The passenger

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His stomach sank into an abyss of horror. His hands trembled on the steering wheel as he tried to rationalize the impossible. His mind screamed at him to start, but his eyes, out of pure instinct, returned to the passenger seat.

On the seat, where seconds before a girl had been, there was now only a small white handkerchief with lace around the edges, lightly stained with dirt.

-Where are you? -he stammered incredulously.

The silence in the car was deafening. He frantically rummaged through the seats, opened the doors, but there was no sign of her. It was as if she had evaporated into thin air.

A shiver ran down his spine. He looked through the windshield toward the country road they had taken, getting lost in the thicket of the forest. A bad feeling tightened in her chest. What if someone had followed them? What if they had...?

No, he didn't even want to think about it. He started the car ready to find her, no matter what. Clutching his handkerchief, the only clue he had, he drove fast into the darkness of the unknown. Whatever it was, he would not rest until he found her whereabouts.