The car stalled.

Again.

In the middle of nowhere.

Jeff sighed. Twenty-one years and nearly a hundred and forty thousand miles was pretty good going for a Vauxhall Corsa. He’d got fed up with the constant stalling and the complete lack of air conditioning years ago. It wasn’t even that he was so attached to Otto. But he didn’t have the money to replace it. And he needed a car to get to work.

Oh well, look on the bright side – if he didn’t have a working car then he probably wouldn’t need to worry about his job either.

He gently tapped the accelerator as he turned the key again. He’d got so used to doing this that he could restart the engine while navigating through a complex junction. Without stopping.

But this time, Otto declined to cooperate. Just a click, and all the dashboard warning lights came on. No sound from the engine at all – only from the vent fans.

He turned it off, closed his eyes and leaned forward, resting his head on the steering wheel for a moment, until a surprise gust of wind buffeted the car.

Right. Phone out. Call the breakdown cover people.

Ugh, no signal. Typical.

The judge had awarded Brenda the house, the decent car and about a third of Jeff’s salary in spousal maintenance. She’d also ended up with the divorce lawyer. His divorce lawyer, which did make him wonder whether he’d been represented as well as he could be. Still, at least he got to keep his debts – the ones he’d built up trying to make her happy. Not that it stopped her leaving.

Okay then, might as well try again. A faint touch on the accelerator – don’t want to flood the engine. Turn the key. Click. Lights. The engine warning light had been on permanently for as long as he could remember now anyway. It was almost like a friend. Fans on. Still no engine or ignition.

He climbed out. It was a typical Manchester summer evening. Bright sunlight behind leaden clouds, giving an odd light that was familiar to anyone local to the area. A chill in the wind, despite being well into June. You couldn’t say the climate was boring – the weather forecast was only ever a rough guess at what the day would bring.

He’d taken a route back through the countryside after a minor medical checkup. Another consultant had managed to flatly contradict the previous three. So, he’d nodded and smiled and already decided to ignore their advice and just be grateful they hadn’t found anything to worry about.

Anyway, he’d wanted to avoid the traffic. Stupid idea. Now he was out in the middle of nowhere on a little winding lane. No one about.

Still no signal a few minutes’ walk up the lane. Maybe better to try back the other way?

As he walked back towards the car, there was a rustling noise in the trees on the other side of the dry-stone wall. It sounded big and it moved past him, quickly. His heart thudded.

He rounded the bend and there was another gust of wind, blowing a few lonely spots of rain into him. Otto was resting in the shadow of some trees. The rustling stopped.

Then something dark darted from the wall to his car.

And disappeared.

He stopped, his pulse pounding in his ears.

The car rocked and shuddered on its suspension for a few seconds before everything went quiet. The trees were still. No birds in the sky. Not even the slightest breeze. Just as he started creeping towards the car, it gave another shudder and then settled again.

He must have just imagined it. It was ridiculous – this was the real world, he wasn’t in a horror movie!

A bird cawed. There was another gust of wind. Somewhere up in the clouds, a plane sounded like it was coming in for landing.

Eventually, he approached the car, slowly. Were the headlights glowing faintly red?

Jeff blinked and shook his head. The lights looked normal, but there was a white circular bloom of some kind in the middle of the bonnet. It was disappearing, the faded blue paintwork becoming visible through it.

He stepped closer. It had nearly gone now, but the bonnet was wet. He touched it, cautiously. It felt cold. Was that frost melting away?

He sat on the wall, away from the car. Watching carefully. Waiting. Wondering if he was having some sort of mental breakdown, his imagination clearly in overdrive. Maybe the car dying had pushed him over the edge?

Nothing happened. The pounding in his ears started to fade. Nothing continued to happen for a while.

He checked his phone again, keeping the car in his peripheral vision. Still no signal.

Hmm.

After climbing off the wall, he gingerly approached the car, ready to turn and run at the slightest hint of danger. But still nothing happened. The remote worked as normal, except... he could have sworn the locks made a more solid chu-chunk sound than usual. Less tired and worn.

He walked around the outside, looking for whatever the dark shadow belonged to, next to the car, up and down the lane. Nothing unusual. Nothing under the car either – he crouched to get a good look.

The door opened smoothly. Not creaking like it usually did.

Inside, it looked strangely… clean. Even had that new car smell, which always gave him a slight headache. No idea why people seemed to like that.

He took a step back to consider. But he couldn’t phone for help and he wouldn’t even know which direction to walk, where the nearest house or farm was. And this being Manchester, it could start chucking it down any minute.

Right…

He climbed back into the car apprehensively. Key back in, door still open, just in case. The key turned easily.

The dashboard lit up. All the lights came on. There was a brief sound of the engine firing, cleanly. Then quiet again, the vent fans running again. But the warning lights went out. Even his bright yellow friend.

And the rev counter was steady as a rock. He frowned and turned the fans off. The engine was running. But it was nearly silent – none of its usual juddering or choking noises. He put his foot on the accelerator. It roared as the rev counter jumped up and quietened as he released it again.

After popping the bonnet catch, he went to examine the engine bay. Was it that clean in there before? No eldritch abominations jumped out from the brake fluid tank. All solid, almost aggressively normal.

He scratched his head, closed the bonnet and sat back in the driver’s seat, listening to the engine softly purring.

After a few minutes, he shrugged and put the seatbelt on and shut the door.

The car pulled away smoothly and easily, without its usual threat of stalling.

He’d been driving for a few minutes and was nearly back off the country lanes when the radio turned itself on.

“…tell you what I want, what I really really want…”

He jumped and turned it off again. Jeff was not a Spice Girls fan.

“…what you want, what you re–…”

Off.

“…I wanna, I wanna…”

Change station. This was better. Classic rock.

“…Beelzebub has a devil put aside fo–…dzz…announc–…dzz…you gotta get with my friends…”

He gave up. “Seriously? I’m stuck listening to Spice Girls now?”

“… it last forever, friendship never…”

Jeff continued driving. When Wannabe ended, the radio retuned itself repeatedly, catching snatches from different stations until it settled on a Country and Western track. He tried to change it back to Queen again a few times, but it kept returning to the previous station.

Otto didn’t stall once on the way home. When he tried turning the volume down, it went back up, slightly higher than it had been beforehand. He decided to leave it after that.

When he pulled into a parking space outside the flats where he lived and turned the car off, the engine stopped immediately, without the usual prolonged stuttering. He unbuckled and climbed out of the car, shut the door and locked it, with another pleasant chu-chunk and the indicators flashing brightly.

Jeff stopped outside the door to the flats and looked back at the car. It sat there innocently. He glared at it suspiciously for a moment, then felt foolish, and finally went inside.

* * *

The forecast had been overcast and rainy, so the clouds had responded with a rare retreat and the next day was much warmer. He climbed into the car, which was already beginning to feel like an oven. Ugh, another sweaty summer drive.

This morning’s music was back to pop, but something more modern that he didn’t recognise and was determined to ignore. It was his imagination, that was all. But after driving for a few minutes, he started to get the uncanny feeling that there was another presence with him in the vehicle.

A strange chill in the air.

A cold spot surrounding his seat.

He checked over his shoulder, feeling foolish. No one was in the back seats.

Actually, the chill was quite pleasant in the heat.

When he came out from work there were mats in the front footwells. He was sure the car hadn’t had any previously – not even when he bought it. He stood next to the open door for a moment, scratching his head. Then he climbed in, not shutting the door immediately. It must be his memory playing tricks, surely?

The next day the scratches were gone from the windows and paintwork. And it looked like someone had cleaned and polished it.

Also, the dead flies above the dashboard were all gone. No sign of them.

And the radio kept doing its own thing. Creepy, but surely it must just be some weird electrical fault or something?

Three days after Otto’s strange rejuvenation, Jeff climbed into the car, finished his Mars bar and shoved the wrapper in the now-empty ashtray. Ten minutes later, he was just about to follow another car into a box junction to turn right, when Otto came to a sudden halt before the lights, completely dead, dashboard lights out.

As he tried to restart it, a massive lorry shot across the junction, straight through the red light, behind the car in front, just missing it.

Right where he would have been if it hadn’t stopped.

He sat shaking as he stared after the lorry. Then he looked down at the dashboard, suddenly feeling like he might throw up.

It had saved his life.

“Uh, thank you.”

The engine started itself again. The music resumed – You’ve Got a Friend In Me. And a car behind was hooting for him to go through the green light. He managed to guide Otto to work, still shaking, unsure whether to be terrified, grateful, or both.

He parked at work, turned off the ignition and pulled at the door handle. The doors wouldn’t unlock, even with the remote.

The engine revved a little, twice, almost like someone clearing their throat. Then there were two brief squirts from the windscreen washers and the wiper cleared the screen. A quick blast of air from the vents rattled the rubbish in the ashtray.

“Oh, sorry.” He picked up the Mars wrapper and the doors unlocked again.

* * *

It was three in the morning. A time that Cam was well familiar with – people were deeply asleep, and in the summer, a lot of them left their windows open, sometimes even doors. It was easy enough to sneak in, have a quick look around and get out before they woke up. Even if they did, he’d be well out before they were properly awake. And there were all sorts that people left lying around. It was surprising how much cash people still had even in this day and age. And then there were other valuables too.

Anya had been nagging him to get out of the burglary business, so hopefully he’d make a nice packet tonight and then he could invest it in something legit. Des said he knew a guy who sold black market cigs at a good price. They’d probably be easy to flog on at a nice profit.

He parked his car on the main road, walked around the corner to a block of flats, and padded lightly across the gravel car park. Some of the flat windows were open. But first, it might be worth checking the cars. Sometimes people left them unlocked, or windows open, in the heat. Might be things worth nicking in them. Sensible to start there.

There was a bright blue Corsa. Old numberplate, and the design of it looked old, but the car itself seemed shiny and new. Must be well looked after.

He glanced up at the building. No sign of anyone watching. No CCTV cameras visible, and his hood would hide his face anyway, especially in the dark.

His hand found the door handle. Click. The door swung open. Ha! They’d left it unlocked! He climbed in and let the door swing shut behind him. An open door at this time would attract attention if anyone did glance out of their window.

There was a chu-chunk noise as the door locks engaged. He tried the handle. Nothing happened. After climbing across, he tried the handle on the driver’s door. It also wouldn’t open. He removed the head restraint and slammed one of the metal poles into the window. There was just a clink as the window held. Getting more frantic, he tried again and again, but the glass wouldn’t smash.

His eyes opened wide as he looked down towards the footwell, frantically trying to pull himself upwards.

From outside, his scream was muffled, and didn’t last long.

The car rocked from side to side on its suspension a couple of times and then all was quiet.

* * *

Jeff came down to the car the next morning with some empty bags – for a shopping trip after work. He opened the boot to put them in and caught a whiff of a smell he couldn’t identify. That was strange.

He closed the boot again and went around to the side of the car, and opened the rear door.

Definitely a smell. Sort of… sweet.

Then he opened the driver’s door and paused for a second, sniffing.

Peering inside, he noticed the new air freshener tag hanging from the rearview mirror. Vanilla. That’s what the smell was.

He climbed in and checked around the inside of the car. The fabric was looking like new, all wear and tear gone. Perfectly clean.

He didn’t notice the red stain low on the back of the passenger seat, fading, slowly. It had gone by the time he’d settled into the flow of traffic on the main roads.

As he drove, the radio came on, finding its way to a station playing Who Do You Think You Are.

Jeff spoke up. “Hey! I thought we agreed that Fridays are my choice!”

He twiddled the knob on the radio as he drove. This time it stayed on his selection.

“…Are you ready? Hey, are you ready for this? Are you hanging on the edge of your seat?...”

He nodded along to the music as he drove, enjoying listening to his own preference for once.

“…Another one bites the dust...”

Ten minutes later, he was cutting down a back street. There was a little old pink Ford Ka pulled in awkwardly at the side of the road in front of him, partly sticking out. He glanced at the numberplate as he approached – about eighteen years old. Its bonnet was up. As he was approaching it, Otto braked by itself, and stopped by the side of the other car.

His dashboard had gone completely dead, again.

He sighed and got out of the car to walk around to the bonnet. A woman was peering into the engine bay.

“Hi, need any help?” he asked.

She was very pretty, even with the bags under her eyes, wearing a blue nurse’s uniform. “Hmm. It stalled and I can’t get it going again.”

“Well, I’m not an expert, but I can have a look.”

She looked him up and down, uncertainly. “No… thanks, I need to learn how to deal with all this stuff myself now.”

Her light brown hair had worked loose a little from where she’d tied it back and her uniform looked a little rumpled.

“Are you sure? I don’t like to leave you like this.”

She studied his face warily. “Alright then, I guess you can help… I mean, thanks.”

“Can you try starting it so I can see what happens?”

He peered over her shoulder at the dashboard. A familiar click and the warning lights all came on, but no ignition.

“Hmm. Had any trouble starting it before?”

“Yes. I needed a jumpstart last week. I should take it to the garage, but I’ve been trying to keep it going as long as I can.” She blushed. “I’m Olivia, by the way, but everyone calls me Livvie.”

“My name’s Jeff.” He rubbed his chin as he stared at the dashboard. “Okay, turn it off again. Let me just grab something from my boot.”

He gave it a quick check with his multimeter. “Right, the battery’s low, which might be the battery itself, or maybe the alternator.”

“How do you know so much about cars?”

“Lots of problems with mine. And it isn’t hard with Google these days. I’ll try a jumpstart and if we can get it running then I’ll see if I can check the voltage with the engine going. That should tell us if it’s the alternator.”

She frowned. “Look, I do appreciate this, but I’m not a charity case. You head off to work and I’ll call the AA. I’m paying for it anyway.”

“It’s fine. I’m happy to help. And I get it – I’m in a similar position myself. And you don’t want to be sitting here waiting for hours for them to turn up when you need to get some sleep.”

Her eyes narrowed for a split second, so quickly that Jeff was barely certain he’d seen it. Then she rubbed them and ran her fingers through her hair. “Argh, you’re just trying to help me, and I’m being horrible. I’ve just had a rough night and I’m exhausted – we were understaffed again.”

“Don’t worry, I understand.”

Otto sprang back to life when he put the key in. He waited for a gap in the traffic and manoeuvred it in front of Livvie’s car. Jeff was a bit nervous about connecting the jump leads to the other car. When he asked Livvie to start her engine, it started running fine.

“Okay, let’s just leave them running for a few minutes to give your battery a chance to charge before I disconnect Otto.”

“Otto?”

His face suddenly felt warm. “Oh, yes, it’s silly, that’s what I call my car.”

“Oh, that’s funny, I call mine Cara!” She actually smiled. He wondered how old she was. Probably a bit younger than him.

“Glad to know I’m not the only one! I’m a bit worried about you getting where you’re going though – if you stall, Cara might not start again.”

“I’m just on my way home, and it isn’t far.”

He glanced at the cars. Were they a bit closer together than they had been?

“Well, if you want, I can follow you back, so if you do stall then I can give you another jump.”

“Er… don’t take it the wrong way, but I’ve only just met you. I mean, I’m not sure I want you to know where I live.”

“Um… no, I totally understand that. Do you want me to just give you my number and I can come and rescue you if it stalls again?”

She bit the inside of her cheek as she considered it. “Okay then. If you’re sure it’s fine with you?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Let’s disconnect now and I’ll have a look at that alternator.”

The cars’ bumpers were touching – he’d definitely left a gap. It wasn’t safe to jump-start like that. He disconnected Otto, being careful not to touch anything metal. After reversing a bit to give Livvie space to get out with Cara, he got out to walk back to the other car. There was a pink smudge around the edges of Otto’s front numberplate. The same colour as Cara’s paintwork. He checked Cara to make sure it wasn’t scratched, but there were no marks that he could see. Somehow, Otto was giving the distinct impression of looking guilty, and embarrassed.

After checking Cara’s dashboard, he breathed a sigh of relief – the rev counter was wavering about and the engine making funny noises, like he’d expect from a car that age. A normal car, anyway.

“I’ll tell you what. I can change the battery. There’s a cheap place near me. You can park outside and I’ll swap it out. All in public. I can do it tomorrow if you want? They’re open on Saturday mornings.”

“It’s fine, I’ll watch a YouTube video. I’m sure I can work it out.”

“Uh… do you have spanners though?”

“No, but I could buy some?” She sounded a bit uncertain.

“Honestly, don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help and I’ve nothing better to do tomorrow.” It would feel good to solve something that was probably a big worry for her. And he’d done it for Otto a couple of years earlier – it wasn’t a big deal.

She looked at his face, tilting her head. Then her eyes went down, studying his hands. “Hmm. Okay then. How about if you come back to mine afterwards and we can have lunch together? As a thank you. I’m a good cook.”

“Uh… that’d be lovely. But I thought you didn’t want me to know where you live?”

It would certainly be better than having lunch by himself in his flat. And he would like to get to know her a bit better.

“Yeah, well, you have gone out of your way to be kind to me. And I’ve got a big dog to protect me at home. Besides, I feel like Cara would like to see Otto again.” She smiled again.

He thought about Cara breaking down in just the right place and just the right time for him to come past and help. His eyes narrowed as he looked at Otto.

Very briefly, so no one else could see, one of the headlights blinked.