Full transcript
0:00I was in the eighth grade when my
0:02parents were killed in a car accident.
0:04[music] They'd driven out of state to
0:06spend a weekend with some friends and
0:08somewhere on the way home another driver
0:09crossed the center line. [music]
0:11I never learned too many details about
0:14it. The adults seemed to think that
0:16protecting [music] me involved only
0:17telling me the broad strokes.
0:20All I knew was that one day I had a
0:21family and the next I'm sitting in an
0:24office answering questions from behind a
0:26tissue.
0:28Everything after that kind of blurred
0:29together. I stayed in a temporary youth
0:31facility while social workers [music]
0:33tried to figure out what to do with me.
0:36They asked me about grandparents,
0:37cousins, [music] aunts, and uncles. And
0:39every few days somebody would try to
0:41come in with another form for me to
0:42[music] sign or another list of names
0:44they were trying to contact.
0:47Some of the numbers were disconnected,
0:48[music] but most just never answered.
0:50Those that did weren't interested. At
0:53that age I didn't understand how any of
0:55this really worked.
0:57This continued on for well over a month.
1:00By then [music] I'd mostly accepted that
1:02I was just going to stay there forever.
1:04School during the day, awkward meals
1:06with kids with serious problems, and
1:08lonely nights staring at a ceiling
1:10[music] fan.
1:12One afternoon a staff member asked me to
1:14come to the front office.
1:15There was a man that
1:16>> [music]
1:16>> I had only seen a handful of times in my
1:18life waiting at the counter. It was my
1:20Uncle Derek.
1:22I remembered him from holidays and
1:23family reunions.
1:25>> [music]
1:25>> He was my dad's younger brother, a
1:27hothead, a bit of a drinker, but
1:29otherwise a pretty cool guy.
1:31He'd laugh, tell racist jokes, buy kids
1:34snacks that they shouldn't have, and
1:35sing the wrong words to songs on the
1:37radio.
1:38He wasn't around too often. Life [music]
1:39had taken him to Indiana. I think even
1:42before I was born. And after that we
1:44only saw him once every few Christmases.
1:48He gave me this awkward hug and then
1:49apologized for taking so long to get
1:52there. He said he didn't know about the
1:53situation until somebody had finally
1:55tracked him down.
1:57I believed him. The guy looked like he
1:58hadn't slept in [music] days.
2:01The staff couldn't have been happier to
2:02see him. You could almost see the relief
2:04in the building.
2:05Suddenly, there was paperwork to file,
2:07evaluations to schedule, signatures to
2:10collect. For the first time since my
2:12parents died, everybody seemed to have
2:14some kind of plan.
2:15>> [music]
2:16>> Within a few days, I was packing
2:17everything I owned into these two duffel
2:19bags and walking out the front door
2:21beside my uncle.
2:23The drive back to Indiana was going to
2:25take a couple [music] of days, and
2:26before we left town, Derek looked over
2:28with a smile and said,
2:30"We're already crossing half the
2:31country, we might as well make a road
2:33trip out of it. Give us a chance to get
2:35to know each [music] other. You want to
2:36do a little zigzagging?"
2:39It sounded like salvation. I smiled and
2:41said yes, climbing into his truck and
2:43then watched that facility disappear
2:45into the side mirror.
2:48We stopped by a friend of my parents
2:50where a bunch of my stuff was stored,
2:51and my uncle let me load up even more.
2:53Clothes, some books, what few things I
2:55even cared about.
2:57I was actually starting to feel a little
2:59bit like myself again.
3:01We kept the windows down, stopped often,
3:03and lived [music] almost entirely on gas
3:05station food.
3:06Derek didn't seem to be much of a
3:08planner.
3:09If he saw an antique store or a roadside
3:12attraction, we'd stop.
3:14He had a way of making every detour
3:15sound like the best idea in the world,
3:17and after everything that had happened
3:19over the previous months, I was just
3:21happy to let somebody else [music] make
3:22all the decisions.
3:24In retrospect, he was doing his best to
3:26soften [music] me up after living
3:28through a nightmare.
3:30It wasn't until we'd been driving for
3:31several hours that something started to
3:33bother me, though.
3:35I wasn't exactly what you'd call a
3:37geography [music] expert, but I knew
3:39enough to realize that we weren't
3:41driving in the right direction.
3:43The road signs weren't really helping,
3:44either. Every time we merged onto
3:46another highway, I found myself quietly
3:49reading the destinations.
3:51None of them sounded familiar. None of
3:52them sounded [music] like something they
3:53belonged on the way to Indiana.
3:56I finally asked,
3:59"Aren't we going the wrong direction?
4:01This looks like a desert."
4:04"Yeah, kind of. We're taking the scenic
4:06route, though."
4:08And [snorts] I'll admit, that was enough
4:09for me.
4:11As the afternoon faded into evening, I
4:12started wondering where we'd spend the
4:14nights [music] at. Hotels couldn't be
4:16cheap, especially if we're going to be
4:18on the road for several more days.
4:21Derek just shrugged.
4:22"I don't always pay for hotels. I know
4:24plenty [music] of places that you can
4:25sleep for free."
4:27It sounded adventurous.
4:29We stayed on the highway until nearly
4:3111:00 before Derek slowed down, flipped
4:33on his blinker, and then eased the SUV
4:35into this dusty pullout hidden behind a
4:37wall of mesquite and scrub brush.
4:39You couldn't see us from the road unless
4:41you already knew that we were there.
4:43"How's work?"
4:45he said.
4:46He climbed out of the car and into the
4:48dust.
4:49Derek then dug out this old camp pan and
4:51a lighter out of the back of the SUV.
4:54While I then gathered some little sticks
4:56and dry weeds that were scattered around
4:58the clearing.
4:59The fire never really got that big, but
5:01enough to see. We ate some cold
5:03sandwiches from a cooler, tossed beetles
5:05into the flames and watched them
5:06crackle, and stared up at the most
5:08beautiful stars I'd ever seen.
5:11Derek would tell some bad jokes, and it
5:12was the first time that I'd laughed
5:14since my parents [music] died.
5:16Later on, we folded the seats down and
5:18slept in the SUV.
5:20I woke up once throughout the night
5:21[music] to coyotes in the distance.
5:23There was that electric sense of
5:25adventure again, even if I was sleeping
5:27next to my stinky uncle in a car in the
5:29middle of nowhere.
5:32By morning, we were back on the highway
5:33before the sun came up.
5:35We found a little cafe next to a town
5:37where Derek insisted I ordered whatever
5:39I wanted.
5:40I ate pancakes, bacon, and eggs, while
5:42he ate toast and drank [music] a cup of
5:43coffee.
5:45And for a while, things really did feel
5:47unbelievably normal.
5:50Then we drove straight [music] to a
5:51motel. A man in faded jeans and mirrored
5:53sunglasses was standing outside with a
5:55duffel bag.
5:57Derek popped his door open and stepped
5:58out with his arms open.
6:00Brooks!
6:02The two then hugged each other like
6:03long-lost brothers.
6:05Brooks tossed his bag in the back and
6:07then climbed in the front seat beside
6:08[music] us.
6:10Somehow the three of us managed to
6:11squeeze shoulder to shoulder across that
6:13bench seat.
6:15Derek said they did plan this weeks ago
6:17and that Brooks needed a ride back to
6:18Indiana. I didn't think much of it. I
6:21mean, what was I going to say?
6:24As the miles rolled by, I kept noticing
6:26the road [music] signs and honestly, the
6:27direction of the sun. We still were not
6:30heading toward Indiana. The further we
6:32drove, the more convinced I'd become
6:33that we were moving southwest.
6:36When I said something again, Derek
6:37immediately waved me off.
6:39Yeah, yeah, we got one more stop to
6:41make. Then we're
6:42>> [music]
6:42>> heading back that way.
6:44Brooks nodded and agreed. There was
6:46apparently something else on the
6:48itinerary.
6:49Not wanting to be the annoying little
6:51kid on the trip, I just kept my [music]
6:52concerns to myself.
6:54I watched Brooks spin the cap off this
6:56whiskey bottle and share it with my
6:58uncle Derek, who was driving [music] the
7:00car.
7:01By noon, that bottle was half empty.
7:04Not long after that, Brooks lights up a
7:06joint, cracks his window, passes it
7:08over.
7:10The SUV [music] is then filled with that
7:12sweet skunky smell that up until this
7:14point I'd never smelled before.
7:16They were hee-hawing with laughter, told
7:18stories [music] that were impossible to
7:19follow. And the one stop that we made
7:21for gas nearly took 45 minutes.
7:25Later [music] on this isolated stretch
7:27of highway, Brooks pulled out this small
7:29plastic bag from [music] his jacket.
7:31It's full of white powder.
7:33Derek looked over at me.
7:35Hey, buddy, close your eyes for a
7:36second.
7:38I stared out my window while they leaned
7:40on the dashboard whispering and
7:41giggling. [music]
7:42A minute later, both of them are talking
7:44a mile a minute.
7:45The atmosphere inside the SUV had now
7:47completely changed.
7:49Brooks starts asking me questions that
7:51made my skin crawl, whether I had a
7:53boyfriend or if boys at school liked me,
7:55had I kissed anybody.
7:57Every answer I gave up seemed to almost
7:59encourage him more.
8:01Eventually though, he gets the hint and
8:03stops.
8:05The sun was setting when we rolled into
8:07this other [music] little town and Derek
8:08actually rented a hotel room.
8:10That did make me feel a little better, a
8:12little taste of the normalcy [music]
8:14again, at least the some that I'd
8:15experienced at the start of the journey.
8:18Inside the room, Derek tossed me a
8:19towel.
8:21"Go wash up." he said. "Me and Brooks
8:24are going to go grab dinner."
8:26Something about the way they looked at
8:28each other [music] made my stomach
8:29lurch.
8:30I walked into the bathroom, locked the
8:31door, and turned on the shower as hot as
8:33it would go, but I didn't step inside.
8:37Instead, I remained perfectly still
8:39listening through the running water, ear
8:41pressed [music] up to the door.
8:43At first, I couldn't make out anything
8:45and then I heard Brooks laugh.
8:47"How much you think?"
8:50Derek answered him too quietly [music]
8:51for me to hear.
8:53Some furniture was rearranged and some
8:54glasses then clinked together and Brooks
8:56spoke up again.
8:58"Before we sell her."
9:01That's all I heard and my entire body
9:03went cold despite the fingers of steam
9:05curling around me.
9:07Another pause and then
9:08"We getting a piece first?"
9:10"She's fine as hell."
9:13I stopped breathing.
9:14Every little creepy memory then came
9:16flooding back to me. Everything Derek
9:18had ever said to me throughout my
9:19childhood, the way his eyes wandered
9:21around the entire time they were on the
9:23road trip, and Brooks' [music]
9:24creepy comments and pervy fingers.
9:28I stayed in that bathroom and tried to
9:29come up with a plan, but nothing was
9:31coming to me.
9:32I forced myself [music] into the shower
9:33just long enough to wet my my and make
9:35it look convincing.
9:37I knew if I came out dry, they'd know
9:38I'd been in there doing something else.
9:42When I finally unlocked the door, I put
9:43myself [music] together and then put on
9:45the best performance that you can
9:46imagine.
9:48I was graceful, flirty, even grateful to
9:50be in the company of such a wonderful
9:52group of gentlemen.
9:54They didn't suspect [music] a thing and
9:56as the night wound down, we ate some
9:57pizza and watched sitcoms on a
9:59flickering box television and I mapped
10:01out my options.
10:03I had hardly slept that night and by the
10:05time the sunlight had started leaking
10:06around the curtains, I was already
10:08dressed.
10:09I tied my shoes as tightly as I could. I
10:11knew I needed to outrun these bastards.
10:14Brooks was awake next, sitting on the
10:16edge of the bed watching this muted
10:17television.
10:19Derek looked exhausted. He rubbed his
10:21face and said we ought to get breakfast
10:22[music] before getting back on the road.
10:26Derek took the first shower while Brooks
10:27stayed in with me.
10:29The second the bathroom door shut, he
10:31slid a little closer to me on the bed
10:32and started trying to make a
10:33conversation.
10:35It didn't take long for his hand to be
10:37found on my knee.
10:39I moved away and smiled.
10:42You don't have to be nervous. I'm the
10:43cool one. All the chicks like me.
10:47Every alarm in my body was screaming,
10:49but I forced myself to play cool just a
10:51bit longer.
10:52I I've never done anything like that
10:54before.
10:56I said this to him quietly [music]
10:57and he leaned forward. Suddenly, an idea
11:00then popped into my head.
11:02But if we're going to
11:04maybe we should get high first.
11:06His eyes lit up.
11:08You serious?
11:10I nodded.
11:11Anything to get this idiot distracted.
11:14I don't want to be scared.
11:17He laughed and nodded and then reached
11:18for the duffel bag.
11:20The second his back was turned,
11:22I was moving, squirming between his legs
11:24and then gunning for the door.
11:26I grabbed the knob, flipped the
11:26deadbolt, and yanked that open and
11:28ran.
11:30Brooks started [music] howling like a
11:31demon behind me, but I didn't look back.
11:35I cut across the motel parking lot,
11:36jumped a short wall, and sprinted
11:38through a row of parked cars.
11:40The whole while, Brooks kept shrieking.
11:44I kept running until my lungs felt like
11:45they were on fire. When I finally risked
11:47a glance behind my back, I saw Brooks
11:49was [music] chasing me, but he'd fallen
11:51way behind.
11:53I ducked between two buildings, cut
11:54through an alley, climbed a chain-link
11:55[music] fence, and kept weaving until I
11:58couldn't hear him anymore.
12:00But even then, I didn't stop.
12:02Being so young, at least I had agility
12:03on my side.
12:05Brooks had god knows how many years of
12:07substance abuse to contend with at this
12:09point, [music] so
12:10for the next hour, I stayed off the main
12:12roads, convinced Derek and Brooks
12:13[music] would be driving around looking
12:15for me.
12:16Every engine I heard made me freeze, and
12:18dark SUVs that I spotted would freak me
12:20out entirely.
12:21I just lay low and try to stay away from
12:23the roads.
12:25Eventually, I crossed the center of town
12:27[music] and spotted the two buildings
12:28that I'd been praying to find. Town
12:30Hall, and right beside it, the police
12:32station.
12:34I ran inside and started weeping the
12:36moment [music] I saw the first
12:37policewoman. An officer sat me down,
12:39brought me some water, and listened
12:40while I explained everything from day
12:42one. A few other officers came around,
12:44too.
12:46They started their search for Brooks and
12:48Derek, but they never turned up.
12:50Skipping town may have been the quick
12:52option for them, all things considered.
12:53[music]
12:55I believe my uncle caught wind of my
12:56situation, reached out with his friend,
12:58[music] and they cooked up the scheme to
13:00traffic me somewhere, probably Mexico.
13:04I ended up going right back [music] into
13:05the system, but this turned out to be
13:08for the best, despite all my hostile
13:10resistance toward [music] it throughout
13:11that first difficult year.
13:14Eventually, I landed somewhere safe,
13:15stable, and
13:16>> [music]
13:16>> super supportive.
13:18I didn't get sold or assaulted, and I'm
13:20now leading a wonderful, albeit, normal
13:23life.
13:29I've told my story a lot to people and
13:31it creeps [music] almost everybody out.
13:34My parents had packed my brother and I
13:35into the family SUV [music] for this
13:37long trip to Lake Tahoe.
13:39Like every family on vacation at that
13:41age, the drive took forever.
13:44So along the way we'd play the license
13:45plate game,
13:46>> [music]
13:46>> counting different colored cars, asked
13:48the what if questions, and constantly
13:50wondered how close we were.
13:53The radio would drift between country
13:55stations and [music] static while
13:56pine-covered mountains slowly replaced
13:58those flat stretches of highway.
14:00It was a long day on the road.
14:02>> [music]
14:03>> Just as I was about to drift off, I
14:05heard my dad say,
14:06"Oh, that's weird."
14:08>> [music]
14:09>> This bright red Mustang eased past us in
14:11the left lane.
14:12Normally, nobody would have even [music]
14:14looked twice, except my dad drove that
14:16exact same generation of Mustang. They
14:18shared the same body and glossy red
14:20paint.
14:22My brother's jaw hit the floor.
14:25"Dad, it's your car."
14:27My dad laughed.
14:28"Yeah, it sure looks like it."
14:30"It's even got the same wheels."
14:34As the Mustang settled beside us, all
14:35four of us looked over.
14:37The driver was an older man, really old,
14:39like gray hair and wrinkly skin old,
14:41with these offset teeth that looked like
14:43dentures.
14:44He sat unusually close to the steering
14:46[music] wheel with both hands planted
14:48firmly at 10:00 and 2:00.
14:50Something about him tugged at my brain.
14:52He looked familiar, someone that I had
14:55seen [music] somewhere before.
14:57I was still trying to figure it out when
14:58my mom gasped out loud,
15:01"Oh my god."
15:03She pointed toward the license plate and
15:04it was a custom vanity job.
15:07It said, "I love Annika."
15:09And not with two N's and not Annika
15:11[music] with a C. It was my name.
15:14At 6 years old, I'd almost never seen my
15:17name anywhere like that.
15:19Gift shop keychains never had it nor any
15:21other souvenirs. Teachers always had to
15:24ask me how to spell it on the first day
15:25of school.
15:27But there it was, looking back at me,
15:28[music] and my family erupted into
15:30chatter.
15:32What are the odds? Does he know you?
15:34Maybe it's his granddaughter. This is so
15:37weird.
15:39My brother twisted around in his seat
15:40trying to keep the car in sight, but the
15:42old man never even acknowledged us. He
15:44stared straight ahead without the
15:45slightest change in any kind of
15:47expression.
15:48Eventually, another vehicle slipped
15:50between us, and [music] the Mustang
15:51rounded a bend was gone.
15:54As did the conversation, it stopped
15:56eerily so right after that.
15:58My dad changed the radio station, my mom
16:00started snacking.
16:02Nobody mentioned the Mustang again.
16:04It was almost as though the moment it
16:06disappeared from view, it disappeared
16:08from our thoughts, as well.
16:10Years passed, [music] and somehow I
16:12forgot about the whole thing. By the
16:14time I'm 10 or 11, the Mustang and its
16:15strange license [music] plate had
16:17completely slipped out of my memory. In
16:19fact, I don't even remember us ever
16:21talking about it again.
16:23We were driving somewhere entirely
16:24different, hundreds of miles from where
16:26we'd seen it the [music] first time.
16:28Again, you'll find me half asleep in the
16:30backseat when I heard my brother quietly
16:32suck in his breath.
16:34No way.
16:36Nobody responded at first.
16:39You guys, no way.
16:41He piped up again, finger tapping up
16:42against the glass. [music]
16:44I looked up, and we all did.
16:46And there it was. The same Mustang
16:48pacing with our SUV.
16:50I love Annika glowing between the
16:52tailpipes.
16:54For half a second, I felt that strange
16:56tug in my chest before my brain [music]
16:58caught up with it. Almost like a deja vu
17:00moment.
17:01My dad glanced toward the Mustang once
17:03before snapping his eyes back onto the
17:05road. My mom never looked over at all.
17:08Neither of them said a word. The silence
17:10inside the SUV felt strangely
17:12spellbound, confused. I turned fully
17:15toward my window. And that's when I saw
17:18him.
17:19The old man was looking directly at me,
17:21into my [music] soul.
17:23He had this gross, toothy smile, and his
17:26eyes never even blinked. He peeled one
17:28pale hand off the wheel and waved, then
17:30held his hand horizontally under his
17:32chin, wiggling his fingers and giving me
17:34the creepiest wave I've ever seen in my
17:36life. [music]
17:38The Mustang stayed perfectly aligned
17:40with us.
17:41My brother reached into his backpack
17:42[music] for his little digital camera,
17:44and without saying a word, he held it up
17:46to the window and snapped a picture.
17:49The old man never stopped smiling. He
17:50just kept wiggling his fingers.
17:53I finally whispered,
17:55"Mom?"
17:56She interrupted me before I said
17:57anything else.
17:59"Don't," she whispered. "Don't, baby."
18:03She never looked up from her lap as she
18:05spoke. My dad's hands were clenched so
18:07tightly around the steering wheel that
18:09his knuckles had turned white. Still,
18:11nobody looked at that streaking red car
18:12beside us.
18:14Eventually, it accelerated. The old man
18:17kept his eyes locked on mine as the car
18:19slowly pulled ahead. His hand remained
18:21raised until he disappeared [music]
18:22again.
18:23Only after he was completely gone did my
18:25parents finally snap out of it. And
18:28nobody wanted to discuss anything about
18:30what just happened.
18:31My brother and I did speak about it a
18:33few times, and he vaguely remembered
18:35taking the photo, but when we looked for
18:37it, there's nothing on the card or the
18:39storage memory.
18:41If I ever see him again,
18:43I'm going to run him off the road.
18:50Before I tell you my story, I'm going to
18:52apologize for my English. It's not my
18:54first language, and even now I struggle
18:56to explain what [music] had happened.
18:59All I can really say is that I was on a
19:01journey through the countryside, and a
19:02journey I will never make again.
19:05I live in a very small town in central
19:07Finland, and we get beautiful seasons
19:09here. The birch trees lose their leaves,
19:11and the spruce forest turn black. The
19:14lake becomes sheets of [music] cold gray
19:16ice. It's a beautiful country, but once
19:18you leave the highways, there are roads
19:19that feel very forgotten.
19:21Long dirt tracks that snake through
19:23endless woods with the only occasional
19:25farmhouse [music] or mailbox to remind
19:27you that people still live there.
19:29And those people, well, most of them
19:32want to be left alone.
19:34This took place last year. I was driving
19:37to Jaust and I'm because I wanted the
19:39quickest route, I followed it on Google
19:41Maps.
19:42Anybody from Finland knows that that can
19:44be a mistake.
19:45>> [music]
19:45>> The shortest route often means narrow
19:47gravel roads winding through the
19:48woodland and sometimes those roads are
19:51>> [music]
19:51>> washed out and a dead ends.
19:54It was around 1:15 in the afternoon,
19:56though the heavy clouds made it feel a
19:58lot later than that.
20:00The gravel roads were curving constantly
20:02taking [music] away my sight with deep
20:04ditches on both sides of me.
20:06The trees were so thick I couldn't see
20:07[music] if anybody was ahead of me or
20:09not.
20:10Coming around this particularly sharp
20:12corner, I slammed on my brakes. A
20:14vintage black car was parked half on the
20:16road leaving barely enough room for me
20:19to squeeze past.
20:21At first I thought it was this old
20:22American sedan, maybe a Chevrolet. Later
20:25on, after searching online,
20:27the closest match that I could find was
20:29a black Volga GAZ-24.
20:33Standing beside it was this tall old man
20:35dressed entirely in black. He leaned on
20:37a wooden walking stick and watched me
20:39approach without moving.
20:41His expressions were impossible to read,
20:43but I had this very ominous feeling the
20:45moment that I laid eyes on him.
20:47I gestured as if to ask if he needs any
20:49help.
20:50The man shook his head, "All good here."
20:53I slowed down almost to a crawl
20:55carefully edging past the car and
20:56checking my mirrors.
20:58The old man climbed into the driver's
21:00seat.
21:01Didn't think much of it. He probably
21:02stopped to pee in the bushes or
21:03something.
21:04About 2 minutes later I noticed the
21:06headlights behind me. The black car had
21:08now caught up with me.
21:10At first, he seemed to stay a reasonable
21:12[music] distance back, but within a few
21:14more seconds, it had accelerated until
21:16it was almost touching my bumper.
21:19The road was too narrow to let him pass.
21:21I pressed the gas slightly on a
21:22straightaway trying to lose him, but he
21:24stayed right on my tail.
21:27When I slowed down for corners, he
21:28stayed close.
21:30I expected to hear metal meeting against
21:32metal at any point now. Every time I
21:34glanced into the mirror, he was sitting
21:35perfectly upright behind the wheel.
21:38It made me very uncomfortable. No part
21:40of him had moved. He almost looked like
21:41a statue.
21:43He wasn't leaning forward to see around
21:45the corners or even bouncing with the
21:46rough road. His shoulders never shifted.
21:49Both hands stayed fixed on the steering
21:51wheel, and his shadowed face stayed
21:53fixed forward as well.
21:55It was almost like he was being dragged
21:56along behind me.
21:59I nervously laughed to myself and said
22:01out loud, "What are you doing?"
22:04I tend to talk to myself a lot when I
22:05get nervous.
22:07Obviously, the only answer was the
22:08continued silence.
22:10This continued on for 20 or 30 minutes.
22:13There was no avoiding this man, so I
22:15began checking my phone [music] for some
22:16kind of signal.
22:18Nothing out here, which is super common
22:19for my country.
22:21All of this made me feel beyond
22:23vulnerable.
22:24In that part of Finland, you can drive
22:26for kilometers without seeing any other
22:28[music] car.
22:29If you forced me into a ditch, there
22:30might not be anybody passing by for a
22:32very long time.
22:34And if so, then what would happen?
22:37Eventually, I reached this small
22:39three-way intersection.
22:41Google Maps was telling [music] me to
22:42turn right onto this even narrower dirt
22:45road that was disappearing into dense
22:47spruce forest.
22:48It felt like a certain doom if I did.
22:51I considered ignoring it just to see if
22:53this man continued to follow me. Alas, I
22:55made the turn and hoped for the best.
22:57[music]
22:59And I'm sure you guessed it, the black
23:01car turned too.
23:02Any comforting [music] explanation was
23:04disappearing right then and there. I was
23:07being followed.
23:08I hit the gas and made it no secret that
23:10I was zipping on out now. The black car
23:13remained glued to me though. There's no
23:15way to create any kind of distance now.
23:17And again, he never moved.
23:20The forest briefly opened up beside a
23:22lake. Its surface was a perfect
23:24reflection of the slate sky.
23:26I realized how alone I was with this
23:28person. If my car was left on the road,
23:31nobody would even know where to begin
23:33looking. It would take days or hours for
23:35them to even find it.
23:38The black car then began flashing its
23:40lights at me once or twice then
23:42repeating it over and over in a pattern.
23:45My heart was pounding so hard I could
23:47almost hear it over the engine.
23:49I searched desperately for a driveway, a
23:51farmhouse, anything [music] with people
23:53nearby, but there was nothing. Not even
23:56a fence. No sign of humans for as far as
23:58[music] I could see.
24:00After what felt like forever, another
24:02intersection appeared ahead.
24:04This one was connected [music] to an
24:05asphalt road. Finally, get me the hell
24:08out of here.
24:10According to my navigation, [music] I
24:11needed to continue straight. I crossed
24:14over onto the pavement and prepared for
24:15the black car to follow, but instead the
24:18old man slowed down.
24:20There was this visible shift in the
24:21behavior of the car.
24:24Without taking his eyes off me, he
24:25cranked the wheel into [music] a tight
24:27turn and headed back the way that we
24:29come from. A full U-turn right there in
24:31the middle of the intersection.
24:33For one brief moment, our cars were side
24:35by side.
24:36I would be expecting [music]
24:38him to glance toward the road that he
24:39was turning onto, but instead I found
24:41him staring holes directly into me.
24:45I continued driving until I finally
24:47[music] reached Jausta, but I didn't
24:49stop immediately. I waited until I found
24:51other people, other cars, [music]
24:53somewhere that felt normal. Only then
24:56did I actually pull over, shut off the
24:58engine,
24:59and I realized my hands were shaking.
25:01When I looked behind me, there was no
25:02sign of [music] my previous follower.
25:06I can't make sense of any of it. Why he
25:09was stopped, why he chose to follow me,
25:11and why did he flash his lights?
25:14He could have made it apparent if he
25:15wanted to talk, but he never did.
25:17The only thing that makes sense to me is
25:18that he wanted to lure someone into the
25:20woods where he was parked at.
25:22Why else would he turn around after
25:24following me for so long?
25:26What did he want [music] me to see out
25:27there?
25:29Later on that evening, I searched online
25:31[music] for old black cars, and
25:32eventually found photos of that Volga
25:34GAZ-24.
25:36It looked almost identical to the one
25:38that had followed me.
25:40To this day,
25:41I don't care if the route saves a half
25:43an hour.
25:44Google Maps can recommend it to me all
25:46at once,
25:47but I'm never taking any more unnamed
25:49roads through the Finnish [music] forest
25:51ever again.