The Last Passenger

The rideshare I was in broke down on a mountain road. None of our phones had a signal, so we couldn't even make a call. We waited from midnight until 3 a.m., but not a single car passed by. After it started raining, we had no choice but to get back into the car. That's when we noticed the female passenger in the front seat was still asleep. "Do you want something to eat?" the driver asked as he pulled out a few sandwiches and gently tapped her shoulder. Her body suddenly tilted to one side. Then she collapsed. The driver jumped in fright and tried to help her up. But the moment he leaned closer, his face turned pale. "She's dead!" he screamed. His frantic movements twisted the woman's head around until she was facing us. The dim light inside the car fell across her face. Her eyes were wide open. Blood was still running from the corner of her mouth. We all screamed and rushed out of the car. I followed them outside. Then I looked at the others and said coldly, "Let's introduce ourselves." Chapter 1 There were five people in our car, including the driver and four passengers. The driver was a young man with dark skin. He was friendly and talked a lot. He wasn't a full-time taxi driver. He was actually heading to Drakemoor for work, but he couldn't get a bus or train ticket. So, he decided to drive there himself and picked up a few passengers along the way. Right now, he was shouting in panic. "Damn! Someone just died in our car, and you still have time to talk? I swear, I'm so unlucky! What if her family reports us? Do we need to pay them? How much would we have to pay?" A pregnant woman in her 30s trembled as she asked, "Why would we have to pay? What does this have to do with us? The car breaking down wasn't my fault, and neither was the phone signal going out. I'm not paying a cent!" I listened quietly and gave each of them a label in my mind. The driver was a laborer. His hands were covered in calluses. In the trunk, I had seen work gloves and a safety harness. The pregnant woman was an office worker. Just before this happened, she had still been working on her laptop in the car, preparing reports for her company. But I couldn't figure out the identity of the last passenger. He was tall and broad-shouldered. He wore a loose trench coat and barely spoke. At that moment, he was simply smoking by himself. After the pregnant woman finished speaking, he flicked the ash from his cigarette and said casually, "Shouldn't we be trying to figure out how she actually died?" His words made the driver's and the pregnant woman's faces turn even paler. Once they remembered what the dead woman had looked like, both of them started shaking. The driver's voice even began to crack. "I... I remember she was fine when the car broke down. She was still talking to us. She told us to go find another car and get help first. Then she said she was tired and wanted to sleep for a while. But how did she suddenly die in her sleep?" The pregnant woman suddenly took several steps back. She looked terrified as she moved away from all of us. "Wait... If she died from some sudden illness, she would have made some kind of noise. And I talked to her, too. She was very healthy. She even loved outdoor sports. She was going to Drakemoor for a skydiving course. If she had any serious health problems, how could she take part in something that dangerous?" Her voice shook. "She was murdered!" Fear spread through everyone. The driver opened the trunk and grabbed a wrench. He held it tightly in his hand. "That's right. How could my car suddenly break down for no reason? And we couldn't even find out what was wrong with it." He suddenly pointed the wrench at me. "Was it you? She died, and then you suddenly made all of us introduce ourselves. Were you trying to distract us?" But that wasn't what I was doing. I was trying to find the killer. From the moment the car broke down, I knew we were in danger. And the killer was one of the other three people in the car. Chapter 2 My destination was Drakemoor too. I had only taken this ride because my own car had broken down. And I had traveled this mountain road countless times before. I knew this road well. It was close to a popular tourist area, so there was no reason for the cell signal to disappear. Yet the moment our car broke down, all our phones lost signal at the exact same time. That meant there was only one possibility. Someone had used a signal jammer. But I kept that information to myself. I didn't want to alert or provoke the killer. After giving them the explanation I had prepared, I said, "I used to be a doctor. I could tell right away that her death wasn't natural. I asked everyone to introduce themselves so we could narrow down the list of suspects and keep everyone else safe. "Your car was working perfectly, yet it suddenly broke down. That could have been done on purpose. And if the killer planned this in advance, then he must have known the victim. "So, based on what we know, the best way to find the killer is to look for something suspicious about his identity." During the entire trip, the four passengers had barely spoken. The only one who talked a lot was the driver. That meant that, on the surface, the five of us were complete strangers. But the killer clearly knew the dead woman, and he was pretending that he didn't. "Why should I believe you?" the driver demanded. He was still gripping the wrench tightly. I raised both hands to show that I wasn't a threat. "You don't have to believe me. We can stay quiet and wait here until morning. But do you really think the killer will just sit around with us and wait for help and the police to arrive?" The killer had chosen this method because he wanted to get away with murder. He must have had another plan to cover his tracks. For us, the best choice was to expose everything and force the killer into a situation where he had to defend himself. That meant only one of the four of us would resist my suggestion—the killer. The driver seemed to realize this too. He gritted his teeth and said, "I'm the driver, so I'll go first. I didn't know the victim at all. She got my car through the ride-hailing app. Look. Here's the trip record from the app. It shows that the system assigned her to me automatically. "And I already told you that I suddenly got a job in Drakemoor, but I couldn't get a ticket, so I had no choice but to drive there myself. There's no way I'm the killer!" After he finished, the other three passengers looked at me and waited for my response. My earlier words had clearly established me as the one in charge. "Sir, I need to search your car to verify what you just said." He didn't hesitate. "Go ahead. Search it all you want. But if you're going to search my car, then search everyone's luggage too. The woman looks like she was poisoned. Maybe we can find the poison!" I let out a quiet breath of relief. He had said exactly what I wanted to say. I already believed the driver, Melvin Winston, was probably innocent. But I still needed to search the luggage for the signal jammer. I had deliberately kept the jammer a secret. If I told everyone about it, the killer might realize that I was onto him and kill someone else. After searching Melvin's luggage, I found nothing suspicious. Next, I reached for the pregnant woman's backpack. But the moment I picked it up, she suddenly jumped and snatched it back from me. "I... I'm not the killer, but you can't touch anything inside!" Chapter 3 Melvin immediately pointed the wrench at her. "What could possibly be more serious than someone dying? I saw you talking to the victim alone. You even handed her a bottle of water. Did you know her?" The pregnant woman was so anxious that she couldn't get a word out. But my attention was on the man in the trench coat. He looked at the pregnant woman with a mocking smile, as if none of this had anything to do with him. He had been the last person to get into the car. He also had no luggage, so there was nothing that could give away his job. I had been watching him closely ever since the car broke down. He hadn't had any contact with the victim. Yet something about him felt very strange. "Give it to me!" Melvin's angry shout snapped me back to reality. By then, he had already snatched the pregnant woman's backpack and forced it open. The woman burst into tears. Then Melvin found a stack of intimate photos hidden inside. "What... What the hell are these?" The moment the photos were pulled out, the woman stopped fighting. She collapsed to her knees. "I'm really not the killer. I made a terrible mistake when I was drunk during a trip to Drakemoor a while ago. Someone secretly took these pictures of me. That bastard threatened me and told me to meet him in Drakemoor. He said he would post the photos online if I didn't go!" She covered her face and sobbed. "My job has been so busy, and I'm pregnant. I didn't want to go at all. But what could I do? I had no choice..." She hugged her head and could no longer form a complete sentence. Melvin and I didn't believe her right away. We searched through her luggage and checked her laptop as well. Her name was Ruby Lowe. She really had received a threatening email from someone in Drakemoor. Her work records also showed that she had stayed late at the office every night for the past week. Everything about her story seemed to check out. She didn't have a signal jammer in her luggage either. I decided she wasn't a suspect. I turned my attention to the man in the trench coat. Before I could even speak, he gave me a faint, mocking smile. "I was going to Drakemoor to visit a patient. I couldn't get a ticket, so I booked a ride instead. Here's my ride history. It was a random match, so I had no idea whose car I'd be getting into or who the other passengers would be. "And I didn't know the victim either. I've been sitting in the back seat since I got in. I never talked to her or touched her. "But all of you had spoken to her. You even shared food with her." I let out a cold laugh. Was he trying to shift the blame and make us turn against one another? But he had made one mistake. I hadn't had any contact with the victim either. Melvin immediately looked at me. "What do we do now? We've all explained ourselves. It looks like none of us is the killer!" Ruby was still kneeling on the ground. She raised her head with a trembling expression. "Maybe... Maybe we're thinking too much about this. Maybe she really did just die suddenly. Maybe her death has nothing to do with us." I frowned, deeply confused. The man in the trench coat hadn't even told us his name. He was quiet and strange. Yet Melvin and Ruby had accepted his story so easily. We had also searched the victim's luggage earlier. Her travel guide showed that she had been planning a trip to Drakemoor. She had even signed up for a skydiving course. Someone healthy enough to take part in skydiving was unlikely to suddenly die from a serious illness. But there was something else bothering me that I couldn't put into words. Before I could figure it out, I looked at the man and said, "You still haven't explained everything. Who is the patient you're going to visit in Drakemoor? Do you have any messages or other proof that you know her?" He calmly pulled out his phone and showed it to me. "The patient I'm visiting is Christine Sherman. These are our messages. You can look for yourself." I nodded and slowly walked toward him, then I motioned for him to hand me the phone. The moment he let his guard down, I lunged at him. I grabbed him by the throat and slammed him hard against the ground. "You really are the killer!" Chapter 4 After I pinned him down, I punched him in the face several times with all my strength. He didn't have time to react. Blood spilled from his mouth. But that disgusting smile was still on his face. "Why are you saying I'm the killer?" I gritted my teeth and punched him a few more times. "Because I know the patient you mentioned! Christine has been dead for a long time! Why would you go visit a dead person?" Those punches drained what little strength I had left. I had to stop for a moment and stare at him, waiting for his answer. But I never expected him to still have the strength to fight back. He suddenly grabbed my hair and pulled me to the ground. Then he flipped over and pinned me beneath him. I wrapped my arms around him with all my strength, and we struggled against each other. I looked desperately at Melvin and Ruby. "What are you waiting for? Help me! He's the killer! Once he kills me, he'll come after both of you!" But they just stood there. They stared at me in fear and didn't dare come any closer. I was getting desperate. I had no choice but to fight him on my own and try to hold him down. Then my hand touched something hard and square under his coat. I immediately pulled it out and threw it onto the ground. "Look! This signal jammer is the evidence! He tampered with the car and blocked our cell signals. This was clearly a planned murder!" But no matter how loudly I shouted, Melvin and Ruby didn't move. They looked frightened at first, then confusion appeared on their faces, and they stared at each other. Ruby's voice trembled. "What... What's going on?" Melvin swallowed hard before answering. "I don't know! He just mentioned Christine. Does that mean he knows Christine?" Ruby suddenly seemed to understand. "I get it! He's after all of us! Hurry! We have to stop him, or he'll kill us too!" Melvin clenched his teeth. He gripped the wrench and quickly walked toward us. I was curious why he hadn't attacked earlier. But the moment Ruby mentioned Christine, his whole body seemed to fill with killing intent. I decided not to think about it. As long as he helped me, that was enough. I held the man in the trench coat tightly and gave Melvin a chance to attack. Without hesitation, Melvin swung the wrench at the man's head. But at that exact moment, the man exploded with all his strength. He twisted our positions around. The wrench slammed into my back instead. Pain exploded through my body. My mind went blank, and I could no longer hold him down. Everything had suddenly gotten much worse. He broke free and lunged at Melvin. There was nothing I could do. I lay on the ground for a long time, struggling to stay conscious. When I finally managed to get back up, I saw the man in the trench coat holding the bloody wrench. He was smiling at me. Melvin and Ruby were lying nearby. Their heads were covered in blood. They were both dead. "Now it's your turn." He started walking toward me. Fear and the threat of death gave me enough strength to stand. I backed toward the edge of the mountain road. But there was a cliff right behind me. By then, the man in the trench coat seemed to have used up most of his strength too. He raised the wrench and swung it at me. But he suddenly lost his balance and fell. The wrench slipped from his hand and landed on the ground. I immediately rushed over and grabbed it. I was about to fight back when he turned his back to me and started laughing at the cliff. "Do you really think you're going to survive?" Before I could react, he jumped off the cliff. I stared at the spot where he had disappeared in complete shock. I couldn't understand why he had chosen to kill himself. My whole body hurt, and my mind was a complete mess. The rain grew heavier and heavier. I couldn't hold on any longer and passed out. I didn't know how much time had passed when I vaguely heard voices nearby. "We've already examined the scene. Based on the evidence, he's the only killer." My eyes flew open. But I was surrounded by police officers. They were putting handcuffs on me. I struggled in panic. "I'm not the killer! I'm a victim! The killer jumped off the cliff!" But the officers still roughly pulled me to my feet and dragged me toward a police car. And just like that, I became the murderer.