The Figure Behind the Wheel

Last week, I went to visit my family in southern Wisconsin. My siblings and I are all in our late to mid-twenties and are married... so every chance we get, we gather at my mom's house for the weekend and just catch each other up with life. Usually on the first night of our get-togethers, it starts after dinner until 5 to 6 in the morning. We all just chat and play video games (Guitar Hero and the Wii, of course).

What interests us most were sharing real ghost stories - either what we've experienced or the experiences of close friends. This is the real story I shared: For years I've had nightmares right up to that weekend, flashbacks of me waking up to bright lights, finding mom arguing with dad, my younger brother Tony (who was 1 to 2 years old) was crying his head off, and seeing dad holding a rifle. Judging from my short arms and legs, I was too young to attend school and too old to drink a bottle. I believe I was about 3 to 4 years old. Then I remember mom carried Tony to the kitchen to get him a bottle. He was still crying his head off. Mom quickly got him a bottle because she wanted to quiet him down. The entire house was dark. The only source of light was coming from my parent's bedroom... I followed mom to the dark kitchen. I was in tears because my parents were arguing.

Dad soon joined the rest of us in the kitchen, still carrying his rifle. It was a humid, Californian night. After finishing Tony's bottle, I remember he was still swarming in mom's arms because the heat bothered him. Dad held his rifle to the window and scanned the driveway. What was he looking for? I looked toward dad's blue Volvo station wagon sitting in the driveway and something caught my eye. I saw a person sitting behind the driver's seat. I couldn't see who it was but I can see the outline of the person clearly because it was like a shadow that was darker than all of it's surroundings.

I was scared that the person might hurt my family. I looked at dad to see if he noticed the person behind the wheel. Dad didn't see anything because his eyes continued to scan the driveway. He was a Vietnam War Veteran, so the entire time it was as if he was at war... concealing behind the curtains and peeking outside to check on something. I pointed out the figure to him, "Daddy, who is in the car?" He looked toward the car, "Who? I don't see anyone." Dad had told mom of what I saw. He opened the front door to get a better look. While mom, Tony, and I were standing by the doorway, dad decided he wanted a better look at who it was and walked toward the station wagon. The figure sat quietly in the car. It was as if dad was looking right through the figure because he didn't see anyone.

All of a sudden the figure opened his eyes... I saw the pair of flaming red eyes looking toward the front door, our direction. Dad was standing next to the car, unaware of anything that's going on. I remember Tony pointing to the car, he saw it too. "I see red eyes mommy," I said to mom. All of a sudden, the headlights of the station wagon turned on and that made dad jump, he ran toward the house and we all ran to the bedroom. The next thing I knew, it was morning. I went outside and saw my father washing his car. Maggots were leaking from the bottom of the car and were coming from the engine.

I never told a single soul of that nightmare until that day. I looked over at Tony, his jaw dropped and he turned white. "You know what? I've always thought that was my nightmare. I remember seeing those red eyes in dad's Volvo station wagon." It wasn't a dream?

Bits of details came back to the other siblings. My older sister said that night she remembered my parents burst to their room that night and slept on the floor. She heard the car horn honking throughout the night and not knowing what was going on because mom and dad had told them to keep quiet. My sister also recalls thousands of maggots coming from the car and it covered almost the entire driveway.

The next morning, I asked mom about the situation. At first, she didn't want to talk about it. She kept saying it's for our protection it's bad to know too much. Tony begged her. Mom said she's afraid to talk about it but only remembered minor details. She remembered prior to that night, Dad had dreams of his ancestors warning him about a demon, which was already a bad omen and he never told mom about it. That was their argument. Mom also said that night Tony and I pointed out that we saw red eyes but she and dad didn't see anything until the car headlights came on then they realized something was sitting in the car.

Finally 20 years after the incident, the nightmare came to a conclusion. I am no longer bothered by it. My father passed away before this was brought up. Mom still wants to keep hush about it. But as long as I know that it wasn't a dream...