[THE LATE NIGHT TRIVIA]

Content warning: Nonconsensual experimentation, kidnapping, and death, with violent consequences.

Follow me as we venture through this late-night tale of a lonely ride with a lonely man. Standing outside the movie theatre was Scarlett, a thin white woman with long blonde hair wearing a short black dress and white Converse shoes. She was trembling as she engaged in what seemed to be a phone call.

“Dispatch.”

“Ah, yes, can I get a taxi from the movie theatre on Maine Street?”

“Name, and where are you going?

“Scarlett, Germantown,”

“Just you?”

“Yes,”

“That will be $4.”

“Okay, how long?”

“15 minutes.”

“Sorry, what did you say?”

“Ma’am, the ride will be $4, please be outside in 15 minutes.”

“Okay, thank you.”

The dispatcher hung up.

“Who were you talking to?” asked Charlotte, Scarlett's older sister.

Charlotte resembles her sister, just a little thicker with long black hair. Wearing an army green dress covered by a denim jacket, with a pair of silver sandals.

“The taxi woman,” Scarlett told her.

“What!” Charlotte replied, laughing.

“Seriously, who were you talking to?”

“The taxi woman, like I said,”

Charlotte found that to be hilarious since they both live across from the theatre.

“Scarl, why would you call a taxi? Your house is right there.” She spoke.

“I know,”

“You, okay? You've been acting weird ever since we got to the theatre.”

2 seconds later…

“I need to tell you something,”

“What?”

“Something weird is going to happen tonight,” Scarlett replied with a panicked look.

“You see those two black cars across the street?”

“Yeah,”

“Those are government people.”

“So?”

“Come with me to the restroom, I will explain everything.”

Moments later, they got to the bathroom and shut the door from the inside.

“So, this morning, two tall men in suits asked me if I wanted to make an easy 6 grand. Being so broke, I couldn’t refuse the offer, so I asked them what for?”

“They said it’s nothing serious; they only need me to take a taxi from this theatre to Germantown, with this tracking device that I hid inside my bra.”

“So, they offered you 6 grand and what?”

“12, if I could get someone else.”

“Oh, and here I’m thinking my little sister just wanted to hang out with me,”

“If I had told you, you wouldn’t have done it.”

“You damn right,”

“I will share the money with you.”

“That is a lot of money. I need to know more.”

“That is what I’m about to tell you now,”

Three weeks ago, around 9:45 pm, a strange yellow Cadillac was driving down Route 9W heading for Sage Town. It was occupied by a quiet passenger wearing a hooded sweater, whom he had picked up from the Red Hook movie theatre.

She was casually scrolling through her phone unappeased by the driver’s silence. So unaware she missed his awkward glances from his rearview mirror.

The driver was a lanky, long-nosed Turkish man who was slowly nodding to the Turkish music coming from the radio.

Mildly, he cleared his throat, as if he wanted her attention. Slowly, he looked at her before speaking.

“So, what motion picture did your eyes behold tonight?”

She didn’t answer, it was uncertain whether she had heard him or not. Turning the music down, he aggressively cleared his throat again. This time, he was demanding her full attention. She looked up and made eye contact with his thick eyebrows and hazel grey cat eyes piercing through the mirror.

She got a sudden chill from his demeanor, followed by a frightened pause.

“So, what movie did you see?”

“Huh?” she said and closed her phone.

“I asked you what movie you're seeing tonight?”

“None, I worked at the theatre.”

“But that old movie (The Game) was showing all night,”

“Oh yes, a classic, with Sean Penn, playing Conrad,”

“I guess, I don’t know,”

“You don’t like movies?”

“Yeah, not really?” she replied with a shrug.

“So why do you labor at a theatre?”

She made a tiny frown.

“Look, man, this is not school, and I’m just trying to get home okay,”

“I don’t give a shit about movies or movie theatres, it’s all fake anyways,”

The old man's eyes suddenly grew wider as he took a deep breath, grinding his teeth. Something about her statement irritated him. Irritated him so much that he took an unexpected right turn on RTE 32.

“Sir, where are you going? My house is that way,” she said.

“I said my house his that way,”

“Sorry, I’m just getting something at Quick Check,” he calmly told her.

He quickly pulled into the parking lot, which was ghostly empty due to the late hours.

“ROSEBUD.” He told her before opening his door.

“What?” she asked, with a confused look on her face

She watched him leave as she tried to understand why he would say “Rosebud”.

15 minutes later, the driver was still shopping. Confused by this long wait, she decided to step outside to look for him. Panicked, she was when she saw all four locks closed down. She tried again, but it wouldn’t budge. She then looked through the windshield to see if the man was inside.

“This must be some type of joke?”

She tried the door again.

“Okay, this is not funny,” she said, pounding on the window until she was interrupted by a winding sound coming from the outside. She saw six dark-tinted windows rise and cover all the windows. She was now unable to see through the windshield, leaving the car pitch black.

Feeling around, she panicked and started kicking the door. Yelling as loudly as she could.

“Dude, this is not funny.”

Pressing her face to the window, unable to see anything, she was startled by a strange red TV that had emerged from the ceiling, stretching down to the floor. On the outside, the strange man had already seated himself, staring at the car, like he was about to watch a movie.

“Such a perfect night for a Trivia,” he said, and chuckled.

Inside, the young lady had reached her limits, frustrated by this sudden and strange encounter. She decided to call the cops. When she pulled her phone out, she saw 3 messages from a guy named Roger.

9 pm “Stacy, I will be outside for 15 more minutes. I can still take you home,”

9:01 pm “And be careful, I saw two weird black cars parked outside for hours now,”

10 pm “Johnny told me you didn’t take the taxi.”

10:01 pm “Did another guy pick you up? Are you seeing someone else?”

She hissed and tried dialing 911, but was cut short when her phone suddenly went up in smoke. She slapped the screen and shook it from left to right, but after realizing it was dead, she got mad, tossing it under the seat. A couple of seconds later, she tried picking it back up, but couldn’t reach it. While under the seat, she heard the strange red TV starting up, followed by an automated voice of Sir Laurence Olivier.

“Welcome, Contestant Number 84.”

“Congratulations On Making It on The Late-Night Trivia Show.”

“Here are the rules,”

“You will be asked 10 questions.”

“Each question comes with a penalty. Answer a question incorrectly, you will pay that penalty; answer correctly, and you will move on without fatality.

“Are you ready, contestant?”

Ignoring the instructions, flabbergasted and disoriented, Stacy had lain down with tired eyes. Wanting nothing but to be in her bed, she was so weary she envisioned herself sitting in her favorite t-shirt with hot chocolate in her Lennord County mug. She wasn’t expecting any of this. This is not the night she had planned!

“I should have gone with Roger,” she said, then burst out in tears. “Bang!” The slamming of the car door woke her from her daze. She rocked side to side as the car slowly drove off.

“Sir, could you please take me home? I’m sorry, okay,” she said, apologizing, when the voice came back on.

“Question Number One,”

“What are the dying words of Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane?”

“You have .45 seconds.

“Listen, I don’t want to play this game, and I’m sorry I was rude earlier, okay.”

“Sir, can you please take me home?”

.38.37.

“I’m not playing this stupid game; this is not funny anymore.”

“What are the dying words of Charles Foster Kane in Citizen Kane?”

She hissed at the automated voice.

“Please, I’m so, so, so, so tired. I have been on my feet all day; I want to go home and sleep.”

12.11...

“You have 10 seconds.”

“I don’t fucking know who Charles Foster is, Fuck!”

“I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know,”

“Time is up.”

“The answer is Rosebud,”

“Now applying penalty,”

“What is that?” Stacy asked when she saw a symbol of the car seat on fire. She wondered what it meant when the leather suddenly emitted a rushing heat. It was so hot she instantly flew up, hitting her head on the ceiling.

“Is this what you do to your customers?” she asked, interrupted by question two.

“In the Matrix, did Neo take the blue pill or the red pill?”

“A correct answer will reduce heat; an incorrect answer will incur an added penalty.”

“You have 2 minutes.”

“It was the red pill,” she said.

Stacy had learned this from Roger a while ago. Roger, being a movie buff, is the reason she ignores him; she hates it when he constantly talks about movies. The voice spoke again.

“Question Number 3”

“What shocking Wes Craven horror movie carried the marketing tagline, (to avoid fainting, keep repeating, it’s only a movie)”

“You have 1 minute,”

“Who are you?” she asked while crying.

“I did nothing to anyone, I did say I'm sorry for being rude.”

“Can you fucking say something,” she said, when she suddenly fell forward, because the taxi had come to a full stop.

She heard the door opening and closing. “Help,” she shouted, hoping someone was nearby. She couldn't see anything, but the old man had stopped at a Gulf gas station in Germantown, a lonely town 45 minutes away from Sage Town.

The driver went inside and was greeted by a jolly, fat white woman in the middle of a crossword puzzle and a Coke soda.

“Let me get a lighter and a pack of Newport cigarettes.” He spoke.

The woman began to reach for the Newport from the glass shelf closer to the store window when she mysteriously stared at the taxi, raising an eyebrow, as if something was wrong. She then looked at him.

“Are you lost?” she jokingly asked, with a smile.

“No, why did you ask that?” he replied with a smirk.

“Because I have never seen a Red Hook Taxi in Germantown, and I have worked here all my life,”

“I see, but there is a first for everything. How much do I owe you?”

“That will be $7.”

The man paid for the items and left. Four seconds later, she cracked the store window because she had seen him coming back looking angry. She then realized that he had left the lighter on the counter. Unaware that his car door was open, the shopkeeper heard Laurence Olivier reveal the 6th question.

“Who played Juror number 8 in 12 Angry Men?”

“You have 1 minute and 30 seconds.”

The woman laughed.

“Easy question,” she said.

“The answer is Henry Fonda,”

The man got back inside.

“Forgot the lighter, huh?” she said.

“Yes, silly me,”

“I must ask, what is that thing asking all those Movie questions?”

“Shit,” he whispered to himself, when he saw the door opened.

“Just something I do, to entertain my passengers,”

“I like it,”

“My daughter loves stuff like that, too. I might have to take your taxi one day,” she said, and laughed out loud.

“Oh, that’s nice; well, you have a good night,” he replied and left.

She stood at the window as she watched him drive off.

“What dark windows,” she thought.

The driver was now cruising on 9W with a lit cigarette, nodding to his Turkish music. By now, the game had ended, for little Stacy was already dead in the back; she had succumbed to her injury in the 6th penalty. It was so gruesome she shitted on herself.

“Oh wow!” Charlotte said, holding her mouth.

“What the fuck, is all of this true?”

“Well, that is what they told me,”

“Hold on, Germantown is 45 minutes away, how did he get there so fast?”

“I don’t know, I’m only telling you what they told me,”

“This is a wild story. What happened next?”

He took the Rip Van Winkle Bridge back to Sage Town and buried her body at the Mountain View Cemetery.

“That is next to your apartment,” said Charlotte.

“This is a serial killer we are dealing with?”

“This is crazy.”

“What happened next is even crazier,” Scarlett replied.

“2 WEEKS LATER ON MIKE KROUT ROAD, SAGE TOWN, guess who and her daughter were waiting for the same taxi?”

“Don’t tell me the jolly fat woman from the gas station?” Charlotte asked.

“Yep, she and her daughter Stefanie,” “Crazy right?” “Anyway,”

It was around 7 pm, and they were both standing outside. Her mom Nadine was on the phone with the taxi service. (845-675-TAXI).

“Rhinecliff Annadale Taxi, how may I help you?” the dispatcher answered.

“Hi, can I get a taxi at 67 Mike Krout Road?”

“How many and where?”

“My daughter and I,” “And we are going to Poughkeepsie,” she replied with a smile.

“Name?”

“Nadine,”

“Will that be all, ma’am?”

“Yes,”

“Okay, let me check who is available.”

The dispatcher put her on hold. Stefanie looked at her mom weirdly.

“Why are we taking a taxi if you have a car?”

“Ma’am, you there?” the dispatcher came back on.

“Yes,”

“Ma’am, the closet person, is 10 minutes away.”

“That is okay,”

“Please make sure to be on the outside.”

“Yes, one last question, is there a Turkish man with a thing in his car that works there?”

“No ma’am, there's no Turkish man with a thing in his car that works here,” she replied.

“Will that be all?”

“Yes,”

She then hung up.

“Strange,” said Nadine.

“Mom, why are we taking a taxi to Poughkeepsie?”

“We are going for Cheesecake.”

“But there is a Cheesecake Factory in Sage Town?”

“Because I want to drink a few wines too, okay,”

Stefanie shook her head.

10 minutes later.

The taxi pulled up, and Stefanie immediately went in before her mom.

“Good night,” she told the driver.

“Good night,” he replied.

Stefanie then picked up someone's driver’s license, which said, “Andre Paul.”

“Hey, I think someone lost their ID,” she said, and handed it to the driver.

“Thank you, I will take it back to the station.”

Meanwhile, on the outside, Nadine was weirdly looking at the taxi man.

“You are not him,” she said.

“Excuse me,” the taxi man replied.

“I thought you would be him.”

“Mom, what are you talking about?”

“Come, baby, we are not taking this cab.”

The taxi man was confused, and so was Stefanie.

“Mom, what are you talking about?”

“Stefanie, I said, come.”

She got out angrily; the taxi man hissed and drove off.

“Crazy people,”

“Mom, what was that? You are weirding me out,” she said, angrily walking off when another taxi pulled up.

“You guys called a cab?”

Nadine smiled as she heard the rich Turkish accent.

“Yes, we did,”

They both got in. Stefanie was picking up a creeped-out vibe, but remained calm, as she distantly looked at the yellow cab and its driver.

“Good night, ladies,”

“Good night,” Nadine replied.

“Night,” said Stefanie, with curiosity in her eyes.

“Where are we going tonight?”

“Poughkeepsie to get some wine and cheesecake,”

“Why Poughkeepsie? Isn’t there cheesecake in Sage Town?”

“Same thing, I said,”

“I just love cheesecake from Poughkeepsie,”

“Poughkeepsie, huh?” the driver said.

He then looked at Stefanie.

“So, I heard you like trivia games?”

“I guess,” she answered.

She was baffled about why he would know that, but little did she know that her mom had planned this surprise.

The man laughed.

“Would you like to play a trivia game while we travel?”

“Sure,” she replied as she watched the door locks go down and dark-tinted windows emerge from the outside. She looked at her mom when they both heard:

“Hello contestant 104, congratulations on making it to The Late-Night Trivia Show.”

“So, he killed them?” Charlotte asked.

“According to the agents, yes,”

“Who is this guy?”

“No one knows. They have been trying to catch this man for ages now; they say he travels from state to state.”

“What is he? A man who kills for lack of movie knowledge?”

“Are you sure this is safe, Scarlett?”

“The agents said everything will be okay.”

They looked at each other.

“That is why you said it is current.” Said Charlotte.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Someone knocked on the bathroom door, frightening both of them.

“Give us a second,” Charlotte shouted.

“Did you order a cab?”

“Yes, but it's only 10 minutes now, they said 15 minutes,”

“Well, a yellow Cadillac is outside.”

They both looked at each other.

“That must be him,” said Charlotte.

“Okay, we're coming,” Scarlett shouted.

“READY TO GO MAKE THIS BREAD?!” she asked. They smiled and left.

Moments later, the two were seen entering the taxi. After it drove off, the two black cars on the other side also drove off. They followed the Cadillac as it cruised down Partition Street when the agent in front witnessed something strange.

“Are you seeing this?” he asked.

“What?”

“Look up,”

The agent behind did look up, when he did, he was terrified when he saw:

“THE YELLOW CAB FLEW OFF IN MID-AIR, WHILE A DREADFUL SCREAM OF THE TWO GIRLS ECHOED THROUGH THE NIGHT SKY.”