It was a silent night with no breeze. The toll booth had lights on but other than that the whole road was in darkness. Bob sat on a chair outside the booth reading a newspaper. The only sound was of the table fan which Bob had set beside him. The newspaper was sticking to his sweaty fingers and half of Mr. Grimes’ obituary written by his son was smudged from all the sweat.

 “There is no one coming today. I am reading this shit newspaper for the last two hours,” said Bob on his walkie-talkie. “Did you get to the page where this crazy bitch burned down her house with her children inside?” asked Ray from the other end of the walkie-talkie. “I did. It’s not far from where I stay,” said Bob while looking down the road to his right. “Hey, I think I see some headlights. I need to go,” and he put down the receiver on the table. “See if you can earn a little extra by collecting some fake fine… no offense to the law,” said Ray laughing, “Over and out.”

Bob gathered some change and got up. A car slowed down and stopped behind the barricade. Bob walked towards the car and knocked on the driver side window. “Hey man, I didn’t know this is a toll road and since when is this up?” asked a bearded guy from the driver seat while rolling down the window. “Apparently some paperwork between the high-ups led to this situation. The cost to make this road was more than what was on paper, so now there has to be a toll here to compensate that,” said Bob with confidence. “These higher-ups fuck up and the middle class pays the price? Seriously?” shouted the driver. Bob straightened up, got back a little and said “Well sir you are not just paying the toll but also the fine. Your friend next to you is not wearing the seat belt.” The driver looked confused and asked, “Who, again?” Bob bent down and pointed to the passenger seat. The driver looked beside him and to Bob again. Some would say he is doing a neck exercise. “Is this some kind of a joke? Stop it if that’s the case. I’ll pay the toll and stop scaring me because it’s a long way till home and I’m alone.” said the driver looking a bit worried and scared. Bob didn’t speak for half a minute and kept staring at the passenger seat with squinted eyes until the driver tried to get out. “You are the one playing the joke here. Your friend is sitting there,” said Bob looking at the passenger seat again and to the driver who was now standing with him outside the car. Wanting nothing more, than to just get it done with, the driver said, “I have no friend with me. I am visiting my mother in the town and have come directly from work. The last thing I will do is make my personal and professional life meet by taking someone from work to my home town. If you see someone there sitting next to me, why don’t you deal with him directly?” Bob was a bit surprised with how he still managed to speak so confidently, considering the look on his face was of someone who is beyond scared. He was scared too but didn’t want to show it. He could see a man sitting in the car, almost lifeless; face that of an empty person, looking directly at him without blinking. The silence prevailed and the booth’s light was not enough now as the darkness intensified. Bob felt all of this physically, and the man’s stare did nothing more but aggravate this terrible feeling for him. In order to get a reaction, he called out to him, abused him but didn’t go anywhere near him and then, at that moment, he realized something.

“Dude, I don’t act scared. I am scared, every time we do this. That look, it surely is creepy as hell.” said Ben while driving down the dark road.  “To be honest, I don’t know how I do it. This unsettling aura around me is created on its own and even I feel it. All I do is, keep a plain face and keep staring at someone and the rest happens itself.” said Ted, putting on the seat belt. “Well, you scared the shit out of this one. I bet he must have pissed himself when he suddenly let us go,” said Ben and they both laughed as Ted turned on the car stereo. ‘The Message’ by Still Corners starts playing and they both sing along with it; Ben imitates playing a steel guitar and taking the wheel just when it has lost control. The song is about to end when they see some lights in the distance and realize that it is a toll booth coming up again. They look at each other, confused and frustrated but then Ted released the seat belt, sat up straight, turned off the stereo and rolled his shoulders. Ben felt it without even looking at him. “We can’t get away with this act every time Ted, and we cannot escape paying tolls, fines every time,” said Ben slowing down the car way before the toll booth. Ted didn’t respond and he didn’t ask again.

“Both of you, step out of the car please” requested Ray as he held up a torch. “Both of us? I am alone sir please, don’t do this.” said Ben and he started crying hysterically. “Sir… I.. I came across a toll booth 20 minutes ago and there was this guy saying the.. the same thing. I am traveling alone.” Ray avoided looking at Ted but could feel his stare which was disturbing. “Just step out of your car and let me have a look. This is a mandatory check,” said Ray and he helped Ben out of the car. He could feel Ben shaking and he was visibly scared. The genuineness of the situation was hard to doubt because even the air around was different. With just Ben out of the car now, Ray went up to the passenger seat door and tried to open it but failed. He then moved towards the driver seat again, all while Ted continuously stared at him. He opened the door, slipped into the driver seat beside Ted and looked at him directly in the eyes, smiled and slid a knife across his throat as fast as he could.

Ted didn’t have any time to react and was trying to cover his throat with his hands. Ben screamed and fell down in shock. The crying was not an act anymore for him but he still managed to crawl a few meters, and just when he was about to stand and run, Ray stabbed him from behind and said “Do you know where you screwed up young man? Do you want to know? I will tell you. What did you say to Bob when he asked you about your ‘friend’?  you said ‘If you see someone there sitting next to me, why don’t you deal with him directly?’. If you were not able to see anyone, how did you know that your ‘friend’  is a ‘him’?”

“Did you get them?” asked Bob on the walkie-talkie. “God! It felt so good killing him while he looked into my eyes” said Ray with extreme euphoria. “I missed this one. They really made me doubt for a second and that’s why I left them to you.” Said Bob disappointed.  “Thank you, we will make the headlines. That bitch that burned down the house with the children in it had her share of the news. Now, let us wind up this mess and wait for the newspapers. Come down here with all the barricades and fake walls of the toll booth loaded into the truck, till then I will be placing these bodies the way I want them to be found.” said Ray, looking at the blood-soaked body and at the face that of an empty person, eyes open but lifeless. “Over and Out.”