She walked along the dark highway, waiting for the next person who would stop for her. She cursed herself for being so stupid in her previous choice of transport.

When the next car passed she waved her arms and prayed for the driver to stop. The car pulled up alongside her and the passenger window rolled down, giving her a look at the driver. She was a pretty, petite blonde woman, her features illuminated by the lights of her console. The traveller smiled

“Hi, can I possibly get a ride? My last ride just left me out here a long time ago.” She leaned down on the window and smiled at the blonde. The electric door locks clicked open, she opened the door and climbed in.

“Name’s Marie, thank so much. I didn’t know how long it would be before another car came along. My last ride was horrible.” She smiled pleasantly at the woman, hoping she wasn’t making her uncomfortable.

“I’m Olivia. How bad was your last ride? It couldn’t be too horrible, you look fine.” She laughed nervously and glanced over at her passenger.

“It was murder,” She laughed softly, “But that was awhile ago. Thanks for the pick up. Where you headed?”

“Going to visit family in California. How about you?”

“Anywhere, really. I just want to get away from home I guess.”

They sat in a pleasant silence for a few miles before Marie tensed and shouted, “Stop the car! Pull over now! Before something horrible happens.” The terror in her voice scared Olivia and she slowed down from seventy-five until she stopped at the side of the road.

As she was stopping, a driver who had been near her had a violent tire blowout doing ninety and managed to flip his car. She turned to ask her passenger how she knew that would happen, but Marie was gone. All that remained was a black feather.