Chapter 20 - The Train That Should Never Stop
The scream echoed through the tunnel long before the train appeared.
It wasn't one voice.
It was dozens.
Some cried for help.
Some begged someone to open a door.
Others repeated the same sentence over and over.
"Don't let them watch me."
The sound bounced along the concrete walls until it became impossible to tell which direction it came from.
Rick lowered himself close to the platform.
Every hair along his back stood straight.
The second train burst from the darkness far faster than the first.
Its exterior looked different.
No polished metal.
No markings.
Every carriage was covered with deep scratches, as though hundreds of people had clawed at the walls from inside.
The brakes screamed.
The train stopped only halfway beside the platform.
Several doors remained shut.
One door slowly slid open.
No one stepped out.
Instead, dozens of security monitors hanging inside the carriage turned toward us simultaneously.
Every monitor displayed a different moment from my life.
My first day at school.
My college graduation.
My parents' anniversary dinner.
The afternoon I adopted Rick.
Even private conversations I had never shared with anyone.
The final monitor showed tomorrow morning.
It displayed my kitchen.
The cabinet stood open.
The hidden staircase was gone.
The house looked perfectly ordinary.
Then someone who looked exactly like me walked into the frame.
He smiled directly into the camera.
The doors slammed shut.
The train disappeared into the darkness before any of us could move.
Silence returned.
Until the station loudspeaker crackled.
"Transfer complete."
I looked down.
Fresh footprints had appeared beside mine.
Only one set.
Leading away from us.
May you like
Toward a tunnel none of us had entered.
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