She Took the Last Seat Beside a Scarred Stranger—Then the Whole Train Fell Terrifyingly Silent
Chapter 8
Emily opened her eyes.
She was standing in car six.
But everything looked different.
The passengers were younger.
Daniel was sitting across the aisle.
Lucy was beside him.
The date on a newspaper was six years earlier.
Emily stared.
“We’re back.”
Daniel looked at her.
“You did it.”
Lucy smiled.
“It’s almost time.”
11:52 p.m.
Eight minutes.
Emily knew they had only one chance.
“How do we stop it?”
Lucy pointed toward the window.
“Your mother.”
Emily turned.
At the end of the carriage stood a woman.
Her mother.
Young.
Terrified.
Emily couldn’t breathe.
“Mom.”
Her mother looked around.
She couldn’t see Emily.
Not yet.
Daniel grabbed her arm.
“You can’t change what happened.”
“Why?”
“Because if you do, we may never get back.”
“I don’t care.”
“Emily.”
She looked at her mother.
Her mother was holding the same watch.
The original watch.
Emily understood.
There were two.
One belonged to her mother.
One was in her hand.
She approached.
Her mother finally saw her.
Her eyes widened.
“Who are you?”
Emily began crying.
“Mom.”
Her mother stared.
Then recognition appeared.
Not because she recognized Emily’s face.
Because she recognized the watch.
“You grew up.”
Emily nodded.
Her mother covered her mouth.
“You came back.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“The train.”
Her mother looked at Daniel.
Then Lucy.
“Is that…”
“Your daughter.”
Daniel’s voice broke.
Emily’s mother knelt beside Lucy.
“You’re alive.”
Lucy hugged her.
Her mother cried.
But there wasn’t time.
The conductor appeared.
“Enough.”
Emily’s mother stood.
“You can’t have her.”
The conductor looked at Emily.
“She already belongs to me.”
“No.”
Emily raised the watch.
The train shook.
Her mother looked at her.
“Listen carefully.”
“What?”
“The watch doesn’t stop the train.”
“What does it do?”
“It shows you where the first door is.”
Emily frowned.
“The first door?”
“Under the mountain.”
Her mother pointed toward the floor.
“That’s where the mechanism is.”
“The artifact.”
“Yes.”
“You told me it couldn’t be destroyed.”
“I was wrong.”
“What changed?”
Her mother looked at her.
“You.”
The train began shaking violently.
The conductor screamed.
“Midnight.”
The lights went out.
Emily felt the watch burning against her palm.
A door appeared in the floor.
Her mother grabbed her.
“Go.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll hold him.”
“No.”
“You have to.”
Emily didn’t want to leave.
But Daniel pulled her.
They opened the door.
A staircase descended beneath the train.
Darkness waited below.
Emily looked back.
Her mother stood alone.
The conductor moved toward her.
Emily wanted to stay.
But Lucy shouted:
“Go!”
They descended.
The train vanished above them.
They entered a massive underground chamber.
At its center stood an enormous machine.
Metal rings rotated around a black stone.
Hundreds of clocks covered the walls.
Some were thousands of years old.
Emily approached.
“What is this?”
Daniel stared.
“The first railway.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“The first time.”
Emily held the watch near the machine.
The mechanism reacted.
A deep vibration filled the chamber.
Then a voice spoke from the darkness.
Not the conductor.
Not the train.
Something older.
“Who carries the key?”
Emily stepped forward.
“I do.”
“Why?”
“To end this.”
“You cannot.”
“Why?”
“Because you are part of it.”
Emily froze.
“What?”
The voice continued.
“Your mother made the bargain.”
“What bargain?”
“Your life.”
Emily looked at the watch.
Her mother hadn’t been protecting her from the train.
She had been protecting the train from her.
Because Emily wasn’t simply the key.
She was the final payment.
