She Took the Last Seat Beside a Scarred Stranger—Then the Whole Train Fell Terrifyingly Silent
Chapter 3
Emily refused to sit down.
She stared through the window as Blackridge disappeared behind them.
The station was small.
Almost abandoned.
A single platform.
One broken lamp.
A faded sign.
But it was unmistakably Blackridge.
Her destination.
“Why didn’t the train stop?”
Daniel didn’t answer.
Emily turned toward him.
“Why?”
“Because it doesn’t.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“I know.”
“Then pull the emergency brake.”
Daniel shook his head.
“It won’t work.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I tried.”
Emily stared at him.
“You were here six years ago.”
“Yes.”
“You said you were the only person who got off.”
“Yes.”
“Then how?”
Daniel looked at the passengers.
“Because I jumped.”
Emily’s eyes widened.
“You jumped from a moving train?”
“At thirty miles an hour.”
“You could have died.”
“I nearly did.”
She looked at his scar.
He noticed.
“This?”
She nodded.
“That’s from the jump.”
Emily looked away.
“So what happened to everyone else?”
Daniel took a slow breath.
“There were forty-three passengers.”
“And?”
“After the train passed Blackridge, the lights went out.”
“Like tonight.”
“Exactly.”
“What happened?”
“People began hearing voices.”
Emily remembered the voice outside the door.
“Whose voices?”
“People they knew.”
“Family?”
“Mostly.”
Daniel’s expression hardened.
“My daughter was on the train.”
Emily went silent.
“You have a daughter?”
“Had.”
He looked down.
“She was eight.”
“I’m sorry.”
Daniel nodded.
“She was sitting across from me.”
“What happened to her?”
“When the lights came back on, she was gone.”
Emily looked at the empty seats.
“Just gone?”
“Yes.”
“No blood?”
“No.”
“Nothing?”
“Her shoes were still there.”
Emily swallowed.
“How?”
“I don’t know.”
He stared ahead.
“But I know one thing.”
“What?”
“Whatever took her wasn’t human.”
Emily didn’t know what to say.
Daniel continued.
“I spent six years trying to find this train.”
“Why?”
“To find my daughter.”
“And now?”
“I found it.”
The train began slowing again.
Emily looked outside.
Dark trees surrounded the tracks.
No houses.
No roads.
No lights.
The train came to a complete stop.
Every passenger looked up.
Then the lights went out.
Again.
Emily’s phone died.
Not just the screen.
The entire phone shut down.
She pressed the power button.
Nothing.
Daniel whispered:
“It’s starting.”
Emily heard something.
A child’s voice.
“Daddy?”
Daniel froze.
Emily looked at him.
The voice came from behind them.
“Daddy?”
Daniel stood.
“No.”
The voice came again.
“Daddy, I’m cold.”
His eyes filled with tears.
Emily grabbed his arm.
“Don’t.”
He shook his head.
“That’s her.”
“I know.”
“That’s my daughter.”
“Daniel, don’t.”
He took one step toward the corridor.
Emily pulled him back.
“She can’t be here.”
The voice changed.
“Daddy, please.”
Daniel covered his ears.
Then every passenger in the carriage began hearing something.
A woman screamed.
“Mom?”
Another passenger stood.
“My wife?”
Someone else whispered:
“My son.”
Emily heard a voice too.
Her mother’s voice.
“Emily.”
She froze.
Her mother was in the hospital.
“Emily.”
The voice came from the darkness behind her.
“Come home.”
Emily closed her eyes.
Daniel whispered:
“Don’t answer.”
Her mother’s voice became louder.
“Emily, please.”
She felt tears in her eyes.
Then she realized something.
Her mother had called her “Em.”
Never Emily.
Not once.
Emily opened her eyes.
“That’s not my mother.”
Daniel looked at her.
She had figured it out.
The voices weren’t memories.
They were imitations.
And whatever was imitating them was trying to make the passengers leave their seats.
Then the train doors opened.
Every passenger slowly stood.
Emily grabbed Daniel.
“What’s happening?”
He looked toward the open door.
“Whatever happened six years ago.”
