GHOST 👻 (A Paranormal Romance)

Hitchhiker

"Dresden 911, "how may I help you?" A woman's professional voice answers me, as I stand in darkness on the road's edge. Before I can request an ambulance, the call drops. Frustrated, I search for signs of traffic in each direction. The empty highway stretches out on either side of me. We urgently need help. If only a Good Samaritan would show up. After a few minutes, I see headlights approaching. Stepping out into the road, I wave for the driver to slow down.

A trucker pulls up in an eighteen wheeler. In the glow of white and red lights lining the big rig, a white bearded driver wearing a red hat leans out of the cab's silver door. He calmly assesses my situation with keen blue eyes. "Well there Missy, what's goin on? You in some kinda trouble? I saw the flames from a few miles up the road."  The driver has a heavy Texas accent, one I find hard to understand, but his elderly face is kind and jovial. Like a ruddy Santa Clause. I'm relieved when I sense his intentions are friendly.

"My name's Elizabeth." I point back into the darkness to indicate the direction I came from. "My friend's Jeep just went off the road. My boyfriend, Dylan's helping the driver. He's badly hurt and needs an ambulance." I hold up my phone. "There's no service out here. Can you please help us and call for help?"

The truck driver understands my urgency and nods."My name's, John. Here," he leans over and opens the passenger door. "Hop in Lizbeth 'fore you freeze out there." I climb into the rig, grateful for the heat blasting out of the truck's rumbling radiator.

He gets on his CB radio and calmly starts broadcasting. "Breaker one niner, this is Big Daddy. We got a nasty 10-42 out here on 16th south freeway, 70 mile marker. We need a meat wagon, pronto."

As I'm holding my hands in front of the heater, I see something familiar sitting on the console, next to his super sized coffee mug. John must think I'm in shock because of the accident because he reassures me that help is on the way. "Don' worry, Miss Lizzy, there'll be an ambulance here in no time." But my gaze remains locked on the object that took my breath away. The brown leather book sitting a few inches away from me.

"Uh, where did you get that book, Mr. King?"
My voice is barely above a whisper. I'm afraid of what he's going to answer. Surprised, John glances down at the leather book. When he picks it up, I see the binding twine Madam Regina's put on it has been removed.

"Whoa, young lady what's wrong?" He's thrown by the look of terror frozen on my face. "I don' mean ya no harm." It's been a busy night. You're not the first female in trouble on this road tonight. I picked up a gal 'bout twenty miles back. A Hitchhiker."

"A woman? What did she look like?"

Well, she was real pretty with blonde hair.  I thought she might be cold because she didn't have a coat on, only a thin blouse and high heels." He shook his head.  "Not enough to stay warm on a night like this."

I point to the grimoire. "That's my dead mother's diary. Her name was Sarah Summers. I can show you where her name's inscribed in the front cover. This book was in my boyfriend's car a few hours ago. There was no blonde girl with us. We were by ourselves."

I can tell the truck driver believes me because his face grows white as a sheet. As if he's seen a ghost. I know he has, but I don't share this information with him. "Look, I don' know who's book it is, but the blond girl left it here." He tries to be nonchalant, but John King looks fearful as he tells me the next part of the story. "Funny thing is, I never saw her get out of my truck. I would have thought I'd imagined it all, 'cept for that danged book she left behind."

A/N. I'm not familiar with southern accents or CB lingo, so any suggestions are welcome and appreciated:) Thank you so much for reading!👻