Short Stories

11 Miles

!Swear Words!

It was a stupid dare, but nonetheless Ivy took it. She knew she wouldn't live it down if she didn't. Her friends would give her shit for it until the day she died. So she took the dare.

The only thing that actually scared her was the gas she'd be using. As a teenager who worked at McDonalds, it wasn't something she wanted to waste money one. Especially if it was only for a stupid dare. But, it was Christmas break and she didn't have anything better to do. Her friends did mention she could make a wish come true if she beat the game. That gained her interest.

"Maybe I'd get to see Evelyn again?" Ivy frowned, "That'd be impossible, this is just a stupid game. Besides, it's my fault. I shouldn't be allowed to see her."

Ivy shook her thoughts away, grabbing her keys she texted her friends to tell them she was starting. She wouldn't be able to take her phone with her in the car. Her friends replied with different forms of  'good luck' and Ivy left her house.

Ivy got into her car and started driving to the road her friends told her about. She found it and stopped for a second to make her wish, turn off her radio, turn off her heater and lock her doors.

It was going to be a long ride, she could already tell. A feeling in her gut was telling her to turn back. But she wasn't going to chicken out; she was going through with the dare. Deep down inside she wanted her wish to come true.

She changed gears and started driving down the road. The first few miles were easy, nothing out of the ordinary. It was kind of a nice ride, just her and the empty road. She needed this, especially after the anniversary.

By the fourth mile however, Icy started noticing things, like her headlights. They'd flicker more. The didn't seem too bad though, her car wasn't exactly new, these kinds of things happen. Ivy's car also seemed to feel a bit colder, but that could've been her imagination, and in the middle of December with no heater on, it was going to be cold.

She almost hit a deer in the fifth mile, but instead of stopping like she wanted to, she kept going. It was one of the rules of the game she was playing. She couldn't stop, no matter what she saw. Not to mention her friends said nothing she saw was real.

"That deer looked pretty real to me," Ivy mumbled.

She almost ran off the road in the sixth mile. She was startled by... nothing. Just this sinking fear that she was going to hit something. It was hard to control and she swerved. Ivy had to push the feeling down so she didn't hurt herself.

"Nothing is real. Nothing I see is real. Nothing I hear is real. Nothing I feel is real."

Ivy jumped at the start of the seventh mile, when the headlights went out.

"Why'd I agree to this stupid dare?" Ivy's eyes were pulled to the radio when it had turned on. Luckily the volume was down so she didn't have to worry. She wasn't supposed to hear.

Despite Ivy's headlights going out it wasn't too dark to see, making the seventh mile one of the easiest.

However, that all changed on the eighth mile. Everything went wrong. She could feel something breathing on her neck, but had to resist turning around or looking in her review mirror, it was another rule. Don't look back.

Ivy could also hear voices, she couldn't make them out, they were too quiet; too far away. But it was good she couldn't; she wasn't supposed to. She wanted to hear; she wanted to know what they were saying.

On the ninth mile, the voices and the breathing on her neck stopped. She was able to calm down a little bit. She could see things in the corner of her eyes and in the forest. It was unsettling, the shadows seemed close. They were only shadows, but she knew they were real. Somehow she knew they were real. She could feel them taunting her; telling her. Telling her to look and see them. Ivy knew she couldn't, she'd apparently 'go insane' if she did. She couldn't help rolling her eyes at her friend; as if that'd actually happen.