The Phantom Hitchhiker

The road stretched endlessly in front of them, two pale yellow lines dividing the dark asphalt under the hush of the moon and the midnight air The only sounds inside the car were the hum of the tires and the rhythmic slap of the windshield wipers against the glass of the window. The rain drizzled down in a misty haze, catching the glow of the headlights turning the night into a soft blur. 

“You still awake?” Daniel asked, glancing at his daughter in the passenger's seat. 

Nina blinked her eyes awake and lifted her head from where it was resting on her reclined passenger’s seat. 

“Yeah, just resting my eyes.” 

“We’re making good time. Should be there before sunrise.” 

She nodded and rubbed her cold hands together to warm them up. The car's heater wheezed, doing a poor job of pushing out warm air  in the car. The lukewarm air was not doing a good job of heating up Nina’s cold body. 

“You excited?” Daniel asked, keeping his eyes on the road. 

“I guess so. But, it is a big change.”

“College always is. You will be amazing.” 

Nina smiled. Her fingers anxiously tapped in her lap. Outside the rain got harder and Daniel turned the wipers up a notch. 

A mile marker whizzed by. Then another. Then a figure. 

A shadow on the side of the highway, barely illuminated in the headlights. It was just a man standing there with his thumb out. 

Nina sat up straighter in her seat. “Did you see him?”

“Yeah.” Daniel tightened his grip on the wheel.

“Should we stop?”

“No.” 

She frowned. “What if he needs help?” 

“This is how bad things start. Hitchhikers at night on the highway. No way.” 

Nina turned in her seat to look back. But the darkness swallowed the man. 

“Maybe he ran out of gas.” Nina told Daniel.

“Or maybe he wants to rob someone or worse.”

They drove in silence for another mile. Then out of nowhere the car lurched forward slowing down. A loud thud echoed from underneath them and the steering wheel yanked in Daniel’s grip. He cursed. He eased his foot off of the gas as he drove the car to the shoulder of the highway. 

“What was that?” Nina asked, trying to catch her breath. 

“Probably just a flat tire.” He muttered. “Hold on. Stay there.” He turned off the engine . Rain poured on the roof as he exhaled. 

“I’ll be right back.” He said as he unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the car.

“Dad?” 

“It’s fine.” 

When Daniel stepped outside of the car into the darkness Nina sat still listening to the rain, her eyes trying to follow her dad’s movements. She gripped her seat belt tightly holding it as if it were her only lifeline. Then a knock on the passenger’s side window sent her heart slamming to her stomach. 

A face was watching her through the glass. The man was smiling. Nina screamed. It was the hitchhiker. 

The card door opened. 

“Nina, Nina, it’s me. It’s Dad.” Daniel said standing there drenched from the rain.

She gasped, pressing her hands to her chest. “Dad?” She turned her head back towards the window. Nobody was there except her dad and the dark night. 

Daniel climbed back into the driver's side of the car. “What happened?” 

“I saw him!”

“Who did you see?” 

“Dad, I saw the hitchhiker from the highway. He was right there looking at me through the window.” 

Daniel looked out of the window. “There’s nobody there.”

“I swear he was just there. He was standing right outside of my window and he even smiled at me.” 

Daniel exhaled. He ran his fingers through his wet hair. 

“It’s late and dark. You’re probably tired and imagining things. Let’s go.” 

Nina didn’t argue. She just kept staring out of the window, goose bumps appeared on her arms as the car started moving again.

The road seemed endless, mile after mile. Then an hour later they passed a figure standing on the side of the highway just on the edge of their highlights. The hitchhiker again.

Daniel clutched his hands tighter on the wheel. “No way! How is this possible?”

Nina panicked. “How did he get here before us?” 

Neither of them had the answer. 

The man raised his thumb and smiled.

Daniel hit the gas. The car went faster as the rain poured outside the tension in the car built up. The air was suffocating. 

Nina turned around watching through the window as the hitchhiker disappeared into the darkness and distance. 

Minutes passed. Then another mile marker and another mile on the highway and the figure appeared again in the headlights. 

Daniel cursed again. “That’s impossible!”

Nina’s fingers dug deeper into her seat. “What do we do?”

“We don’t stop. We don’t look. We just drive. We just keep going.” 

Daniel drove faster, exceeding the speed limit. But no matter how fast they  drove or how far they went the hitchhiker always returned, standing at the edge of the highway smiling. Every time he was just ahead of them. 

Nina’s hands started to shake. “We’re not getting away.” 

Daniel’s jaw tightened. “We will.” 

The car radio came on and they heard a voice over the static. “Need a ride?

The car jerked as Daniel swerved, nearly sending them off of the highway. Daniel turned the radio off. But the voice remained. 

“You should have stopped. It is only polite.”

The voice echoed inside the car. 

Daniels knuckles turned white as he gripped the wheel harder. “Nina don’t listen.” 

But, she could not help but listen. Then she heard something else. Breathing, slow and close. 

The hitchhiker was in the car. The breathing was coming from the backseat. Nina screamed.

The car lurched as Daniel slammed on the brakes. And then. Nothing. Silence. 

The car was in the middle of the highway. The rain drops softly padded against the windows. The back seat was empty. 

Nina’s breath came back in short gasps. “He was there. I saw him.” 

Daniel didn't move. Then slowly he put the car in drive and pulled forward. They didn’t talk to each other the rest of the trip.

When they reached their destination, the sky sparkled with the first light of dawn. They parked and each of them breathed in the stillness of the early morning. 

Nina opened the car door  and stepped out into the damp morning air. She turned and grabbed her and grabbed her suitcase from the back seat. And she stopped cold in her tracks. 

There was a muddy footprint on the backseat. 

Nina slammed the car door and looked at her dad. 

“We made it!”