I stifled a yawn as I tried to remain focused on the road. My friend next to me had been asleep for the last hour, his auburn hair crumpled between his head and the window. The occasional flash of light from the streetlights which litter the motorway provided a small solace against my encroaching exhaustion.

I fumbled for a button on the dashboard to change the song for the fifth time in the last minute, somewhat torn between something relaxing to match my mood or something intense to keep myself awake. I settled for some classic Frank Sinatra – not necessarily the usual choice of music for a 17 year old, but I couldn’t care less.

I watched the car ahead of me, my concentration waning from the lack of stimulation. When I was younger, I had read stories of people hallucinating figures standing on the side of the road when they were driving late at night. I had not understood how this was possible back then, but now – each blotch of darkness seemed to be scrutinising me as I drove.

The last few days of holiday had been busy, but fun. My friend, Charlie, and I managed to find some cheap tickets out of the country to an all-inclusive hotel where we spent days lying on the beach, and nights out partying. I had offered to drive us to the airport and back, so this is what had led me to my current predicament of trying to stay awake after a red-eye flight, followed immediately by a three hour drive.

I flicked at my indicator and switched lanes as I was getting off at the next exit. After a couple close calls where my eyes failed to remain open, I was grateful to only be another twenty minutes from home. My mind began to wander as I thought back to a conversation I had with Charlie earlier in the drive. It was one of those conversations that you have with people who you’ve known for years and have nothing better to talk about.

“Alright, my turn.” Charlie said to me, “If you could have any superpower, what would it be?”

I mulled it over for a second before answering, “I’m not really sure. I guess if I had to choose I would want an ability like one of those generic isekai protagonists, y’know? The type where they get a system and stuff so that I could become really powerful but don’t start out as that strong. What about you?”

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, “Dude, that’s not even a superpower, did you not hear my question?” Charlie laughed. “I would probably go for something like Wolverine’s powers from the Xmen, that shit’s badass dude.”

“Yeah but you know his powers aren’t that strong without the whole metal bone gimmick he has, right?” I thought his choice was stupid but I couldn’t lie to myself, its not like I put much thought into the question either.

We had continued to bicker about all sorts of inconsequential things after that. The sound of the next song coming on dragged me out of my idle musings. ‘That’s Life’, another Frank Sinatra. I hummed along, as I turned the corner into a backroad. At this point, I was fifteen minutes away from our destination and felt unconcerned about my tiredness anymore. Instead, I refocused myself and continued looking into the inky-black darkness, barely illuminated by my crappy headlights.

The car was suddenly filled with an oppressive blue light, and I could hear Charlie mumbling as he stirred awake. My visibility was completely ruined and I could no longer see the road. I looked over at Charlie to ascertain if he knows what’s happening.

What looked like runes circled his body, it the type of thing you would only see in an anime or movie. Strange hieroglyphics were scattered across him, each pulsating with the same ethereal blue glow as the runes.

“Mate, what the fuck is going on!?” He shouted at me, having finally awoken.

“I’ve got no bloody clue!” I shout back at him. The combination of the music in the background, the blue light eminating from Charlie, and the raw panic from seeing something that I had only heard about in fiction almost stopped me from realising we were about to crash.

I slammed my foot on the clutch and brake, forcing the car to a stop, panting heavily as adrenaline started to take effect. I looked over at Charlie to make sure he was alright once the car was stopped.

The blue light had faded away but my eyes now needed to adjust to the darkness. I reached up for the overhead light and flipped it on.

“You good bro?” I asked as I turned towards the passenger seat.

Charlie was gone.

I sat in the car, alone. I stared at the passenger seat, which, aside from the seatbelt which was strapped in, showed no sign of anyone having been sat there. My mind raced, my mouth opened and closed. I took a deep breath and finally managed to speak.

“What the fuck?”