Darkness swallowed everything.Not empty darkness — crowded darkness.Breathing.Shifting.Listening.
Evelyn's scream cut off abruptly as something cold and soft wrapped around her mouth.
Sophie's hands clawed through the void desperately, whispering, "Ev? Ev?! Where are you—please—EV!!!"
Alex grabbed Sophie's shoulder to steady her."Don't move. Don't make a sound."His voice was barely a breath.
Something slid across the floor.
Long.Wet.Searching.
Leo whispered into the pitch black, his breath trembling, "There's more than one… I hear two—no—three—"
A sound tore through the void:
SKRRRRRRAAACKK.
One of the seats ripped out of the floor and smashed against the far wall.The impact shook the entire car.
Alex hissed, "It's thrashing—trying to flush us out—"
Another sound followed.A throat sound.Low.Hungry.
Hhhhhhhhhhk…A long inhale.A shuddering, drawn-out exhale.
Sophie's heart hammered. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to cry.
She felt hot breath pass by her cheek.
The creature was inches from her.
Leo whispered, shaking, "They're hunting by sound… not by sight…"
But then —
The darkness changed.
It wasn't total anymore.
Because something was glowing.
A tiny blue ember.
Floating in front of Evelyn.
The lantern.
Not lit…but smoldering from the inside.Like a heartbeat waiting to ignite.
Evelyn's voice came out strangled, breathless:
"Don't… come near… it's talking to me again—"
Alex whispered sharply, "What is it saying?!"
Evelyn shook her head even though no one could see."I—I can't make it stop. It's whispering too many voices at once… too fast… too many languages—"
The flame pulsed brighter.
The creatures stopped.
All movement froze.
All breathing silenced.
Sophie whispered shakily, "Ev… what did it just do?"
The blue ember flared.
Every creature in the dark snapped its head toward Evelyn.
At the same time.
Leo gasped, "Oh god… Evelyn… they can see the flame—"
Evelyn trembled."It's not a flame anymore…"
The ember expanded—stretching into a thin blue slit like an opening eye.
A horrible whisper crawled out of it:
"YoU aRe mY cAnDlE…aNd tHeY aRe My FlIeS."
The creatures shrieked all at once.
A bone-rattling, metallic scream that tore through the car.
Sophie covered her ears. "MAKE IT STOP—PLEASE—"
The creatures barreled toward them through the pitch black —
Crawling.Falling.Skittering.Slamming into seats.Clawing over one another.
Alex pulled Evelyn into his arms, dragging her backward, shouting over the chaos:
"RUN! NOW! GO! GO!!"
They stumbled blindly, tripping over torn flooring, slammed by invisible limbs.
Leo tried to follow but something grabbed his ankle again —harder this time.
He slipped and fell with a yell.
"LEO!!!" Sophie screamed.
Alex turned, reaching out into the darkness. "GRAB MY HAND—NOW!"
Leo clawed at the floor, nails breaking as he fought.The creature's grip tightened, pulling him backward inch by inch.
Evelyn's lantern flared — and for a single second — the car lit up with blue light.
Just enough for Leo to see what had him:
A pale arm.Too long.With joints bending in all wrong directions.Its fingers hooked into his skin like fishhooks.
Leo screamed, "ALEX—DON'T LET GO—!!!"
Alex grabbed him, pulling with all his strength.
The creature hissed, a rattling, hollow sound.
The lantern pulsed again — and the creature's flesh sizzled, releasing Leo with a wet snap.
Leo crawled to his feet, choking on his own breath."GO—JUST GO!!"
The lantern dimmed again.
The blue slit-eye closed.
And the darkness ate the light.
Evelyn gasped as the lantern whispered inside her skull:
"YoU cAn'T rUn."
The train shuddered violently.
The doors at the end of the car slammed shut on their own.
They were trapped.
And the creatures began to circle in the dark…
Slowly.Patiently.
The hunt wasn't over.
It was just beginning.