’
“Sure, I guess, but we have to leave now then.” Jeff declared.
“O.k., we’ll get our stuff and meet you at your car.” Kara shouted in joy.
They all got their things together but they didn’t leave right away like Jeff said. Instead they just sat around and talked. Well Chad and Kara talked a lot, Kayla still really wont talk to me. She seem like something is eating away at her from the inside out. Every time I asked her a question she would answer in a short quick manner. As if she never wanted to start a conversation. I continued to try. After about a half an hour of sitting outside by the car the manager came out.
“Hey, you, come here I need to talk to you for a second!” The manager shouted at Jeff. Stunned by the manager adrenaline started pumping through out Jeff’s entire body. He felt like telling everyone to jump in the car and peel off into the cover of night. Jeff didn’t want to seem crazy by yelling at everyone and making them rush into the car. He just calmly walked over to the manager like had asked. Chad and Kara continued their conversation as if nothing in the world could sop them. They have really seem to hit it off. Kayla is staring at Jeff as he strolls towards the manager. ‘It’s almost like she knows, like she knows that I’m hiding something from everyone. Hiding something from myself.’
“I’m going to call the cops,” the manager started, “if you guys don’t get inside I’m going to have to call the cops for loitering. Sorry its just policy.”
“I’m sorry Sir, we’ll be on our way then right now. Just don’t call the cops on us.” Jeff pleaded.
Jeff turned nervously and quickly paced back to the car.
“What the hell is going on Jeff?” Chad shouted. When Jeff was walking back and almost to the car.
“We got to get out of here, the manager said he was going to call the cops on us if we didn’t get a move on.” They probably could have stayed, but being paranoid almost to the brink of insanity makes Jeff just want to get as far away from this place as possible.
They all hoped in the car and started up a new journey. Jeff drove and Chad sat in the passenger seat while the girls slept in the back. The sun was starting to rise while the group crossed the Montana border. Chad tries to sleep but Jeff not wanting to be alone keeps him awake with small talk. Chad thinks that Kara is awesome, he says that if he wasn’t married she would be his wife. Jeff tells Chad how he can see himself with Kayla, but he thinks in the long run they could never work out. After a couple of hours Chad finally falls a sleep despite Jeff’s small talk.
‘There’s something weird about these girls, its weird how they found us, its weird that they found us on this day. I don’t really know how to explain it but I feel like I’m connected to these people in some way, and that we were all supposed to be going to Canada right now. It just feels right. We should stop soon maybe we get some breakfast.’
Jeff decides to pull off the highway and stop at a little restaurant named Bill’s Pancakes. He wakes everyone up and offers to buy breakfast for everyone. It starts to snow a little bit while they finish up their food.
‘That’s weird, I didn’t know that it could snow in the summer here.’ Jeff thought.
After breakfast they start out on the road again. This time Chad and Kara sat in the back and make Kayla sit upfront with Jeff.
‘I have to talk to her. She is cute and I will probably never see my wife again.’
“Hi, there Kayla is it.” Jeff asked cautiously.
“Yea.” Simply answered Kayla.
“What’s your last name.” Jeff continued.
“None of your business Jeffrey.” She snarled.
“Why did you call me that?”
“Jeffery, that is your name right.”
“Yea, its just weird my mom called me Jeffery.”
Chad and Kara are talking more than us in an effort to learn as much about each other as possible in the shortest amount of time. They soon realize that they both have the same birthdays.
“Hey Jeffery,” Chad shouted, “what’s your birthday man.”
“Why….Never mind, February 20, 1973.”
“Dude, so is mine, and Kara’s too.”
‘I didn’t want to ask Kayla what her birthday was. Truthfully I was kind of scared to know the answer. I have to ask her though Kara and Chad were waiting almost like they knew I was going to ask her. If she does have the same birthday maybe this meant to be. Its like God wanted me to kill my family and get away with. Maybe he wants me to live with these three people for the rest of my life.’
“So Kayla, when is your birthday?”
“The same as you stupid. The same as all of you guys.”
The snow started picking up rapidly and it started to get harder and harder for Jeff to see.
“Well I think that’s kind of ironic, and I don’t appreciate the attitude young lady.” Jeff said to her trying to sound as proper and as calm as possible. He wouldn’t want people to doubt his driving in this horrible weather.
“Think about it,” Kayla started, “why do you think were all here in this car we were set up by them. We all are being set up right now.”
“Who, you’re crazy,” Chad shouted from the back, “God, the government, an agency that doesn’t exist.”
“No the……” Kayla Started.
The snow had gotten impossible to drive in, yet Jeff was still driving 65 on the highway. He saw a truck in front of him and he figured as long as he can stay in the trucks path he would be fine. The truck starts to slow though. Jeff really wasn’t paying too much attention because he wanted to here what Kayla was about to say but right at that second something happened. The van hit a patch of black ice, and Jeff swerved hard to the left.
“Hold on.” Jeff shouted.
The group all panicked. Kayla grabbed Jeff’s arm. Chad and Kara are holding each other tightly in the back seat. As Jeff struggles to gain control the van slides back and forth on the two lane highway. Jeff still doesn’t notice the trucks blaring headlights because the snow has brought visibility almost to zero. Jeff knows there is a truck ahead.
‘Oh my God I’m going to kill everyone. I’m completely screwed if I continue to swerve back and forth. I could hit a car that is on coming, but at the same time I could run straight into the back of this semi at 60 miles per hour. Oh well, its better than…’
Bam! The van smashes into the back of the semi that was now almost to a complete stop. Chad, Kara and Kayla die instantly on impact. Kara and Chad holding onto each other on the back seat failed to put on a seatbelt and went flying through the windshield. They landed about 40 feet ahead and landed on their heads. Kayla on the other hand got completely smashed by the semi. The right half of the van smashed into it. Jeff being the paranoid person that he is had his seatbelt on. He is still hurt though, his arm feels broken and he cant really move. Jeff passes out before help can arrive.
“Jeff wake up.” A low very deep voice awakes Jeff.
“Where am I.” Jeff demands.
“Your in a hospital, my name is doctor Calvin.”
“What happened to the others are they O.K.”
“Jeff take a look around, what just happened to you was not real.”
Jeff looks around. He notices that this isn’t a regular hospital. Dr. Calvin and him are locked in a plain room with two security guards. There is a table with nothing on it. No windows anywhere. Jeff is shocked to find that he is in chains, that are hooked to the chair.
“Why am I in chains? What is the meaning of this? I want a lawyer.” Jeff shouts
“Now Mr. Marlow don’t start yelling, I’ll explain everything to you. The dream that you just experienced was planed out by us. You killed your wife and two kids. Then you tried to burn down your work. Luckily you were caught before you could. You seem to suffer from a sever case a schizophrenia. In some cases you can completely change into a different person. We used a experimental procedure to try to control each personality. There’s your personality that is right now, and you called the others Kara, Chad, and Kayla. We used hypnosis to get you into a paralytic state where you can still talk but we can alter your thoughts. So, we made you think that you had gotten away. We also had you involve all of your personalities. Since the killer didn’t try to kill anyone we took matters into our own hands and made you guys crash. Killing all of your alter personalities. By eliminating all of them we can be sure that the killer must be dead. We recorded today’s session, and we believe that we could fix you here.”
“I, I don’t want to be fixed. I’m not just some broker car or something. You can’t just fix a human. If there is something wrong with them then there will always be something wrong with them!” Jeff shouted in a crazed effort to try and understand what was going on.
“Now see her Mr. Marlow, we can help you. Besides, the police that caught you said that you were very quiet, and gave very simple answers. I think we both know that was Kayla.”
Dr. Calvin winked at Jeff and got up to walk out the door. The days went by and it was the day of Jeff’s trial. After a brilliant presentation by Dr. Calvin as Jeff’s start witness. Jeff was pretty much off the hook.
“I Judge Judy hereby declare that Jeffrey William Marlow shall be sentenced to spend the remainder of his days in a mental hospital under Dr. Calvin until he is proven to be cured of his mental illness.”
Jeff was escorted out and put in the back seat of a van heading to the mental hospital that he should spend the rest of his days at. Two people get in a man in the driver seat and a woman in the passenger. Both look like workers from the hospital. They started driving then Jeff started to talk.
“I didn’t say anything because I was not going to admit my crimes.”
“What did you say.” The woman turned and said.
“And I gave simple answers because they only asked simple questions.”
“You are crazy sir, I’m sorry.” The lady said.
She turned around and then Jeff grabbed her with his chains and started to strangle her. The other man shouted for him to stop but Jeff didn’t. By the time the man was able to pull over and get Jeff off her she was already dead. The man then tried to call in backup but Jeff knocked him unconscious. Jeff kicked him until he stopped moving then unlocked himself. He jumped in the car and said.
“Stupid doctors they think they know everything, here I come Canada.”