Sofia

[00:00:00] Hey there, it's Edwin. And this, Scary Story Podcast. There is a stretch of road between the airport and the city where most of my family lives. So whenever we have to make the trip down there, we have to travel down a long, dark and empty highway.

[00:00:21] The US had some travel advisories around the area. You know, places that you should not travel on at night, especially not by yourself. They used to quite often. And this road was one of them. The highway was painfully straight and boring.

[00:00:39] At one point during the drives at night, the lines that would divide the lanes would begin swirling and dancing to the rhythm of the tires against the asphalt and the many potholes that lined it.

[00:00:51] The things that would snap you out of the hypnotic states would be the gas stations, though most were not operational. Oh, and the crosses on the side of the road. People would sometimes be gathered around one of the working gas stations,

[00:01:06] and those were usually the passengers of the buses that traveled all night between the north and southern states of Mexico, making their stops for people to grab a bite to eat or to use the bathrooms. Motorcyclists would also be spotted sometimes traveling much slower than I was,

[00:01:22] and on the right side of the road, as if it were in the middle of the day, with not a care in the world about how dark it was out there. They had places to be, I guess. But to me, imagining being there all alone and exposed,

[00:01:37] with only the sound of my engine instead of the late night radio show that I was listening to in the car, I'm sure my mind would begin to play tricks on me. Stories of ghosts were not uncommon in these areas.

[00:01:52] One such story that I was told on my last trip was the one with the police officer, who happened to be my dad's brother-in-law, whose jurisdiction doesn't start until much further down the road, but knows all officers who have to work the night shift patrolling that highway.

[00:02:08] It is a story of a woman named Sophia. Sophia had been spotted in early December, though to others it had been late November, wandering about on the left side of the highway,

[00:02:21] flagging down motorists who stop at the side of a woman needing help on the side of the road. It was weird to start thinking of her story that late at night, but with those patches where the radio doesn't catch signal,

[00:02:34] there's not much else to do but to let your mind wonder what's on the other side of the road next to you. All you can see are your own headlights reflecting off the dark pavement in front of you. I couldn't remember the story very well at the time,

[00:02:50] but please know that after this experience, I will never forget it. The clock had already hit one in the morning, and I was only about 45 minutes away from my grandmother's house. I prayed silently that she would be asleep and not be waiting up for me so late.

[00:03:08] The car was the only sound I could hear, the engine and tires against the road, though I made sure to keep the static from the radio turned up just a little bit, just in case it caught something interesting for me to turn up and listen to.

[00:03:22] I passed another empty gas station, with only a tiny red light coming from the front entrance. I could barely see it. Maybe I was going too fast. Up ahead on the left side, I could see flickering lights on the dirt by the pavement.

[00:03:40] As I got closer, I could see that there were candles and yet another white cross with flowers. Just another casualty. I was gripping the steering wheel more than usual, and I couldn't remember ever being that nervous going along that road.

[00:03:56] Maybe because it was the first time that I was by myself at night. When my dad used to drive with me, he would take turns, and he knew the way better than I did. Then again, I would lose my patience at just how slowly he would drive.

[00:04:11] I remember passing by those crosses, almost being able to read the names on them. It always made me feel uneasy. I rubbed my eyes as I saw another white cross coming up ahead, this time closer to the road to my right.

[00:04:29] My eyes couldn't move away from it as it grew bigger once I got closer. This one was much larger than the others and it wasn't so low in the ground. It was then when I realized that what I was looking at was not a cross.

[00:04:45] Someone was waving at me from the side of the road. A woman with her arms stretched out, waving both of her arms. A small bag was on the ground next to her. I let go of the gas pedal and slowed down to pass her.

[00:05:03] There was nothing around for miles and no other signs of a car and nowhere for anyone to be hiding in case it was a trap. I pulled over a few yards in front of her and she came rushing up to my window, smiling.

[00:05:17] I asked her if she was alright and she said that everything was fine, but she had a favor to ask for me. I hope she wasn't about to ask for money because I seriously had no cash.

[00:05:30] I turned down the radio all the way as she leaned over to the window to explain to me what she wanted. She told me that there was a town called Isidro, not far from where she was right then.

[00:05:42] Actually, I knew of the town and it was a town right next to the one I was going to. She said that her parents lived there and she needed me to give them a message for her.

[00:05:53] They lived in a house by the only two large trees before going up a trail known as Camino de los Venados or Path of the Deer. The woman was young, not even 30 years old yet, but she looked tired.

[00:06:08] Her eyes were sunken in, just the way they end up looking when you don't get enough sleep. Her black hair stood out against her white shirt and her teeth were larger than usual. Maybe her mouth was shriveled a little more than normal and it was tough to explain.

[00:06:27] I guess I was just thrown off by the situation. But the car pulled over on the side of the road with no other cars being seen for over half an hour,

[00:06:36] speaking to a woman who happened to be walking along the side of the road at one in the morning. I looked back at where she had been standing, wondering if her bag was still there on the ground in the dark.

[00:06:49] Then I looked back at her and asked her if she wanted me to take her there. Then it wouldn't be a problem. I was going there anyway. No, she said, her tone changing drastically. And then another smile started creeping up on her face once again.

[00:07:07] She wanted me to give them a message. She told me to tell them to come and see her, that she misses them, that she can't wait to be with them again. She emphasized that last part. She can't wait to be with them again. I was confused honestly.

[00:07:29] There was no way this was happening and I kept thinking about what she could have been doing in the dark and why she wanted to stay there. I asked one more time that I could take her, that it wasn't a problem.

[00:07:42] That I was going to the town right next to it. Her tone changed once again as she said no. Her smile came back and asked if I could send them that message. She would be staying around that area and that's what made me feel very uneasy.

[00:08:03] There was nothing around there for miles, not even one of those closed gas stations, not a rest stop, nothing. Just pure desert with bushes and hills into the distance, even though you couldn't see them there at the time.

[00:08:18] There was something strange about not wanting to leave a complete stranger on the side of the road in fear of what may happen to them, but also feeling the relief of knowing that the bizarre encounter itself was enough to make you want to leave her behind.

[00:08:32] She walked back to where she was standing, disappearing completely into the darkness behind me. And I rolled up my window and headed back to the road. The rest of the drive was intense, to say the least.

[00:08:48] I kept hearing her voice, that whisper and echo that came out of her when she asked me to share that message with her parents. I felt guilty for leaving her on the side of the road now.

[00:08:59] But a little before two in the morning, I made it to my grandmother's house and I caught the light of the kitchen on. As soon as I shut off the car, the light of the living room turned on and the front door opened. It was grandma.

[00:09:13] I got out of the car and I grabbed my bag and went inside, forgetting all about the woman on the side of the road.

[00:09:20] It wasn't until a few days after that when I needed to take my grandma to pick up yarn from one of the shops at the edge of town. When I mentioned that I needed to take care of something in Isidro

[00:09:31] and asked about the trail and the house by the two large trees. Grandma told me that she knew where the house was and agreed to come with me. We pulled up around 6pm, right around sunset. And the woman had been right.

[00:09:48] It was the only house around there and the trees really stood out from the rest of the scenery. As I was getting out of the car, the man who had been sitting in the front porch stood up and greeted us with a smile.

[00:10:02] When I stepped out of the car, the man asked how he could help us. And even through the fear of sounding strange to him, I told him exactly what the woman on the side of the road had asked me to tell them. That she would be there.

[00:10:15] That she couldn't wait to be with him again. The man turned around to face the house and called his wife over. A woman named Sandra who came rushing to the front door. What day is it? he asked her in Spanish. They both looked at each other in shock.

[00:10:36] My grandma had stepped out of the car and was next to me too, looking out into the field of the house with the two trees. They had missed the anniversary of their daughter's death. A young woman who had died in a car accident several years ago.

[00:10:51] Woman named Sophia. That's how the story goes. And her story has met headlines as the woman who refuses a ride. The woman who sends messages to her parents around the time of her death.

[00:11:07] In fact, even tow truck operators have claimed to see her standing on the side of the road. And those new ones who have never seen her before actually stop and talk to her. They end up visiting the parents' house with the same message.

[00:11:41] The following story is called Where We Stayed. And it is coming up right after this. There was no specific reason to visit New Orleans by myself. Especially when it was raining so much over there. I mean, I didn't know it would be raining the entire time.

[00:12:07] But then again, I didn't ask anybody nor thought of looking up the weather. I had put all my things in storage. Overpaying for a tiny spot that barely fit some of my books and small furniture that I could not get rid of.

[00:12:22] Had I been brave enough back then to only get rid of Sarah's things. Everything would have fit in one of the storage lockers for half the price. There were blankets and a lot of her clothes.

[00:12:35] Not everyday clothes, but the ones that used to be her absolute favorite ones. Her green jacket. Her Uggs. The sweaters that she knit for both of us, but made mine too tight in the arms. So she ended up using it for herself.

[00:12:51] And there were things from these other things we used to call miscellaneous drawers. There were basically drawers with random stuff that she had not managed to sort out just yet. I just called them junk drawers. Though for some reason it would make her very upset.

[00:13:07] You didn't want to be around her when she was upset. Just thinking of the many things that she used to do when she let her rage take over still makes me want to crawl under the bed and hide. I was in a daze.

[00:13:20] And it wasn't only the weather I forgot to look up, but also the name of the hotel that would be staying. Maybe not even getting to the checkout page and simply staring at the hotel's reservation website and making myself think that I had actually purchased a weak stay

[00:13:34] when in reality it was no charge to my credit card. Sir, where will you be staying? The lady from the bank over the phone asked me. I don't know why, but back then I think you had to tell your bank that you were traveling

[00:13:49] so that your card wouldn't get locked. It would take years for me to find out that you only had to do that if you were leaving the country. I think I got the overly cautious Jean from my dad.

[00:14:02] He was the one that told me to not buy things with him at the store. It was a thing dad used to say when cards came out and when you wanted to pay with a credit card,

[00:14:11] the cashier would literally take an imprint of your card and run it later. I can almost hear dad ask me how much I trusted the cashier. I think they trusted us more back then.

[00:14:22] I still had the woman on the phone and with my computer in front of me I tried searching for the confirmation details of the hotel where I would be staying. But there was nothing. No receipt.

[00:14:35] When I told her New Orleans, she said that my card was already cleared for use in Louisiana and to have a great trip. I didn't even get to say goodbye to her as my eyes kept scanning my emails with every headline you can imagine. But no.

[00:14:51] There was no hotel reservation. Before Airbnb, you could still get extended stays at places. It was only a matter of searching on websites like Craigslist and stuff like that. But of course it was much sketchier.

[00:15:07] My excuses at the time were literally about me wondering exactly how my life could get worse at the time. I was by myself now. Everyone. Everything. Everywhere. Just left me. Or was in the process of doing so.

[00:15:27] The night before my flight, I sent an email reply to a listing on the website of this place located near the city center. Not the best part in town but it was affordable. It looked safe inside the building from the pictures.

[00:15:40] If they didn't reply to me then I guess I could just search for just about any hotel in the area. There were lots of them. I'm sure they would have rooms but again, I never checked to see if there was some major event or convention in the area

[00:15:54] that would lock up all the rooms in the city. Which had happened to me before. During a trip I took with Sarah to San Diego back in 1998. Right on Super Bowl weekend. I shut down my computer the way a person says goodbye to an old friend.

[00:16:11] Even though I was likely to come back to that same apartment. My lease wouldn't be out for another two months but I had already committed to taking out my things and putting them in storage. It was a mess. I was a mess.

[00:16:26] I needed to get out of town. When I arrived, I went to one of the counters with computers at one of the lounges back when American Airlines used to do that sort of thing.

[00:16:36] I logged into my email and saw the confirmation from the place I had asked about. It would cost $80 for a full week. And I was given an access code to get the key as soon as I submitted the payment. Right there on the spot.

[00:16:50] Thank goodness for credit cards. The cab driver was okay. A bit rude with the way he spoke and the way he lit a cigarette with no way to open up the windows completely thanks to the rain. The way he asked me what I was there for.

[00:17:07] What I was thinking for visiting at the time. And if I knew anything. No. I didn't know anything. I didn't know why I was there or why the city stood out to me from the many ads on some website. I just needed to get out of town.

[00:17:22] I needed to smell different roads and hear different people walking down the street. I guess I sort of knew. Sarah and I always wanted to visit this place. Maybe catch a band performance or finally learn how to dance.

[00:17:39] I took my own suitcase out of the trunk while the driver left me mid-sentence as I was saying thank you to him. Maybe he wasn't happy with his tip. 0617 was the code on the lock. It opened up and I was able to grab the key.

[00:17:57] The key chain itself was a folded up piece of paper. Fourth floor, room three. And then a phone number at the bottom. I stepped into the hallway, damped wallpaper and carpet everywhere. A large security camera buzzed as it zoomed into my figure when I passed right under it.

[00:18:18] The key went in easily and I was surprised at the room. It was beautiful. With classic old-fashioned furniture and a basket of snacks in the center table. The window showed a stunning view of the rest of the city.

[00:18:32] The parts that you can't see from the walking around the street. I flicked on the light and saw a kitchen area. Clean, modern at the time. And it smelled great. I took off my shoes and dreamt of Sarah. How I wished she was with me.

[00:18:49] It was the second day when I got an email from the owner of the apartment which I still hadn't met in person. And who I thought I wouldn't actually get to meet but eventually she showed up at my door.

[00:19:02] Her email said that she would be stopping by to leave an extra towel. Because she had assumed that I would be there by myself without confirming. Sure enough a few hours later she knocked twice at my door and that was it.

[00:19:16] I put on my shirt and walked over to the door that morning. When I opened it, there was a laundry basket with extra towels and a hairdryer. I looked around but the hallway was empty. That was weird, I thought to myself. But the whole thing was weird.

[00:19:35] I would step outside into the city and become drenched with the rain. I'd rush to the cafes and stores saying some of the nicest people I had ever met. But everyone just seemed so tired. Maybe it was just me.

[00:19:50] I couldn't remember the last time I had felt so empty. But the dreams I had in that apartment were stranger than before. And one of them Sarah would struggle to take off one of her boots and then kick it across a room.

[00:20:06] She would be looking over a bottle of soda. She would start laughing as I rushed over to it worried that the bottle had broken and we would get ants all over the place. In another dream she showed up with me, with her yellow suitcase next to mine.

[00:20:21] The one that she begged me that I carry for her up the stairs and that she would take my backpack. In the dream we had arrived right at the same apartment. And I heard Sarah's complaints about the smell of the hallway.

[00:20:35] I would sit back and bask in her joy of seeing just how nice the apartment was on the inside. When it was time to go I received another email that night before my flight.

[00:20:48] It was a simple thank you email along with a note saying that she hopes that we enjoyed our stay. I clicked on the reply button on my phone letting her know that it had only been me. But thanks anyway, if the stay had been great.

[00:21:05] About five minutes later I heard a knock on the door asking for me by my first name, Henry. I walked over to it and finally met the owner, a short woman about 50 years old. She was asking me if I needed anything.

[00:21:22] I told her that I had just replied to her email but that everything was fine and I thanked her once again. She waited for me to say something as she softly said, But your wife, the woman.

[00:21:39] She's here that was impossible but maybe I had talked to myself long enough for her to imagine that someone else had been there with me. I simply repeated it, that no, that I had been there by myself.

[00:21:54] I could tell that she was uncomfortable and that her demeanor had changed. It felt like I was about to receive one of those talks about not lying, Like the kind that a parent gives to a child when they are being scolded.

[00:22:09] She simply faked a smile and with that she walked down the hallway and to the staircase. We were about to board the plane when I got the familiar ding on my phone. It had an image attachment which I quickly downloaded.

[00:22:27] Three images of the security camera on the hallway of that apartment where I had stayed. The email had been sent from the owner of the apartment and one of the images I'm walking from the end of the hallway toward apartment number three.

[00:22:44] The second I'm standing by the door and the third I'm walking into the apartment still with my suitcase next to me but in all three of those images. Sarah was next to me and a third image. She looked at the camera but I was there by myself

[00:23:18] and Sarah had been dead for exactly two months. Scary Story Podcast is written and produced by me, Edwin Covarrubias. Do you have an idea for a story? Send me an email or find me on Instagram at EdwinCove that's E-D-W-I-N-C-O-V.

[00:23:47] Up next check out my other podcasts, True Scary Story and the other one called A Dark Memory by searching for them on your podcast player. Don't forget to tap follow to stay up to date. Thank you very much for listening. See you soon.