A Peep into Darkness: A collection of short stories

He left past midnight

As soon as I saw his face, I could tell that Ethan was upset. I could only take a glance before he let his head hang low, but that's all I needed to figure something was wrong. Without looking at me, he said, "Won't you ask me what's wrong?" I let out a sigh and then asked,"What's wrong?" He finally looked up at me and I realised I was wrong. He wasn't upset. He was petrified.

I sat down next to him and put my hand on his. He tensed and shifted under my touch, something he had never done since I started dating him two years ago. Finally he spoke.

"Last night I had to work late as the restaurant was buzzing with people," Ethan said, in a low-spirited voice. His hands were all sweaty and he kept rubbing them on his thighs. It was a cool September morning, yet I could see the collar of his shirt was damp. I was getting tensed as well for he spoke so slowly and with a tone of mystery.

"It was past midnight when I finally got off. Before leaving, I looked out of the window and saw it had started to rain. Hard. I was annoyed that I didn't bring an umbrella, but it was late and I was desperate to leave. I hurried out of the restaurant and started pacing down the sidewalk." Ethan stopped. He sighed and continued...

"I ran past a few blocks when suddenly a car stopped on the road a few feet ahead of me. It was a blue mercedes. The driver lowered the glass of the window and looked up at me. The man looked my age, with blue eyes, brown hair cut short, and a rugged and handsome face. Surprisingly he seemed familiar."

Oh my God. Did he cheat on me? That's why he saying all this? What am I gonna do?

I snapped out of my thoughts as I felt a poke on my arm. "You listening Jake?" Ethan asked. I gave a reassuring smile and said, "Yeah. Go on."

A bit puzzled, Ethan continued.

"The man asked me,"You're the waiter who served me at Macy's tonight, right?" Then it came to me. "Uh, yeah, but I gotta rush as I'm soaked," I said a bit impatiently. "Mind if I give you a ride?" He said. "You don't need to do that. I'm fine." I was about to leave when he said again, "Come on, it's okay." He winked at me. I didn't argue further and hopped on."

Hold on, what was happening? By boyfriend got on a car with some stranger and now telling me about it? I urged him to continue.  He did, perhaps without noticing the look on my face.

"I sat next to him as he drove, smokin' on a cigarette in a closed car. I didn't bother to object."

Why would you, I thought.

"He then spoke. "I'm Matthew." "Ethan," I replied. He smiled and then handed me a piece of cloth. "Dry yourself," he said. I nodded and took the cloth from him. We really didn't talk much after till we reached my apartment and I asked him to pull over. The rain had almost stopped. I got out after thanking him and started walking towards the gate when he called me from behind. "Hey man, you're a really good waiter. Just never drive in the rain," he said and drove off."

There was a long pause from Ethan and I realised the story was over. See, you were thinking too much, I told myself. Then I looked at Ethan. " Why did you tell me all this?" He let out a sigh and handed me the newspaper lying next to him on the other side of the bench.

"Page four," he said.

The turned to the fourth page and read the headline on the top. "Car accident kills man." I looked up at Ethan. His face was not readable. I started to read the article and soon my eyes grew wide. "It says the man's name was Matthew," I said and gulped. Ethan nodded. "That's not all," he said and pointed to the first line of the next paragraph of the article. I read it and gasped.

Matthew was confirmed dead at around 11:46 p.m.

My heart skipped a beat. Ethan whispered in my ear...

"I left past midnight."

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A/N
So that's it my dear readers. If you liked my story please vote for it. All comments are welcome.
Also I apologise for not putting up any work for a long time. I had my exams u see :(
So stay tuned for more of my works. And ofcourse remember...
Darkness lurks everywhere
~Love, ZorusStone 🖤🖤