[INTRO — RAIN / WINDSHIELD WIPERS / LOW VINYL HISS] 1:26 A.M. Rain coming down hard. Highway almost empty. Then my headlights caught somebody… Standing on the shoulder. Black jacket. Thumb out. Normally? I would’ve kept driving. But something made me stop. [CAR DOOR OPENS] STRANGER: Appreciate it. MAN: Yeah. Get in. [DOOR SHUTS] [DUSTY BEAT DROPS] [VERSE 1] He sat down beside me. Water dripping from his coat. Didn’t say much. Just stared through the windshield while I drove. MAN: Where you headed? STRANGER: Same direction as you. MAN: That doesn’t really answer my question. STRANGER: Does it matter? [BEAT STUTTERS] Wait. That voice. I looked at him. MAN: Say that again. STRANGER: Say what? MAN: Have we met before? STRANGER: Don’t think so. MAN: Nah… I know your voice. He smiled. Barely. MAN: Wait… Aren’t you the dude from the bar? STRANGER: I don’t know what you’re talking about. MAN: Bullshit. You sat next to me. I told you everything. You said— STRANGER: Let’s go. [TOTAL SILENCE] My hands tightened around the steering wheel. MAN: How the fuck did you know that? STRANGER: Know what? [BEAT SLAMS BACK] [VERSE 2] Now I’m watching him sideways. Heart beating faster. Same calm voice. Same strange way of answering questions without answering shit. MAN: What’s your name? STRANGER: You never asked me at the bar. MAN: So you DO remember! STRANGER: I didn’t say that. MAN: Then how’d you know?! STRANGER: Eyes on the road. MAN: Man, fuck the road. Who are you? He looked at me. No anger. No fear. Nothing. STRANGER: Someone you almost left with once. [SNARE] MAN: What does that mean? STRANGER: You weren’t ready then. MAN: Ready for what? STRANGER: Maybe tonight you are. [HOOK — GHOSTLY SOUL SAMPLE] Same voice… Different night… Same stranger sitting to my right. Rain falling. Black highway. Something in my head says: Don’t go his way. I met this man before… Or maybe in my mind. But every time he finds me… he says it’s almost time. [VERSE 3] My stomach twisted. I needed air. Needed distance. Needed one damn minute where this motherfucker wasn’t in it. Saw a dirt turnout. Hit the brakes. STRANGER: Why are we stopping? MAN: I gotta piss. STRANGER: No you don’t. MAN: Excuse me? STRANGER: Keep driving. MAN: Nah. I’ll be right back. STRANGER: Don’t get out. MAN: Why? For the first time… His face changed. STRANGER: Because if you get out… you might not come back. [BEAT CUTS] MAN: Good. Maybe that’s exactly what I need. [CAR DOOR OPENS] [VERSE 4 — NO DRUMS] Rain pouring. Walked maybe thirty yards away. Did my business. Cold air helped. I stood there breathing. Trying to convince myself: You’re tired. That’s all. There wasn’t any man at the bar. Bartender told you that. Now you’re putting some random hitchhiker’s voice inside an old memory. Get in the car. Go home. Sleep. [DISTANT LOW FREQUENCY RUMBLE] Turned around. Started walking back. Headlights looked strange through the rain. Orange. Flickering. MAN: What the… Started walking faster. Then— SOMEONE: HEY! [FOOTSTEPS RUNNING] Before I could turn— somebody slammed into me. Both of us hit the mud. MAN: GET THE FUCK OFF ME! SECOND MAN: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! MAN: GET OFF! THAT’S MY CAR! SECOND MAN: YOUR CAR?! MAN: YES! SECOND MAN: MAN— WHY ARE YOU TRYING TO GET INTO A CAR THAT’S ON FIRE?! [COMPLETE SILENCE] [VERSE 5 — REALITY BREAKS] I looked up. My car wasn’t parked. It was… Destroyed. Front end wrapped around a tree. Windshield gone. Engine burning. Smoke mixing with rain. MAN: No… No. That’s not— I was just driving it. SECOND MAN: I saw the flames from my house! I called 911! MAN: There’s somebody inside! SECOND MAN: What?! MAN: THE PASSENGER! There’s a man inside! We ran toward the wreck. Heat pushing against us. I pointed through the broken window. MAN: RIGHT THERE! GET HIM OUT! The other man looked inside. Then looked at me. SECOND MAN: There’s nobody in there. MAN: YES THERE IS! He was sitting right— SECOND MAN: Sir… The passenger seat is empty. [HEARTBEAT] [VERSE 6] I stepped closer. Passenger door crushed inward. Seat burned black. Nobody. No jacket. No blood. Nothing. Then through the flames… I heard him. STRANGER — DISTANT: You should’ve kept driving. MAN: … Did you hear that? SECOND MAN: Hear what? STRANGER: We were almost there. MAN: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! SECOND MAN: Who are you talking to?! MAN: HIM! SECOND MAN: There’s nobody there! [SIRENS BEGIN DISTANTLY] Then something hit me. MAN: How did I crash? SECOND MAN: What? MAN: I pulled over back there. I walked away from the car. SECOND MAN: Pulled over? Brother… Look at the road. I looked. Tire marks. Long black lines cutting across wet pavement. Straight into the tree. SECOND MAN: You didn’t pull over. [SILENCE] [FINAL VERSE — THE TWIST DEEPENS] MAN: T
