I won’t take up a lot of your time, so I’ll get straight to the point. I graduated college two years ago in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I decided that since I had just enough money to get a small home, I could find somewhere to live. During college, I had three jobs, so I was definitely the busiest person in my group of friends. But somehow, I would still manage to get to a few parties and get-togethers.
I found a small home in Shiprock, which was a little over 200 miles away. It was a small home with all basic necessities for a single homeowner. I went up there last year to check it out and I decided to get it. It was a quaint home, brick being its main component. It had red window panes and a fairly decent-looking yard. This house seemed too perfect for me, but I got it within a month.
But something happened to me before I moved in that chilled me to the core. While I was driving towards Shiprock once more, I took my usual route West on Interstate 40 towards Arizona. At the town of Gallup, I turned North on Interstate 491, formally known as Interstate 666. There were a lot of legends surrounding the road, and the controversy soon took hold as the Federal Government turned the 666 to 491, as to not offend anyone. However, the locals living along the highway still refer to it as Highway 666, or most commonly: The Highway to Hell. At that time, I was a skeptic, but my experience made me rethink my beliefs in the supernatural.
It was around ten o’clock at night when I turned onto Highway 666 and continued on my journey to my new home. The reasons for me driving this late is because of the insane traffic that sped around this famous roadway during the daylight. I figured it would be better to drive at night. I was full of excitement and nervousness to finally be on my own in this world. I would just tell my parents where I live now, since they would want to see where I would start my own life and congratulate me on it. My parents are that way; they see everything big I do as the biggest accomplishment ever. It kind of annoys me now that I’m older, but I don’t blame them.
About an hour later I was still driving on the smooth, empty road. Every now and again a car would zoom past me on the opposite lane, but I never saw another car in my lane. My eyes were wide, as I was still filled with adrenaline, ready to see my new home once more. I was just thinking about my life in that little house, when I felt something. It was a very cold draft that swirled around the car. It wasn’t from the windows, which were slightly open, as it was an extremely warm night. I mean I was in the desert, so cold breezes like this were not supposed to happen in the middle of the summer. I looked around, trying to find where it came from, even checking the AC to see if it was on. It was off. My mind buzzed with questions and possible answers to those questions.
I calmed myself down, knowing it could’ve just been my excitement, but my mind still wouldn’t accept it. I just continued on the long road ahead, looking forward to stopping and maybe getting some coffee.
There it was again!
The swirl of cold energy pierced my skin once more. I looked around again but saw nothing. I needed to stop. Maybe I was hallucinating or I was just too excited. I slowed down to the edge of the road, and put my car on park. I rubbed my eyes and breathed in slowly. I just needed to calm down a bit. It’s nothing, just nothing.
I removed my hands from my eyes, letting in one last deep breath and leaned back up. As I opened my eyes and stared ahead, I noticed something. There was a red glow in the corner of my eye. I moved my head slowly to right to see what it was. My eyes opened wider than the sun as I saw the outline of a person in the passenger seat. I couldn’t tell if he was staring back at me or just looking ahead into space. I slowly reached for the cabin light, not wanting him to suddenly lunge at me, and myself being unprepared and unarmed. I touched the little button and the light came on. I gasped.
His appearance was just as shocking as his shadow. He wore a red, plaid button-up shirt and dark blue jeans. Beneath the blue pants were dark brown cowboy boots, painted in dust and something black. But what really shocked me was the injuries it seemed he had. His left arm was bent in an impossible position, the bone sticking out of the elbow. His head was split open wide, from his left crown to the back, allowing me to see inside his skull. The open wounds were gushing with blood, but the red liquid only managed to leak onto his shirt and pants.
I was shocked at the suddenness and tension of his appearance. I didn’t know what to do, so I decided to ask him something.
“Are you okay?” The question came out barely a whisper with my voice trembling with fear.
He didn’t respond. He just sat there, looking forward.
“Slow Down!!!” he suddenly yelled in my face.
I got a good look at his face before I opened the door and fell out of the cab. His eyes glowed a light blue, but were highlighted in red. His face was patch-marked with open scratches that leaked with blood down his cheeks and jawline. His eyes were full of intensity and worry as they pierced through my soul.
The door opened quick and my seat belt caught me right before my head hit the rocky edges of the highway. I felt my breath being yanked out of my lungs and I let out a big gasp. I scrambled back up to unbuckle myself and run from my car but I soon realized that the man was no longer sitting in my passenger seat, or anywhere else in the car. I still unbuckled myself and circled around the vehicle. I searched the expansive desert horizon in the light of the moon but saw nothing. Nothing but sagebrush and dirt.
I looked around once more before I walked somewhat quickly to my car and sat down. Questions raced through my head as I tried to figure out who or what that was. With hesitation, I buckled myself back up and put the car back into drive. I looked in my mirrors and around my car once more, my heart pumping with adrenaline, then I simply continued on my drive towards my new home, keeping an eye on the passenger seat.
To this day, I still can’t explain what happened on that road. I tried to do some research but I found nothing that could help in my investigation. I gave up and decided to forget about it. But the image of that man drenched in blood and yelling in my face haunts my nightmares. It will stay with me for as long as I live.