Driving the Living by Day, the Dead by Night

Alvin's POV

He didn’t sound like he was bluffing, and a shiver ran down my spine.

The next second, a steel rod was pressed against my knee as if measuring the best place to break it. Around us, the thugs were grinning, eager for the show.

My scalp tingled, and I threw my hands over my head, shouting, “Wait! Don’t—don’t hit me! His name is Jake Pauley!”

“Who?” one of them scoffed.

My voice dropped, defeated. “If you want to know who he is, check today’s news.”

One of the men quickly searched on his phone, then looked up, hesitant. “Miss Winona, Jake Pauley’s just an ordinary college graduate. Only finished school this year.”

At that, everyone relaxed, smirking like it was exactly what they expected.

Winona sneered, emboldened. “You, Mr. Driver, you were acting so tough earlier. And this is the so-called ‘distinguished guest’ you were talking about?”

Her men burst into laughter.

“Ha! Miss Winona’s shoeshine rag is worth more than this guy’s life. Who do you think you’re fooling?”

“Here’s your chance, apologize properly. Get on your knees and lick her shoes clean. If she’s feeling generous, maybe she’ll even let you crawl home in one piece.”

But then, the man with the phone stammered, “Wait. He… he died today... in a fire. He ran back inside to save his coworkers but didn’t make it out. That was what said here in New York Times.”

The group went quiet. First came gasps of disbelief, then forced, uneasy chuckles to cover their nerves.

But Winona didn’t laugh. Instead, she drove the heel of her leather boot into my fingers and ground down hard. “So that’s your little trick? Spinning ghost stories just to mess with me?”

Pain shot through my hand, and I clawed helplessly at her boot. “I’m not lying! He really is a man of honor, far more distinguished than you.”

The truth spiled from me in a rush. Jake had been at the top of his company building when the fire broke out. Yet, he stayed calm as he directed the evacuation. After making it to safety himself, he went back inside to save others. His coworkers survived, but he didn’t as he was choked on smoke before he could escape.

One man saving over a hundred lives was immeasurable merit. A soul like his didn't even have to wait in line for reincarnation.

And tonight, my task was to bring him home.

Here in New York, we practiced Shiva, and during those times, the deceased's soul still lingered. Similarly, Jake couldn’t rest, not while worrying about the grandmother who raised him.

Winona stepped closer, her heels clicking against the pavement until she stood right over me. “So what you’re saying is, you’re here to chauffeur a corpse.”

She burst out laughing, and her lackeys followed, their jeers cutting through the night.

“Why are we even wasting time with a lunatic?”

But then, someone dug out my other driver’s license, the one I used during the day, and handed it to her.

She flipped through it with a smirk tugging at her lips. “Look at this. You seem perfectly normal here. So why do you turn into some ghost-obsessed freak at night?”

A man chimed in, “Don’t buy into his crap, Miss. I’ve seen it before. Some people act normal in daylight, then lose their minds when it gets dark.”

“Yeah. Driving a fake cab, using fake documents, refusing passengers. Who knows what shady business he’s actually in.”

At that moment, I hated myself for not flooring the gas earlier and leaving them choking on exhaust fumes.

But there was no more time. If I didn’t deliver Jake to fulfill his wish, his chance at reincarnation would be ruined, and I would bear the blame.

With that in mind, I slammed my forehead against the ground, desperation tearing through me. “Miss, I’ll apologize. I was wrong. Please, just let me complete my task.”

She crouched down in front of me, her eyes glinting with amusement. “Too late for apologies. But you’re lucky, I’m curious now. Show him to me, and I’ll let you walk away.”

I shook my head violently. Rules were rules: the living cannot meddle with the affairs of the dead.

Being refused, she clicked her tongue and motioned for her men to aim the crowbar at my knees.

But before they could move, a sudden gust of icy wind howled through the night.

Then, a man’s voice whispered from the darkness, low and cold. “You said, you wanted to see me.”