She Took the Last Seat Beside a Scarred Stranger—Then the Whole Train Fell Terrifyingly Silent
Chapter 5
Emily removed the watch from her wrist.
It looked ordinary.
Silver casing.
Small scratches.
A faded leather strap.
Her mother had given it to her when she was twelve.
She had never questioned where it came from.
“What does this have to do with the train?”
The little girl didn’t answer.
Daniel stepped closer.
“What is your name?”
“Lucy.”
“I know.”
Lucy smiled.
“You remember me.”
Daniel’s face broke.
He dropped to his knees.
Emily watched father and daughter stare at each other.
“You’ve grown,” Daniel whispered.
Lucy shook her head.
“I’ve been eight for six years.”
Emily felt a chill.
“How?”
Lucy pointed toward the window.
“The train keeps us.”
“Who?”
“The conductor.”
Daniel looked confused.
“Who is the conductor?”
Lucy looked frightened.
“He isn’t a man.”
The lights flickered.
Lucy immediately became silent.
Daniel stood.
“What happens now?”
Lucy whispered:
“He’s coming.”
A sound came from the corridor.
Footsteps.
Slow.
Measured.
Approaching.
Emily heard a cane striking the floor.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A tall figure appeared at the end of the carriage.
He wore an old-fashioned black conductor’s uniform.
His face was hidden beneath a cap.
He stopped.
Then slowly raised his head.
There was no face beneath the hat.
Only darkness.
Emily couldn’t breathe.
The conductor lifted one hand.
Every passenger froze.
Daniel grabbed Emily.
“Don’t move.”
The conductor began walking toward them.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
Lucy stepped behind her father.
The conductor stopped beside Emily.
He reached toward her wrist.
Emily pulled away.
The watch began glowing faintly.
The conductor stopped.
For the first time, he appeared afraid.
Emily stared.
“What is this?”
The conductor didn’t speak.
But another voice came from inside his body.
Her mother’s voice.
“Emily.”
She closed her eyes.
“No.”
The voice changed.
Her father’s.
“Emily.”
“No.”
Then Daniel’s daughter’s voice.
“Daddy.”
Daniel covered his ears.
The conductor reached toward him.
Emily raised the watch.
The train shook violently.
The conductor recoiled.
A loud metallic sound echoed through the carriage.
The watch opened.
Inside was a tiny photograph.
Emily had never seen it before.
It showed her mother standing beside a young man.
Daniel recognized him.
“That’s Thomas.”
“Who?”
“The man who built the first Blackridge railway line.”
Emily looked at the photograph.
“How do you know him?”
“He was my grandfather.”
Emily stared.
The story became even stranger.
Daniel explained that his grandfather had been an engineer.
He had designed the original tunnel beneath Blackridge.
During construction, workers disappeared.
Several died.
The railway company covered it up.
Then something happened inside the tunnel.
A train entered.
It never came out.
But years later, trains began disappearing.
The Blackridge line was eventually abandoned.
Then reopened under a different company.
“Your grandfather knew about this?”
“Yes.”
“And my mother?”
Daniel looked at the photograph.
“She knew too.”
Emily felt the world tilt.
“My mother?”
The conductor stepped backward.
The darkness beneath his cap seemed to tremble.
Lucy whispered:
“Your mother was here.”
Emily stared at her.
“When?”
“Before you were born.”
“Why?”
“She came to save someone.”
“Who?”
Lucy looked at Daniel.
“Your father.”
Emily froze.
“My father?”
Her father had died when she was six.
A heart attack, according to her mother.
But Lucy shook her head.
“He didn’t die.”
Emily’s hands went numb.
“What?”
“He got off the train.”
Daniel stared at her.
The conductor suddenly turned.
He walked toward the front of the carriage.
The train began moving.
Emily ran after him.
“Wait!”
The conductor disappeared.
The door slammed shut.
Lucy grabbed Emily’s hand.
“If you want to see your father…”
Emily looked at her.
“You have to stop the train before midnight.”
