Murdercar

In 2007 I came back from Iraq after serving as an Army Medic. I was a broke college kid and needed a quick transport vehicle because I gave my Jeep to my brother before I was deployed. So, I stayed up one night browsing craigslist and I saw a post that I originally thought it was a scam. There was a Mazda Speed3 for sale. A newer one, with low miles, and clean. Pictures looked amazing and the person wrote that they were moving out of the country and needed to sell it fast. They wanted only $10k, but I was looking to spend only $7. So I texted this person and they responded right away. We haggled a bit and then decided on $8500. DEAL! The next day my brother and I went to look at it and it was very nice so I bought it then and there with a money order from USAA. I drove it home and loved it. It ran good, smelled good and was great on gas.

Fast forward to a couple weeks later: I was washing it out and detailing it. There was some dust and hair built up inside but nothing major. I just wanted to put my own work into it, sort of make it mine. And old Army habits never die, so I wanted it to be spotless. I get around to the trunk and started to lift up the carpet to vacuum underneath. It removed very easily, because I realized it wasn't the stock carpet. Instead it was an off-color cutout of a carpet someone put back there. It wasn't molded or contoured for the shape of the trunk either. I didn't care since I got the car for so cheap so I just lifted the carpet out and went to work. I then noticed that the metal body underneath had some brown stains in the crevices. Like BBQ sauce was spilled in the back. I started to scrub this stuff out of the folds and corners and was quickly reminded of my time served as a medic. A familiar odor came into my nose... blood. That irony, salty smell of blood. I was a little freaked out but I cleaned it up, put the carpet back and went home happy.

Later that night I texted the previous owner whose text I still had in my phone. I asked about the trunk and he said he didn't know. He said he had only had the vehicle for a couple months before he needed to move. He said he bought it from an older man who sold it to him for cheap also, so that's why he didn't feel to bad about selling it to me for cheap. He unfortunately didn't have any information about that previous owner. This is the scary part...

I was driving the car one night, coming home late from a school project. Its been a few months with the car and everything is fine. I have the radio on and I am jamming out cruising down the road. I then hear some thumps and I thought it was my radio so I turn it down some. I hear the thumps again and they sound like they were coming from my trunk. Like something was rolling around inside of it. I didn't have anything back there so I thought the spare tire came undone. I pulled into a nearby gas station and popped the lid. Nothing. Spare tire was seated and secure. I checked the back seats to make sure they were locked in and they were. I thought maybe it was something under the car, but it was too late to worry about it now and I made a mental note to check it out tomorrow. On the way home, a few more thuds and thumps but I ignored it.

The next day I put the car on jack stands and looked underneath for a loose part. I was thinking the exhaust was hanging loose, which is an easy fix. Underneath the car I found nothing wrong. I told my brother about the thumps and he seemed to think I was hearing things or something. I drove the whole week without any more noises. So at that point I snapped my fingers and told myself in traffic "it was a mouse!". A mouse got into the car or something. Duh...

The next weekend my brother and I were out drinking. I had a couple beers and my brother got loaded. When I sobered up we headed back home. We started to hear thumps from the trunk. My drunk brother told me to pull over. We checked the trunk, but found nothing. My brother threw up and we got back into the car. We continued along and heard more thumps. Now my brother started accusing me of making the noises. While we were arguing my brother stopped suddenly and his eyes went wide. He reached for the radio and turned it down all the way. I heard it too now. Muffled screams. Like far away. As if we could hear someone on the side of the road, but we were driving late at night. I slowed to a stop and there was one last scream, a couple thumps and my brother ran to the trunk. Nothing. We started to freak out, but continued home with nervous laughter and jokes about the noises. "Murdercar" became its new nickname.

I didn't hear anything else for a while. Murdercar was being silent. Except one night, I dropped off my new girlfriend at her home and left. I had the radio low, but it could have been volume level 30 and I still would have heard.... THUDDD!!! The loudest thump in the trunk. Just one. So loud I felt it. I felt the vibration of the hit in the car, through the seat and steering wheel. It was real to me. I started to slow down and expected another one. I glanced in the rear view mirror and caught the last movements of person ducking down in my backseat. The soldier in me came out. All in the same second I slammed the brakes, undid my seatbelt and turned to confront my enemy. But... no one was in the back seat. NO ONE. I sat there a minute in fear. I have seen alot and have dealt with some really creepy things in Iraq. But this, felt more like an invasion than anything else I have ever felt. I tried to remember if I saw what I saw in the mirror. I was convinced, and to this day I truly believe I know what I saw. I saw a person. The dark outline of one. Right behind me. Ducking down to avoid my stare.

I tried so hard to see that again, but all I got were a few weak thumps every other week or so. I was rear-ended on the freeway a couple months after the sighting, and the vehicle's trunk was completely crushed. I like to believe the thing inside was crushed as well. The vehicle was totaled and USAA gave me a new ride. I got a Tacoma, single bench so no one can hide behind me. But, from time to time, I always wonder about Murdercar and its mystery.

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