by Chris Kreie
“Sorry,” said Priya. “I’m just playin’. Of course there was a driver. There had to have been a driver. Just because we couldn’t see him doesn’t mean he wasn’t there.”
“He was probably dressed in black,” said Mateo.
“With no lights on, it was just impossible to see him,” said Priya. “Sorry, Kristy. I’ll stop. I’m sure you’re right. It was a stupid driver making foolish choices. Forgive me?”
“I guess,” said Kristy. They hugged.
“Are we still up for this?” Mateo asked.
“Of course,” said Kristy. “We’re going to the lighthouse to watch the blood moon. That was the plan, and we’re not going to let some obnoxious driver stop us.”
“Perfect,” said Carl. “Driver, you heard the woman. Onward!”
Mateo smiled and stepped a little harder on the gas pedal. He didn’t want to say anything more because Kristy was already afraid, but part of him suspected something bizarre was going down. The truck disappearing at the gas station and again on the highway was crazy. But not being able to make out a person behind the wheel? That was the icing on an already freakish cake. Mateo seriously doubted that this was your average truck. Maybe there’s some truth to Priya’s crazy tales about the blood moon.
Mateo quickly tried to rationalize things. The truck is just a truck, and the driver is some guy in a dark jacket getting his kicks by freaking tourists out. We lost the truck around the corner because the truck was driving so much faster. It made it around the first corner and then quickly around a few more. That’s why it looked like it disappeared. What other explanation could there be? Still, part of him wished that Kristy had asked him to turn the jeep around and take them all back to Middleton. They could go to the Flame, have a few smoothies, some fish tacos. They could be surrounded by people. A lot of people. And they could be far away from the desolate coast and some phantom pickup truck.
“Don’t look now,” said Carl, who was facing backward, “but our friend is back.”
“Are you serious?” asked Mateo.
The girls whipped their heads around. Mateo checked his driver’s-side mirror. Sure enough, there it was—the same truck, again with its headlights off.
“What does he want?” shouted Kristy.
“Where did he come from?” asked Priya.
“He must’ve pulled over, and we just didn’t see him in the dark,” said Carl.
“I’m not so sure,” said Mateo.
“What do you mean?” asked Carl.
The truck accelerated up to the back of the jeep. It seemed to be inches from their bumper.
Priya screamed. “He’s a psycho!”
“Let him pass,” said Carl.
“Anyone see a driver?” asked Mateo.
The three friends stared at the truck.
“It’s too dark,” said Priya.
“Of course there’s someone in there,”said Kristy.
“But can you see him?” asked Mateo.
“No,” said Carl.
Mateo again slowed down, and again he waved the driver past. But as soon as he did it, he knew it was a pointless gesture. The truck didn’t want to get around them. It wanted to scare them.
“He’s passing,” said Kristy.
“Really?” asked Mateo.
But instead of flying past, the truck pulled up alongside the jeep. Mateo did his best to look into the cab. He could see some movement inside, but in the darkness it was still impossible to tell who—or what—was behind the wheel.
“What’s he doing now?” shrieked Kristy.
“He’s just sitting there,” said Carl.
Mateo kept the jeep at cruising speed, just around forty. He hoped the truck would get bored and drive off.
The vehicles drove side by side up a hill and around two sharp corners. With the truck to his left and the edge of the road to his right, there was absolutely no room for error. Mateo glanced at the truck, but he had to keep his eyes on the road and the jeep safely on the pavement. They swerved around yet another bend. At any moment an oncoming car, hidden from view, could be on top of them, crashing headlong into the pickup.
“You should pull over,” said Carl. “He’s going to kill someone.”
“Where?” said Mateo. “There’s absolutely no shoulder.” Calling the PCH a narrow stretch of road was an understatement. The only thing separating Mateo’s jeep from a steep embankment to his right was about five feet of grass, bushes, and boulders.
Suddenly the truck eased ahead of them just a bit. Almost simultaneously it moved to the right. It was forcing them off the road.
“Look out!” shouted Priya.
“I see it,” said Mateo. He pulled to his right, his tires balancing precariously on the edge of the asphalt.
The pickup didn’t stop. It kept moving right.
“I’m going to have to ditch the road!” shouted Mateo. “Otherwise he’s going to push me off. Everyone hang on!”
Mateo waited just a second—long enough to clear a couple of boulders up ahead in the grass. They flashed past, centimeters from the tires. Shouting “Here we go,” Mateo yanked the wheel hard to the right and applied the brakes, not so hard as to lose control, but hard enough to stop before another thousand-pound boulder appeared out of nowhere in front of them.
It was a hard stop. The jeep dipped and dived several times before crashing to a halt. Dust billowed in all directions.
Mateo was clutching the wheel, his knuckles ivory white. He released his grip and let out a deep breath. “Everyone okay?” He took a look around the jeep.
Carl’s hands were still braced against the dashboard. The girls’ eyes were huge.
“I think so,” said Kristy.
Priya checked. “Yep. Nothing broken here.”
Nobody said a word for at least a minute. Mateo thought he could hear the beating of his friends’ hearts.
Carl broke the silence. “You realize if that had happened on the other side of the road . . .”
“Don’t even say it,” said Mateo.
“We’d be fish food right now,” said Carl.
“He told you not to say it.” Kristy took Carl’s ball cap off his head and smacked him with it.
“Ow!” Carl grabbed his hat back.
“That truck wants us dead,” said Priya. “I’m sorry, Kristy. I don’t mean to scare you, but I think it’s true.”
“It’s okay,” said Kristy. “This time I think you’re right.”
Mateo looked from one of them to the other. “We need a plan,” he said. “And we need it now.”
CHAPTER 4
“What can we do?” asked Kristy.
“We can’t stay parked here,” said Mateo. “That’s for sure.” They were barely off the road, with a rocky slope just a couple feet to their right. In the darkness they could easily get clipped by other vehicles approaching from behind. He checked over his shoulder and pulled back onto the highway.
“What happened to the truck?” asked Priya. “Did anybody see?”
“Not me,” said Kristy.
Carl looked back at the girls. “It disappeared,” he said. He let his comment hang in the air for a few seconds. “Right after it passed us.”
“Stop saying that,” said Kristy. “That’s impossible.”
“I’m only telling you what I saw with my own two eyes,” said Carl.
“Here’s what we’re going to do,” said Mateo. He had the jeep back up to fifty-five. “We’re going to drive. There’s gotta be a gas station or a restaurant or something up ahead. We’ll pull in, call the cops, report the truck, and get this taken care of.”
“Report what truck?” said Carl. “The disappearing one? The phantom tan pickup truck that’s been trying to kill us? Is that what we’re going to tell the police?” Kristy punched Carl in the shoulder. “Ouch!” He rubbed his arm. “What was that for?”
“Why’d you make us leave our phones at home?” She hit him a couple more times. “How stupid can you be?”
&
nbsp; “Let’s try to calm down, everybody.” said Mateo. Good one, he thought. Tell them to calm down. Maybe you should try taking your own advice. You’re the one whose heart is nearly beating out of your chest.
“Mateo’s right.” Priya slid over to Kristy and began to rub her back. “We’re going to be fine. We’ll pull over up ahead, call someone, and this will all be over.”
“Then can we go home?” asked Kristy. She started to weep.
“Of course,” said Priya. “Then we can go home.”
Mateo looked over his shoulder. He and Priya locked eyes and nodded.
The stereo was off, and the girls were no longer dancing. No one was even talking. We’ll put this night behind us, Mateo thought. We’ll get home safely, let some time pass, and then make plans to drive back up the coast another day. Sure, there won’t be another blood moon, but we’ll still enjoy a drive up the PCH—one devoid of whack-job drivers and mysterious pickup trucks.
He was driving fast. Faster than before. Probably a little faster than he should have been. He was also keeping a keen eye on all his mirrors. If the truck returned, he wanted to know about it right away.
“Watch out!” Carl screamed.
Mateo stomped the brakes and heard the screeching of rubber as he slid around a bend in the road. With his eyes on the mirrors, he had missed a sign warning cars to reduce their speed to forty for the oncoming corner. The jeep shimmied a little bit in each direction, but Mateo quickly righted it. “Sorry, guys.”
“You drive and get us where we’re going,” barked Priya. “And you get us there in one piece. We’ll watch for the truck.”
“Will do,” said Mateo. “Sorry.”
His heart was pounding again. He followed Priya’s orders, keeping his face forward and his eyes on the road. Mateo maintained the proper speed around the next few corners and kept the jeep solidly between the centerline and the white line to his right.
He approached another sign. Relief came over him. This one read, “Driftwood Point—6 miles.”
“Six miles,” reported Mateo. He gave a smile to everyone. “There’s a store in Driftwood Point. We’ll be there in five minutes.”
“Thank God,” said Priya.
Carl patted Mateo on his arm. “Good job.”
“It can’t be!” shouted Kristy. “It can’t be!”
“What?” shouted Carl.
“The truck!” she screamed. “It’s back!”
Mateo checked the rearview mirror. Sure enough, there it was: the tan truck, headlights off, on his bumper once more. Where on Earth did it come from? he thought. He did some quick calculations in his head. What else can I do to shake that truck? Slowing down wasn’t the trick. He had already tried that twice. And letting it pass had clearly been a mistake.
Then he remembered the sign. Driftwood Point was just a little more than five miles away. That was nothing. He could keep the truck at bay for five miles, no problem. This jeep, with its new engine and amped-up exhaust system, could easily outrun that old beater. He would gun it. He would outrun that old piece-of-crap truck and get them to safety. Without giving it another thought, Mateo pushed the gas pedal to the floor.
“What are you doing?” shrieked Carl.
“I’m getting us to Driftwood Point,” said Mateo. His foot remained heavy on the accelerator. Sixty miles per hour, then sixty-five. The needle on the RPM gauge pointed steadily to the right as the jeep’s motor grew louder. “Am I losing him?”
“Not really,” said Priya.
Mateo dipped the jeep over a hill and slid into the left lane as he navigated around the corner. Can’t this road run straight or flat for just a little while? he thought. The twists and turns that made the highway so spectacular and unique also made their escape perilous.
“Be careful!” shouted Carl.
Mateo tried to get the jeep back into the correct lane as they reached another corner, but he overcompensated and took the jeep a few feet off the road to the right. Pebbles clanged around inside the wheel wells as the jeep kicked up clouds of gravel.
“You’re going to get us killed!” shouted Priya. “We’re never going to make it to Driftwood Point like this!”
“He’s still back there!” shouted Kristy.
Fearful that he might lose all control and take them all plummeting into the Pacific, Mateo slowed down. His plan to outrun the truck had been a poor one, anyway: the truck had barely flinched. It remained on their bumper. He slowed down to fifty-five again.
“Now what?” asked Carl.
Mateo looked ahead. The shoulder looked safe. “I’m pulling over.” He gently slowed down and eased the jeep into some grass along the highway. The truck barreled past.
“Watch the truck, everyone,” said Carl. “Watch. Don’t take your eyes off it.”
All four of them locked their eyes on the truck. No doubt about it, the truck went from being on the road just in front of them to nowhere—it vanished before their eyes. The fog had lifted over an hour ago. They were on a straight stretch of highway. There was no mistaking it this time: the truck had disappeared like some Las Vegas magic trick.
CHAPTER 5
The group stood, looking over the Pacific, their bodies butted up to the guard rail as water lapped against the rocky shoreline far below them. After the truck disappeared, they had turned around and driven a few hundred yards south to a scenic overlook Mateo had remembered passing earlier. They were done driving. The plan was to park the jeep and flag down the first car they saw. The full moon was higher in the sky now, still just as bright as ever. “The eclipse is going to start soon,” said Priya.
“Not the night we were expecting, huh?” said Mateo.
“Not really,” said Carl.
They watched the road. No signs of any cars in either direction, but thankfully, no sign of the tan pickup truck either.
“I feel like I should tell you something,” said Priya. “Something else I know about the blood moon.”
“What?” asked Mateo.
“There are people who believe in certain types of spirits. Spirits that only come out on the night of a blood moon.” Priya looked at each of them. “People have spotted them dancing under the red light of the moon. Legend has it that during the blood moon they steal the souls of the living to join their circles.”
“And you were planning on enlightening us with this information when?” asked Carl.
“I was going to tell you,” said Priya, “but then Kristy was getting so scared. And, anyway, I thought it was just a silly ghost story. Nothing more than that. I didn’t really believe the legend was true.”
“Great,” said Kristy. “Just great.”
“Is there anything else you haven’t told us?” asked Carl.
“Well,” said Priya, “the story goes that there are certain mystical places hidden in these hills where the spirits lure new souls. If you’re in one of these places and you allow the scarlet light of the blood moon to shine on your face, your body disappears and your soul becomes a blood moon spirit for all eternity.”
“Really?” said Mateo. He shook his head and paced back and forth. “Really?”
“I’m sorry,” said Priya. “Like I said, I thought it was a silly legend.”
Just then a set of headlights appeared from the north, driving toward them.
“Finally,” said Carl. He bolted for the highway, toward the entrance to the parking lot, his hands waving wildly in the air.
“It could be the truck!” shouted Priya.
“Can’t you see?” he yelled back, still flapping his arms. “Its headlights are on!” Carl ran for the entrance.
Mateo looked at Priya and shrugged his shoulders. Carl has a point, he thought. Not once since we’ve seen the pickup has it had its lights on. Still, running blindly toward a car we can’t really see isn’t the brightest move in the world. He and the girls walked more cautiously toward the road.
Carl had made it to the parking-lot entrance. Mateo could hear him shouting at the o
ncoming car to stop.
The vehicle was approaching fast. Mateo squinted at the lights. They were far apart, and several feet off the ground. Whatever was coming toward them was big. Bigger than a car. It had a square top . . . and a light-colored paint job . . ..
His mouth dropped. “It’s the truck!” he screamed.
Priya saw it too. “Carl!” she yelled. “Come back! It’s the truck!”
But it was too late. The truck bore down on Carl, who stopped dead in his tracks as it drove straight at him.
“Watch out!” shrieked Kristy.
Carl crouched in fear, seemingly unable to do anything else. It’s over for him, thought Mateo in an instant. The truck is going to run him down and that’s going to be it. In a few days we’ll be attending his funeral.
If we’re not at our own funerals.
But instead of crashing headlong into Carl and splattering his body across the pavement, the truck passed right through him, as if he wasn’t even there. Mateo watched in amazement as Carl remained untouched, unmoved, as the truck skidded to a halt between them and Carl.
Carl stood up. Mateo, Priya, and Kristy could only stare in blind horror at the truck. Carl was a statue too. They were waiting for the truck to make a move.
Then something happened—something Mateo had no way of wrapping his head around. Jet-black smoke oozed from the driver’s side window and rose up and away from the pickup. Slowly, more and more of it flowed from the truck. It collected in a cloud and hung in the air for several seconds.
Then, before their eyes, the smoke began to transform. “What is that?” said a panicked Kristy. She gripped Mateo’s arm. All he could do was shake his head in disbelief. I have no freaking idea, he thought. The smoke was taking a more defined shape, a human-like form.
The beast or spirit or phantom or whatever it was hung in the air above them, maybe fifteen feet up, now draped from head to toe in flowing, black robes and outlined in a strange glow. The face of the thing was shrouded behind a deep hood.
Carl was apparently done waiting. His voice rang out into the night. “Run!” he shouted. “Into the woods!” He darted away from the creature, toward the road. Mateo watched. Does Carl want us to follow him across the highway? Past that . . . thing?