The orange glow of the setting sun spilled over the tree-lined highway as Sara and Tim cruised along the winding backroads on their Halloween road trip. They were driving to Ravenwood, a small town rumored to host the best Halloween festival in the state. Shadows crept across the road as night fell, adding to the growing chill in the car. But they weren’t just shivering from the cold—they were nervous.
Tim’s hands gripped the wheel tightly, eyes squinting ahead into the darkness. “Why’d we choose the back roads, again?” he asked, forcing a smile to mask his discomfort.
“Because the GPS said it was faster,” Sara replied, leaning forward as if that would help her see better through the dim headlights. “Besides, it’s Halloween. This just makes it… spookier, right?”
Tim wasn’t convinced. It felt like they were the only car left on earth, isolated in the stretching, endless dark. The forest pressed in on both sides of the road, thick and ominous. Then, up ahead, a figure appeared at the edge of the road, waving a flashlight back and forth.
Sara gasped. “Tim! Someone’s out there! They might be in trouble.”
He slowed the car as they approached the figure, an older man wrapped in a trench coat, his face hidden under the shadow of a wide-brimmed hat. He held his thumb out, motioning for a ride.
“Should we?” Tim asked, glancing at Sara. “I mean, it’s almost pitch black out here, and he could need help.”
Sara hesitated. The man looked out of place, almost like he’d stepped out of another era. She took a deep breath. “Alright. But let’s keep our guard up, okay?”
Tim nodded and rolled down the window as they came to a stop beside the man. “Need a lift, sir?” he asked, keeping his tone polite but cautious.
The man nodded slowly, his voice hoarse. “Thank you. Much obliged.”
He climbed into the back seat without another word, sitting rigidly upright, hands on his knees, his face still obscured by his hat. The car filled with the scent of damp earth and something faintly metallic. Tim resumed driving, stealing nervous glances at Sara, who was visibly tense.
“So, uh… where are you headed?” Tim ventured, his voice breaking the heavy silence.
The man tilted his head slightly, as if considering. “A little place just down the road,” he murmured. “I’ll know it when I see it.”
Sara’s pulse quickened as she noticed his hands. They were grimy, with deep stains under his nails and what looked like tiny nicks and cuts along his fingers. She forced herself to stay calm. He could just be a gardener, she thought.
Trying to keep the conversation going, Tim asked, “Have you… lived around here long?”
The man let out a long sigh before answering. “Been here most of my life. Never found a reason to leave,” he replied, almost too softly, as if the answer was meant more for himself than for them.
The car rattled along, each mile stretching into an eternity. They passed a faded wooden sign for Ravenwood, only a few miles out. The man leaned forward suddenly, his breath chilling their necks.
“Stop the car,” he whispered. His voice had a force that seemed to press down on them, demanding obedience.
Tim pulled over onto the gravel shoulder, hands shaking as he gripped the wheel. The man got out slowly, tipping his hat to them before stepping off the road and into the darkness, melting away like a shadow returning to the night.
“Let’s get out of here,” Sara breathed, her voice a shaky whisper. Tim didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled back onto the road and sped down the highway, the eerie silence pressing in on them. Neither of them spoke until they saw the bright lights of Ravenwood up ahead, and relief washed over them.
Once they parked, they both sat in silence, taking deep breaths. Finally, Sara managed a laugh, though it sounded hollow. “Well, that was creepy,” she said. “I mean, did we just pick up a ghost or something?”
Tim forced a chuckle. “At least it makes a good Halloween story.”
They stepped out of the car, eager to join the festive lights and sounds of the Ravenwood Halloween fair. But as Tim walked to the back of the car to grab their jackets from the trunk, he stopped, his face turning white.
“Sara… you need to see this.”
Sara hurried over, heart pounding, and looked where he pointed. There, in the back seat where the man had sat, was a faint, dusty outline of his figure—and lying in the seat was a large hat, covered in dirt.
She took a shaky step back. “No way…” she whispered, reaching into her pocket with trembling hands. She felt something that shouldn’t be there—a crumpled piece of paper. She pulled it out and opened it, reading the words scrawled in faint, shaky handwriting:
“Thanks for the ride. See you on the road…”
They stood frozen, staring into the dark woods beyond the fairgrounds. And when they glanced back at the car, the hat had vanished.
Happy Halloween!
