Chapter 1: The Night It Began
The rain started before midnight.
It fell slowly at first, tapping softly against the windshield of Daniel's car like cautious fingers testing a door. The highway stretched ahead of him, long and empty, swallowed by darkness on both sides. The streetlights flickered in uneven intervals, casting weak halos on the wet asphalt.
Daniel tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
It had been a long day—too long. His body ached with exhaustion, and the dull hum of the engine made his eyelids feel heavy. The radio played quietly in the background, the signal fading in and out as the storm grew stronger.
He glanced at the clock on the dashboard.
11:47 PM.
"Almost home," he muttered to himself.
A flash of lightning split the sky, turning the road bright for a single second. Thunder followed, low and distant, rolling across the night like something large moving in the dark.
Daniel exhaled slowly and leaned back in his seat. Nights like this always made the world feel empty, as if everyone else had disappeared.
Then something moved.
At first, he thought it was just a shadow crossing the road. The rain was getting heavier now, distorting everything beyond the headlights. But as the car moved closer, Daniel felt a strange tightening in his chest.
Someone was standing in the road.
His foot instinctively lifted from the accelerator.
The figure didn't move.
The headlights stretched across the wet pavement and finally reached it—tall, thin, and completely still. The person stood in the middle of the highway as if they had been waiting there.
Daniel frowned.
"Hey—!"
He never finished the sentence.
Because in that instant, the figure lifted its head.
And Daniel saw its face.
Or at least something that looked like one.
His heart slammed against his ribs. The thing standing on the road looked wrong—its features twisted in a way no human face should ever twist. Its mouth stretched too wide, its eyes too dark, and yet… it was smiling.
Directly at him.
Daniel's breath caught in his throat.
"What the—"
He slammed the brakes.
The tires screamed against the wet road as the car skidded violently. Daniel jerked the steering wheel, trying to avoid the figure, but the vehicle lost control. The headlights spun wildly across the highway as the car swerved off the road.
For a moment, everything was chaos.
Metal. Glass. Darkness.
Then silence.
The rain continued to fall.
And somewhere in that darkness… something was still watching him. 👁️