There Was Nothing There

"Dan," a voice called out but seeing as there was no response, it called out louder, "wake up!"

"..."

"Dan, wake up already!"

The last shout was the trigger. Dan, who was laying down on the sofa slowly opened his eyes. There was a face just in front of his but with his eyesight still trying to snap into focus, he couldn't quite make it out. He blinked a couple of times and his vision seemed to have gotten clearer. Though he just woke up, he instantly recognized the person calling him.

"Oh, Kim. What do you want?" Dan muttered in a daze.

"It's already 10:00 pm," Kim replied.

"So?" Dan questioned. "I was supposed to be home at nine o'clock sharp," Kim replied as she shot a glance at her wrist watch.

"Crap."

Dan cursed. He understood what Kim said, got up then headed towards the fridge. He moved a handful of items to the side of the fridge to get a beer at the back. He opened the beer cap from the bottle cap opener stuck to the fridge door and chugs half of the beer down in one chug before taking out a car key from the pocket of his jeans.

"C'mon, let's get you home," Dan said after shaking his head to regain clarity.

Kim looked at him with a raised brow, "drinking before driving, are you out of your mind?"

"Shut it," he snapped back. "You'll get yourself killed," she continued.

Dan replied with a chuckle, "I'll be killed by your parents when I get you back anyways."

The two of them went to the garage and sat inside the car. While inside, Dan asked Kim if she wanted a sip of the beer but once she declined, he placed the beer on the edge of his mouth, "suit yourself," Dan said while chugging the rest of the drink in one go. He started the car and they were on their way back to Kim's home. There was no conversation between the two but the two of them knew that they were both enjoying the scenery of the sea and the stars.

"I still don't get why you chose to live uphill alone in a cabin. Not to mention that it's in a forest isolated from the rest of civilization,"

Kim spoke.

"I guess I fell for the scenery that the place offered," Dan paused, "plus, being along gives me a lot of time to do what I do in peace," he added.

"Ehh... What do you even do?" Kim asked skeptically.

"..."

Dan didn't answer and the car sunk into silence once more. For a full hour, he focused on driving in the dimly lit road. Kim occupied herself by

basking in the wind from the car's open window.

Kim suddenly broke the silence, "earth to Dan, come in, can you hear me?" she looked outside, "oh, we're already here."

Wonderville Homes. The subdivision that Kim lived in.

Dan drove the car through the entrance of the private subdivision but was stopped at the entrance by a couple of guards. "Do you have any business here?" one of the guards asked. "I'm just giving my friend a lift home," Dan answered while gesturing to Kim. Kim peeked her head out and the guards recognized her. After going through the entrance, Dan drove straight to Kim's home.

It was a fairly-sized suburban home. It was a modern home with white walls and a dark brown roof. Dan always felt a homely vibe from this house whenever he comes to visit and drop off Kim. Just as he was admiring the house, the front door opened and a man stood by the door.

The man was Mr. Pete—Kim's dad.

"Son, do you know what time it is?" Mr. Pete asked Dan.

"I'm sorry for being late sir," Dan apologized.

"What's done is done. Just learn from this mistake and make sure it doesn't happen again," Mr. Pete berated.

"Yes sir," Dan replied.

"Come in and have a cup of coffee before you go," Mr. Pete invited Dan in to which he complied.

The coffee was still being brewed and Dan took the time to wander around the living room. He first noticed newly arranged photos on the wall.

It was comprised of family photos. He glanced over the pictures but his gaze stopped at one particular picture. It was a photo of him and Kim

in 3rd grade.

"This was a long time ago," Dan muttered.

"Are you reminiscing?" asked Kim as she smiled by Dan's side.

"No, I was just wondering when you went off the wrong path," he sarcastically replied.

Kim looked at him with derision, "why don't you go and die already."

While they were talking, Mr. Pete approached Dan with a cup in his hand and said, "here's your coffee."

Dan took the cup and drank it slowly. Kim took that opportunity to walk over to the stairs, "I'll go get some rest," said Kim as she proceeded to go upstairs.

"You know, coffee helps you sober up," Mr. Pete paused, "you smelled like alcohol when I saw you."

Dan finished his cup of coffee, thanked Mr. Pete and excused himself. Mr. Pete nods at him, "thanks for bringing Kim back safely."

Mr. Pete helped Dan open the door and once the latter was a few steps away from the door, he spoke, "take care, kid." Dan waved his hands without turning back.

He got in the car and drove away from the subdivision. He glanced at the rear-view mirror and vaguely saw a person. He looked at it for a second time but more closely yet the figure had already vanished.

Once he reached the main road back to his house through the dimly lit road, he realized that his trip from his house to hers took an hour and a half.

He suddenly felt exhausted thinking about it and each blink made him more sleepier than the last." Damn, it's already past twelve," he muttered.

He looked at the front of the car and saw a figure from afar. Thinking that his eyes were just playing tricks on him, he blinked twice. Seeing as how the person didn't disappear, he was undoubtedly real. Why was there a person standing in the middle of the road at this time?

As he was prepared to move to the side to avoid the figure, it disappeared. "I must be really sleepy..." he made an excuse for what he just saw to try and convince himself. But, just a moment later, the figure appeared in front of his car and was ran over.

"Shit!" Dan yelled and stomped on the breaks. His car was fast enough to send him tens of meters away from where he stomped on the breaks.

He felt cold sweat pouring down his back as he reached for the compartment to find a flashlight. Luckily, he managed to grab one. He stepped out of the vehicle, still shaken about what had just transpired but decided to search for the body. "What the fuck! What the fuck! What the fuck!" he kept on cursing loudly as he followed the skid marks his car had made. He searched and searched but even after ten minutes had passed, he couldn't find anything at all.

As he was searching, he heard a faint gasp and his heart skipped a beat. Because of the stress and nervousness, he subconsciously pointed his flashlight and yelled, "who's there?!" But, after circling the road non-stop, there really was nobody there. He quickly got back into his car and drove away.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he constantly yelled while hitting the steering wheel. "Am I going insane?!" he yelled on the verge of going mad. He drove as fast as he could to get home. He never looked back, and neither did he intend to.