Scary Ghost Story

It began on a Friday night.

I was at a party celebrating the end of senior year with my friends, when the topic of ghosts somehow came up.

So naturally, everyone began sharing their ghost stories. None of them really stood out to me, until the quiet kid who i didn't even realize came spoke up.

He talked about the bridge near the edge of town, which I would be driving down later on to go home. The thought of that just made the story even more scarier.

A long time ago, a woman and her child were taking a stroll along the bridge, when the kid accidentally fell into the river. The mother jumped in to go save him, but somehow drowned to death.

Legend has it, if you drive there at night, you'll see a woman walking around looking for her lost child. When you pull over and try to help, she'll lead you into the river and you'll never come back out.

If you see a woman in a white dress, that's when you know to speed off.

I don't know if I really believed it, but it still sent chills down my spine. Especially since I knew I would be driving alone on that road later tonight. As the party slowly wrapped up, I was still paranoid about his story.

But, I knew I had to go home at some point. So i left at around 3 in the morning, not even realizing that it was witching hour. I could feel my heartbeat quicken as I approached the bridge.

In an attempt to calm my nerves, I shuffled my playlist but as soon as I crossed the bridge, i noticed it fading out. Instead, the music was replaced with distant cries of a child.

Even after I heard the story, nothing prepared me for this. The guy from the party's voice rang in my ears 'do not step out of your car once you're on that bridge.'

I wasn't sure what to do, but I decided that i should at least be sure it wasn't a real kid or else I wouldn't be able to sleep that night. After all, that ghost story was nothing more than just a story, right?.

So i left my engine running, and stepped out of the car.

I stepped towards the bridge's railing, and called out into the river. "Is there anyone there?" a voice from behind me replied with yes. Once I turned around, i was faced with a kid no older than 8.

A hoodie covered their face, but otherwise they seemed unharmed. "What are you doing out here so late?" I asked him, crouching down to his height.

He stepped back once I tried to pull his hood down. "I'm lost." The little boy admitted.

"Can you drive me home?" It was a question, but the tone of his voice made it sound like more of a demand.

Although it was definitely not a good idea to be giving rides out at night, he was just a little kid in my eyes. It felt wrong to say no. So I said yes and led him back to my car.

Reluctantly, I clicked the unlock button on my car keys. When I look back, I can't even remember if he opened the car door. All I knew was once I invited him in, he was suddenly in the backseat. Before I started to drive I asked him a few questions. They were basic ones like where do you live, how did you get out here, things like that. Instead of answering me, he just kept staring out the window.

It almost seemed like he was looking for someone, I gave up and typed the address of the nearest police station into my phone instead. Once we started driving, i could hear him muttering things under his breath.

The words I could make out were 'mama must be starving.'

My hands trembled as I gripped the steering wheel. Something about that sentence just made me feel uneasy. As I look back to ask him what he meant, a bright light illuminated the darkness in front of the car.

I turned back to the road to see a woman in a white dress standing in front of the car. Before we hit her I swerved off the road.

Luckily I didn't crash, and the seatbelt saved me from any potential injuries, but the kid in the back was dead silent.

My heartbeat began to quicken in panic, and i turned my head slightly only to see him outside of the car, his hood completely off, and him staring me down with his empty eyes. "You'll make a wonderful meal for mama." Standing in front of the passenger side window was a woman in a white dress, just like in his story.

My foot stepped on the gas pedal and I sped off that bridge as quickly as possible. My palms were so sweaty, it felt like they were gonna slip off the steering wheel.

In the rear view mirror, it seemed like no one was on my tail. Once I got home, I called the guy from the party and told him everything that happened. The line was silent for a little bit.

Before he finally spoke up. "Um, this is awkward, but... that story isn't real. I just made it up to scare people." That made me think... if those people weren't ghosts, what were they?