The Happening Just Off of County Road Q

By Sarah J Dhue

Four college-aged friends – Reggie, Jason, Pike, and Nichole – living in the small town of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, drive out to Aztalan State Park just off of County Road Q for a night of partying. They wake up in their car the morning after the wild night with no recollection of the night before, and they assume that they must’ve all passed out. Strange sensations and troubled dreams begin to plague them, and they start to question if they are really dreams at all or memories seeping through the cracks. Reggie becomes obsessed with finding out what really happened as horrific images of tall beings and metallic rooms plague them further. As they dig deeper, some of them become afraid and decide that maybe they don’t want to know the truth. Both the characters and reader must find out what is real and what is fiction in this psychological horror and science-fiction thriller.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jul 27, 2021
• ISBN: 9781300154198

Sarah J Dhue

Sarah J Dhue is a fiction author from Illinois and has been writing since she was in elementary school. She writes predominantly Horror, Paranormal, and Sci-Fi fiction, but has branched off into Romance and plans to try to her hand at other genre departures. In addition to books, she also writes poetry, short stories, and songs. She loves networking with other writers and artists of other media. Some of her other interests include coffee, photography, graphic design, social media, animals, art, travel, music, and animation. Sarah currently resides with her family and cats in southern Illinois.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Reggie Nordstrom woke up to his alarm buzzing and the weight of Ella’s head on his arm, which had fallen asleep.  He slapped the snooze button and pulled the covers back up over his bare chest.  Ella had become his Thursday night squeeze, which meant it was Friday morning.

Friday morning!

Reggie sat up quickly, ripping his arm out from under Ella and causing her to groan.  Shit – he looked at his clock and saw the red digital numbers glowing 8:03.  He had an exam in just over half an hour.  He jumped out of bed, ran into the bathroom, and flipped on the light.  His brown hair was disheveled, and his green eyes were wide with ‘flying by the seat of his pants’ fright.  He quickly sprayed his hair so that it stood up and looked windswept, scrubbed his teeth, and relieved himself.

As he ran back into the room, he noticed that his roommate, Will, had already gone – or had never come home.  Will tended to avoid being in the dorm when Ella was over.  Ella sat up and stretched, her straight, brown hair flowing over her shoulders and back as Reggie dropped his pajama pants and pulled on athletic sweats.  He started digging around the pile of clothes on the floor for a passable T-shirt; he had not gotten to do laundry recently, and his side of the room was becoming a real pig sty – not uncommon of the typical twenty-three-year-old male.

Why the rush? Ella yawned, stretching again.

I have an exam.  Er, help yourself to any food you can find.  Reggie finally found a plain, black tee that did not smell too offensive.  He threw on his blue windbreaker with the grey hood and started looking around for socks and a pair of matching shoes.

Poptarts…  That’s all I’m seeing, Ella griped.  Think I’ll hit up the cafeteria.

Suit yourself, Reggie ambled around the room awkwardly with one shoe on, looking for its mate.

Bye, she waved and said in a tone that revealed how annoyed she was.  Reggie usually didn’t care about being late to his Friday class.  Nobody liked an 8:45 on a Friday.  But that was the only time they’d had the class, and it was required for his Environmental Psychology degree.

He finally found the other shoe and yanked it on, running to the shelf where the box of frosted strawberry Poptarts was and pulling one out.  He looked back at the clock – 8:32.  He had about ten minutes to book it across the campus.  He would not have time to toast the Poptart.  He slung his backpack over his shoulder and ran out of the room.

Of course the building that his class was in was completely across the Lake Mills Community College campus.  Not that it was a large campus, but it was usually a ten to fifteen minute walk all the same.  He was going to have to take it at a jog.  The brisk October wind whipped at his face as he dashed out of Nicolet Hall, the door slamming closed behind him as he ran down the sidewalk, his shoes pounding against the pavement.  He rushed into class at 8:43, completely out of breath with his half-eaten Poptart clutched in his hand.  The professor gave him a weird look; Reggie was not sure if it was because of his dramatic entrance or the fact that he was actually on time.

Reggie slumped into his seat, horking down the rest of his breakfast as the professor handed out the exams.  He pulled the No. 2 pencil he kept on him at all times out of his jacket pocket and set in on the exam.  He was surprised with how confident he felt about his answers – he had not had time to study the night before for obvious reasons.

He handed in his exam ten minutes before class was over and strolled out of the lecture hall, wide awake from his ‘oh shit’ freak out.  He was done with class for the day, and he felt like going out and doing something.  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed out a lengthy text message, smiling as he hit send.  He returned his phone to his pocket and headed for the cafeteria.  That one Poptart just wasn’t going to cut it – he was starving.

*

Across the campus, twenty-three year old Nichole Parker was out for her morning jog.  Her breath came out in large, steamy puffs as she jogged through the chilly morning, the tip of her nose and tops of her ears turning red.  She wore her long, straight, reddish-auburn hair pulled back in a ponytail and her jacket’s collar flipped up against the wind.

Music blasted through her headphones, plugged into her cell phone which was secured in her armband.  That was one of the best tech purchases she had ever made. As a Health Science major, Nichole knew that it was important to keep herself in good shape, and her muscular yet lean physique was proof that she stayed active as well as maintained a healthy diet.  However, while Nichole loved athletic activities, she was becoming more and more certain that maybe that was not the career that she wanted to pursue.

She felt her cell phone vibrate, indicating that she had received a text message.  She kept jogging as she reached up and pulled it from her armband, swiping down to open her notifications pane.  The screen illuminated her blue eyes as she saw that it was a text from Reggie, sent as a group chat including their other two best friends: Jason and Pike.  She opened the text to read its contents: "Hey, you guys want to go out for drinks tonight?  First round is on me."

Nichole slowed to a steady trot and gave it some thought.  She did have a little bit of extra spending money for the weekend.  She stopped to catch her breath and thought a moment longer before typing back a reply: "Sure, sounds fun :)"

She replaced her phone in her armband and resumed her jog – she still had twenty minutes to go.

*

Jason Kramer sat at his desk in his small apartment, typing away on his computer.  His shoulder-length, wavy, black hair was mostly swept behind his ears, his bangs covering his forehead and the rest of his hair shoved into his beanie.  He stroked his mustache, working his way down to his goatee.  His dark blue eyes were mostly hidden under his heavily furrowed brow.

Based on his calculations, he may or may not be fucked.  Until yesterday, he had not planned on having to take a drug test, and now he had one scheduled for tomorrow.  Everyone knew that Jason was a stoner; he had been since high school, and he even rocked the stoner look with his hair, whiskers, beanie, and army jacket.  At twenty-four, he had been in and out of college for several years, constantly changing his major, never really committing to anything.  He was currently majoring in Business and trying to clean up his act.  So far, he was failing miserably, but he was at least trying.  And he needed this job.  He just had to hope that enough time had passed since he had last imbibed.

He continued typing in the boxes on the electronic form when his cell phone vibrated, rattling on the desktop.  He glanced at it, but finished typing his sentence, then hit Save and picked up his phone.  It was a group text message from Reggie: "Hey, you guys want to go out for drinks tonight?  First round is on me."

Nichole had already replied that she would be down.  Jason did not hesitate to reply: "Dude I’m totally down!!"

At least alcohol would not make him fail his drug test tomorrow.  Stress gripped him again.  Who scheduled a drug test on a Saturday?  Oh well, he had committed, and if he failed, he would just do what he had been doing his whole life: try, try again.

*

Pike Rogers stood at the Student Activities bulletin board, his backpack hanging limply on one shoulder.  Pike had short, uncombed, blonde hair and matching stubble.  His brown eyes searched the flyers and banners.  His ears stuck out, but he often used that to his advantage when doing his standup comedy routines.  He just had to catch his big break.

Of course, his parents didn’t see it that way; they didn’t believe that standup comedy was a viable career option.  That was the only reason he was in school – they had insisted on it.  So, he was stuck in a Gen Ed course of study until he hit the big time and raced out to L.A.  He had plenty of time; he was only twenty-two.

A flyer for an open mic night at one of the local clubs, Cosmic Generator, caught his attention, and he stooped down to read it more carefully.  His phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored it and finished reading the flyer.  He pulled his cell phone from his pocket and opened the camera, disregarding the text notification in the upper left corner.  He framed the flyer in the center of the viewfinder and snapped the photo.  He quickly checked to make sure that he could read all of the information for later and then opened the text message.  It was from Reggie: "Hey, you guys want to go out for drinks tonight?  First round is on me."

Nichole and Jason were down, and even if they hadn’t been, Pike was always game for a free round of beer.  He nodded and smiled, typing his reply: "Hell yeah!"

He hit send and returned his phone to his pocket, giving the bulletin board one more cursory glance before walking away and heading to his dorm.  He would need to brush up on his material by Tuesday night.  Some of his current jokes were getting a little worn out.

Chapter 2

Reggie and Pike sat in Reggie’s car – a black, 2010 Chevy Malibu – out in front of Nichole’s dorm, the radio playing old eighties tunes as they waited for her to join them.  They’d been sitting there for about ten minutes and had texted her upon their arrival.

"I will be right out."  She’d replied.

Girls, I tell ya, Pike laughed.  They take forever to get ready.  Makes me glad I’m a dude – no makeup or hair straightening to worry about.

Tell me about it, Reggie chuckled.  Like, the hair I get, but still – this only takes me a few minutes. Reggie indicated his wild updo.

Bro, you always look like you got caught in a windstorm. Pike ran his hand through his hair, This baby is lucky if it sees a comb once a week.

I’ve noticed, Reggie replied snarkily.

Whatever, Tornado Head, Pike retorted.

Reggie rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the front door of O’Keeffe Hall.  He finally thought he could see someone approaching through the glass.  He hoped it was Nichole; he knew Jason would be impatient for them to get to his apartment and get the night out started.

The person in question opened the door, and it was Nichole, her long hair down and running almost to her elbows.  Reggie wondered what could have possibly taken so long as he assessed what she was wearing: Converse, blue jeans, a V-neck, and hoodie.  He imagined it must have been her makeup.

Hey, she said, opening the back door and climbing into the car.

Nice of you to join us, Pike said over his shoulder.  We almost left without you.

No we didn’t, Reggie countered, shifting the car into Reverse and looking out the back window as he backed the car out of the parking space.  He smiled when his eyes caught hers, but then asked, What did take so long though?

I hopped in the shower, straightened my hair, and put on my makeup.  You know, basic stuff.

‘Basic,’ Pike marveled.

Shove it, Dumbo, Nichole retorted.

Ouch, he laughed.

Reggie smiled as he drove to Jason’s apartment.  The small town of Lake Mills, Wisconsin, had been home to all four of them for all their lives.  It was a charming town with a rich history; Native American tribes had settled the area long before the town of Lake Mills had existed.  It was hikers’ and bicyclists’ delight, with several parks and trails, and a campground nearby – Sandhill Station.

The four of them had known each other most of their lives, but had not hung out regularly until their later high school years.  They were all from different high school cliques: Reggie was a bookworm and ladies’ man.  Nichole was a musician and athlete.  Pike was the class clown.  And Jason was a stoner.  However, it was their common interests and love for partying that had drawn them together, and they’d formed a strong bond of friendship.

Reggie pulled up next to the curb in front of Jason’s apartment building.  He was sitting on the front stoop and promptly stood up before Reggie had finished rolling to a stop.  He climbed in the back seat next to Nichole.

About damn time, he griped.  I was freezing my balls off.

Blame Nichole, Pike was quick to interject, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Not surprised, Jason replied.  I assumed it was either her or Reggie with his hair.

Hey guys, back off the hair, Reggie ran his hand over it defensively, feigning hurt feelings.

Cut the theatrics, and let’s get to the bar.  I’m ready for drinks! Jason whooped.  Nichole couldn’t help but giggle at his enthusiasm.

Friday night, here we come, Reggie said cheesily, shifting into Drive and heading to their favorite drinking spot.  Finding parking on Main Street on a Friday night was no easy task, and the guys were sure to continue heckling Nichole about it until Reggie finally parallel parked in a spot a few blocks down from the bar.