Scarlet Road

Chapter 3: Stranger

"You know you really shouldn't pick up strangers." His tone was light. Teasing.

"You shouldn't get into cars with strangers either. Especially around here." Yoongi replied, hands still gripping the steering wheel so the orange-haired boy wouldn't notice them shaking.

"What do you mean?" He asked and turned towards Yoongi, his loose sweater hanging around his shoulders.

"There are stories about this road. People say it's haunted by a boy who died here thirty years ago. He looks just about your age-"

"How do you know how old I am?" The boy cut him off, voice sweet like honey.

Yoongi could feel cold sweat ran through him. "Sixteen?"

The boy smiled. "Good guess." He paused. "So what happened to him?"

Yoongi knew the story by heart. "It was the night just after the football games and people were celebrating for yet another win made by the school team. There was this party and everyone went. Even Park Jimin." Yoongi turned to look at him.

"My grandma said he was good looking but none of the girls wanted him because he was dirt poor. An orphan. He was bullied for it and just when people found out that he preferred boys more than the opposite sex- well, imagine how the mistreatments went up. They even tied him up and dyed his hair a funny color just to make fun of him even more."

Yoongi saw Jimin narrow his eyes, gaze outside looking at nothing in particular. But he kept going.

"He was working as a dishwasher for five years at the local restaurant and was planning to go out of town to become a dancer. He had saved enough that night and was planning to leave that weekend. If the party had been a few days later, he might have still been alive."

And his brother would still be, too.

Yoongi tried not to, but he still remembered the pool of blood around Jin's body that time and how he had stepped too close, blood gathering at the toes of his white sneakers. His hyung's heart was beating, faint and uneven.

"Yoongi?" Yoongi was trembling as he heard Jin whisper his name.

The tears weren't stopping as he gently cradled his hyung's head on his arms. "I'm here. I'm he-here hyung." He choked.

Jin was staring blankly beyond him. "I should've listened..."

He never finished but, Yoongi didn't need to know the rest.

Jimin was staring at him now, brown orbs piercing. "And what happened next?"

Yoongi's heart was racing. "Everyone was wasted. Especially the captain of the basketball team. Jimin saw him stumbling around and offered to help. At this part, people say the captain was a closeted bisexual. He didn't recognize Jimin at first and thought he was good looking- so he kissed him. After that, his friends saw him. He realized what he did and blamed it all on Jimin saying the boy took advantage of him. They dragged him and beat him to death right here on Scarlet Road. Some guy saw the whole thing."

Jimin bit his lip. "So that's why no one drives here at night?"

Yoongi laughed. It sounded bitter and cold. "People don't drive here just because they're scared of ghosts. It's because Park Jimin's ghost had killed over ten people for the passed thirty years."

Jimin frowned. "You really think a ghost killed those people?"

"I take it, you don't?" Yoongi answered eyeing him.

Jimin looked away. "Ghosts are apparitions. They can't really hurt anyone."

Yoongi huffed. "Sounds like you know a lot about ghosts."

He was still driving when Yoongi caught a whiff of something heavy- chemical, like burnt plastic- coming from outside. He rolled up his windows even though the air inside his beat-up car was already stifling.

"Don't you want to let some air in?" The orange-haired boy said.

"I'm more concerned about letting something out." Jimin waited for him to explain, but he didn't.

"Hey, if you believe there's a ghost haunting this road, then why are you here?"

Yoongi had rehearsed for this multiple times in his mind and the answer came out of his mouth low and smooth.

"Because the ghost that haunts Scarlet Road killed my brother. And I'm here to destroy it."

Jimin's eyes went wide with the realization. "What are you talking about? You can't kill a ghost."

Yoongi smirked. He didn't know how he still had the guts to do that, but he did. He was waiting for this moment for a long time.

"Ghosts are made of energy. Scatter that and you destroy the ghost. I've got these two friends who are very smart. They made stuff and they know how to use it." Yoongi replied without taking his eyes off the road. "I just have to keep the ghost contained until I get to their place. They'll do the rest."

Jimin balled up his fists on his lap. "You're crazy."

"Maybe." Yoongi chuckled. "Maybe not."

Jimin reached out for the handle to roll down his window, but it didn't budge. "Your windo-"

He stopped, the gears in his mind turning. "You- This isn't broken, is it?"

Yoongi let the car roll off to a stop. "Did you really think I would pick a hitchhiker on a deserted road in the middle of nowhere.." He faced the ghost. "Didn't you, Jimin?"

Jimin's eyes widened at the sound of his name. He didn't see this coming.