The Weirdos

15

He didn't know how long it had been before they entered the tunnel. Once they were in, his driver finally spoke.
"I'm going to blow your mind in a minute."
Jasper turned his head away from the window and toward the driver, his brow raised in confusion. What was that supposed to mean? How was the driver going to blow his mind? A car passed by them, then the driver raised his hand with only his pointer finger raised. Jasper watched him with both brows up. The driver pushed the power button on the radio. Jasper frowned and his brows fell. That was it? He was turning on the radio? Why was something as simple as that going to 'blow his mind'? The sound wasn't even on. Nothing came over the speakers. There was just silence in the vehicle besides the sound of tires on the road and wind rushing by.
Jasper opened his mouth to speak, but the driver put up their hand, silencing him. They pointed to the tunnel wall, directing Jasper's eyes to the source of the mind blowing. His eyes grew as big as saucers and he stared in shock and awe as the wall began sliding upward, slowly revealing a hidden one lane road.
"How the- what the- how- what- h-how is this possible? How long has that been there? Has it always been there? How come nobody knows about this? What the hell? Who designed this? This is like some movie magic shit. What is actually happening right now?"
"Yeah, yeah, you're surprised. I get it. Now, shut up."
Jasper frowned at the driver as they turned into the hidden road and the wall fell closed behind them. He couldn't believe how rude this person was. This person didn't even know who Jasper was and they were treating him like he was scum. Jasper opened his mouth to give the driver a piece of his mind, but, before he could, the driver spoke.
"Gr-grab the- the wheel..."
Jasper's eyes went wide again as his driver suddenly fell limp, hands sliding off the steering wheel. He let out a startled scream and quickly grabbed the steering wheel, keeping the vehicle on the road instead of letting it ram into the tunnel wall at thirty-five miles an hour. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and his breathing came out in short quick waves. His hands shook and he continued to stare out the windshield with his widened eyes. What the hell just happened? Had his driver just died? Was something like that even possible? They sounded like they were young and seemed pretty healthy to him. What could cause someone to just keel over like that and die?!
"Oh, god. Oh, god, oh, god, oh, god. What's happening? Why is this happening?"
He could feel himself growing cold. Goosebumps prickled over his skin, raising the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck.
"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit..."
The windshield began to fog in the corners and frost began appearing over it. He could see his own breath and it was becoming increasingly hard to see the road outside the windshield. He was in some serious trouble.
"Melt! Go away! Stop! Unfreeze! Uh... Melt! Defrost... Something! Shit!"
This was a nightmare. He seemed to have those, one right after the other. But, it wasn't a nightmare. It was real and his life was in danger.
"Please, stop..."
He whimpered out, barely able to see the road.
A hand was suddenly on top of his and the driver gasped rather loudly, coming back from the dead. Or, what he thought had been death. Jasper looked at the driver as they sat up straight, then turned their head toward Jasper. He couldn't see their face, but he felt like he was suddenly very exposed. He felt the cold leaving his body as the driver looked out the windshield again. Jasper turned his head and found all the frost, completely gone.
"You can let go, now..."
"Oh!"
Jasper removed his hands from the steering wheel, brushing them off on his pants, then turning to look at the driver again."Are you o-"
"Uh uh. Zip it."
Jasper frowned. Apparently his driver was just fine, still with that rude attitude of theirs. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out the window into the dark.
They came out of the tunnel a minute later, the road turning into dirt. Jasper tried to see what was ahead, but the dust covered up most of the view. He could see some looming shadow in front of them that he suspected was a large house. They came to an abrupt halt and the driver got out of the vehicle and grabbed Jasper's luggage, then started walking up a stone pathway. Jasper could feel himself shaking. They had arrived. This was it. The safe house. What would it be like? Would there be other kids? Would they like him? Or would they be like his driver and refuse to let him speak? If he couldn't speak, he'd go crazy! What would the guardian be like? Would they be big and scary or old and frail? Would they welcome him or make his life hell? What would they look like? What would they sound like?
"Yo! Get out of the car already!"
Jasper let out a shaky breath and undid his seatbelt, then opened the door and stepped out into gravel.