Walking Up The Gardens Path | Creepypasta

Cheeseburgers and Hornets

Trees passed by the window quickly, the oak trees along the side of the road barely stopping themselves from hanging over the street. Street lights were scattered alongside the plants, illuminating the dark country road they were yet again driving along.

Tim's eyes danced from one to the next, no longer forced to focus on the road now that he and Brian had switched seats. Exhaustion weighed on his eyelids and his body laid heavy against the window.

In a moment of classic Brian mind-reading, he'd forced Tim to pull to the side of the road and switched to the drivers seat about an hour after they'd left the gas station. Tim had tried to argue it at first, but he was cut off by a yawn mid-protest. At that point, both Brian and Toby were telling him to switch seats. He'd given up and switched.

God. He was so glad he did. Exhausted was an understatement. He hadn't even realized until he was no longer driving.

His head rolled to the side, staring at Brian with half lidded eyes. The man was wholly focused on the road, blue eyes narrowed and a scowl on his face. He let out a breif snort.

"What's with the face, Bri?" He said lazily, a small smile pulling onto his face. "Don't like driving?"

A small silence lasped between them, Brian keeping his eyes on the road and Tim keeping his eyes on Brian. The blond took a deep breath through his nose before shaking his head, shoulders slumping.

"It's... not that." Brian started, glancing at Tim briefly before his eyes went to the rearview mirror. Tim's gaze followed. The reflection of the mirror wasn't focused on the back of the car, Tim realized. It was focused on the kid in the backseat.

Slumped against the seat with his brown curls hung over his face, he looked exhausted. The blood that still splattered his pants had crusted, turning dark brown and began to peel at the knees. Tim offered one of his extra shirts to the boy, his t-shirt practically swallowing his small figure.

All in all. He looked like shit.

Tim tore his eyes away from the mirror and looked forward at the road. He let out a tired hum, readjusting his seatbelt.

The kid didn't even look like he was up, head hanging and slumped the way he was. The only evidence that he was actually awake was the tight grip on the seat belt strapped over his chest and the occassional tics and twitches that came from him.

It was obvious what Brian was implying. He let out a small sigh and shook his head.

Tim looked away from Toby. "We're getting close to Lockmans Ridge right?"

"Uh. Yeah. It's around 20 minutes." Brian's voice came out flat, as if he already knew what Tim was suggesting. He looked at Tim out of the corner of his eye. "Are you sure we should stop somewhere with—"

Before Brian could finish his sentence, Tim turned around and tapped on Toby's knee. The boy flinched and looked up at Tim with wide eyes.

They were a swirl of green and brown, lighting up along with the street lights. He blinked.

"Toby, we're gonna stop at a hotel for the night. That sound good to you?" He asked, earning a small grunt from Brian in the front seat. Tim gave Brian the side eye. Despite his obvious disagreement, he didn't say anything. Instead, he rolled his shoulders and kept his eyes focused on the road.

The road came to an intersection, the car slowly rolling to a stop at a stop sign.

Toby tilted his head, blinking slowly at the others. He looked back and forth between the two before giving a slow nod. Confusion was evident on his face, but he didn't say anything. Tim sighed and nodded, leaning back in his seat.