A Ride on a Rainy Night

Late at night, I dragged my exhausted body after overtime work and got into the car. The windshield wipers swung back and forth tirelessly, tracing monotonous and cold arcs on the windshield. The world outside was distorted and blurred by the rain curtain, just like a painting soaked by water. The streetlights seemed to have lost their vitality, and their dim yellow halos struggled in the thick fog of rain, as if they would be swallowed up by the darkness at any moment. Each one exuded an indescribable sense of loneliness and eeriness.

I've been taking this road every day and know it so well that I could drive it with my eyes closed. But tonight, time seemed to be stretched infinitely, and there was no end in sight. An old song drifted out from the car radio, but the "rustling" noise accompanied it all the time. Impatiently, I reached out to adjust the frequency. In an instant, a sharp and piercing electric current sound suddenly cut through the silence. I cursed in a low voice, "Damn it." I turned off the radio irritably, but that uneasy feeling quietly spread in the bottom of my heart.

The rain became even more violent. Big raindrops smashed wildly on the roof of the car, making a sound like thousands of horses galloping, which made my heart flutter with anxiety. I turned on the high beams, and the pale white light beams struggled to cut a path through the rain curtain, but they could only illuminate a small area in front of me. All around was still endless darkness. Just then, a figure appeared without warning by the roadside ahead.

It was a woman wearing a red dress. Her long hair was soaked by the rain and stuck to her face, looking like wriggling snakes. She kept her head down, her body was stiff, and she didn't move at all, just like a stone statue. The car was moving fast, and in the blink of an eye, we were right in front of her. Just as I was about to accelerate and drive past, she suddenly raised her head and stared straight at me. At that moment, my heart seemed to stop beating instantly, and the blood in my veins seemed to freeze. All the hairs on my body stood on end. Her face was as pale as paper, without a trace of blood, while her eyes were as dark as the abyss. There was a faint and eerie smile on her lips, and that smile was like a sharp knife stabbing straight into the deepest corner of my fear. Countless terrifying thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant, and all the muscles in my body tensed up, and my hands and feet turned cold.

I stepped on the brake in horror. The tires rubbed violently on the wet road surface, making a sharp and shrill sound, as if it were the roar of some kind of monster. The car stopped just in front of her. I gasped for breath, and my hand holding the steering wheel trembled uncontrollably, with my knuckles turning white. I kept worrying in my heart, regretting why I had to go out on this strange and eerie rainy night, and even more regretting why I hadn't just ignored this woman.

"Can... can I get a ride?" Her voice was very soft, but it penetrated the drumming sound of the rain and clearly reached my ears. I instinctively resisted in my heart and wanted to refuse directly, but seeing her soaked and in a sorry state, the words of refusal got stuck in my throat. Eventually, I softened my heart and said, "Get in." As soon as the words came out, I regretted it, but it was too late to take them back.

She opened the car door, and a biting cold rushed in. I couldn't help but shiver and quickly reached out to turn up the air conditioning temperature. She sat quietly in the passenger seat, and her wet hair was still dripping water, "tick, tick". Each drop fell on the floor mat, and every sound seemed to be counting down the unknown fear for me. I stole a glance at her. She exuded an icy aura, making me dare not look at her any more.

"Where are you going?" I tried my best to suppress the panic in my heart and made my voice sound calm.

"The suburban cemetery. My sister is waiting for me there," she said in a still airy voice, as if it came from far away.

My heart skipped a beat. Going to the cemetery so late? But since I had already said it, I couldn't take it back. I started the car again and drove slowly towards the suburbs. Along the way, my heart was in my throat, and every second seemed like an ordeal. I kept comforting myself in my heart that it might just be a coincidence, but that uneasy feeling grew stronger and stronger.

It was terribly quiet in the car, with only the sound of raindrops hitting the car and the dull rumble of the engine. It was as if the whole world was left with only this monotonous and oppressive sound. I secretly glanced at her out of the corner of my eye and found that she always maintained the same posture, with her hands neatly placed on her knees and her eyes staring straight ahead, like a puppet without a soul. There was an indescribable strangeness about her. I couldn't help but wonder, who on earth was she? Why was she going to the cemetery? A series of questions swirled in my mind, making me even more nervous.

"You... what are you doing going to the cemetery so late?" I tried to break the creepy silence, but as soon as the words came out, I regretted it, and a stronger sense of unease welled up in my heart.

"To pick up my sister and take her home. She's been there alone for too long," she said softly, with an unwavering determination in her voice.

I felt a chill run down my spine, and a wave of coldness shot from the base of my spine to the top of my head. I instinctively gripped the steering wheel tightly, and my palms were full of cold sweat. Just then, something seemed to flash past in the rearview mirror. I looked closely, but there was only endless darkness. However, that fleeting shadow was like a thorn stuck in my heart. I began to let my imagination run wild. Had I just been seeing things? Or was there really something behind me?

The car continued to move forward, and the rain showed no sign of abating. Instead, it became even more violent. I turned on the windshield wipers, but they suddenly stopped working. The windshield was quickly blurred by the rain, and my vision became blurred. I could only barely make out the road ahead, and with every meter I drove forward, my fear deepened. I was extremely flustered and didn't know what to do.

"The windshield wipers are broken," I said nervously and flusteredly, my voice trembling a little, as if I were crying for help from her.

"It doesn't matter. We'll be there soon," she still didn't move, and her voice was as calm as if there were no ripples at all. Her calmness made me even more scared, and I always felt that something bad was about to happen.

Just then, a soft chuckle came from the back seat. The sound was sharp and thin, like nails scratching on glass, which instantly made all the hairs on my body stand on end. I looked at the rearview mirror in horror. This time, I clearly saw a little girl in a white dress sitting in the back seat.

She looked about seven or eight years old, and her face was as pale as the woman in the passenger seat, without a trace of blood. She was smiling诡异的ly at the mirror, and that smile seemed to be able to see through my soul, hitting the deepest part of my fear. I almost screamed out loud and stepped on the brake in a panic. I was completely overwhelmed by fear. My heart was beating extremely fast, and I felt like my heart was about to jump out of my throat. My hands and feet were shaking uncontrollably.

The moment the car stopped, the little girl in the back seat disappeared without a trace, as if she had never been there. I gasped for breath and turned to look at the passenger seat—there was no one there, only a puddle of water on the seat, proving that someone had indeed sat there just now. But this made me feel even more creeped out, and fear engulfed me like a tide. I couldn't believe my eyes. What on earth was going on? Had I encountered a ghost? The more I thought about it, the more scared I became, and I just wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible.

I opened the car door tremblingly. The raindrops hit my face, and the coldness pierced my skin, making me sober up a little. I looked around and found that I was right at the entrance of the suburban cemetery. Under the dim streetlight, I saw a yellowed photo on the ground.

I bent down tremblingly and picked up the photo. By the faint and dim light of the streetlight, I could see the content on it—it was a group photo of two sisters. The elder sister was wearing a red dress, and the younger sister was wearing a white dress. They were standing together, with bright smiles on their faces. But for some reason, in this gloomy atmosphere, that smile exuded an indescribable eeriness.

On the back of the photo, it said, "Together forever."

I suddenly remembered the news from a week ago: A pair of sisters had a car accident near the suburban cemetery. It was also raining heavily that day. In order to protect her elder sister, when the vehicle was out of control, the younger sister tried her best to push the elder sister out of the car, but she was thrown out violently and died on the spot. The elder sister was seriously injured and sent to the hospital, but her injuries were too severe, and the doctor said she didn't have much time left. Could the little girl just now be...

I stood there motionless, letting the rain soak my body. My heart was filled with mixed emotions. I looked towards the depths of the cemetery and vaguely saw two figures, one in red and one in white, bowing deeply to me. Then they turned around and held hands, looming in the rain curtain and gradually disappearing into the darkness.