The Mystery Ride and Attempted Escape Plan

“Not this again…” Luciela groaned as she rubbed her sore back, feeling a swirl of annoyance and fear as she looked up at the Swifter’s dashboard up front…

Just as she noted outside, there was no one holding the commands. There wasn’t even a steering wheel; simply a bright screen flashing some icons on it, looking as though it was providing guidance for the Swifter as it flew around while navigating the traffic ahead. Luciela looked around the Swifter, and was simply stunned. The floor was a soft, plush carpet reflecting the hues of a sandy beach, and the interior wall a bright, dazzling shine of turquoise blue.

It was then that she finally took notice that the seat she was sitting on was actually a curved white sofa, enough space to hold 4 indivi-ghosts, so it seemed. There was even a round table that shared the color of the walls, containing a screen situated flat in its center, along with some snacks decorating the tabletop surface.

‘I hate admitting it, but this ride is seriously awesome.’ Luciela let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding in. Even the limousines she had ridden to awards shows did not have this level of detailed decoration and architecture, nor this level of comfortable seating.

Then, she snapped back to reality and remembered the situation; what she should be feeling now isn’t amazed, but angry. Enraged even, at the series of strange events that had been tossing her around for its own amusement, or whatever twisted agenda was going on that she wasn’t aware of.

Thinking of this, Luciela shot a glare in the direction of the dashboard. Admittedly, she felt a little silly for glaring at a screen that obviously could not witness her displeasure, but she continued to do so all the same.

‘I’ve got to get out of here…’ Luciela warned herself, keeping herself composed while battling a now rising sense of urgency. Sure, she would’ve loved to continue riding in the Swifter and even admire the view outside, under normal circumstances…

But escaping a kidnapping-in-process was clearly the priority right now.

Luciela remained silent, buckling her seatbelt before she leaned against the couch’s back and crossed her arms. She subtly scanned the vehicle again, trying to make out any sign of a clue that could help get out; simply trying to force the door open didn’t seem plausible, especially since there was no lock or handle on the side door from the inside that could be used.

“Miss Luciela, we have twenty more minutes until we’ve reached our destination.” The robotic voice suddenly filled the silence, giving its brief instruction, before once again growing quiet.

‘Wait, it looks like a computer screen…if I break it, that might make the vehicle stop working altogether, but if it fights back, I’ll quickly dodge so it can damage itself and create an opening…’ Luciela reasoned within herself a quickly whipped up plan, one that was somewhat foolish, but she couldn’t come up with anything better for the time being. So, with that she slowly but surely reached down to her left foot…

And Luciela removed the sleek white sneaker she was wearing, and, with every ounce of her strength, mixed along with some understandable frustration, she forcefully threw her sneaker in the direction of the dashboard, effectively hitting it right in the middle.

However, rather than hear a satisfying ‘crack!’ to indicate the successful shattering of the glass, a beam of light shot upwards, striking her shoe and making it disappear completely from sight.

“What-” Luciela began, but the dashboard didn’t end its retaliation at that; suddenly the vehicle began to violently shake, causing Luciela to bounce up and down in her seat, clutching the back of the couch to steady herself in the meanwhile.

‘Wh-what’s going on? Is there some kind of built in mechanism to make it self-destruct or something when damaged?’ Luciela’s mind was racing, completely regretting her targeting of the dashboard in the first place. She squeezed her eyes shut, panting as she tried to calm herself down and think through a solution. She couldn’t afford to let things end here, not without seeing her family and the staff members again, not after all the hard work she had put into her career, and after all the sacrifices she had to make to reach this point.

Silence. The shaking had come to a complete halt, shocking Luciela just as much as the initial shaking had. She almost didn’t believe that it was that simple, not when her heart was still racing and she had feared for her life only a second ago.

But the calm stillness of the vehicle and the absence of any threatening sounds were both signs that she could finally let out a sigh of relief, carefully opening her eyes now that the wave of anxiety was over.

It was over, and everything looked to be in place; even the dashboard had, annoyingly, somehow managed to make it through that ordeal without so much as a scratch.

Yes, everything looked to be the exact same.

Everything, except for the tiny ghost-like creature floating in front of Luciela, wearing an adorable smile on its face, its two short arms holding what looked to be a letter. He kept watching Luciela expectantly, the expression on his face revealing that he was ready to burst into chatter at any moment.