Christine 2 – Part 5
Jari touched the push-button shifter.
The moment was quiet.
Too quiet.
Then flames burst from Jari’s eyes.
No pain.
No scream.
The car caught fire.
Flames rolled across the hood as if they knew exactly where to go.
The tires screeched, the asphalt smoked.
Christine moved.
Without hesitation.
Without questions.
Jari sat behind the wheel, his hands on the steering wheel.
He didn’t steer.
He gave permission.
The engine howled inside the flames.
The headlights turned on one by one in the darkness.
Christine searched.
For its first victim.
Jari laughed.
Not loudly.
Not happily.
But with a strange, broken sound he didn’t recognize as his own.
A man ran ahead.
He had seen the flames.
He had heard the engine.
Footsteps hit the asphalt unevenly.
Breathing broke into gasps.
Christine kept the perfect distance.
Not too close.
Not too far.
Jari pressed the accelerator.
The car surged forward, the flames burning brighter.
The tires squealed through the turn.
The man stumbled.
Got back up once more.
Turned to look behind him.
That was when Jari laughed louder.
Christine struck.
The impact was fast.
Heavy.
Final.
The car drove over the man without stopping.
No jolt.
No hesitation.
In the mirror, the body was left behind.
Motionless.
Jari didn’t look anymore.
He knew
this was only the beginning.
Jari drove home.
Christine stopped in the yard with a sudden jerk.
The car was completely burned.
The metal steamed.
The paint was black and blistered.
The flames were gone, but the heat still lived.
Jari got out of the car and went inside.
He didn’t look back.
When morning came, everything was different.
Christine stood in the yard intact.
Shining.
As good as new.
Jari woke up in his bed.
He was normal again.
No flames in his eyes.
No laughter in his head.
Everything seemed to be in order.
Then a car pulled into the yard.
Veijo came to visit.
He stepped out and saw Christine.
Stopped dead in his tracks.
Veijo shouted to Jari:
“What the hell, man, did you change your car?”
Jari came to the door.
Veijo pointed at the car.
“I’ve never seen anything like that in your yard.
What is it?”
Jari looked at the car for a moment.
Then at Veijo.
“1958 Plymouth Fury.”
Veijo nodded slowly.
“That’s… unusual.”
Veijo walked around the car once more.
“That’s a nice machine.”
He looked at Jari and grinned.
“Want to take it for a test drive, Jari?”
“Let’s go,” Jari said.
Jari pressed the accelerator to the floor.
Christine moved.
Veijo shouted and laughed:
“Man, it really moves!”
Jari replied calmly:
“Yeah… this is one hell of a machine.”