Walking Up The Gardens Path | Creepypasta

Highway 96

The road ahead stretched long and thin, only allowing one car at a time, and barely that. Potholes littered the pavement and the further he drove, the harder they were to avoid. Trees crowded the edges of the street, making Tim honestly feel claustrophobic as they towered in on him and the car. He glanced in the back view mirror, set differently so he could see the teen asleep in the back seat. Tim let out a small sigh of relief when he saw that the boy was still peacefully passed out.

The man in the passenger, Brian, gave him an amused look. "You just met him yesterday. How'd you already grow a soft spot?"

Tim didn't offer him an answer, simply turning his attention back to the road. The sky was starting to turn different shades of pink and orange, clouds becoming dark and the sun sinking towards the horizon. It was nearly sunset.

"We still don't know anything about him." Brian continued after a few minutes of silence. "For all we know, he could easily be a lure."

Tim's hands tightened around the steering wheel. He sucked in a breath and kept his eyes trained on the road. "I know." He said.

"Then why are you avoiding every little bump in the road?"

"Because of the tires."

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the unconvinced look Brian had on his face. He rolled his shoulders and sighed.

"If he's some kind of lure, or affiliated with that thing in any way, it's a good thing we found him." He started, voice growing a bit stern as he carefully maneuvered past a large hole. "Look at him, he can't be older than 18. How am I not supposed to have a soft spot for a kid in such a shitty situation? He needs to be as far away from it as possible."

Brian hummed, shrugging his shoulders in defeat as he mulled over the reasoning. Despite him not saying anything, it was obvious that Brian didn't exactly agree with the notion. Tim was honestly just glad he wasn't putting up a fight over it. A fight was more than what they could handle at the moment.

Silence fell over the duo. The sun slowly set behind the trees and the world became a pasty blue and grey. Tim flicked on the headlights and nearly smiled in relief at seeing an intersection with a stop sign. They'd been driving down the same road for hours now, and despite it not being much, it was a welcome change of scenery.

He slowed to a stop at the sign, checking for any oncoming cars. As it was for the past few hours, no one in sight. Tim drummed his fingers against the steering wheel before continuing straight ahead.

He opened his mouth, about to break the silence between them when something else beat him to it.

A groggy groan came from the back seat.

The two men looked at each other before Brian turned around to look at the kid, who was sitting up and rubbing his head.

"Good morning." Brian greeted.

Tim cringed at the sickly nice tone in his voice. Something Brian only reserved for little kids. Apparently, judging by Brian's face, the teen in the back seat reacted just about the same way.

"We're still in the car?" He asked, glancing out the window.

Tim couldn't help but smile at the easy way he ignored Brian, turning his attention back to the road as the other frowned. The night was coming in closer, and Tim flicked on the high beams. He didn't have very good eyesight when it came to driving at night, and though it wasn't too dark yet, he still wanted to be prepared for when it was.

"Uh..." Brian started, "Yeah, we're still driving. You've been asleep for a few hours."

"A few hours...?" His voice came in meek, still drudged by sleep. "You didn't wake me up?"