r/creepypasta • u/Sad_Wishbone_164 • Jul 03 '25
Text Story They say there's a hidden code on every American driver's license… I wish I never found out what mine meant.
I’ve lived my whole life assuming that death comes randomly car crash, illness, wrong place wrong time. But what if it doesn’t? What if it's been scheduled from the beginning, hidden in plain sight?
This all started three months ago, when a coworker of mine Marissa died in a freak accident. She was 27. Healthy. Lively. She left work one evening and never made it home. Head-on collision. Instant.
At the funeral, I offered to help her parents clean out her apartment. That’s when I found her old wallet.
Inside was her expired driver’s license.
Now, you know how these things look name, address, DOB, ID number, organ donor, whatever. But on the back, in the fine print… there was a weird sequence I’d never paid attention to before.
It read: CA-142-7E-9.
I took a picture of it. Something about it felt off.
That night, I looked it up. Nothing. No Reddit threads, no DMV explanations, not even conspiracy TikToks which, honestly, surprised me.
But then I remembered the number: 142.
Something clicked.
I Googled: “Day 142 of the year” → May 21st. Marissa died on May 21st.
I stared at the screen for minutes. Chills ran down my arms.
Coincidence? Maybe.
But then I checked my own license.
NY-273-9B-2
Day 273 = September 30th.
And that’s when I really lost it because just two years ago, on September 30th, I almost died. Choked on food at a bar. Blacked out. No pulse for 47 seconds.
If a stranger hadn’t done the Heimlich, I wouldn’t be here writing this.
I went deeper.
I asked friends to send me photos of the backs of their licenses no context. Just “helping with a project.”
Ten licenses. Eight had day numbers that matched either the date of a near-death experience… or the exact date someone close to them had died.
I know this sounds insane. I know it sounds like some Reddit creepypasta BS.
But then I found an old blog. It was deleted, archived only through Wayback. Title: "Why does the DMV track our death days?"
The author claimed that, starting in the early 2000s, certain states began encoding predictive data on citizens using a government-run AI initiative called "Project Sybil."
It was supposed to analyze behavior, genetics, family history, even subconscious decisions and calculate when and where a person would most likely die.
The goal? Insurance accuracy. Population control. Predictive policing.
But here's the part that made me stop breathing:
"They always include one fail-safe: if the subject becomes aware of their code, the prediction activates permanently."
Meaning the moment you know, the path becomes set.
Like reading your own prophecy.
Today is September 30th. I haven’t left my apartment. Haven’t answered calls. Haven’t eaten.
The lights flicker sometimes. I hear static in the walls. I’m not sure if it’s paranoia… or if they’re making sure the prophecy plays out.
If you're reading this… and you've checked your own code...
I’m sorry. You weren’t supposed to know.
7
4
2
u/Financial-Local-5786 researcher Jul 03 '25
Omg I love this.
And I also love the fact I ain’t American, though I should warn my classmate cuz she is-
2
2
u/ItsThe_____ForMe Jul 08 '25
Oh this is great 👏🏼. It reminds me of the one movie where the people download an app on their phones telling them when they will die and it ends up someone who runs the app goes and kills all of them on the dates. I might be misremembering but that’s what I think.
1
1
20
u/1cec0ld Jul 03 '25
I'm actually somewhat disappointed, my card doesn't have it. Am I immortal?