"You missed it."
"I didn't miss it."
"You definitely missed it, Mason."
Mason gripped the steering wheel tighter. "Jake, shut up for five minutes."
"Just saying, that was the exit."
"It wasn't."
"It literally had the sign—"
"—It was for trucks," Mason snapped. "Not us."
From the back seat, Chloe leaned forward. "Can we not fight? We've been in this car for like six hours already."
"Seven," Ryan said quietly, eyes still on his phone.
"Great," Chloe muttered. "Even better."
Jake stretched his arms dramatically. "This is why road trips suck. Same road, same trees, same boring—"
"Then you could've stayed home," Lena cut in from the passenger seat.
Jake grinned. "And miss this beautiful bonding experience? Never."
Lena rolled her eyes and looked back out the window.
Dark forest.
Endless.
The road cut through it like a scar — long, empty, and strangely quiet.
No other cars.
Not for a while now.
She frowned slightly. "Hey… when was the last time we passed anything?"
"No idea," Mason said.
"Like… anything. Gas station, sign, another car."
Silence.
Ryan finally looked up. "It's been a while."
Jake shrugged. "So? It's a highway."
"No," Lena said slowly. "Highways still have traffic."
That hung in the air.
Mason exhaled. "There was supposed to be a turn coming up."
"Supposed to?" Dylan said from the far back.
Mason hesitated.
"According to the map."
"According to which map?" Dylan asked.
Mason tapped his phone mounted on the dash.
The GPS glitched.
For a second, the screen flickered.
Then—
The route disappeared.
"What the hell?" Mason muttered.
"Lost signal?" Chloe asked.
"No, it's not even showing the road now."
Jake leaned forward. "Let me see that."
The map was blank.
No route.
No location marker.
Just a grey grid.
"That's… not normal," Jake said.
"No shit," Lena replied.
Ryan leaned closer. "Zoom out."
Mason did.
Nothing changed.
The road they were on—
Didn't exist.
---
"Okay," Chloe said quickly, voice tightening. "That's fine. That just means GPS is acting up."
"Yeah," Jake added. "Happens all the time."
"No, it doesn't," Ryan said.
Everyone looked at him.
"It glitches," he continued. "But it doesn't erase roads completely."
Silence.
Mason forced a laugh. "Relax. We just keep driving. We'll hit something eventually."
"Yeah," Dylan said. "Don't overthink it."
Lena didn't respond.
She was staring ahead.
At the road.
Something felt—
Off.
Not wrong.
Just… not right.
"Slow down," she said suddenly.
"What?"
"Just slow down."
"Why?"
"I don't know, just—"
"Lena, we're fine."
"Slow. Down."
Something in her voice made him listen.
Mason eased his foot off the gas.
The car slowed.
And that's when they saw it.
A sign.
On the side of the road.
Old.
Rusty.
Barely standing.
Jake squinted. "What does that say?"
As they got closer—
The headlights hit it.
MILE 27
Chloe frowned. "That's it?"
"No town name?" Dylan asked.
"No exit info?" Jake added.
"Just that?" Lena said quietly.
Ryan leaned forward, eyes narrowing.
"That's not a highway sign."
"What do you mean?" Mason asked.
"It's not standard. Look at it."
The metal was wrong.
The font was wrong.
Everything about it felt… off.
Like it didn't belong.
"Whatever," Jake said. "Creepy road, creepy sign. Big deal."
"Keep driving," Dylan said.
Mason nodded.
And pressed the gas again.
---
Ten minutes passed.
No turns.
No lights.
No cars.
Nothing.
Just trees.
And road.
And silence.
Then—
"Hey," Chloe said.
"What?" Lena asked.
"Didn't we already pass that?"
"Pass what?"
Chloe pointed ahead.
The sign.
Same one.
MILE 27
No one spoke for a second.
"That's not possible," Mason said.
"We didn't turn," Jake added. "We've been going straight."
Ryan shook his head slowly. "Yeah… we have."
"Then how the hell—"
"Stop the car," Lena said.
Mason didn't argue this time.
He hit the brakes.
The car rolled to a halt.
Engine humming.
Everyone staring.
At the sign.
Same rust.
Same tilt.
Same number.
Chloe's voice dropped to a whisper. "We already passed this."
"No," Mason said quickly. "No, there must be another one."
"Why would there be two?" Ryan asked.
No answer.
Jake opened the door suddenly. "I'm checking."
"Don't—" Lena started.
Too late.
Jake stepped out.
The night air swallowed him instantly.
Cold.
Too cold.
"Dude, it's just a sign," he called back. "Relax."
He walked up to it.
Touched it.
Turned back.
"Same one."
Silence.
Then—
A sound.
From the trees.
Not loud.
But clear.
Something moving.
Jake froze.
"Did you hear that?" he asked.
No one answered.
Because they all heard it.
Branches shifting.
Leaves crunching.
Slow.
Heavy.
Not small.
Not an animal you ignore.
"Get back in the car," Lena said.
Jake didn't move.
"Jake," she said again, sharper. "Now."
The sound came again.
Closer.
Jake backed up slowly.
Then faster.
Then he turned and got in, slamming the door.
"Drive," he said.
Mason didn't hesitate.
The car sped forward.
Too fast now.
No one complained.
---
No one spoke for the next five minutes.
Then ten.
Then—
"There," Ryan said suddenly.
Everyone looked up.
Another sign.
Relief hit instantly.
"Thank God," Chloe breathed. "Something different."
As they got closer—
The headlights lit it up.
And the relief died instantly.
MILE 27
"No," Mason said.
"No, no, no—"
"That's not possible," Jake said.
"Stop the car," Lena said again.
This time—
Mason didn't.
He pressed harder on the gas.
"Just keep going," he said. "We'll get out."
"You don't know that!" Chloe snapped.
"We're not stopping again!"
The engine roared.
Speed climbing.
The road stretching endlessly ahead.
Then—
The headlights flickered.
Just once.
Then again.
And in that brief flicker—
Lena saw something.
Standing.
In the middle of the road.
Far ahead.
Tall.
Still.
Wrong.
"Stop the car," she said.
Mason didn't.
"STOP THE CAR!"
Too late.
The lights flickered again—
And the road was empty.
Nothing there.
"Did you see that?" Lena asked.
No one answered.
Because they all had.
---
Behind them—
Something moved.
Inside the car—
No one noticed.
---
End of Chapter 1
Hope y'all liked this chapter! 🤍