I used to love driving late at night. The almost completely empty roads, lit only by the white and yellow glow of the streetlights, along with the darkened houses and accompanying silence, only broken by the noise of my car’s engine and tires always used to fill me with a sort of serenity. It was a way to unwind and try and forget about the world as it was in the daytime, along with all the problems that came with the eternal rise of the sun. It was my own personal form of therapy and meditation, and it never failed to get me to sleep peacefully when I eventually returned home. Well, that’s how it used to be, anyways. Up until a few days ago.
To give you guys a little bit of context before I tell you what happened, I live in a moderately sized coastal town in the Pacific Northwest. I won’t say exactly where, as I don’t want anyone brave enough, or stupid enough for that matter, to try and replicate the exact conditions of my…experience, in hopes of testing it for themselves. I don’t want anyone else to have to go through what I did that night. But, safe to say, while it is a rather beautiful place in terms of scenery, it’s also, in a way, rather forgotten about. Up until about the mid to late 80s, it was home to a bustling logging industry which, along with the local fishing port, was the town’s lifeblood since the beginning of the twentieth century, accounting for a large percentage of its resident’s income. But, when it was shut down in the early 90s due to arguments about some endangered species of owl that resided in the surrounding forests, the town just sort of dried up. It still attracts some tourists during the summertime, which supplants some of the lost income, but it never fully recovered from losing its biggest industry. It’s still more or less frozen in time as it was thirty some odd years ago.
I was writing out my shopping list for the next day that night. It was the last day of the month, and because of an engrained routine from growing up with my mother, I always bought all the non food essentials I needed for the month on the first. That was when I remembered something which had slipped my mind, and I slapped my forehead lightly. You idiot, you forgot to gas up earlier! I swore under my breath, then looked at the clock that hung over my kitchen sink. According to it, it was just past eleven, I think around eleven fifteen or eleven twenty. I bit my bottom lip and debated about what to do. I don’t like getting gas in the morning due to everyone all over town seeming to have the exact same idea at the same exact time, and packing into the station like they’re a tin of sardines. I knew that there was at least one gas station near my apartment which stayed open all night, which, for the moment, anyways, was still under $2.40 a gallon. “Ah, fuck it” I muttered to myself, pushing the pad of paper away and standing up from the table. I was feeling a bit restless, anyways; a late night drive, even for just a few minutes would help me relax. Pulling on my sneakers and jacket, I grabbed my car keys off their hook and stepped outside.
The late February air was colder that night than it had been all winter, and it stung my face as I walked down the stairs and crossed the parking lot to my car, noting with vague interest that there was no moon showing tonight, just the stars, and occasional brighter flicker of a satellite. Unlocking the door, I had to pull on the handle a couple times, as ice had formed and frozen it shut. Finally, it opened, and I slid behind the wheel, jamming the key into the ignition and starting the engine. After a few minutes of running the defroster, combined with having to get back out and use a scraper to rid the windshield of some rather stubborn frost which refused to melt, I pulled out of the parking lot and onto the street. My neighborhood, like most of the rest of town, had already gone to bed. I only saw a few yellow glows from people’s windows that indicated there were others burning the late night oil with me. After a few turns, I pulled into the bright lights of the gas station.
Rolling my window down, I pulled two twenties out of my pocket and turned the car off. We still have many full service stations in our area, meaning you’re not allowed to get out of your car and pump your own gas; you have to have the attendant fill it for you. He was talking to someone in a minivan, so I patiently waited for him to spot me. After a few seconds, he came over to me, shaking his head slightly. “Sorry, I can’t sell you gas right now, man” He gestured back towards the pump. “The computers are down for some reason, I’ve had to turn away everyone who’s pulled up for the last fifteen minutes” I felt my heart sink a little at his words. “Any idea when they’ll be back up?” I asked, hoping he’d give me a solid answer. But he simply shook his head again. “I honestly don’t know. It could be fifteen minutes, could be half an hour” He gave the pumps a look of disgust. “I knew connecting the pumps to computers would be a bad idea” he murmured. I grunted in reply, not really knowing how to respond to him. He looked down at me and shrugged, then slapped the roof of my car and began walking back to his booth in between the pumps. “Try coming back in about half an hour and seeing if we’re back online again” he called, stepping inside and sliding the door closed behind him.
“Shit” I muttered to myself, rolling my window back up and turning the key until the glowing green lights of my car’s digital dash came on. According to the gas gauge, I had just about a quarter of a tank left. My car is a thirty year old Crown Vic, and if you don’t daily drive an older car, let me tell you something: a quarter of a tank really does not last in something that gets eleven to thirteen miles per gallon in town. I slapped the steering wheel and let out another “Shit”, trying to figure out my options. I could simply stay and wait to see if the computers fixed soon, but there was no guarantee of that, and after seeing how annoyed the attendant had been, I really didn’t want to become the new focus of his bad mood. But what else can I possibly do? This was the only gas station I had been to at night before, and I really didn’t know if any of the others in town were still open at this time. I glanced at the clock on my dashboard, which now read quarter to midnight. For a brief moment, I thought about simply heading back home and just accepting having to deal with the lines at the pump the next day. It would be a major irritation, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. But then I shook my head. I can at least check to see if any of the other stations are open and working before I give up, I thought. Nodding in agreement with myself, I started the car and pulled out of the station. I wish to God I had just given up and not been so fucking persistent.
I circled back around through my neighborhood until I drove across an intersection and onto a side road. The road ahead would wind through a few other neighborhoods and a brief, but thickly wooded area before emptying out into the other side of town, and it would save me a few minutes over taking the main road. I traveled down it, passing only a single house that had a light on inside. As I pulled up to a stop sign, I thought for a second that my windshield was beginning to fog up again. “Are you freakin’ kidding me?” I muttered, reaching over to flick on my defroster again when I stopped. I looked at my windshield and out of it for a minute, trying to comprehend what I was seeing. It took a few seconds, but then I realized what I was seeing. Crap. It’s ground fog. I got caught out in ground fog. Now, if you’ve never dealt with ground fog, let me tell you that it’s more than a little jarring to drive through, not to mention dangerous. If you’ve seen movies where a ship gets caught up in a fog bank and can barely see what’s in front of them, take that, and then imagine trying to drive a car through it. You can easily lose track of the yellow median lines when it gets thick enough and accidentally drive off the road and wreck.
I slowed down to about five miles an hour below the speed limit, but I kept going, still not wanting to admit defeat, even though I knew I was putting myself at risk. I’ve always had the misfortune of being hard headed and stubborn, and once again, it was keeping me from doing the smart move and turning around. I passed by through the second neighborhood, glancing out at the windshield at the houses and parked cars steadily becoming enshrouded in the thick white fog. For some reason, the view gave me a bit of an uneasy feeling. It was like looking at a version of something you recognize, but through the lens of a dream, making it feel unfamiliar at the same time. I shook my head to focus back on the road. Don’t let your imagination run away with itself, bro. You need to keep your wits about you. The second neighborhood fell away behind me, and I entered the section that was the most dangerous. This part had absolutely no streetlights, and I slowed ever further down, not wanting to accidentally hit a deer, or hell, a homeless person who might wander out onto the road. I fully admit, as I drove through this part, only passing by one or two houses and clenching the steering wheel as I stared out, able to actually see my headlight beams leading the way in front of me, my mind began to conjure up images from both my nightmares, and horror movies I’d watched. I imagined ghostly pirates from a John Carpenter film jumping out of the tree line to slash at my passing car, or some glowing eyed monster to leap from the trees. Basically, I succeeded in scaring the absolute shit out of myself. When I exited the darkness and drove back into the final neighborhood before heading down a hill to the other side of town, I let out a huge sigh of relief, deciding I would take the main road back, longer or not.
As I came to a stop at the intersection of the main road, I glanced left and right, and noticed something odd. As I said before, one reason I used to love driving late at night in my town was the almost completely empty streets. Emphasis on the word almost. Even at what my car’s dashboard clock now indicated as five past midnight, there would always be one or two cars driving on the main roads, from people working the late night or graveyard shifts on their way home or to work. Not to mention the cops that patrolled late at night. But now, as I looked around and strained my eyes to try and catch the glimpse of headlights or taillights through the fog, I saw nothing. Not a single trace of another human being. I shook my head and crossed the intersection onto another side street, shrugging, but inside, I began to feel that uneasy feeling which had come over me on the darkened road return. It wasn’t gnawing at me, almost shooed away by the streetlights passing overhead and momentarily illuminating the car’s interior the way a child’s imaginary monster might be frightened away by a night light, but it still lay just beneath my skin.
I passed by the hulking shape of our town’s mall on my right, and then up to the curb beside the Safeway next to it. From here, I could see the lit up gas station on the far end of its parking lot, which, for some reason, was surrounded by yellow tape. Fuck, are you kidding me? Apparently, it was closed for some sort of maintenance, which was exactly my luck. I glanced down at my car’s gas gauge, which now read just below a quarter of a tank, and rubbed my eyes. Sighing, I put the car back in drive and turned back onto the main road. There was one final place I wanted to check, a gas station two blocks up. “Please be open, please, for the love of all that is holy, be open” I quietly prayed, hoping my plea would be heard. However, as I crossed a bridge, I saw that it would not be answered. The darkened shape of it came rapidly up on me, then passed by and disappeared back into the ether that surrounded everything just as quickly. “Damn it”, I muttered, slumping back into my seat as I stopped at another red light. I sighed and shrugged my shoulders in defeat. Alright, I officially give up. This isn’t gonna happen tonight. Time to head back home.
I passed by the sign for the bowling alley, the building itself completely obscured by the white veil around it, and turned right at the next intersection, which led up the highest hill in town. As the car climbed, the uneasy feeling I had stayed with me. For the first time in a while, I disliked the silence. I wished that my car’s speakers hadn’t blown out a few months ago, as the radio would have been a welcome distraction from it. Cresting the hill, I navigated my way through another neighborhood until I came to another main road, this one which would lead me straight back to my side of town and home. I turned onto it, glad that I would be in my bed in a few minutes as I passed by a dark and empty park on my left. I’d deal with everything else tomorrow. As I drove down a hill, I finally spied another sign of life. Down a side street to my right, seen for just a split second, I saw the outline of a person standing on a sidewalk. It was too quick and too foggy to make out any details, but just knowing I wasn’t alone out here made me feel a little better, even if it was likely a homeless person wandering around.
That feeling lasted about another twenty seconds, until I reached the next intersection. I remember, I blinked a few times as if what I saw in front of me would disappear like a hallucination, and just up and said aloud, “What the actual fuck…?” with an absolute feeling of confusion coming over me. Every road in our town, even the main ones, have those stereotypical metal poles at the intersections with the green signs on top, telling you what streets you’re approaching in which direction. The ones I was looking at were not the ones that should have been there. Instead, they were the ones for an intersection I had gone through to get to the closed gas stations. I shook my head and glanced around, where I felt another pang of surprise rip through me. Instead of the AutoZone across the street, the Rite-Aid off to my left, and the Sandwich shop to my right, I saw the convenience store and houses that stood around the other intersection. Feeling my head spin lightly, I pulled into the empty parking lot of the store and put the car in park. I pulled my glasses off my face and rubbed my eyes, trying to make sense of what had just happened. Am I really that tired?, I thought to myself. I’ve gotta be, and this fog is not helping. I’d had moments before where I’d been so tired, I’d sort of drifted into autopilot mode and snapped back to find myself somewhere else, so I simply chocked it up to another of these moments. I slapped my cheeks lightly to try and perk myself up, then spoke aloud to try and focus. “Okay, time to get home on the double, man. This is dangerous now”
I pulled back out of the parking lot, and drove towards the mall and the Safeway. A minute later, both passed by, the station still lit up and surrounded by the yellow tape. I turned right and drove down the road again, passing by the second closed gas station and the bowling alley. Following the path I’d sworn I’d done before, I turned up the hill, made my way through the neighborhood, and came out onto the main road. This time, I looked up at the street signs to make sure I was where I wanted to be. I saw with a sense of satisfaction that I was, indeed, on the right one. I turned onto the road and noted the park on my left, as well as the church looming out of the blanket of fog. As I drove down the hill, I glanced to my right again. The intersection whizzed by, but again, I saw the outline of a person standing a few blocks down the road in that split second. “Hmm”, I murmured aloud. Maybe it’s not a homeless person after all. Maybe it’s someone up late going out for cigarette break. The thought, again, made me feel somewhat better.
And then it burst like a balloon pricked by a needle as I came to a stop. My eyes widened, and I felt my breath clench in my chest as I stared at the street sign. It….it can’t be. It fucking can’t be. But it was. It was the intersection. The. Same. Damn. Intersection. I sat there, my foot on the brake as I attempted to understand. I knew for a fact that I hadn’t drifted off this time, and I had kept careful watch of the streets I had taken. There was absolutely no freaking way I was back here; the two roads had no connecting links to each other. Hell, they, they were almost a mile apart. “This makes no fucking sense” I said as I leaned my forehead on my hand. I glanced down at my dash and saw that I’d lost a bar on the fuel gauge, spiking my stress further as I looked to the right to look at the distance to empty. It read, 20 miles. Swallowing hard, I let out my breath in a whoosh. “Okay, get a hold of yourself, you’re alright, keep a grip, don’t panic” I whispered to myself. I hoped that my own voice would provide me some comfort and stability, but it didn’t seem to help much. I looked around me and saw the same store and houses, then pulled away from the intersection. The mall and Safeway passed by again, but when I came to the intersection, I turned left instead of right. This road should lead me back to a main road which intersected with the one I’d twice attempted to get to. As I pulled onto the road, I pushed down on the accelerator just a little bit harder, almost as if to will myself straight to the end. The speedometer crept up to forty as a billboard for the local hardware store hanging over the street whipped overhead and disappeared behind me.
I knew I shouldn’t be going so fast with such limited visibility, but as much as my brain was trying to rationalize what was happening, cold shivers were beginning to climb up my spine. And then they climaxed as the exact same sign came into view and went past. “Wha…” There is no fucking way that just happened. There is only one of those signs in town, and there is no way that just fuc- My thoughts came to a halt as I slammed on the brakes, the rear wheels locking up and sending the car into a slight skid. It came to a halt, and I felt like I was losing my grip on reality. I was back at the same intersection. I put both of my hands to my forehead, then slammed the steering wheel. “What the FUCK is going on?!”, I shouted, my voice slamming back into my ears in the enclosed space. I stopped and took a deep breath, then let it out. Shouting was not going to help my situation, no matter how fucked up it was. I thought for a second, then turned right and onto the street which I had driven down twice now. I had a plan concocting in my head, and I hoped to God it would work. I followed the same path that I had before, turning up the hill and back out onto the main road. As I did, I kept looking at the houses I passed, wishing silently that I would see one with its lights on. But they all remained dark. The streetlights no longer seemed as comforting as they once did. They almost feel like beacons, alerting something to my presence.
I started as I turned onto the main road again. Where the hell had that thought come from? Pushing it away, I slowed as I passed by the park and church, until I came to the intersection I was looking for. A smile of relief crossed my face as I turned onto the side street and pulled to the curb. Putting the car in park, I stared down the street at exactly what I’d been hoping to see. The person I’d previously seen standing on the curb two or three blocks down was still standing there. Thank you, God, for small favors. I opened the door and stepped out of the car, stretching slightly from the slight cramp of sitting in it for so long. The second I did, I shivered at the chill that the fog brought with it, pulling the collar of my coat up to try and protect myself somewhat from it. I left the engine running and stepped forward, squinting my eyes to try and see the person more clearly. Whoever it was stood just beyond a street lamp at the head of a house’s walkway, draped in shadow. From this distance, I couldn’t tell which direction they were facing or make out any features. To see if they were looking my way, I raised my hand and gave a light wave. No response. Must be looking the other way, then, I thought. Glancing back at my car for a second, I began to walk forward, choosing the stay in the middle of the street where the street lights illuminated the most. As I came within a block of the person, I cleared my throat, hoping I wouldn’t have to raise my voice and accidentally wake anyone sleeping up. The person still didn’t respond.
“Great”, I whispered under my breath, then bracing myself, I raised my voice slightly. “Uh, excuse me?” Silence. “Excuse me?” I said a little louder, “I need some help” Still nothing. I began to feel a little irritated, as I knew I was speaking loudly enough for them to hear me. I took a few steps forward. “Hey, buddy, I said I need a little help here” The figure stayed where it was, not giving any indication of acknowledgement. I gritted my teeth and stopped giving a damn about waking anyone up, feeling all the negative emotions from the night take over me as I began to stride forward. “Okay, look asshole, I’ve had one hell of a night, and I don’t know wha-“ The insult died in my throat, and my voice trailed off as I came to a sudden stop. The uneasy feeling I’d had before washed back over me, now accompanied by something else. Fear. A sense of fear so strong that it sent a colossal shiver up my spine, one that felt primal and instinctive. Something’s not right. I knew exactly what my thought had meant. No person, short of being completely deaf, should be this unresponsive to questions or insults. As my anger and irritation fell away, I realized every muscle in my body was tensed up. I also suddenly realized something else which made my fear rise slightly. In the silence, I should have been able to hear the person breathing, or shuffling around to stay warm. But there was nothing. Nothing but silence.
I was suddenly overcome with a feeling that I should leave. Right the hell now. And that, whoever, or whatever that figure was, I didn’t want to see it. I slowly began to step backwards, trying to make as little noise as I could. That’s when the figure moved. I froze as I heard a wet, sliding sound come from its direction. I couldn’t tell what it had come from, and I didn’t want to know. I was beginning to shake slightly, more from fear than the cold. And then it slowly began to turn. All reason left me, and I whirled around and began to dash back towards my car. I didn’t dare look behind me to see what was happening, all focus was on powering me to my escape. I reached for and snatched the handle, yanking the door open and jumping inside. Just as I began to slam it closed, I heard the sound which still wakes me up in the middle of the night, sheets stained with sweat. I heard the beginnings of a laugh, but not one which could have come from any human. This sound was at the same time dry as paper and wet as rain, croaking and filled with more malice and evil then I have ever heard in my life. And then my door was shut and I was fumbling for the gear shifter, yanking it down from park into reverse so hard I thought I would break it for a second. The tires screamed as I jammed my foot down onto the accelerator, and the car flew backwards into the empty intersection.
I glanced up only for a split second as I put the car into drive to turn the wheel. And…God, do I wish I never had, because what I saw will haunt me until the day I die. The figure was still in shadow beyond the streetlight, but I knew that it was facing towards me now. Because I could see its eyes. It’s gold and red glowing eyes. I screamed. I screamed the loudest scream I ever have let out in my life as I slammed my foot onto the accelerator, the rear of the car breaking loose and sliding out behind me before the tires caught the pavement and shot me forward. The engine roared as I kept my foot hard down, no longer caring about hitting anything at all. All I knew was that I had to get away. The car left the road for a moment as it dropped down into a hill before slamming back to earth. Still I kept my foot to the floor. As I watched the speedometer rapidly climb towards sixty, I kept all my attention on the road in front of me to keep the car in a straight line. The lights whipped over my head, the wind whipping past the windows. And then I flew past the park again. “No…” I moaned out as the church flew past as well. I could see the intersection coming up again, but I didn’t dare look down the side street again. I just kept my foot to the floor as it whizzed by. The speedometer rose to eighty, and I spared a split second glance at the gas gauge. “Oh, God…..” was all that could wheeze out from between my lips. Somehow, in the span of time from my last turn around, so much gas had been used up, that there were only two bars left. The distance to empty read 10 Miles.
“No, nonononono” I began bleating out like a mantra as the park again came into view. I refused to lift my foot, but this time, I shot a glance to the right as the intersection flew by. My fears were confirmed as with the split second glance I had showed that the thing was now closer to the main road than it had been before, all the streetlights on the road having gone out. The speedometer was now at ninety, and tears began to fall from my face as the park, church and side street kept flying by over and over again, disappearing and reappearing in the fog like a hellish vintage film background. Each time it repeated, it was closer and closer. When I passed by it again, it was standing at the very edge of the intersection, so close that I could hear it’s laughter filter through my closed windows and over the roar of my engine. As I looked down and saw the speedometer break a hundred miles an hour, I glanced up to see it standing in the middle of the intersection. The lights in it had gone out, and all I could still see was its glowing eyes. Screaming again, I jerked the wheel to the right, almost sending the car into a spin. The headlights for a moment illuminated the demonic visage hidden in the fog and darkness, and if they had stayed a microsecond longer, my mind would have broken. Even now, I can’t recall the exact details; it feels like my head will split in half if I try to. But the car barely missed it, and I heard the sound of its laughter change into a cry of rage, of indignation. I felt something strike the left rear of the car and I fumbled to keep it on the road. Glancing in the rear view mirror, I saw the gold and red eyes disappear into the fog, and I felt the tears flow freely from my eyes as I knew I couldn’t avoid it a second time.
In my head, I made the decision that if I saw everything pass by again, I would aim straight for the thing this time. If I was going out, I sure as hell was going to try and take it with me. I braced myself to see the park and church again. However, I was filled with shock when I saw the sign for the AutoZone light up the intersection in front of me. “Wha…” was all I could manage out as I flew through the intersection and past it. And the Rite Aid. And the sandwich shop. I glanced down at the dash and saw I was doing a hundred and ten as the Wal-Mart flew by on my left. Was this a trick? The answer came as I saw the lights of the gas station I had left flicker through the….the lifting fog? Yes, the ground fog was beginning to lift. I began to laugh, softly, still crying as I let my foot off the accelerator. My laughs sounded almost insane as I braked and pulled back into the gas station. I put the car in park and turned the engine off, my body shaking uncontrollably. I buried my face in my hands until a rap on the window caused me to shriek out and fumble for the keys. It’s here, it was a trick! It- it wasn’t. It was the attendant. He motioned for me to roll my window down, and I slowly did.
“Hey, you got back here just in time; the computers are ba-“ He stopped as he caught sight of the state of me. “Hey, are you okay, buddy?” he asked gently, putting a hand on the door sill. What could I possibly say? If I told him the truth, as much as I wanted, he’d never believe me. Hell, I wouldn’t have believed me unless I’d just gone through what I had. I wiped my eyes with the sleeve of my jacket and pulled out the two twenties I had, trying to keep my voice from shaking. “Y-yeah”, I stammered a bit, “Just had a near miss on the road, scared the hell out of me”. I held out the money to him. “Can, I just get forty dollars of regular, please?” He took the money, still looking hard at me, then looked at the rear of my car. “Looks like you had more than just a near miss” he finally said. I stared at him in confusion, and he gestured for me to get out of the car and look. I stepped out on shaky legs, and thankfully had the door to grab onto as they almost gave out on me as I saw what he’d meant.
Dug into the left rear quarter panel of the car, just behind the gas cap, were three tears in the metal. They were deep and evenly spaced apart. No, not tears I realized as I stared at them. Claw marks. I kept staring at them as the attendant filled my car up, then snapped out of it as he handed me my receipt, giving me a last hard look as he did. As I turned to get back in the car, he called out one final thing. “Try not to drive in the fog again. I’ve seen too many people get taken by it!” I turned back to ask him what he meant, but he’d already shut the door to his booth.
Now it’s a few days later. I know I’ll never understand what I stumbled upon, or what that thing was. And frankly, I don’t want to. I already deal with enough nightmares from the little I experienced. Nor do I know how I got away. When I see the ground fog roll in now, like I did last night, I close my blinds up tight and stay inside. And I will never drive late at night again. I won’t tell you not to, but if you do, please, be careful. And whatever you do, don’t drive when the ground fog rolls in.