Another late finish... Goddamned Jerry! I fucking told him to get that report finished up this morning! And screw Adam as well for dumping that shit on me! I bet they did it on purpose, just because Jenny agreed to go out with me this weekend. Jealous bastards! Why'd they have to pull this crap when my car is in the shop?

I sit in the bus stop, still panting and dripping sweat after having run from the office building, only to watch as the tail lights of the last bus of the night pull away from the stop. I reach into my pocket to grab my phone, only to find the battery dead. Fuck! Can tonight get any worse?!

Luckily, that didn't cause a sudden storm or anything. After all, that shit only happens in fiction. I sigh deeply, realising that I have no way to get home tonight and cannot afford to find a hotel room. Too tired to find somewhere a little more discreet, I resign myself to sleeping in the bus stop and lay down on the bench, tucking my jacket under my head as a pillow, and try to get some sleep.

"Ya gettin' on, or wot?"

My eyes fly open at the gruff voice, and I bolt upright as my eyes adjust to find a dilapidated bus in front of me, doors wide open. I didn't even hear it pull up. How long have I been asleep? I go to check my phone before remembering it is dead.

"Well?! I ain't got all night! Get on, if yer gettin' on!"

I look up at the source of the voice to find a figure shrouded in darkness where the driver would sit. Still groggy and slightly confused, I get on and reach into my pocket to pull out change to pay.

"Ah, don' worry 'bout it. Ya look like ya've had a rough night. This one's free."

Thanking the strangely shadowed driver, I turn to the interior of the bus and pause. There's something not right about this situation, my mind tells me. The hairs on the back of my neck are standing on end, and I realise a shiver has been running up and down my spine since the moment I stepped onto the bus.

I'm thrown down the aisle as the bus lurches forwards, my hand grasping at the rusted metal poles attached to the worn and poorly maintained seats. I catch myself and tumble into a vacant seat, sliding into the window seat and gazing out of the cracked, hazy window.

Something inside me is screaming that I shouldn't be here! I can tell that it is some deep rooted, primal instinct that humans long since stopped paying attention to. Well, right now it is refusing to be ignored. I take a better look around at the sparse other passengers, and my breath hitches as I recognise creatures that exist only in the stories humanity came up with to frighten one another.

"Nope. Too tired for this shit" I mutter to myself, and turn back around, laying my head against the window and resigning myself to the most unnerving bus ride I've ever experienced.

Eventually, I realise the other passengers have disembarked, except for myself and one other; an elvin looking gentleman, early 20's by the looks of him, who I realise is staring at me.

Suddenly, I realise I have no idea where this bus is going and go to stand to ask the driver where we are, where we're headed, and maybe to get off.

"Don't worry, sir," a lilting, sing-song voice says. "The Driver knows exactly where each passenger needs to go. It's unusual for a Human to ride this bus, though not entirely unheard of."

I realise it was the elvin man, and turn towards him.

"Forgive me, but what exactly is this bus?" I ask.

"Why, 'tis just a bus, sir," the gentleman replies. "Don't you worry about the finer details. Just be sure to thank The Driver when you reach your destination."

"Of course," I respond. "Thanks for the info."

"Not a problem," he cheerfully says. "If you don't mind, may I have your name?" he asks, a glint in his eye.

"It's-" I begin to answer before I suddenly recall stories from my childhood of a type of creature that will steal your name if you give it freely. Wily beings for whom words are Power. Sly tricksters that trick humans into giving up everything if they do not answer carefully and precisely to leave no room for them to twist the meaning. The Fae!

"Actually, no, you may not. But you can call me Owen," I amend my answer. "And what might I call you, good sir?" I ask as the gentleman's smile falters for just a moment before flaring back with thrice the vibrancy.

"Oh, most excellently done indeed! Rare to encounter a Human that avoids that little slip. You may call me Alfred." He exclaims, jovially, as he hands me a card with his name.

"I hope we meet again!" He says, as the bus shudders to a halt. I look out the window and realise we're at the bus stop just down the road from my house.

"Ya gettin' off, or wot?!" comes the gruff voice from the front.

I stand and take my leave of the strange Fae gentleman, Alfred. As I reach the front of the bus, I turn to The Driver and thank him before alighting. The doors hiss shut behind me, and I turn to watch the bus leave but it is already gone. Bewildered, I look at the business card in my hand - the only evidence that this was not a dream conjured by an overly tired mind - and turn to walk up the street to my house, certain that I've not seen the last of that strange bus, nor the Fae gentleman I met.