Terry had bought his Odyssey with his own money, when he was still in college. It was a rebuilt car. It was a car that had been through a flood. Above all else though, it was HIS car. It was the car that got him through school, then through Medical School and then through his residency. And it would be the car that got him through his new job. He was sure of it!
"Car's fucked again." Charlie said. It wasn't a question, just a statement of fact. The two of them were stuck on the side of the road, in front of a long wire fence, enclosing a field. Terry slammed the hood down and glared at his boyfriend.
"You can sit there and make snarky comments or you can-
"Terry, I work on cars for a living." Charlie said. "And I told you on our first date, you needed a car that hadn't been through a flood. I said a stiff breeze would break this thing. And in the following two years the engine has shut off when you've been on the interstate, when you've been on an incline, on a flat road, when its wet and when its dry and once it even shut down when you were trying to shut it off. That one was a surprise even to me, but the real miracle is its made it this long."
"This was my first car." Terry said. "It's the car that saw me through Med School...it's..."
"Your lucky car?" Charlie asked. His boyfriend blushed. "I can't get any cell reception out here."
"That's because we're in the middle of nowhere, trying to avoid traffic on the interstate, remember?"
"And how's that working out for us?" Charlie asked. Terry blushed even harder. Charlie sighed and climbed out of the car. "Come on, I can see a farm house up the road, maybe they'll have a phone."
The two men were a study in contrasts. Terry was tall, pencil thin and with a high pitched voice that made people mistake him for a woman. His hair was platinum blond, in a short cut and always styled. No facial hair, that was untidy. Despite today being a moving day, Terry was dressed in his usual button up shirt and creased dress pants. His shoes were polished to perfection and mud seemed unable to stick to his clothes.
Charlie on the other hand was average height and barrel chested. His brown hair was overgrown and greasy. He had a massive handle bar mustache, the only thing he took the time to style. He wore a t-shirt with several stains of unknown origin across it, jean shorts and raggedy tennis shoes. Terry reached for his hand but Charlie batted it away.
The two made it to the front gate and were greeted by a large NO TRESPASSING sign. Terry sighed.
"Well, I guess this is a dead-" Charlie ignored him and pushed his way inside. "What are you doing! Did you not see the sign!?"
"Ter-bear, we're stuck." Charlie said. "I'll take my chances with these people than trying to fix your Odyssey with the contents of my ass." He continued up the packed dirt road, to a farm house in the distance. Terry hesitated, but quickly followed.
Neither noticed as the gate locked itself behind them.
Thankfully the day was sunny and not too hot, because the walk up to the farm house was a long one. Terry kept looking around, anxiety bubbling inside. Any moment now he was sure he'd see a farmer with a shot gun. Or maybe a pitch fork. Or maybe a machine gun! People in the country owned those, right?
In truth though, Terry didn't see anything. Just empty fields, the occasional empty pig sty or chicken coop.
"Does this place seem odd to you?" Terry asked.
"Nope." Charlie said. They made it to the clean, two story white house. The front door was bright red, with a polished door knocker. No door bell, no address, just the door knocker. Charlie knocked twice and waited.