Bloodmobile

Story Sent in by Arlene:

I was waiting by the food court in a mall to meet Dan for our first date when he called me. "Are you ready to be freaked out? I'm at level P1 in the parking garage."

When I found him, he showed me the front of his car. There was a giant red, sticky stain across the bumper and the hood, as if he'd hit something that bled a lot.

"Oh my God," I said, "What did you hit?"

"That's the thing," he said, "I found it that way this morning. It was on the street overnight but I didn't hear or see anything. Something... or someone must've smacked into it. Freaky, huh?"

It was freaky. He stared at it for a while, then said, "Ready for lunch?"

I asked, "Are you going to call the cops or something?"

He laughed. "So they'll think I killed someone? Nah. I'll just go for a car wash later on."

The date went all right. We ate at a restaurant inside the mall and walked around outside a bit, but he seemed preoccupied the whole time. I asked him, "Are you worried about your car?"

"Yeah," he said, "I should probably bring it in for a wash sooner than later." He then gave me a quick hug and said, "Best of luck!" before speed-walking away.

He called me an hour and a half later. He said, "I was pulled over on my way to the car wash. They think I killed somebody. Will you be a witness to tell them I was with you?"

I said to him, "But it happened before I even met you today. You said you found it that way this morning."

There was a long pause. Finally, he said, "You're no help," and he hung up on me. That was the last I heard from him.