Tracie Hicks

America is the melting pot of the world. For over 13,000 years, people have migrated to this land, and their ghosts have migrated with them. 

A sliver of moon, sharp as a curved blade, hung in the Illinois sky. Its pale glow washed over the deserted highway below. The September wind raced through the cornfields, causing the withered stalks to sway and groan.

In the distance, the sea of corn melted into a dense forest. Ominous silhouettes of trees rose against the star-studded sky, their branches intertwining to form a shadowy canopy. The highway curved ahead, disappearing into the looming darkness of the wooded passage.

The engine of man’s 2024 Lexus purred as he drove down the empty highway. Vibrations from the potholes traveled through the leather-wrapped steering wheel and into his arms. His fingers tapped a rhythm on the supple material, matching the beat of the radio’s muffled tune. The subtle scent of aged leather and expensive cologne filled the cabin, a familiar comfort on his frequent solo rides.

The man pressed the window button. As the window went down, a wave of fresh night air swept into the car’s interior. The rush of wind silenced the radio’s soft tunes. It carried away the lingering traces of his mistress’s perfume and the crushing weight of guilt that clung to him after their secret rendezvous.

The chilly breeze ruffled his dark hair. It cleared his mind, banishing the cobwebs of doubt and regret that had formed. The shackles of his mundane marriage seemed to loosen momentarily, and he tasted the fleeting sweetness of stolen freedom. The open road stretched before him, a ribbon of possibility in the darkness, beckoning him into an uncertain future.

The man lifted his eyes to the star-studded sky above. The celestial tapestry stretched from horizon to horizon, a glittering display of distant suns and ancient light. He was always filled with a sense of awe at the sight. His problems, his guilt, his indiscretions—they all seemed trivial under the watchful eyes of the cosmos.

“I’ll deal with the guilt later,” he muttered. For now, he wanted to revel in the afterglow of stolen moments, the intoxicating thrill of forbidden pleasure. The memory of his lover’s soft skin beneath his fingertips, the taste of her lips, the sound of her breathless sigh—they all mixed in his mind, a sensory cocktail that made him dizzy with desire and shame.

As he rounded a bend, his headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating a figure emerging from the dense woods that bordered the highway. The sudden appearance startled him, and his foot instinctively eased off the accelerator. The Lexus slowed, and the figure came into sharper focus.

A woman in a long, flowing white dress stood at the side of the road. Her silhouette, stark against the backdrop of the dark forest, appeared as a pale apparition in the night. Curiosity overcame caution, and he slowed down even more, squinting through the windshield to get a better look.

As he approached, his breath caught. The woman was beautiful. Her features glowed in the harsh glare of his headlights. Her long, raven hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall, swaying gently in the breeze, and her face, pale as moonlight, seemed carved from the finest marble.

But it was her eyes that captivated him. Large and luminous, they shimmered with an inner light that held him captive with its intensity. He felt an inexplicable pull toward her, an unsettling mix of attraction and apprehension that quickened his heart and made his palms sweat on the steering wheel.

He brought the Lexus to a stop a few feet from the woman. The silence was deafening, broken only by the rustling of trees and the distant call of a night bird. He pressed a button on his door, and the passenger window rolled down. 

“Need a lift?” he asked.

The woman did not react. She stood motionless, her gaze fixed on him with an unnerving intensity. It was as if she were looking through him, past his physical form, into the depths of his soul. He had the unsettling feeling that she knew everything about him—his hopes, his fears, his sins.

After an eternity, a slow smile curved her lips. The expression changed her face, adding a touch of warmth to her beauty. When she spoke, her voice was a low, melodious whisper that caressed the night air.

“Thank you,” she said.

The man watched as she approached the car. Her movements were fluid and graceful. The gravel at the edge of the road was silent beneath her feet, and her white dress flowed around her, seemingly untouched by the wind that rustled the surrounding cornfields.

As she approached, he noticed details that added to her mystique. Her eyes, which had seemed to glow from a distance, now shimmered with a spectral light up close. Her smile, while beautiful, held a hint of something unknowable, a mystery that tugged at the edges of his consciousness.

She opened the passenger door.  With inhuman grace, she slid onto the seat, bringing with her a sweet perfume of wildflowers. The scent filled the cabin, overwhelming the other scents. A shiver ran down his spine, a primal instinct warning him of something he couldn’t comprehend.

“Where are you going?” He could hear the tremor in his voice and felt his heart pounding against his ribs. Sweat trickled down his forehead despite the cold air.

“Just down the road,” she replied. She turned, her gaze drifted off to the dark forest. “Anywhere away from these woods.”

He nodded, not trusting his voice. He put the Lexus in drive and pulled back onto the highway, the tires crunching on the loose gravel before finding traction on the smooth asphalt. The trees resumed their endless march along both sides of the road.

As they drove, he glanced at his passenger. Her beauty, the way the moonlight highlighted the delicate contours of her face, captivated him. Her long, dark eyelashes cast shadows across her high cheekbones, and her pale skin radiated an inner glow.

Despite her beauty, or perhaps because of it, a sense of unease coiled in the pit of his stomach. There was a nagging feeling that something was wrong, a sense that this encounter was more than just a random act of kindness on a lonely stretch of road. The rational part of his mind tried to dismiss these thoughts, chalking them up to guilt over his affair and the lateness of the hour. But a deeper, more intuitive part of him remained alert.

To break the oppressive silence, the man tried to make small talk. “So, what’s your name?” he asked, his eyes darting between the road ahead and the woman beside him.

She turned her head slowly. “Names have power,” she said, her voice tinged with amusement. “But you may call me Sayona.”

He nodded, unsure how to respond, but he had to say something. “I’m Matt,” he said. “Where are you from, Sayona?”

Again, Sayona’s answer was evasive. “I come from the shadows between worlds,” she said, her gaze drifting to the darkness beyond the windshield. “From the places where reality thins and the veil between what is and what might be becomes permeable.”

His grip on the wheel tightened, and his knuckles turned white. The woman—Sayona—seemed to exist in a realm beyond the ordinary, a creature of the night shrouded in mystery and enigma. Her words, though poetic, sent a shiver down his spine and raised goosebumps on his arms.

The silence in the car grew heavy, broken only by the hum of the engine and the rustling of the trees outside. Matt found himself aware of every sound and sensation. The leather seat creaked beneath him as he shifted uncomfortably. Despite the open window, the air in the car felt thick and oppressive.

Unable to stand the tension any longer, Matt glanced at his passenger. His breath caught in his throat, and his heart skipped a beat.

Sayona’s eyes, once captivating, now blazed with an ominous light. The glow emanated from within, casting eerie shadows across her face. Her smile, once alluring, now stretched across her face in a macabre grin. Matt could see her teeth, too sharp and too long for human comfort, gleaming in the dim light of the dashboard.

Panic surged through Matt’s body, adrenaline flooding his system. His foot slammed down on the brake pedal, the sudden deceleration throwing him forward against his seat belt. The Lexus tires screeched in protest, leaving dark skid marks on the deserted highway as the vehicle came to a stop.

“What the…” Matt started to say, but the words died in his throat as he watched the horrifying transformation unfold before his eyes.

Sayona’s skin, once pale and flawless, now stretched tightly over her bones, revealing the skeletal structure beneath. The moonlight streaming through the windshield cast harsh shadows across her face, accentuating the inhuman angles and planes. Her hands, once delicate, were now twisted into sharp and menacing claws. Matt heard the sickening creak of bone and the flesh stretching as her fingers lengthened, razor-sharp claws sprouting from each digit.

But it was Sayona’s eyes that truly captured the horror of the moment. They burned with an infernal fire that bored into him with a chilling intensity. In their depths, he saw eons of suffering, countless souls consumed, and an insatiable hunger that could never be satisfied.

The realization hit him like a physical blow, choking the air from his lungs. The woman beside him was not human. She was something else, something monstrous, something born of nightmares and fueled by the transgressions of men. At that moment, Matt understood he was in mortal danger.

Panic gripped Matt, and he reached for the door handle, desperate to escape the confines of the Lexus. His fingers, slick with sweat, slipped on the metal. He could hear his ragged breathing, loud in the sudden silence, and the pounding of his heart echoed in his ears.

But Sayona moved with inhuman speed, her clawed hand shooting out and gripping Matt’s arm in a vice-like grip. Pain exploded where her claws dug into his flesh, and he screamed, the sound raw and primal. He felt his warm blood trickle down his arm, soaking into the fabric of his shirt.

“You betrayed your vows.” Sayona’s guttural voice vibrated through the air, grinding Matt’s teeth and sending shivers down his spine. “You have betrayed your wife. You have broken the sacred bonds of marriage.”

Sayona’s grip tightened, and Matt gasped as he felt the bones in his arm creak under the pressure. The pain was excruciating, radiating up his arm and into his shoulder. But worse than the physical agony was the cold, creeping fear that spread through his body as her words sank in.

“And now,” Sayona continued, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed amplified in the confined space, “you will pay the price.”

Matt struggled against her grip, twisting in his seat as he tried to break free. His fear and adrenaline gave him a surge of strength, but her grip was unyielding. He could feel her cold, unnatural energy draining his life force. His vision blurred, dark spots danced at the edges, and his body weakened.

“Please,” Matt gasped, his voice a rasp. “I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you. Just let me go.”

But his pleas went unanswered. Sayona leaned closer, her breath hot and foul on his face. The smell was overwhelming, making his stomach churn. So close he could see the details of her transformation in horrifying clarity.

Sayona’s skin had taken on a sickly grayish hue, stretched tightly over protruding bones. Dark, pulsing veins stood out against the pale flesh. Her eyes, now completely devoid of humanity, burned with an infernal fire. He thought he could see the flames of hell itself reflected in those bottomless orbs.

Sayona’s mouth opened wide, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth. They glinted in the moonlight, each a deadly instrument for tearing flesh. A long, forked tongue flicked out, tasting the air, tasting his fear.

At that moment, Matt knew this was the end. He had stumbled into a realm beyond human comprehension, a realm where ancient legends and vengeful spirits ruled. He had been judged. His transgressions laid bare before a being that knew no mercy.

Matt closed his eyes and braced himself for the final, agonizing blow. Images flashed through his mind – his wife’s smiling face, the pain, and betrayal he knew would follow if she ever learned of his infidelity, his lover’s soft laughter and the thrill of forbidden passion, the life he would never live, the redemption he would never make.

Terror and regret filled his scream as it tore from his throat. But it was cut short, swallowed by the vast emptiness of the night. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the rustling of the trees and the mournful wail of the wind.

The moon, silent witness to the unfolding tragedy, shed its pale light on the deserted highway. It illuminated the empty Lexus, its driver’s seat stained with sticky crimson blood. The passenger door was ajar, opening into the darkness of the woods beyond. There was no sign of Matt or the mysterious woman in white.