Jake waved to one of his current bosses, Tom Summerfield, as he got in his car. Tomorrow night, he'd be handing over the information he got from Tom to his other boss, Robert Blackwell, to undermine everything he did for Tom today. Next week, he'd return back here and hand over fake information while telling lies. The process repeated on and on, with the days and weeks being the only variables. On long winter nights, he thought about creating false information for Robert too, as he hated them both, but at the moment, Robert was the lesser of two evils and he would make use of both of them to the fullest extent. Tonight, he'd be spending his hours alone at a hotel, listening for the the slightest change in the wind. The road to the hotel was long. He needed to pass over a mountain to get back. Tom's people always had a knack for putting their buildings in the most inconvenient locations. There were no streetlights this way, no city lights, no lit up front porches to guide him. Every now and then, he saw a reflective sign warning him about an upcoming turn. He was grateful he'd be leaving this state tomorrow. It was late now. He was drowsy. He laughed to himself that he would need to cross such a dangerous place while half asleep. His boss didn't care. If he died, his death wouldn't mean anything to that man. Jake turned on the radio. He took his eyes off the road for only a moment. When he looked back up, he nearly wrecked the car. A young man was standing in the middle of the road. Jake managed to stop in time to not hit the young man, and didn't swerve far enough to go over the steep drop off a few feet away. His heart pounded in his ears. Surviving didn't calm him down any. There were no houses anywhere nearby. Where did this young man come from, he wondered. Jake chose to ignore him. He started the car back up. The young man got back in front of the car. He walked around to the side and tapped on the driver's side window. "Hey, can I get a ride?" The young man asked. Jake shook his head. "Sorry, I'm really busy. I can't." The young man leaned down and looked Jake in the eyes. He was pale as a ghost, and his hair matched with the white clothes he wore. Grey eyes stared with uneasy focus into Jake's own. "It's a short drive. Just ten minutes down this road." Jake's hand moved over to unlock the door. He stopped himself. He didn't know why he did that. "Why can't you get back on your own?" "My car broke down. I left my cell phone at home." The young man put his hand to the window. "I'll pay you. I've got a twenty on me." Jake's gut told him something was very off about this man. He unlocked the door anyway. The young man got in the backseat, sitting directly behind him. Jake started the car. He planned on getting to that place down the road as fast as possible. "Let me know when to stop. Where is this place?" "It's farther down that way. You'll definitely pass it before you get to any turns." The young man said. Jake looked at the man through the rearview mirror. He was wearing a t-shirt. His pants didn't look very thick either. The young man's clothes looked more appropriate for sleep or springtime than the dead of winter. "Damn. Aren't you cold?" "No. It's nice out." The young man said. "If you're cold, you should turn the heat on." Jake turned on the heat. He was getting cold. "Hope you don't mind the music. I don't like driving in silence." "It's nice." The young man said. As he drove, Jake could feel the young man staring at him. He tried to ignore it, but the feeling wouldn't go away. Jake looked back at the young man again. He didn't look like he could conceal much under the clothes he was wearing. Jake was confident he could overpower the young man in most situations, but with him driving on this dangerous road and the young man being seated behind him, he wasn't certain he could right now. 'Surely no one would be stupid enough to try and rob someone while the person is driving in a place like this? He could get us both killed.' The young man smiled and laughed. "Something funny?" Jake asked. "I'm not going to rob you." The young man grinned. "Haha, what makes you think I was thinking about that?" Jake laughed with him, getting more nervous. "Who knows." The young man leaned forward. He whispered quietly. "It's over there to the right." Jake's body went cold. "W-where?" The young man pointed to a path off into the woods. "Right there. You can stop here." Jake slowed down and stopped in front of the small path. It didn't look like a driveway. The path was too narrow. Jake was really starting to think he'd been set up by the stranger and he was about to get robbed or murdered. "Uh...are you sure this is the right place?" "The stars are different over you." The young man said. "How interesting. What kind of deal did you make?" "Excuse me?!" Jake looked back at the young man. He couldn't look away from him. The longer he stared into those grey eyes, the more the thoughts inside his mind emptied. "Don't worry. I won't correct it. I quite like it when people are defiant." The young man said. He smiled. "But you shouldn't make any more stops tonight. You're too tired." "I won't." Jake didn't know what else to say. He looked down to unlock the doors. "Um, well, see ya." He looked back again. No one was there. Jake looked over at the woods. There wasn't a path there anymore. He was certain he saw it so clearly before. Jake wasted no time in getting back to his hotel. He arranged for an earlier flight home.