I drove through an endless forest.

TW: Descriptions of suicide/murder
I live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, so it takes me a little while to get to work and back, driving down a beat-up dirt road with a thick forest on either side. I?ve driven the route over and over, so I know it takes around half an hour to drive home. But last night things were different.
Work ended late, so it was already really dark by the time I got on the road. It was a bit foggy, so I made sure to be extra careful on the road. I put on some music, as I usually do. It was a fairly normal drive, until the radio suddenly cut out. Everything was quiet, so much so that I could hear my own heart beating.
The silence kept on for what felt like an eternity. I passed countless trees, each stretching into the night sky, nearly indistinguishable from one another in the fog. The headlights illuminated a bare stretch of road in front of me. There was just? an uncomfortable sense of nothingness hanging in the air. After a little while, I began talking to myself to try to block off the eerie feeling I had.
?Sure is dark out tonight. Could someone turn on the lights? Just flick the lightswitch and turn the sky on.?
There was no reply but the soft hum of my car?s engine as it continued along the endless road. I glanced downward at my clock, wondering how much longer it would take to get home. Strangely, the clock was blank. It was abnormal, sure, but my radio wasn?t working either so it was probably a small error. Still, it left me with an uneasy feeling. I continued chattering aimlessly to myself, even singing a few campfire songs to pass the time. As I mindlessly chanted about the 28th bottle of pop on the wall, I noticed the fog felt thicker than before. I also felt that I had been driving for hours, despite the fact that I knew it couldn?t have been that long. Why exactly wasn?t I home yet? Did I take a wrong turn? But why would I do that? I mean, I?ve driven this way countless times before, and I?ve never taken a wrong turn- there?s only two turns on the way home. It?s not like I did anything different, plus I could distinctly remember turning correctly. Yet as I drove on and on, the thought tugged at my mind. I pulled over and grabbed my phone, maybe I did turn the wrong way, my GPS would tell me, plus there was a clock on my phone. I turned it on, and was greeted to my usual lock screen picture, without the time I?ve been accustomed to seeing. I also noticed the ?no signal? in the corner right before my phone ran out of batteries. Great. I sighed, and continued on down the road.
That?s when I saw a figure in the fog. It was the silhouette of a lady, walking along the side of the road. After who-knows-how-long of driving down a desolate road, I was curious as to who this woman was. The figure stopped, her head turning to watch my car move forward.
Seconds before the figure came into detail, she leapt in front of the car.
I was shocked, slamming on my breaks to try to avoid hit-
Thump
I felt the car collide, and panicked as waves of shock went through my body. My brain seemed to move in slow motion, as I tried to process what had just happened, what I had done. I was paralyzed with fear, save for my hands which were shaking uncontrollably. It took every ounce of courage I had to get out of the car- maybe I could call an ambulance or something. Then I remembered the fact that my phone was out of batteries. Even so, I stepped out of the car. I mean, what was I supposed to do, drive away as if nothing happened?
I took my flashlight and slowly moved forward to where the lady would have fallen.
The ground before me was bare. Not even a drop of blood was present.
I checked under the wheels, circling the car over and over, trying to make sense of what had happened.
Was it not real? There weren?t even footprints left in the dirt where the lady had been walking. At the same time, I could see her when I closed my eyes, the look on her face burned into my mind. Her eyes just looked? empty.
How was that even possible? To be so unaffected, it sent chills down my spine. It was as though she was doing an action as normal as brushing her teeth in the morning.
For a few minutes, I just stood there in silence. There was nothing here. I wasn?t sure what was going on. I was having a mental breakdown over a woman who may-or-may-not exist, and who definitely wasn?t here right now. Perhaps I was just tired? but I didn?t feel tired. Yet there was no plausible explanation for what I was feeling, so I decided to continue driving. After all, I was close to home- or at least I thought I was.
I was back on the road, my heart just starting to stop pounding in my chest. I kept driving in silence, watching the trees pass. How late was it? I couldn?t see the moon, nor did I have a watch I could look at. There was no way for me to be certain how long I had been driving- though it felt as though it had been hours. Throughout my drive, I hadn?t witnessed the fog lighten-up at all. Perhaps it had gotten thicker, though I wasn?t certain. How long had it been since I stopped on the road? It felt? so long ago at this point. Every so often, I would question where I was driving in the first place. Was I going the right way?
I couldn?t stop thinking about the woman, her face so clearly etched into my mind. I decided that it was probably some sort of hallucination caused by some late-night-driving, maybe some stress from work. And yet, I couldn?t get the image out of my mind, her red dress- no, was it blue? I tried to picture her again, but I couldn?t remember anything but the look on her face.
I spotted another shadow on the side of the road. This time I saw another car, stopped along the road. I expected for it to be another trick of the light. Perhaps I was unconsciously trying to avoid the loneliness of the road, desperately searching for another soul. This time, as I pulled forward, the car came into view. It was crashed hopelessly into one of the trees that lined the street. The driver stood outside of the car, pacing in front of it anxiously. I pulled over yet again. She looked at me. I stepped out. The driver was young- perhaps seventeen or so. She wore a grey sweater over the top of what looked to be some sort of uniform. Her skirt left her unprotected from the chill of the night air, her bruised legs shaking from a combination of the cold and her feelings following the crash.
?Miss? Are you alright?
My words snapped her out of a dazed state. She let out a small shiver. ?I? I don?t know how I?ll get home. It?s not a long drive, just down that way a bit, but??
?Do you need a ride??
She looked at me gratefully and nodded. She sat in the backseat, staring off into space as we started driving. I tried to break the silence.
?So, where exactly do you live??
?1334 Middleton Drive?
?Ah, alright. What were you doing out so late??
?I was driving from work.?
?This late at night? How long were you alone out there??
?I?m not sure. A while I guess??
We drove for a while, a few questions breaking the silence between us. I learned a few things about her: she worked in some diner, her name was Jane, and she lived with incredibly strict parents. They lived in a fairly large house. She was saving money to eventually move to a new state and live independently of her parents. I asked her a few other questions, many of which she didn?t respond to. I told her a bit about my job: working in a haunted house. I told her about the different makeup effects, and the people I worked with, and a bit about my boss. I simply tried to break the awkwardness of the situation by chatting about myself. Eventually I ran out of topics for conversation, especially since Jane wasn?t engaged in it at all.
?Is your house coming up soon??
?Yeah, it should be on the left here any minute now?. She paused. ?You promise to take me home, right? I don?t want to end up somewhere else.?
I laughed a bit. ?I promise I?ll take you straight home. I'm not going to kidnap you or anything.?
We drove in silence for quite some time. The couple minutes that it was supposed to take felt like hours. Jane stared out the window as the trees went by. I periodically glanced at her. She was in pretty good condition considering the severity of the crash. From what I could see, she didn?t seem to need a bunch of medical attention right away. Besides, if she did end up needing help, her parents would get her to the hospital. Besides, I had promised to take her straight home. I wasn?t about to break the promise. As we drove, I saw the fog begin to clear. I heard the sound of radio static.
Radio static? I hadn?t heard anything for the whole drive. A voice came through the radio, a smooth feminine voice that reminded me of a jazz singer my parents used to like.
?Hey there, strangers. We?ve had some broadcast issues tonight, but I assure you that everything should be back to normal shortly. Things will be back to the same schedule they?ve always been. You can spend your time as it always is, cycling through a daily routine until one day blends into the next. When that happens you might wonder, what is all of this for? All this horrible emptiness, the feeling of being drained by the duties of life. And yet we continue moving forward, until we crash, until we run out of energy to keep going, or until we decide to just stop.?
I glanced at Jane in the backseat, wondering if she could believe what the broadcaster what?s saying. Jane looked back to me, and I saw the streak of blood running down the side of her face.
?And some of you strangers out there might be traveling with a friend or two. But in reality, we are all just the same, vessels drifting down the path until we must stop before our destination. But in reality, was there ever a place we move towards? What lies at the end of the road??
Jane listened to the voice on the radio. I saw the blood soaking through her grey sweater. It pooled on the car seat, now dripping onto the floor. I stepped on the gas pedal, trying to get her home as fast as I could. The fog had nearly cleared.
?The truth is that the road stretches on and on. Even if you could keep going forever, you?d never reach the end. We move along it, despite the lack of a destination. But, dear strangers, there is something wonderful about this journey.?
I saw some tears dot Jane?s eyes. She whispered softly about how sorry she was, something about traveling with strangers.
?You see, there are things that fill this world with beautiful colors. Things that make all this travel worth it. For the true thing that makes this journey valuable are these beautiful colors. Fear, and sadness, and anger- aren?t they all so wonderful? Isn?t it great to tint the world in shades of purple for a while? Alright, dearest strangers, it?s almost time for our special broadcast. And, as always, keep moving along the road. It won?t end, but you might be able to see some flowers along the way. Signing off, this is Rowena D. Way, and this has been your nightly broadcast.?
The trees cleared in the distance. As I passed through the area, I turned onto Middleton Drive. The radio hissed with static, as I scanned the street for the right house. Eventually, I turned down the driveway labeled ?1334?. I was greeted with an old house. It was large, much like Jane had said. But something was wrong. The roof had caved in in multiple places, and a tree had begun growing out of the porch. Moss grew along the outside of the house, thriving off of the rotten wood. A tree had collapsed, breaking multiple windows.
I turned back toward Jane, but the car was empty.
I parked, looking at the backseat in confusion. It looked as if Jane had never been there. Not a trace of blood was there that I could see.
I just? remained there, my head in my hands. I wasn?t sure what had been happening. I didn?t get back on the road for quite some time. I made it home safely, going immediately to bed. I managed to glance at a clock before I fell asleep- the journey had taken six hours.
And as I drifted off to sleep, I kept thinking of the two women I had encountered. It was strange. When I first encountered Jane, she had the same blank expression on her face as the lady that I saw along the road. And that?s the thing that scares me.
It?s the emptiness I truly fear.


Source.