"Elena sat quietly in the back of her father’s car, her tears now dry, though her heart still ached. She gazed out the window, watching the trees blur into darkness as they sped down the road. The night was dense, the forest on either side oppressive and unnerving, but there was an odd comfort to it too. It felt familiar, as if she wasn’t alone—like someone or something was watching her from the shadows.
And then she saw it.
A figure. Just a glimpse. Her father was driving much too fast, his knuckles white on the wheel as they approached Wickery Bridge. But even in that fleeting moment, the shadow felt familiar to her, a sense of recognition crawling up her spine. She shook her head, trying to dismiss it.
She was tired—so tired. The night had already been long, and the squabble with her parents about the party had left a bitter taste. She just wanted to close her eyes and escape.
Her mother’s quiet anger simmered while her father’s jaw was tight. Elena was certain that the argument would fade with time. They always forgave her eventually. She turned to sleep.
And then her mother screamed.
Elena’s eyes flew open. The world snapped back into focus in an instant. The car jerked violently to the left, her father yanking the steering wheel with all his strength. Outside, the bridge loomed closer, but standing directly in their path was a man—his arm raised, as though pulling the wheel further out of her father’s control, veering straight off the road and over the side of the bridge.
The vehicle plunged into the cold, black water below. Panic surged through Elena’s veins as she struggled to make sense of what had just happened. Her Mother was motionless, her body limp against her seats.
But through the rising water, above the crash of the current, Elena heard something else—a sound that made her blood run colder than the water flooding into the car.
A laugh."
