Last stop

The train wasn’t supposed to stop there.

Ethan checked his watch again. 2:17 a.m. The digital numbers glowed faintly in the darkened carriage. Outside the window—nothing but thick fog and a dim, flickering platform light. No station name. No announcements. Just silence.

Then the doors slid open.

A few passengers stirred, confused. An old man across the aisle frowned. A woman clutched her purse tighter. No one got up.

Until a voice crackled over the speaker.

“Last stop.”

Ethan frowned. That couldn’t be right. He was still three stations away from his destination.

“Last stop,” the voice repeated. This time it sounded… closer. Almost like someone whispering directly into his ear.

The lights flickered once.

Then went out.

For a moment, the world disappeared.

When the emergency lights came on dim, red, pulsing Ethan realized something was wrong.

Half the passengers were gone.

No one had stood up. No one had walked out. They were just… gone.

The old man across from him? Empty seat.

The woman? Gone.

The train doors were still open, breathing in fog like a living thing.

“Hello?” Ethan called out, his voice shaking despite himself.

No answer.

He stood slowly. The carriage felt longer now. Stretching. The far end swallowed in darkness.

A faint sound echoed from outside. Footsteps.

Slow. Deliberate.

Someone was walking along the platform.

Relief washed over him. “Hey!” he shouted, stepping toward the door. “Excuse me!”

The figure emerged through the fog.Tall. Thin. Wrong.

Its limbs were too long. Its head tilted at an un froze natural angle.It didn’t have one.

Just smooth skin where features should be.

The thing stopped at the train entrance.

Then, as if sensing him, it turned its head.

A crack split across its blank face.

Not a wound.A smile.The train doors slammed shut.

Ethan stumbled back as the train lurched forward, speeding into darkness.

The red lights flickered faster now.

From the next carriage, he heard it.

A soft knock.Then another.

Moving closer.Knock.Knock.Knock.

Ethan turned slowly toward the connecting door.

The handle twitched.

And then—

A whisper, right behind him.

“You didn’t get off.”