The Vanishing Hitchhiker

Matt frowned deeply as he watched his best friend, Brian, fight against the nurses who were trying to sedate him with a needle, while shouting and raving about having to take him home. Matt didn’t know who ‘he’ was. All he knew was Brian had been a car accident. He had been driving home from work and crashed. The nurse finally restrained him long enough to inject the sedative into his blood stream. Once he calmed, Matt walked over and sat next to him.

“Hey,” He smiled as Brian looked round wildly. His eyes landed on Matt.

“Matt?” He gasped. Matt nodded as he looked round. “L-let me out here, man. I have to take him home,”

“Take who home?”

“The hitchhiker,” Brian sobbed. “He needs to be taken home or he’ll do it again. I have to stop him from doing it again!”

“Doing what?” Matt asked, frowning at his once sane friend.

“Disappearing. He’s a vanishing hitchhiker,” Matt frowned deeply at his unhinged friend. He didn’t get it. Brian seemed fine. His mental stability was never brought into question before. He was healthy and then suddenly, this mental break down came out of no where. Where did it come from?

~6 hours earlier~

Brian sighed as he drove home from work. He took a left turn and changed gear. He couldn’t wait to get home and slept. Work had been more stressful then usual and all he wanted to do was relax and unwind. He flicked the indicator and made a right turn before driving straight down the road. In the distance, he saw someone walking on the side of the road. They seemed to be looking round for something. Probably looking for a ride. His theory was proven correct when they held out their thumb once seeing his car. Deciding to be a nice person, he pulled up and lowered the window as the young man walked over.

“Thanks for stopping, man,” The guy smiled. Brian couldn’t help but smile back. He was cute looking. He had a rucksack and wearing a black hoodie. His hair was black and his eyes were a green color with a dull look to them. Probably been out in the cold for a while.

“It’s fine,” Brian smiled. “Where you heading?”

“Huntington Beach,” The hitchhiker replied. “I don’t suppose you’re heading that way?”

“I am. I live there,” Brian replied, unlocking the door. The young man smiled and got in before shutting the door. Brian started his car and began to drive toward Huntington Beach. “You know hitchhiking is illegal right?”

“I know,”

“So why do it?”

“I need to go home,”

“So you live in Huntington?” Brian asked but the man just stared ahead with a sad look in his vibrant eyes. “Hey, are you ok?”

“You should keep your eyes on the road, Brian,” The man answered, making Brian shiver.

“How do you know my name?” He asked, creeped out but the hitchhiker smiled.

“You’re still wearing your work badge,” He replied, nodding to it.

“Oh,” Brian replied, feeling like an idiot. “Right. So what’s your name?”

“Zachary but my friends call me Zacky,” He replied.

“Cool name. Well if you live in Huntington, I can drop you off at your house. It’s not a problem,” Brian replied, taking a turn and driving toward a bridge.

“Thank you. You’re a really nice person, Brian,” He replied sadly. Brian frowned a little as Zacky fiddled with his thumbs.

“Um.. so your address?”

“6661, Forest Lane,”

“Oh near the cemetery?” Brian asked. Zacky nodded. “Man that must be creepy,”

“Yeah, it is a bit,” Zacky replied as they drove there. Brian hummed softly as he made a right turn and headed towards the cemetery. He slowly down a little before making another turn into Forest Lane, looking out for the house numbers before pulling up at 6661.

“We’re he- Zacky?” He asked but to his amazement, Zacky was gone. He hadn’t even heard the door open. Frowning to himself, he backed up out of the parking spot and drove out of the Forest Lane. He sped up a little as he hummed to himself, wanting nothing more then to head home. Still feeling concern for the strange man, he looked in his rear mirror to see if he could see him on the street. He jumped and swore out loud as Zacky was sat in the back before looking behind him, only to find no one was there. He looked back, only to see Zacky standing in the middle of the street. He swore as he swerved the car, crashing into the cemetery wall. Blood dripped down his forehead as he leaned over the wheel injured but alive. His eyes went wide as he saw Zacky sat in the passager seat, seemingly unharmed. “H-help...m-me,”

Zacky was looking straight ahead.

“I can’t go home,” He whispered, staring ahead before he turned to face Brian. “I can’t ever go home,”

Brian’s eyes went wide as Zacky stared at him. His left side of his face was a skull and his clothes were burnt and shredded before he vanished completely in front of Brian’s eyes, leaving the man screaming in fear and agony as people ran over and lights flashed.

~One Year Later~

“So the plan is we’ll go and get Johnny then we’ll pick up Jimmy before going to get the Berry Brothers and the booze,” Matt stated as he took a left turn and drove down the highway with Brian. The two of them had been picking up last minute party stuff for their Halloween party. “Sound good, Bri?”

“Sounds good to- Matt, keep driving,” Brian suddenly sounded serious. Matt frowned but then he saw why. On the side of the road, a young man was attempting to hitchhike. He had his thumb out as a few cars drove past. “Just keep driving,”

“Dude, he needs a lift,” He replied, slowing down. Brian looked visible pale. “Brian, he isn’t a ghost,”

“Matt, please, just ignore him,” He begged but Matt pulled up.

“Hey, you need a lift?” He asked the hitchhiker.

“Yeah, I’m heading to Huntington Beach. Are you going that way?” Brian visible shivered. He recognised the voice straight away but Matt agreed and opened the door. The young hitchhiker got in and smiled at him before seeing Brian’s pale face. “Are you ok?”

“He thinks you’re a ghost,” Matt laughed, making the boy laugh.

“Nah, just trying to get home,” He smiled. “I’m Zachary by the way,”

“I’m Matt and this is-”

“Brian,” Zacky smiled, looking at Brian knowingly who gulped before laughing. “Said it on your work badge,”

Matt looked at Brian, who looked ill and mouthed ‘I’m not wearing one’. The color drained out of Matt’s face before he looked to Zacky.

“Um where to?”

“6661, Fo-”

“Forest Lane by the cemetery,” Brian finished, making Zacky smile.

“Yeah. How did you know?” He asked, confused. “Wait. Did my parents tell you to pick me up? I phoned them to say I was stranded,”

“Yeah,” Matt said quickly, making Zacky relax as he drove off. Brian tried not to have eye contact with the weird hitchhiker. “So you doing anything for Halloween, Zacky?”

“is it Halloween? I didn’t even realise,” Zacky replied as they came to the cemetery before making the turn into Forest Lane.

“Yeah. We’re having a party,” Matt replied, pulling up. “We’re here… where did he go?”

“I told you. He’s a fucking ghost,”

“No way, man,” Matt replied, looking for him before getting out the car. Brian got out with him and they walked up to 6661 before knocking. Brian held his breath, expecting a rotten corpse to open it, only for a middle aged woman with a kid on her hip to answer it.

“Can I help you?” She asked as she rocked the child. Brian was glad it wasn’t a corpse.

“Sorry to bother you but we were dropping off a young man called Zachary here. We didn’t see him get out the car so I just wanted to check if he was already inside...” Matt trailed off, seeing the woman’s face had paled. “Are you ok, madam?”

“Is this some kind of sick joke?! My brother is dead, you twisted assholes!” She gasped, slamming the door in their face. Matt was just stunned.

“I told you,” Brian replied before going back to the car. Matt followed him without a word. Brian pulled out of the driveway and drove out of the street. In the distance, Zacky watched as they drove off. Normally at this point, he would appear in the road and cause a crash but this time, he just smiled and walked away. He would just haunt another driver til the day came when he could truly go home.