Horror Flash Fiction | The Taxi

Chen Cheng finished his overtime late at night and hailed a taxi by the roadside. After getting in and stating his destination, the driver didn't respond, just nodded. It was very quiet inside the car; no radio, no navigation sounds, not even the engine was clearly audible. Chen Cheng felt sleepy and leaned against the car window, closing his eyes. After an unknown amount of time, he opened his eyes to find the outside completely dark, with only streetlights receding one by one, all spaced equally apart. He glanced at the driver in the front seat. Through the rearview mirror, only a hat was visible, no face. "Driver, how much longer?" The driver didn't answer. Chen Cheng looked down at his phone. The time was frozen at 3 AM and hadn't changed since. The GPS marker on the navigation map was also stationary. He looked up at the rearview mirror again. The hat was gone. There was no one in the driver's seat. The steering wheel turned by itself, and the car drove forward steadily. Chen Cheng tried to open the door, but it was locked tight. He banged on the car window. Outside, there were only endless streetlights. Suddenly, a face appeared in the rearview mirror, wearing a hat and smiling at him. "Don't rush," the driver said. "Everyone who gets in has to go to the end." "The end of what?" "Where you got on." Chen Cheng froze. He remembered when he got in, under the streetlight by the road, there seemed to be a person in a suit standing there, head bowed, completely still. He turned to look out the rear window. The streetlight was still there, and the man in the suit was still there, in the exact same pose. The car began to slow down. "We're here," the driver said. "You should get off." The door lock clicked open. Chen Cheng rushed out of the car and looked back at the taxi—