Title: The Final Story

Author: Sam

Series: Halloween in Hazzard: 10 of 10

Note: The events in this chapter are NOT based on a real event that I am aware of, unlike the others.

Feedback: Yes, please? Especially constructive.

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Balladeer: Well, at the beginnin' of this here ev'nin' I mentioned as to how them Dukes weren't gonna have no fun with those ghost stories. Well, here's the part where they find out what I mean 'xactly.

Luke slid into the shotgun seat of the General Lee, the orange stock car he owned with his cousin, Bo. Placing the fiddle carefully in the back seat, he turned to watch Bo settling himself in the driver's seat. "So, how many phone numbers did you get, Bo?"

The blond next to him laughed, "Why? Couldn't get none after those far fetched stories you told?" He turned his grin on Luke to show there was no hard feelings.

His cousin returned the grin, though not as enthusiastically.

Behind them, Daisy slid into the driver's seat of her jeep, Dixie. She signaled that she was all situated, turning to see Jesse, in his old white pickup truck already pulling out. Happily, she followed her cousins from the lot of the Boar's Nest.

As the three vehicles raced down the road towards the Duke farm, Bo kept up a constant back and forth chatter with Daisy over the CB. They were reminiscing about the party a bit, but thoughtfully were leaving out mention of Luke's stories, for which their cousin was very thankful. Then, they rounded a bend.

In front of them was a dark pickup and a large four-door car. Both were filled with people laughing and apparently having a good time. Suddenly the car swerved, spinning as the driver tried to recover the road. That may have been the stupidest thing he could've done, because the truck hadn't time to maneuver around him. The car, facing the way it'd come, and the truck still going full tilt slammed head on, to the horror of the Duke family, who'd managed to pull over before getting involved in the accident.

Screams filled the air as all four piled out of their vehicles, racing forward to help the victims of the crash. Luke made it to the side of the pickup while Bo and Jesse sprinted ahead to the side of the four-door. Daisy started trying to help Luke. The smell of gasoline was strong, mixing with the smell of blood and burnt flesh.

Pulling back his arm, Luke slammed his elbow into the truck window, feeling pain as he connected and hearing the shattering noise of glass as he and Daisy were showered with shards. He reached in, pulling the driver back from where he was slumped over the wheel. The man's blue-gray eyes were wide and staring, dead; with a shudder Luke reached past him for the woman in shotgun, but she hadn't survived either.

Daisy, however, was trying to help those who'd been in the back of the pickup. There were two couples: three of the people thrown from the back but one still wedged in by twisted metal. She started checking each one, trying to find a single heartbeat or pulse without success.

The screams continued as Bo and Jesse fought their way through twisted metal to get at the two couples in the four-door. It wasn't easy, and the results were terrifying. Bo managed to pull a pretty blonde woman from the back as Jesse jumped in horror at the sight of the driver's injured face.

"Back up! Leave them cars alone!" Jesse was backing up as quick as he could, while making the sign of the cross, his voice near panic as he yelled to his nephews and niece.

Daisy protested, knowing at least two people in the crash hadn't been checked yet and hearing those awful screams. At Jesse's more insistent demand, however, she reluctantly backed from the accident. Luke ignored his uncle's warning and sprinted around towards the car when a spark suddenly flared up, igniting the leaking gas.

Jesse shielded Daisy, and Bo protected the woman, as the cars blew up, sending Luke flying into the ditch, hard.

"Luke!" Daisy broke away from her uncle and hurried to check on her cousin.

Jesse headed for Bo, noting to himself grimly that the screams had ended with the explosion. He reached down a hand to help his nephew up, but the man just sat there dazed. His pure blue eyes looked up with confusion as he asked, "Jesse, what happened? Where's the girl?" She was nowhere to be found. In fact, oddly enough, there was no sign of either wreck or fire. The road was as clear as if nothing had happened at all.

The old man shook his head. "Ain't no girl, Bo. Let's get on outta here." Without further explanation, he herded the younger man to the side of the road where Daisy and Luke were. Luke was sporting a head injury, as well as a sprained wrist, from being thrown across the road, but he'd be fine. To much protests and questions by the three young people, Uncle Jesse got them in their vehicles and back to the farm.

Once there, while the group was in the kitchen and Jesse was fixing up Luke's injuries, they finally got the sober explanation they sought.

"That accident we saw tonight ain't happened for near on twenty years."

"Whatcha mean, Uncle Jesse?" Bo was shaking, unable to get the face of the lady from his mind. She'd had a pulse, had even blinked open pretty blue eyes. That woman was so familiar, but such a stranger, to the young man... it was eerie. Just as eerie was how everything had just vanished. Bo didn't want to believe the only explanation that came to mind.

Jesse shook his head, frowning softly. "I mean, Bo, that you weren't seeing a real accident."

"Uncle Jesse, are you askin' us to believe that there was nothin' there? That Luke threw himself across the road?" Daisy's voice was incredulous as she filled cups of lemonade for them all. There was a haunted expression in her eyes, though.

"No," Jesse stopped, looking straight at each Duke cousin in turn, then sank into his chair with a sigh. "What you saw happened near twenty years ago. I don't claim to know just what throwed Luke, nor do I aim to find out."

Bo shook his head. "How do you know that was such an old accident, then? What about that woman I pulled out?"

Taking a sip, trying to keep his hands steady, Jesse shook his head. "I knowd 'cause that woman you pulled out was your Mama, Bo. I recognized your Daddy when I checked on him."

Everyone froze, except Jesse, staring at their uncle with wide eyes.

"What y'all saw," Jesse went on, "was like a ghost of the accident they was all in."

That caused utter chaos as the cousins immediately clamored to try to figure out just what was going on, what they'd seen, and how Luke had been throw from a ghost blast. That was a Halloween none of the Dukes would ever forget, even though after several long hours, they'd be wishing it never happened at all.

Balladeer: Well, things were talked over pretty good that night, and ain't no one on the Duke farm get much sleep. But, things have a way of workin' out in Hazzard. So don't y'all worry none, 'cause them Dukes discussed that there hauntin' and come out closer than ever. And, that's the legend 'bout how a night of spook stories turned into a night of spooks for them Dukes. See y'all.

FIN