After driving out of the Yang Manor's private road, she was greeted with the light traffic or deserted streets on her way.

"It's just after sunset so why is it getting so dark already?" She muttered to herself as she drove ahead.

Winter was approaching and the temperature was getting lower with each passing day. She rolled her windows down and smiled contentedly as the chilly air rushed inside the car.

Her fear of speed restricted her pace greatly but she was not complaining about it as she did not want a return ticket to the hospital bed for speeding.

Lina began humming a song she had recently heard on the internet and kept glancing at the GPS as she drove along.

She had always been driven around by her brothers or her chauffeur, Derek, and had hence never bothered to remember the routes to any new places.

The only route she was well versed with was the directions to reach her office from her home.

"I have not been on a sightseeing tour since I have returned to the country." She remembered and decided to make time to check out the local scenic destinations.

'I can ask Ruby to accompany me to these places… On dates!' She blushed when this thought emerged in her mind.

She was halfway across her journey and maintained her attention on the road to avoid any mishaps from occurring.

'I'll be there in 15 minutes.' She nodded after checking the GPS once again.

But could the navigation system be trusted with her turtle-like driving speed?

The supposedly 20 minutes journey to Benji's house, according to the GPS had already completed its said 20 minutes and she was nowhere close to his house.

"Okay… So straight and then take a right?" She repeated the instructions she heard from the mechanical female voice and did as she was told.

The straight long road that she had turned was much more desolate than the ones she had passed through.

There were trees on either side of the road which partially blocked the street lights which were illuminating the empty street.

"What is this, a scene from the horror movies?" She chuckled when she observed that her car was the only one on this wide road.

She glanced at the navigation and realized that the system had directed her towards a road that was not much used but was considered a shortcut so as to help her reach her destination faster.

'This is like the plot where the MC's car breaks down and she gets stranded on this haunted-looking road.' She cackled after remembering the recurring concept which was present in most of the horror movies that she had binged watched with Benji.

The next second, as though the gods up in the heavens had heard her words, she heard strange noises coming from her car.

*Krrr… Krr…*

The car's engine purred but not in a good way. It sounded like a strained and turbulent engine that could collapse at any moment.

Lina's brows furrowed when she noticed the speedometer levels dropping as the car trudged along, so she maneuvered the car to the edge of the road.

Soon her car slowed down and moved forward in jumpy and forced jolts before it finally came to a standstill.

'Stupid car!' She cursed while trying to restart her car's engine, she turned the keys multiple times but to no avail.

A few seconds later, the headlights dimmed and began flashing on and off after which they died down just like the engine.

"Just great!" She scoffed at her nasty luck and at the same time she cursed at Benji for getting her out of the house, causing all of this mess to happen in the first place.

Lina had watched enough horror and crime shows to know that getting out of the car would be a foolish decision on her part.

Not knowing what else to do in this situation, she decided to call Wade and ask him to come to pick her up from this scary place.

Grabbing the sling bag that she had placed on the passenger seat, she unhurriedly unlocked her phone and looked through her contacts.

The best option would be to call Benji since he was the closest to her, distance-wise, but sadly the big guy did not own a vehicle in this city.

He had been putting away the chance to go car shopping until he was well acquainted with the city and right now, that seemed to be the stupidest thing that Lina had ever heard.

Her fingers impatiently tapped the steering wheel of the car that had decided to die on her just when she had to be in this 'shortcut' route with not a soul in sight.

Lina's eyes widened in shock when she heard the voice coming from her phone.

"Not in a network coverage area? What do you even mean by that!?" She scowled at her phone but she knew that she couldn't get an answer from the pre-recorded messages.

She tapped her phone impatiently and then held it up to try her luck at getting some signal.

She leaned in different directions but the result was the same, no network.

Since no network also meant that there was no internet to even book a cab for herself.

Not finding any other means for her to contact her family, she decided to do what every dumb MC in a horror movie does.

"If I die at the hands of a serial killer today then I am going to haunt Benji's ass for all eternity!" She vowed and gnashed her teeth.

Throwing her useless phone back inside her bag, she turned off the car and pulled the keys out of the slot.

Clenching one hand over the sling bag which was now over her shoulder and across her chest and the other hand gripping the keys, she pushed the car's door open and stepped out.

Her eyes scanned the vicinity and found that she was the only person there.

This was both a good and bad thing.

Good since she did not have to worry about any attackers pouncing on her and bad since she would not be able to ask for help from any passerby.

Now she had the choice of three paths to take.

First, where she could stay right in the same place and wait for someone to come and rescue her.

'Nope! Not gonna stay here like a damsel in distress who gets murdered.' She shook her head in refusal then turned her head from left to right.

Second, where she could walk back the same way she had come in and hopefully get a cab or signal to call someone.

"That is both counterproductive and a long way to walk." She dismissed that idea as well.

So now the last option left was to walk ahead and finish her journey. She hoped that she did not have to walk all the way since she did not know the right directions, to begin with.

But something was better than nothing and if her luck was not rotten to the core then she might even get a signal on her phone to call someone or a cab for herself.

"Walk along, Nana!" She cheered her inner lazyass to move.

Thus, a young woman began her journey on the path that she had taken on this fateful night.

'Stupid car… Stupid phone… Stupid Benji…' She chanted with each step she took.

She pulled the hoodie over her head and wrapped her arms around her waist in a weak attempt to beat the chilling breeze that swept past her.

Thankfully, a few minutes into her walk on the long street, she noticed the headlights of a car coming from behind.

Not bothering about the identity of who the person might be, she turned around and waved her arms in hopes of getting the driver's attention.

'Finally!' She rejoiced when she saw the car slow down and come to a halt by the side of the road.

____

'The meeting went on for longer than what I had expected it to be.' A man clicked his tongue as he drove back home through an abandoned road.

The locals believed this road to be haunted by the spirits of the people who had died in a large scale freaky road accident that had occurred a few years ago.

Ever since then, this place was deserted once the sun sets.

The only people who were seen here after dark were supernatural enthusiasts and youngsters who wanted to scare and pranks their friends.

'Hmm? Another idiot trying to catch a ghost?' He sneered when he saw a black sedan parked by the side of the road.

By the looks of it, he had noticed that there was no one inside or near its surroundings.

'What kind of an idiot leaves the windows open and disappears?' He scoffed at the owner's negligence.

Not bothering about it any longer, the young man continued his drive, and only after a few seconds, his eyes caught sight of a dark figure moving at a distance away from him.

'A ghost?' His fingers tightened their hold over the steering wheel as his eyes widened in shock at what he was witnessing.

'Aren't ghosts usually dressed in white? Why is this one in black?' He wondered and squinted further to observe this rare chance of seeing a ghost in real life.

However, the figure whom he had thought to be a ghost had turned around when his car moved closer to it.

'Eh? That is not a ghost but a… girl?' He was both disappointed and relaxed when the 'ghost' turned out to be a girl.

The female turned around and began waving her hands in the air.

Shaking his ridiculous thoughts away, he slowed down and stopped the car when he had arrived at her position.

Lowering the black tinted window, the moment he caught sight of the other person's face he froze while the woman continued gazing at the man who had his mouth slightly opened.