"Kongpob, do you want to go home yet? It's very late already and I'm getting tired." Arthit says to his boyfriend who has been dancing all night with his juniors from college.

They're currently at Bright's Halloween costume party at his bar. Kongpob is dressed as Luffy and he is Zoro from One Piece. He had refused to be Mario and Luigi or Batman and Robin. Those costumes looked too cheesy. What he really wanted to be was Thor and Kongpob to be Loki, but those costumes were too expensive. He couldn't justify spending that kind of money on something he would probably only wear once. But now he is regretting his choice seeing how Kongpob had his whole chest exposed because the Luffy vest has no buttons. Everyone at the party can ogle his boyfriend freely.

Kongpob snakes an arm around his boyfriend's waist and pulls the latter closer so he can speak to him over the loud music. "P'Arthit, can we stay just a little bit longer? I haven't seen my juniors for a long time."

Arthit is caught off guard and instinctively pushes Kongpob away. He shyly nods in agreement and quickly walks back to his group of friends without looking at any of the junior's expressions. He has been trying really hard to not shy away from his boyfriend's touches but it still doesn't come easy. But truth be told, he didn't mind that little stunt Kongpob just pulled. Kongpob showed the juniors that he has a boyfriend and reassured him that he hasn't forgotten.

"Ai'Arthit, why are you so red? I thought you said you were going to leave with Nong Kongpob." Bright says looking past Arthit to see Kongpob laughing and dancing with a bunch of juniors which were mostly girls.

"He says he wants to stay just a little bit longer. He hasn't seen his junior for a long time." Arthit takes the bottle of water from Knot to cool himself down.

"Nong Kongpob sure is popular. None of our juniors are ever that excited to see us after we graduated. Nong Aim is still scared of us. Well, mostly you, Arthit." Toota chuckles watching Kongpob surrounded by a little crowd.

Arthit looks at the little crowd and sighs. His boyfriend is indeed popular. And it's not just with his juniors. It's with everyone. He has everyone charmed.

One hour later...

"P'Arthit, are you sure we're going the right way? It's so dark around here."

"I don't know. I was just following the construction detour signs. You saw them. Maybe we'll see another sign ahead of us soon."

"I hope so. There's no signal here so the navigation isn't working. Look, there's a bridge coming up. I've never seen this bridge." Kongpob tries to refresh his map on his phone with no success.

"Me neither. I really hope we are going in the right direction."

They drive slowly as they approach the bridge ahead because it was pitch black outside. They couldn't see anything beyond their car's headlights and there was a heavy layer of fog outside. There was a chill in the air that surrounded them.

"P'Arthit, STOP!" Kongpob shouts. Someone was crossing the bridge.

Arthit immediately stomps on the brakes. "What?!"

"You almost hit someone." Kongpob jumps out of the car to take a look.

Arthit gets out of the car too when he sees his boyfriend helping a pretty girl get up off the ground.

"Miss, are you okay? Are you hurt?" Kongpob asks the girl who's dressed as Little Red Riding Hood. She has skin even paler than his P'Arthit and lips painted bloody red.

"Uh, I think I twisted my ankle." The girl replies, wincing as she tries to stand on her injured foot.

"Oh my, I'm so sorry, miss. I didn't see you in the darkness. Are you okay?" Arthit nervously approaches the girl.

"I think I'll be fine. I was just startled by your car and fell." The girl says and tries to take a step forward. "Ouu..." She yelps and falls but luckily Kongpob catches her.

"I don't think you can walk like this."

"Yeah, it's also dangerous to walk alone at night like this. Why don't we give you a ride. After all, it is our fault that you got hurt." Arthit offers.

"Thanks. I'm really sorry for the trouble though." The girl says.

Both men help the girl into the back seat of their car.

"Miss, where should I take you? Do you know the way? Our navigation isn't working because there's no signal out here." Arthit asks as he starts driving straight across the bridge.

"You can keep going straight. My house is on the other side of the orchard coming up in about ten miles. By the way, you can call me Ruby."

"Okay, I'll keep going straight. My name is Arthit and he's Kongpob."

"Hi! So Ruby, why are you out here by yourself at this time of the night?" Kongpob asks out of curiosity. He's glad that they found someone that seems to know where they are. Hopefully, Ruby will be able to tell them how to get back.

Suddenly, Ruby starts sniffling and wipes away tears that are falling down her cheeks. "My boyfriend and I got into an argument and he left me in the middle of the road."

"What kind of man leaves a woman in the middle of a deserted road? And in the middle of the night too, at that!" Arthit shakes his head disapprovingly. How can anyone do such a thing? Ruby is lucky she ran into him and Kongpob, or actually they ran into Ruby, otherwise, she would have to walk alone in the dark for over ten miles. Anything could have happened to her. Anything.

Kongpob hands Ruby a tissue. "Ruby, he's not worth crying over. No matter how bad the fight was, he really should have at least safely dropped you home. But don't worry, we will get you home."

"Thank you. You two are so kind. Not many are like you guys."

"Exactly. There are many bad people out there that could have taken advantage of you. Your boyfriend really shouldn't have left you like that." Kongpob grimaces at the thought of the things that could have happened to Ruby.

"You're right. He really shouldn't have and I will never forgive him." Ruby says matter of factly.

A shiver runs through Arthit. Why is it so chilly tonight? He has never used the heat function in his car but he's about to find out if it even works as he turns the knob.

"There are definitely better men out there. Please don't be sad over that jerk. He's not worth it. Do you want some water?" Kongpob offers Ruby a bottle of water.

"No, thank you. You are such a handsome gentleman."

Arthit internally sighs at yet another woman praising his boyfriend. He casually looks up at the rear view mirror. At first glimpse, Ruby was just a blur. He blinks a couple of times and looks again, this time he sees Ruby clearly and she is staring right back at him. It's a little unnerving but he just nervously smiles.

"Uh Ruby, do you know how far we are from the city? Kongpob and I are kind of lost because I followed some construction detour signs, and then our GPS lost its signal. Do you know how we can get back?" Arthit nervously asks. Something feels odd but he doesn't know what.

"Don't worry. All will be clear when this fog goes away," Ruby replies looking directly at Arthit through the mirror.

Feeling a little more relaxed now that there's someone who knew where they were, Kongpob puts on some music, hoping to lift Ruby's mood. "Ruby, do you have any music preference? Maybe there's something on the radio."

"You won't be able to get any signal out here," Ruby answers.

"Hmm, let me try." Kongpob proceeds to turn on the radio, and Ruby is right. There was only static.

"P'Arthit, are you tired? Do you want to switch on the way back? I can drive now."

"No, you had a few drinks and it's so dark now. Don't worry. I'm fine. Did you have fun?" Arthit asks and reaches his hand over for Kongpob's.

"I did. Thanks for staying so long. I know you had a long day in the office today." Kongpob smiles at his P'Arthit.

"It's okay. It's not everyday you run into so many of your juniors. But next year, you will have to pick costumes that are less revealing."

"P'Arthit, you picked our costumes," Kongpob chuckles at his silly boyfriend. "So Ruby, are you Little Red Riding Hood? Your costume looks nice." Kongpob tries to include their guest in the back in their conversation.

"Thanks. My dad made it for me." Ruby runs her fingers along the ruffles on her skirt. Her father had spent many hours on this costume because she wanted to win the costume contest.

"That's amazing. You have such a wonderful and dedicated father."

"Yes, he really is."

The rest of the ride consisted of silly teasing and banter between the two men. Ruby sat in the back observing the two and concluded that they were lovers. A part of her envies what they have and she didn't. Why did she have to meet that jerk that left her behind? Why couldn't she meet nice men like these two? Why?

Soon they can see a house across the orchard as Ruby had stated and the moon is finally giving off some light now that the fog has finally lifted. Arthit slowly pulls up to the house.

"Ruby, I think we're here. Is this your house?" Arthit asks.

"Yes. Do you mind asking for my dad to come get me? My ankle really hurts."

"Ruby, I can help you," Kongpob offers.

"No, I'm more comfortable if my dad carried me."

"Okay, I understand. I'll go then." Kongpob says and gets out of the car.

"I'll come with you. I want to borrow the restroom." Arthit follows his boyfriend to the door.

Ding Dong. Ding Dong.

They can hear a dog barking inside the house and soon a man who looks to be in his sixties opens the door. The two men are a little confused. Is this man Ruby's father or grandfather?

"Excuse us, Sir. Your daughter Ruby is in our car. She hurt her ankle and wishes for you to pick her up." Arthit explains.

The old man sighs deeply. "Thank you for bringing her home. I'm glad you guys are good people. You two may leave now. Just drive straight back through the orchard and you will be in the city in about twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes? We've been driving almost two hours. We can't be that close to the city." Kongpob says as he checks his phone, and strangely it's not even 1 a.m. yet. "Oh, that's strange." He swore it was almost 3 when he last checked inside their car. He shows his phone to Arthit and the latter shrugs his shoulders. Arthit is just as puzzled.

"Okay, I guess we were just a little disoriented from all the fog. Anyway, Ruby is waiting for you in the car." Arthit says and turns around to look at his empty car. "Where did she go?"

Kongpob turns to look and he's just as confused. Where did Ruby go? How did she get out with a twisted ankle?

"Gentlemen, just pretend this never happened and head back to the city." The man tries to close his door. This year is a good year.

Kongpob pushes back on the closing door. He doesn't understand. "Wait, Sir! Are you Ruby's dad? I don't understand. Where did she go?"

"Kongpob, let's go. Don't ask anymore questions. Just go." Arthit pulls his boyfriend's arm. There's this unsettling feeling surrounding him, giving him goosebumps all over.

"Halloween, 1999." The man said as he closed his door.

The two men quickly returned to their empty car and drove home. Funny how they were really able to return to the city in twenty minutes.

The next morning over breakfast, Kongpob googled "Halloween, 1999." He suddenly drops his spoon when he comes across a news headline, "Teenage Girl's Tragic Death on Halloween." The picture of the victim is none other than Ruby.

"Kongpob, is everything okay?" Arthit asks, seeing Kongpob's face turn white.

"P'Arthit, I found Ruby." With his hands trembling, Kongpob shows his phone to Arthit. They had already guessed she was a ghost last night but now it's confirmed.

They read the news article on Ruby's tragic death. And indeed her boyfriend had left her in the middle of the night at that deserted road after an argument. Unfortunately, four men had also found her that night walking alone. They gang raped her and threw her over the bridge, leaving her to die. The four men were from wealthy families and they were never proven guilty.

Kongpob and Arthit searched further and found out that the following Halloween after Ruby died, the four men that raped her and her boyfriend died near the same bridge. There was an open forum where people said Ruby still haunts that deserted road every Halloween. Story has it that she kills all the bad people and lets the good ones go.

Then they found a comment where one person said he saw Ruby and offered her help not knowing she was a ghost. He also drove her home. And just like them, the moment her father answered the door, Ruby disappeared.

A sudden chill was in the air.

~~~~~~
AN: Sweets, Happy Halloween! 👻🎃🧟

Lol, I know this story is so cliché and dumb. But I grew up hearing variations of this ghost story, so I made a KongArt version.

Tell me the version you've heard in the comments.

Curtsy,
Lana 🧛🏻‍♀️