Taillights!

 The red taillights were in the distance. Over a hill and past some trees. They looked like they were getting closer.

The blonde boy was standing on the back seat of the yellow VW beetle while it sputtered down the rolling two lane black top. The sky was clear and the moon was full, the boy could only see a couple stars in the sky.

As he looked back he slowly noticed that the road was clear of other cars in both directions. His father spoke from the drivers seat "You should be a sleep little man, why don't you lay down and sleep a little bit?" The boy smiled with his light blue eyes. "I'm not tired!" as he looked forward into the rearview mirror to see his dads shadowed face.

"Well then, do you want to drive so i can take a nap?" yawned the elder. Lights from a passing car hit and the boy looked away, back to the road behind, just missing the illuminated face of the man driving him. He forgot where they were going.

The car that passed them became just tail lights getting smaller until they turned off a moment later. Just then a glimpse of the other taillights that looked like they were getting closer from earlier. They crested a hill in the distance. "Daddy, why is that car driving backwards?"

"Try to get some sleep son, nobody's driving backwards down the highway."

As the boy crumpled into the backseat he closed his inquisitive lake blue eyes and fell asleep.

The car shuttered to a stop and the boy woke. "Stay in the car, I'll be right back" said the man as he closed the door. The child again noticed that he couldn't see his fathers face. This thought tugged at him. Why is an eight year old boy bothered by this notion. Why is an eight year old boy noticing this at all. He stands up and looks back out the rear window. 

The car is stopped in a shopping center parking lot, right under a tall yellow light. The road curves just enough that the car is facing the exact same direction as the road a few dozen yards behind, making it look like any cars would drive straight up to the stopped faded yellow bug. Those taillights are there again, a little bigger now. Are they going away or is someone really driving backwards down the highway at night?

The lights have his attention. He can't stop looking at them. Now it looks like they are not just getting closer, but moving up and down ever so slightly. That's a weird car, he thinks. he turns around to look out the front window.

It's covered in smeared bug guts and dried wiper fluid. He looks around the parking lot, people walking into and out of the store. Cars coming and going from the parking lot. Even as cars turn to go the way he had come from there were no other lights than those of that same car driving in reverse.

Daddy is taking a long time. He stands back up on the back seat to look out. Just in that moment the car shakes and there is a scratching thud on the roof. Tears of panic set in as the boy, eight years old, lays down on back seat.

A smell. Something familiar, but strange. A wet, no a sweaty dog. A sound, like panting. A wobble. The car was wobbling. A large sweaty dog was on the roof. It was walking around, like in a circle. Claws and pads shifted and scraped. The panting, he realized was more of a winded snarl.

The scaping became a crunch as a huge claw broke the shell of the beetle's roof. The boy began to scream.

The parking lot was empty, as if everyone who was going to leave had left, and everyone that was going to stay was inside. No other human soul was baring witness to the beast on the beetle, with the little blonde haired blue eyed boy inside, crying, and fearful. The muffled sound of the terrified scream that filled the car, was barely a hum above the buzz of the street light and squeal of the metal as the gigantic dog scratched.

The hole in the roof was getting bigger. The boy scrunched in the well between the front seat and the back. He closed his eyes. "If i cant see him he cant see me". he thought. "He'll see there is nothing in here and go away." Tears were streaming down his face, washing away dirt no one would have ever noticed was there.

Just several hours before he in the yard playing with his best friends from across the street. They made a sand castle in the sandbox. Plastic buckets of all shapes and sizes. The could build walls and towers. They even made an opening for a gate. Someone stepped on it though.

He pictured the sand castle and his friends. The squeal became a screech and his eyes shot open. He saw them, the car driving backwards, the taillights were actually glowing red eyes. The glow as closer, the wolf's teeth were snapping closer and closer. 

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!"

His hand hit the snooze button. His heart was racing. And his fangs were half out. The room was still dark, except for a faint red glow.