Unwelcome Passenger

Unwelcome Passenger

I was driving down a winding mountain road after a pulling a double shift at the factory. I didn't usually use that route. It is badly lit, the roads are narrow and it winds around a small hill like a corkscrew. On that particular night I was so tired that I didn't care and wanted to get home as soon as possible.

When I hit the halfway mark, I noticed a strong smell of Jasmine in the car. The smell kept getting stronger, from a pleasing aroma, it became so overwhelming it started to make me a little car sick.

I tried to ignore it, and focused on the road ahead, after a couple of minutes. I felt a presence, like there was someone in the back seat of my car. The hair at the back of my neck stood up as if a cold breeze was blowing on it.

The night was stiflingly hot, but I could feel myself getting colder.

The feeling became so strong that I dared not look in my rear view mirror for fear of what I might see. hard as I tried to stare ahead, it felt as if my eyes were being drawn towards the mirror. The pull was irresistible, I glanced quickly thinking to myself that I was being foolish, there couldn't possibly be someone there.

What I saw made the hairs on my arms stand right up, there was a woman sitting behind me, her face fully covered by long black hair. She sat still as a statue. Shocked, I blurted out an obscenity. She didn't flinch.

My eyes jumped back to the road, I pressed my foot on the gas and drove as fast as I safely could. I chanted to myself, “Don't Look” Don't Look”.

But I couldn't stop myself, I just had to peek, I glanced in the mirror and saw her leaning towards me. I leaned forward, as far away from my seat as I could get. I tried to put as much distance as possible from whomever or whatever was in the car with me. I could feel her hair on the back of my neck as she leaned towards me, her soft hair was brushed against my neck.

I cussed out loud and increased the pressure on the gas. I thought for one second that I felt a cold hand brush up against the side of my neck. Suddenly I hit straight road, I was off the hills winding road. As soon as I hit straight road, I looked behind me, there was no one was there.

I slammed my foot on the accelerator and sped home. I had never been that scared in my life. The next morning when I got into my car to go to work, my car smelled so strongly of Jasmine, that it made me sick to sit in it. I rolled down all four windows and drove to work, reminding myself to never use that short cut again.

Location : Lorong Lembah Permai, Penang, Malaysia.