Horrorfest

15. Night Rider

*A/N: The NightRider bus number shall not be disclosed. The NightRider is a late-night bus service that operate in a unidirectional fashion, from the City to  selected various housing estates in Singapore.

It was my first time taking the NightRider and it was definitely going to be my last.

The lady beside me tapped on my shoulder to signal that she was ready to alight. The passenger that had shared a two seater with me was seated at the window seat while I was seated nearer to the aisle, meaning I had to move my legs to the side to give way for her to leave her seat.

As I mumbled an apology, I made way for her to move and took the opportunity to look around the bus. I had been too engrossed watching a video on my mobile phone throughout the ride that I did not realise that we were the last few passengers left on the bus - just her and I. We were seated in the first 3 rows.

After the lady alighted and the beeps from the 'door closing' signal was heard, my sling bag that I had placed on my lap accidentally slipped downwards to the ground near the aisle just as I was about to swivel myself back into my seat. Due to the impact, my water bottle that I had placed in the side pocket of my sling bag had slid out, and rolled towards the back of the bus.

Sighing at my own clumsiness, I grabbed my bag and made my way towards my fallen water bottle. As I bent over to pick it up, I noticed a lady in a long red cheongsam with a neat bun up hairstyle sitting at the far end. I must have been too tired to not notice her earlier.

But one thing that was creepy about her was that her pupils were pushed all the way back up and only her whites were seen. The more unnerving thing was that she was just staring blankly ahead.

It was common right? I mean, I know people who sleep with their eyes open. 

It can't be a ghost. Ghosts are usually dressed in white... or black, right?

I laughed to myself which helped calm me down a bit.

As I turned my body around to return back to my seat up front, that was when I could not move further.

Right in the seat that I was before, was the same lady in the red cheongsam, her back facing towards me.

Okay. So what are the odds of two people wearing the EXACT same cheongsam?

I was starting to get creep out. My stop is just two stops away. And something at the back of my head told me not to look behind me where I first saw the lady.

But I was too stubborn and still turned my head around to look behind me.

There was no lady.

As I shrivelled myself backwards into a seat nearest to me,  I braved myself to look forward again. There she was, her back still towards me but she was now sitting in a different seat that was much nearer to me. 

Every few seconds, she popped nearer...

And nearer...

AND NEARER.

I was too scared to even blink.

As she moved nearer and sat in the seat right in front of me, with her back facing me still, I heard a faint giggle. I closed my eyes as tight as I could and uttered all sorts of prayer that I could think of.

I knew I was reaching my stop soon so I hastily turned my head towards my right where the window  was and I shrieked. Boy, did I shriek.

I just shrieked at my own damn reflection.

I panicked okay? Don't judge.

"Miss, are you okay?" I heard the bus driver shout and that was when I had the courage to turn to his direction and noticed that the lady was gone.

"*Got cockroach, is it?" He spoke again.

*A/N - Got cockroach, is it? - Singlish for, "Is there a cockroach?"

I did not want to scare him with what I saw. After all, he needed to drive the bus back to the station.

"I'm okay. Sorry to make you panic."

As my stop was coming up, I pressed the bell, stood up and hurriedly grabbed the sling of my bag that had dropped between my legs but it was not the sling of my bag.  The sling of my bag was not slimy nor was it wet. 

Looking down, I saw the same lady laying on the ground, looking up at me, her hair unwrapped, dreadfully long and unkempt, her cheongsam now tattered, old and torn. The thing that I had grabbed on to was her tongue that had slithered and coiled its way around my arm.

I uttered another prayer out loud, grabbed my real bag and ran as fast as I could to the exit, just in time for the bus to stop and open its doors for me.

Unfortunately, it doesn't end there. She was already waiting for me at the bus stop, just at the doors' exit.