The train screeched as it rounded a sharp bend, plunging into the stormy canyon. Rain hammered the windows, and the passengers’ faces reflected in the glass, pale and uneasy. Among them was Claire, a software engineer returning home after a grueling conference. Her seatmate, an elderly man in a weathered hat, muttered under his breath—a prayer, perhaps? She couldn’t tell, but his unease was infectious.
The train suddenly jolted, throwing luggage from the overhead compartments. Gasps filled the car as the lights flickered. Claire clutched her seat, heart pounding. Then came the sound: a metallic shriek, unnatural and deafening. The train careened off the tracks, metal groaning against rock.
When she opened her eyes, everything was still.
A Fragile Calm
Smoke and dust choked the air. Claire coughed, wincing as she moved. Around her, people stirred, some injured, others dazed. The train had derailed in the canyon, its cars scattered like broken toys. She counted herself lucky—only a gash on her arm.A man in his thirties, Liam, took charge, pulling people from the wreckage. “We need to stick together,”
he said, his voice firm.
Claire joined a small group of survivors: Liam, a schoolteacher named Rosa, a quiet teenager named Ethan, and an older woman, Judith, who clutched her purse as if it held the answer to everything.
But there was someone else.
At the edge of the group stood a man in a gray coat, his face shadowed by a wide-brimmed hat. Claire didn’t recall seeing him before. He lingered on the outskirts, watching but not speaking.
The First Omission
As the survivors assessed their situation, Liam found the radio shattered. Their phones, inexplicably, had no signal.“We’ll have to hike to higher ground,”he said.
The man in gray finally spoke, his voice low and deliberate. “There’s a ranger station a few miles north. It’s your best chance.”
“You seem to know a lot about this area,”
Claire remarked.
He smiled faintly but didn’t answer.
The group started walking, the rain relentless. The canyon walls loomed, narrowing as they progressed. Judith clutched Claire’s arm. “Something feels... wrong,”
she whispered.
When they paused for a break, Claire realized they hadn’t seen the man in gray join the hike. Yet, when she turned, there he was—dry, unscathed, and standing perfectly still.
The Unraveling
The trek grew harder. The ground turned to slick mud, and the air seemed heavier. Rosa tripped and cut her knee, but when Liam reached out to help her, she recoiled.“Don’t touch me!”
she snapped. “You were on the other train car. How did you get here so fast?”
Liam hesitated, confusion flickering across his face. “What are you talking about? I was in the same car as you.”
“No, you weren’t.”
Rosa’s voice trembled.
Judith chimed in, “None of us were in the same car.”
The group fell silent, a chilling realization settling over them. Claire’s pulse quickened. “What if...”
She hesitated. “What if we’re not supposed to be here?”
The man in gray, standing just within earshot, smiled faintly again.
The Forest of Echoes
As night fell, they found shelter under a rocky overhang. The rain slowed, but the canyon was pitch black, the only light from a single flickering flashlight.Liam volunteered for the first watch, but within an hour, he was shaking Claire awake. “Listen,”
he whispered.
She strained her ears. At first, nothing. Then, faintly—voices. They were distant, distorted, like a radio tuned to the wrong frequency.
“Help me...”
“Over here...”
The voices overlapped, growing louder. Judith whimpered, clutching her purse tighter. “This isn’t natural,”
she said.
Ethan, who hadn’t spoken much, blurted out, “I saw him. The gray man. He was talking to someone out there.”
They turned to look, but the man in gray was gone.
The Forgotten Truth
The next day, exhaustion set in. They trudged through the canyon, nerves frayed. Rosa snapped at Liam over a wrong turn, and Judith began muttering incoherently.The gray man reappeared without explanation. “You’re close,”
he said, pointing ahead.
Claire’s patience snapped. “Who are you? You weren’t on the train, were you?”
He didn’t answer, just smiled and turned away.
They pressed on, and soon the canyon opened into a clearing. In the center stood a dilapidated cabin, its windows dark. Relief swept through the group, but it was short-lived.
Inside the cabin, the walls were covered in old photographs. Claire gasped, stepping closer. Each photo was of a train wreck—different locations, different eras. But in every picture stood the same figure: the man in gray.
Judith screamed, dropping her purse. Papers spilled out, revealing a yellowed newspaper clipping: “Canyon Train Disaster: All Passengers Killed.”
The date was yesterday.
The Shadow Unveiled
The truth came crashing down. They weren’t survivors—they were echoes, fragments of people who had died in the crash.“No,”
Rosa whispered, backing away. “This can’t be real.”
The man in gray finally spoke. “It’s not about what’s real. It’s about what’s owed.”
The walls of the cabin trembled. Shadows seeped from the cracks, taking shape—faces, arms, reaching for the group.
Judith was the first to go. “I won’t go back!”
she screamed, but the shadows enveloped her, pulling her into the floor.
Liam grabbed Claire’s hand. “Run!”
The Final Passenger
They bolted from the cabin, but the canyon had changed. The trail was gone, replaced by a labyrinth of jagged rocks. The shadows followed, their whispers growing louder.Ethan tripped, falling hard. “Go!”
he shouted, but the shadows caught him, dragging him into the dark.
Claire and Liam ran until they couldn’t breathe. Finally, they collapsed, the whispers fading.
But when Claire looked up, the man in gray stood before them.
“You’ve run far enough,”
he said. “It’s time.”
“No!”
Claire shouted. “Why us? What do you want?”
His eyes gleamed. “You were forgotten. Now, you belong to me.”
Liam charged at him, but the gray man raised a hand. Liam froze mid-stride, his body disintegrating into ash.
Claire fell to her knees, trembling. “Please...”
The man knelt before her. “This is mercy,”
he said softly.
The last thing she saw was his smile.
Epilogue
Days later, rescue crews found the wreckage. There were no survivors, but one photo was found among the debris: the group of five, standing together, with the man in gray in the background.No one knew where the photo had come from—or why it hadn’t burned.