Chapter 1

To save time, my boyfriend, Sean Carter, boldly drove us into a tunnel that wasn't even on the map.

But we'd been driving for over 30 minutes, but there was still no exit in sight.

My face went pale.

I was sure the distance between the two mountains was only about 800 yards at most.

How could we have been driving for over 30 minutes and still not see the end of it?

*****

Sean froze. "We're going 75 miles per hour. At that speed, we could cover a downtown stretch just by tapping the gas. I've never seen a tunnel this long."

I frowned. "Maybe the curves are really long?"

"No way. I've been driving straight the whole time. Not a single turn," he replied.

I quickly checked the GPS on my phone. The little dot was frozen in place, not moving at all.

There was no signal in the tunnel, so the GPS was still showing where we were before we drove in.

I zoomed in on the map with two fingers.

Even though the tunnel wasn't marked on the map, the distance between the two mountains was just about 800 yards according to the map.

But we'd been driving for over half an hour, and there was still no end in sight.

If Sean hadn't suddenly spoken up, I probably would have thought I was nodding off or something.

Sean's hands were trembling on the steering wheel.

"Did you notice? This tunnel is insanely long, but we haven't seen a single other car. It's just us in here, from the moment we entered until now," he said.

Hearing him say that, I started feeling even more unsettled.

"No way. There's a popular tourist spot up ahead. Even if this tunnel is in the middle of nowhere, people should still be driving through it," I said.

But seeing the anxious look on his face, I realized he wasn't joking.

"Maybe we should turn around and head back," I suggested.

Even if there really wasn't an exit, if we just went back the way we came, we had to get out eventually, right?

I tried to reassure myself.

Sean quickly turned the car around.

The tunnel was pitch black. Our headlights only lit up about thirty feet ahead.

We drove for another hour or so, but still, there was no sign of the entrance we had come in through.

"No way. I remember we only drove for about half an hour. How could this be happening?" Sean said.

"But we've been driving for almost an hour now!" I blurted out.

Just then, AutoMate's voice suddenly rang out. "Your car's battery is about to run out. Please charge it as soon as possible."

The battery was almost dead.

And not only was there no exit in sight, but we couldn't even see a single ray of light anywhere.

Beads of sweat rolled down Sean's forehead.

"Kaylee, what do we do? The entrance... it's like it's vanished," he stammered.

I was about to say something to calm him down when a blinding beam of headlights suddenly appeared up ahead.

There was someone else in this tunnel.

I quickly told Sean to pull over.

"Stay in the driver's seat. Leave your door open. And be ready to hit the gas if anything seems off," I said. "I'll go check it out first."

The car coming toward us eased its window down just a crack.

A pair of watery eyes peeked out.

The girl looked pretty young.

When she saw I was a girl, she finally relaxed a bit and lowered the window some more.

But she still only opened it about a third of the way, staying cautious.