Driving the Living by Day, the Dead by Night

Alvin's POV

If driving a BMW could take me across the realms of the living and the dead, I’d gladly eat my hat.

But of course, there was no way to explain that to them. All I could do was shake my head. “Miss, I don’t want your money. Some things can’t be solved with cash.”

Winona arched a brow and waved for her thugs to keep smashing my car.

But the sound of glass shattering never came. Instead, one of the men froze, staring at my cab like he’d seen a ghost.

“Miss, there’s no battery in this car. How the hell is it even running?”

As soon as he said it, a cold wind swept through the night, sharp and biting.

The men who had been so full of swagger suddenly hesitated, their eyes darting nervously.

“Boss, the All Souls' Day’s coming up, doesn’t this feel a little… off?”

“Yeah, maybe we picked the wrong fight tonight. What if we stirred up something we shouldn’t have?”

But Winona scoffed, refusing to believe a word. She barked an order for them to check my car again, and my phone too.

Sure enough, there really was no battery in the engine and no ride history on the phone.

“Tch. He’s just a scammer. And you all are acting like children,” she sneered, then pulled out my driver’s license and tossing it to one of the men. “Run it. See what kind of dirt we can dig up.”

It didn’t take long before they came back with results.

“He used to stay in a mental hospital. Even set fires during one of his episodes.”

I clenched my fists. That was no “episode.” It was an exorcism. Without fire, the ritual couldn’t have been completed.

Another man added, “He also broke into a massacre site once and even got into a fight with the cops there too.”

I shut my eyes. That time, I had been retrieving an entire slaughtered family. The youngest boy refused to leave until I found his marble for him. That was why I did that.

The more they spoke, the more disgust twisted Winona’s face.

“No wonder the second I got in, I felt something off all over this car. Turns out the driver’s a lunatic.”

I was beyond words. If they hadn’t forced themselves into my cab, I would’ve already finished tonight’s task.

In the glow of her phone, Winona’s face looked distorted, almost grotesque.

“I knew it. He’s just a crazy pretending to be some big shot. And to think he dared to refuse me a ride.”

I shook my head hard. “Miss, I really don’t want to provoke you. But it’s already too late. I have to get my passenger to his destination on time. If I don’t, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

“Consequences?” She laughed coldly. “In here, I do whatever I want. So tell me, what’s out there that I can’t handle?”

She clicked her tongue and added, “As for you, Mister Alvin, I’m curious. This so-called ‘passenger’ you keep talking about, is he also a lunatic like you, a mental patient with fake documents trying to work again?”

At her signal, two men grabbed me, ignoring my struggle, and pinned my arms tight.

“If you take us to meet this ‘distinguished guest’ of yours,” she said with mock sympathy, “maybe I’ll be generous enough to buy you a brand-new car. How about it?”

Her words made my gut twist. If she actually saw him, it would already be too late.

Among the dead, it was common knowledge that under normal conditions, only vengeful spirits could reveal themselves. And who in their right mind would want to come face-to-face with one of those?

I clenched my teeth. “No. That passenger is of great importance. Not someone you can just meet.”

For a second, there was only silence. Then, as if on cue, everyone burst into loud, exaggerated laughter.

“Hear that? The Mills practically owns this city, and this idiot thinks anyone could be more important than Miss Winona?”

“Her family could wipe out your entire bloodline with one project. And you’re talking about some ‘distinguished guest’?”

“Pathetic. Doesn’t even know who he’s messing with.”

I could hardly breathe from the frustration. Maybe I didn’t know who I’d provoked, but they were about to find out the hard way who they were provoking.

Didn’t any of them notice how the air had been getting colder and colder since this all started?

While their laughter echoed around me, I tried to break free and scrambled toward my cab.

I barely made it a few steps before someone caught up. A heavy slap cracked across my face, swelling it instantly. Tears quickly sprang to my eyes from the sheer pain.

“Talk!” one of them barked. “Who exactly are you supposed to be dropping off? If I find out you’re just playing us, I’ll snap your legs in half.”