Ethan's foot eased off the accelerator.
The sign stood beside the road, old and rusted.
WELCOME TO ASHRIDGE.
He stared at it for several seconds.
“No…”
He whispered it to himself.
“This can't be right.”
He had never left Ashridge.
How could he be entering it again?
He looked in the mirror.
The passenger sat quietly, as if nothing was unusual.
Ethan grabbed his phone.
Still no signal.
Still 2:13 A. M.
He rubbed his face and drove past the sign.
The fog slowly began to clear.
Streetlights appeared one by one.
Shops.
Traffic lights.
Apartment buildings.
Everything looked familiar.
Relief washed over him.
“I'm back.”
But that feeling didn't last.
The roads were empty.
Not just quiet.
Empty.
No moving cars.
No people walking.
No dogs barking.
Even the traffic lights changed from red to green for roads with no traffic at all.
The city looked alive.
Yet it felt abandoned.
Ethan stopped at an intersection.
He lowered his window.
Nothing.
No wind.
No distant sirens.
Not even the sound of rain.
It was as if someone had muted the entire world.
He quickly rolled the window back up.
“This place isn't right.”
The passenger finally broke the silence.
“You've noticed.”
Ethan looked into the mirror.
“Where are we?”
The man didn't answer.
Instead, he asked a question of his own.
“What do you remember about tonight?”
Ethan frowned.
“What kind of question is that?”
“What do you remember?”
Ethan sighed.
“I started my shift. I met Mike. I accepted your ride.”
He paused.
“And…”
His voice faded.
He couldn't remember driving to Oak Street.
He remembered accepting the ride.
He remembered waiting.
But the drive itself…
It was gone.
A small gap.
Only a few minutes.
Yet completely empty.
His stomach tightened.
The passenger looked away.
“It has begun.”
“What has?”
Silence.
Ethan's patience snapped.
He pulled the taxi to the side of the road.
“Enough.”
He turned around in his seat.
“Who are you?”
The man looked at him calmly.
“If I tell you now…”
He gave a faint smile.
“… You'll refuse to believe me.”
Before Ethan could speak again, something moved outside.
Across the street.
A little girl.
She couldn't have been older than eight.
She stood beneath a streetlight, holding a red balloon.
She wasn't crying.
She wasn't smiling.
She was simply looking at the taxi.
Ethan frowned.
“Finally…”
He stepped out.
“Hey!”
The girl didn't move.
“Are you lost?”
No reply.
He walked across the road.
She was still watching him.
When he was only a few steps away…
A loud horn blasted behind him.
Ethan spun around.
A truck rushed through the intersection at full speed.
It passed straight through the place where he had been standing seconds earlier.
His heart nearly stopped.
He looked back at the girl.
She was gone.
The balloon was gone too.
Only an empty sidewalk remained.
Breathing heavily, Ethan hurried back into the taxi.
The passenger hadn't moved.
“You left the car again.”
“Did you see that girl?”
“No.”
“There was a truck!”
“No.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What do you mean ‘no’?”
The passenger looked out of the window.
“There are things only you can see now.”
The engine suddenly shut off.
The dashboard went dark.
For a moment, everything was black.
Then the lights came back on by themselves.
The engine started without Ethan touching the key.
The clock still read—
2:13 A. M.
A notification appeared on the taxi screen.
Destination Updated.
Ethan blinked.
“I didn't touch anything.”
The route had changed.
Blackwood Cemetery.
Distance remaining:
13 minutes.
“I never accepted a new destination.”
“You didn't,” the passenger said quietly.
“It accepted you.”
A cold shiver ran through Ethan's body.
He wanted to end the ride.
He pressed the cancel button.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again.
The screen froze for a second before displaying a single sentence.
Ride cannot be cancelled.
His breathing became uneven.
He grabbed the door handle.
Locked.
He tried the window controls.
Nothing.
Every exit had stopped working.
The passenger leaned forward for the first time.
His voice was almost a whisper.
“Whatever happens next…”
He paused.
“… Don't answer if someone calls your name.”
Ethan slowly turned toward him.
“Who would call my name?”
The man didn't reply.
Outside, somewhere in the darkness…
A familiar voice echoed through the empty streets.
“Ethan!”
His hands froze on the steering wheel.
It sounded exactly like Mike.