The Midnight Bus

It was supposed to be just another night shift.

I was driving the bus with my uncle riding along, same as usual.

But the second we pulled out, something felt off.

The terminal lobby, which was usually brightly lit, was completely dark. Even the streetlights outside had gone out.

I thought it was weird, but I didn’t dwell on it.

As we left the terminal, I spotted a hunched figure standing across the street beneath one of the dead streetlights.

When the person saw the bus, they slowly raised a hand.

I was about to pull over when Uncle Tim suddenly grabbed my shoulder hard from behind.

His voice was shaking.

“Ryan, don’t stop. Keep driving.”

I winced. “Ow!”

I had no idea what had gotten into him.

But when Uncle Tim told me to do something in that tone, I wasn’t about to argue.

So I kept going.

As we passed the streetlight, I couldn’t resist taking a look.

It was a woman.

She wore a pale yellow floral dress, and her long hair hung down her back. I couldn’t make out her face, but even from a distance, there was something polished and elegant about her.

As I approached the intersection, I turned on my signal and glanced at the rearview mirror.

The woman had raised her head.

She was pointing at me.

A strange feeling settled in my stomach.

She wasn’t that far behind us, and I started feeling bad about leaving her there.

“Uncle Tim, why don’t we let her on? It’s late. She’s probably just trying to get home.”

He shot me a glare.

“I said keep driving!”

Uncle Tim was usually one of the most easygoing people I knew.

If he was snapping at me like that, I knew better than to push it.

I made the turn and kept going.

It was already after eleven. The streets were practically deserted, and we passed several stops without seeing a single passenger.

The weather was unpredictable.

One minute, it was hot enough to roast you alive.

The next, rain was coming down in sheets.

I cranked the windshield wipers all the way up and could still barely see the road.

As we approached the next stop, I saw someone standing beneath the bus stop sign.

I reached for the turn signal.

Suddenly, pain shot through my wrist.

Uncle Tim had grabbed me again.

His hand was ice-cold.

“Don’t stop. Keep going.”

I stared at him. “What? There’s someone waiting!”

“Drive! Now!”

Before I could react, he reached over and shut off my turn signal himself.

I still had no clue what was going on.

Feeling guilty about leaving someone stranded in the pouring rain, I gave the horn a quick tap as we passed.

Then I glanced back.

Every hair on my body stood on end.

A pale yellow floral dress.

Long black hair.

It was her.

The woman from outside the terminal.

No freaking way.

How was she here?

My heart nearly jumped out of my chest.

This was the fourth stop.

We were more than three miles from the terminal.

I hadn’t stopped once, and I had been driving right at the speed limit the entire way.

There was no way she could have gotten here ahead of us.

So how the hell had she done it?

A chill crawled up my spine.

I looked in the mirror again.

The bus stop was empty.

Had the rain messed with my eyes?

I turned toward Uncle Tim.

He must have seen her too, because he looked just as shaken as I felt.

“Stop looking,” he snapped. “Turn off the lights and drive. Whatever you do, don’t stop.”

I wasn’t going to pretend I was brave.

Anyone would have been scared out of their mind after seeing something like that in the middle of the night.

My thoughts were all over the place.

Luckily, there wasn’t anyone waiting at the next few stops. I just kept my foot on the gas, wanting to get out of there as fast as possible.

I was so focused on driving that I didn’t notice something else.

Every streetlight along the entire route was dark.

By the time we came around toward the terminal again, I was ready to pull back into the depot.

Uncle Tim stopped me.

“Keep going. Head southeast.”

I gave him a confused look.

But at that point, I wasn’t about to question him.

I turned the bus in the direction he told me to go.

Every time I checked the rearview mirror, I could see her following us.

I never saw her run or even take a single step, yet somehow, she was always there whenever I looked back.

She just kept pointing at me.

My whole body started shaking.

Even my foot on the gas pedal wouldn’t stay steady.

Uncle Tim didn’t say a word.

His expression had gone grim.

We kept driving until the road ended completely.

There was nowhere left to go.

Only then did he tell me to stop.

“Ryan, you stay on this bus.”

His voice was deadly serious.

“And no matter what you see, you keep your mouth shut. You understand me?”

The look on his face scared me more than anything else had that night.

I nodded stiffly.