Scary Horror Stories by Dr. NoSleep - The train car I'm on hasn't stopped for 17 days

Episode Date: November 12, 2021

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Talk to nicely. Hey guys, I just started a new podcast called Dreamscape Productions that features professional quality three hour long soundscapes, such as my new 1920s Italian Cafe Soundscape. You can listen to them during your workday to help you stay relaxed and focused or to help you fall asleep at night. Just search DreamScape Productions on Spotify and be sure to click the follow button to get notified every time a new soundscape is released. And now time for the story.

I was jolted back to consciousness by a violent coughing fit caused by the unnaturally dry air around me. Drops of sweat had piled up and started trickling down my forehead. It was dark, and there was not a single ray of light to even make out my closest surroundings. My memory was of no help in recognizing my whereabouts, but upon fumbling around with my weak hands, I noticed I was sitting on a fabric-coated chair in a room that seemed to vibrate ever so slightly. As my eyes started to adapt to the overwhelming darkness, I could start to make out the vague shape of my room. There were three seats facing each other, with windows on the right-hand side,

though they revealed nothing more than an empty black void. On the other side was a door with a small window, which led out into a hallway. And then it dawned on me where I had woken up. It was in a train compartment, and the train was still moving, though seemingly rid of any other people. I tried to get up, but my legs refused to properly cooperate. They were too weak, as if they hadn't been used for days.

Then some of my memories returned. I was traveling. I remembered getting on the train, though I hadn't the faintest idea what my destination should have been. My memory was simply cut short after stepping inside my empty compartment. That had been November 12th. I checked my pockets to look for clues. I found my phone, which had long since run out of power, and my wallet which contained a train ticket. In the dark, it just looked like weird scribbles on a piece of paper. With an incredible amount of effort, I finally managed to get my legs working enough to stand up. Though I had to use the wall as support, it was enough to move around.

And I soon stumbled into the hallway of my train car. I looked out the windows in the hallway. The whole world outside was empty. It looked and felt as if nothing existed outside the boundaries of the drain. The darkness made it hard to navigate without falling to the ground. I tried to look for a light switch, or at the very least, another person to help me out. But none were in sight. I peeked in through the window into the next compartment, and I could see the vague shape of people sitting still in their seats.

but upon trying to enter, I realized that the door was locked. I tried to knock, but the people on the other side didn't even flinch. When I tried to call out for them, I realized my voice had almost completely vanished, replaced by just a whisper. I made my way from compartment to compartment, and while they all seemed to be occupied, none would open. Not a single person responded to my increasingly frantic knocks. As I reached the last compartment of the car, the train turned ever so slightly on its tracks, enough to knock me to the ground. While I lay there, I tried to call out for help with my barely audible voice,

but no one could hear me. I got to my feet and noticed the door to the last compartment slowly glided open from the turn. Hello? Can anyone hear me? I called out with a trembling voice as I approached the open door. No response. This was either because the compartment was empty or because my hoarse voice hadn't been heard.

I slowly peeked my head around the corner to see the compartment fully occupied by dark figures. All of them were sitting perfectly still in their seats. I said again. I took a step inside. my eyes had started to fully adjust to my dark surroundings, and I quickly realized that not only were the people sitting perfectly still, but they weren't even breathing.

The horrible thought of them being dead struck me like a hammer, but I had to make sure. I bent down on my knees next to the closest man and shook him gently. Still, he didn't respond. I then checked for a pulse, and though I'm not a doctor, I couldn't find any signs of life. I heard a small beep that shot me to my feet and looked down to see the man wearing a digital watch

that had alerted him that an hour had passed. I looked at the watch and noticed the date was also written in the center. The 29th of November. It had been 17 days since I boarded the train. With a trembling hand, I checked the rest of the people for signs of life. All of them were beyond a shock. shadow of a doubt, dead. Panic arose in my body, both from the presence of dead people and from the realization that I'd been asleep on a moving train for more than two weeks.

I collapsed to the ground in front of one of the dead passengers. She was an elderly woman, dressed elegantly with wide open, piercing blue eyes. I didn't want to stay in the compartment with them, but I was paralyzed by the lack of a plan. There I sat, surrounded by six dead people, trying to contemplate my next step. The train was still moving, which clearly meant that someone had to be in control of it, a conductor, or at least someone with an idea as to what the hell was going on. So, I decided that my best bet would be to make my way to the locomotive and pray that not everyone had died on the train. All the while these thoughts ran through my head, I couldn't take my eyes off the people.

Something just felt off by their presence. Firstly, there wasn't any smell, meaning they hadn't started to decompose. And secondly, all of them had their eyes open wider than I thought possible. Before I could consider the bizarre situation any further, an elderly woman suddenly blinked. I shot to my feet in horror as she blinked again. I double-checked her pulse.

Still nothing. Yet, her eyes kept blinking without any other signs of life. In shock, I looked around to find that the other five, dead passengers, were also blinking rapidly. Without checking them for life, I jumped out from the compartment and shut the door. I noticed a chunk of wood missing from it, as if someone had kicked it in, leaving it unable to properly close. As I slowly backed away from the compartment, I glimpsed out through the windows, into

the empty void beyond. I humored the thought that we might be driving through a tunnel, but if so, how long could it possibly be? I stepped into the next train car. Unlike the previous one, it wasn't divided into compartments, but rather filled with rows of seats, split in the middle by a central passage. But, like the compartments, each seat was occupied by a dead passenger, each blinking in response as I quickly passed in panic. I walked through about 15 such cars, each alternating by rows of seats and compartments. It felt like hours passed as I made my way through the locomotive.

And just as I was able to enter through a door marked first class, I was shoved to the floor by someone holding a bright light to my face. Stay the fuck down. A deep voice shouted at me. Speechless. I could do nothing but comply with the man in front of me. Wait, you're not dead? The man asked.

As he realized, I was basically just a kid, barely in my 20s. He moved the light away from me and reached out a hand to help me up. I'm sorry. I just heard someone moving and thought you were one of them. He said as he pointed to the lifeless people sitting idly by in their seats. What's your name? He asked. I'm Thomas. I stuttered. As the shock from the bright light faded, I saw the man was dressed in a police uniform, well-built and bald. The name's John Hendricks, he said.

And we'd better get you. get out of there before these bastards wake up again. They're not dead? I asked. Yeah, well, not exactly. It's like they're in hibernation. I looked at him in confusion. People in hibernation?

They ain't people, kid. Not anymore. As he spoke those words, he seemed surprised by something behind me. Fuck, I was too slow, he said. Oddly calm. I turned around to see the people moving their heads around, all of them staring directly. at us. Their eyes now fixed and unblinking.

We need to get out of here, John said as he pulled my arm and dragged me in through the door to another compartment car, far nicer than the one I'd awoken in. All the doors had opened, and people were slowly piling out from each compartment into the hallway, staring at us with their wide open eyes. We dove into the first available compartment, and the officer pushed one of the people out from it and locked the door. He sighed, we'll be safe here for a bit. Hopefully, they're just scouting. What the hell is... I started saying before the cop put his hand over my mouth,

gesturing for me to keep quiet. Keep it down, would you? He said quietly, clearly agitated by my idiocy. What's happening? I whispered. We've got to hold up here until they go back to sleep. He stood up and peeked out the window into the hallway before ducking down quickly back behind a cover.

The other passengers, what happened to them? them, I asked. Dead, most of them anyways. Got a few survivors camped up in the dining car. I just came out to look for batteries, hoping we could get a phone working and get help. How the hell did you survive here all on your own? I don't know. I just woke up an hour ago, I said. I took out the ticket from my pocket and tried to read it. Officer Hendricks took his flashlight and set it to its lowest setting to help me read. The text on the ticket was a language I didn't recognize. just jumbled symbols and a date. Yeah, it's the same with all of our tickets as well. None of this makes any damn sense. Do you remember where the train is going? I asked. He shook his head. The people out there seem fairly docile. Can't we just push our way through? They don't seem to be moving. I asked. He sighed again. I'm not afraid of the things out there. It's what comes next that terrifies me. What is it? Hell, I don't even know what it really looks like.

It's massive and dark. It just uses those things to look around for survivors. We call them, as he tried to finish the sentence. A large thud could be heard on the other side of the door. I carefully peeked down through the window to see that all the people had collapsed back to the ground and that the door leading to the car behind us had opened up. A tall, obsidian black creature pulled its way inside,

using large tendril-like appendages. It had thin stumps that resembled legs and multiple more tendrils that slithered along the walls seeming to sense its surroundings. Though it was vaguely humanoid in nature, it didn't have a head nor any eyes. John lifted a finger to his lip and signaled for me to keep absolutely silent.

I noticed then he had a gun holstered, attached to his belt. I pointed to it without saying a word, but he just shook his head in response. The creature moved closer, and before long, it was standing just outside the door. Its arms spread out, flattening out, covering the window. It started to form small cracks in the glass pane, allowing small tendrils to seep through. Godderm, John whispered a sweat poured down his face.

Suddenly, he stood up and kicked the door, breaking it straight off its hinges. It barely phased the creature, but it allowed us enough wriggle room to bolt past it. He grabbed me and pushed me through the gap between the wall and the creature, getting caught up in its tendrils in the process. They latched onto him and buried into his leg. Run! He yelled in agony as he tried to fight off the tendrils wrapping around him. I was still feeling weird. I fell onto the floor of the hallway, as John desperately tried to get free from the rapidly enveloping tendrils around his leg.

As the grip tightened, his service weapon, still in its holster, down to the ground, out of reach from him. What are you waiting for? Get the fuck out here! He yelled. Refusing his orders, I dove to the floor and grabbed his gun. With the absolute minimal amount of firearms knowledge I possessed, I picked up the weapon and started firing at the center of the creature,

frantically pulling the trigger, and I didn't stop until the excessively loud shots were replaced by silent clicks. Though the rounds barely phased the creature, it loosened its grip on John just enough for him to crawl away from certain death. I helped him to his bleeding feet, and together we rushed through into the next train car, where we pulled loose some chairs and used them as poorly constructed blockade to slow down the creature. We continued through the car, repeatedly tripping over the dozens of corpses littering the floor.

I took a peek back at the barricade to see the creature slowly sleeping through like a black fog before reforming itself on the other side. Hurry up! John yelled at me. The creature had almost fully formed by the time we got through the next car. Unable to grab us, it quickly realized we were. out of reach, and in response, it split open its body down the middle, revealing rows of black teeth and multiple tendrils that resembled tongues. It led out a horrific, high-pitched shriek that shook

the entire train, almost destroying my eardrumbs. The sound itself awakened to dead people strewn across the hallway. They lifted their heads and looked around until they fixated their eyes on us, which alerted the creature to our presence. It moved quickly, all the while its tendrils stretched impossibly far towards us in a hungry attempt in catching us. We were almost to the dining car when I fell back to the ground. A tendril had wrapped around my shoe and John quickly grabbed my arms as I was pulled away. I screamed and the door to the dining car shot open. Two men and a woman ran over and helped John pull me free from the tendrils grip. One of my shoes slid off in the process allowing me to get away. We ran through the door and it shut behind us while one

of the men pulled a large metal rod through a makeshift lock. Both John and I lay wheezing on the floor from exhaustion as I tried to look around, observing my new surroundings. The car was full of booths with a small bar all the way up front, covered and canned foods and bottled water. In the corner, I saw a few bags full of waste and empty food wrappings. The entire car was dimly lit up by a couple of rows of emergency lights on the ceiling, and it was clear they'd survived there for a couple of weeks already. What the hell happened to you, John? Man in his 50s asked.

They, they must have seen me coming. I don't know how. John said, still out of breath. They kept looking at him in shock, not satisfied by his answer. So he continued, I didn't even use the flashlight until I saw Thomas here, and by then, they'd already awoken. So you waited until they went back to see him? sleep the woman asked no they already saw us we had to make a run for it I came

back as quickly as I could John you were gone for two days she said back don't be ridiculous I was gone for a couple of hours at the most she pulled out a digital watch and showed John the time and date it's December 1st she said quietly that's John trailed off speechless by the realization how do they see you anyway. They're not exactly observant unless someone disturbs them. One of the men said in a condescending tone. I don't know, Frank. Do you think I did it on purpose? I thought back to the old lady I'd seen in the first compartment and realized John hadn't been discovered at all. I was the one that got caught. Officer, I... I tried to say before John interrupted me. John. He corrected me.

We're in another fucking dimension or some shit. No need for ranks or titles. I tried to confess again, but the woman noticed John's bleeding leg and rushed over to him. You're bleeding, she said. It's nothing. The Sentinel got a hold of my leg. Don't worry. I'm fine. Just sit down. Let me have a look anyway. John sat down, and the woman rolled up his trouser leg to reveal deep gashes in his calf. You'll need stitches. Get me the med kit, will you? She said as she pointed to Frank. While she did her best to fix up John's leg, I got a better look at the door. They reinforced it with pieces of metal around the edges. It also covered the window, preventing the creature from seeping through the cracks.

On the wall beside the door, someone had etched lines, marking each past day. 19 lines for 19 days passed on a train that never stops. The oldest man, Frank, came over to me, looking as suspicious as ever. Who are you? he asked firmly. Thomas, I responded. You want to tell us how the hell you survived 19 days all on your own, without food or water? I couldn't answer his question. To me, only a few hours had passed. And though I felt thirsty, I wasn't even close to parched. I, I don't know, I stuttered.

What do you mean you don't know? How can you not know? Frank said, getting agitated. Give him a break, Frank. If you hadn't left your bag behind, I wouldn't even have had to go out and risk my life. John interjected. It was enough to shut Frank up, though an asshole, he knew his place in the group. The other, younger guy, came up to me and reached out his hand. I'm Philip, and that's Mia. He said as he pointed to the woman fixing up John.

And lastly, that's Frank. Don't pay him any attention. He's a pain in the ass 90% of the time. Whatever, Frank interrupted. Did you get the batteries at least? Of course I did, you twat. They're in the bag. John said. I just stood there trying to get a grasp on the situation, barely responding to the other's questions.

Don't worry about it, Thomas, Mia said, as she noticed the absolutely baffled expression on my face. Huh? None of us remember what happened. We all just woke up at different times on the train and had the idea to make our way here. It's safe, mostly, and the sentinels keep us from going out very often. You're lucky John found you. Sentinels? The thing that chased us, John explained. A bright light penetrated the otherwise gloomy car as Frank booted up his phone using one of the battery packs. Without hesitation, he attempted to dial a number.

Put it on speaker if you're trying to call someone, John said, still waiting for Mia to finish bandaging his leg. No one responded on the other end. Frank lowered the phone to input another number. Before he was able to, his phone started ringing. The text on the screen read, blocked caller ID. For a few moments, he just held the phone in shock before he regained his senses and answered. Hello?

No response. Hello. Can anyone hear us? Frank asked again. We listened intently to the emptiness on the other side of the line, and a minute passed without anyone speaking. There's no one there, Mia said. Before any of us could respond, the phone started emitting repetitive beeping sounds. They continued for almost a full minute. None of us daring to speak up while we listened.

Once it was finished, the call ended on its own. And Frank looked around at us, wearing a confused expression. What the hell was that? John asked. No clue. It was just a bunch of beeps. Destination, Gahena, 108 hours. Do not get off the train, I said. What? It was Morse code, learned it as a kid to secretly communicate. communicate in class. I know. It's dumb. I was a geek. But I'm absolutely sure that's what the message said.

They looked at each other for a moment, still visibly confused, then back at me. Gehenna, what does it mean? Mia asked. Forget that, Frank interjected. Why are they telling us to stay on this fucking train? We fell silent again as Frank attempted to dial another number to no avail. 1008 hours. Just over four days before we reach our next station? We can do that. Just got to stay here. We have enough provisions for at least two weeks, John said. So that's it? We just sit here in the dark for another four days?

Frank asked. A small argument ensued. And while they discussed what we do at the train station, I took a moment to look out the window. The vast emptiness was horrifying on its own. I wondered how far the darkness reached, if it had an end, or if anything lived in the void. A part of me felt dead as I pondered these questions. It was as if the train was nothing more than a mere figment of my decaying mind, but the pain was ever too real. The tiredness felt too overwhelming for the world to be fake. I took my dead phone, grabbed one of the battery packs, and plugged it in.

The others were too busy arguing to notice me wasting power. I needed to write down some messages over text in case we happened to get a signal. I sent a text describing my circumstances to my dad, hoping he'd share the story should I not make it back. While I patiently waited for the text to go through, I kept staring into the dark. Some parts were blacker than their surroundings. And I then noticed they weren't just patches that contrasted with the rest of the environment, but moving things, almost Vantablack, like a shadow moving through the night. It glided in the air alongside the train, quietly looming by with its eyeless body.

It was a sentinel. Guys? I said quietly. They kept on arguing. Guys, there's a sentinel outside. I said much louder. John broke off from the argument, and everyone fell silent as we watched the creature fly beside the train. Then we noticed another, and a third, and a fourth, and before long, we could make out hundreds, if not thousands of sentinels following the train.

Don't worry. They shouldn't be able to see or hear us without their surveyors, Philip said. We all kept staring at the shadowy things in the void. And though Philip was right, they couldn't possibly see us without their aids. There was one undeniable fact about them that just didn't make sense. They were getting closer. John grabbed and pulled me down to the floor, away from the window. Stay the fuck down, he whispered. While we lay there, Frank and Philip rushed to cover up the windows with whatever debris and furniture they could get loose from the floor. Do they know we're here? Mia asked.

Doesn't matter. We ain't taken any risks. We need to survive for four more days until we reach Ghana. John responded. They were quick to block the windows, and within a minute, we'd all settled down on the floor, where we tried to discuss our next move as quietly as possible. On the other side of the door, leading to the next car, we could hear the shuffling of surveyors trying to get in.

They knew we were here, which meant the sentinels would be alerted very soon. They're behind the door, Frank said. Can they hear us? Don't know, but stay quiet anyway. They might not know for sure that we're here, John said. What about your gun? If we just kill the surveyors, they won't be able to alert the sentinels. I don't have any ammo.

Besides, that idea is fucking stupid. Even with the emergency lights dimly illuminating our car, it was hard to make out our surroundings, and with no idea how to turn them off, we could only pray that the surveyors didn't notice them either. A few hours passed with none of us daring to speak up, all fearing that the sentinels would come bursting in through the windows at any moment. The only one moving was Mia, and she only did so to check on John's leg. Do we have any antibiotics in the bag? she asked. Philip opened and rummaged through a large travel bag. In the dark, he couldn't see much.

And after a minute, he decided to just empty the bag of all the random items they'd gathered on the train, finally pulling out a box of pills. Amoxicillin? Miaf asked, Faf said. That's all we have? Mia asked. Philip nodded and tossed Mia the box. She handed them over to John, giving him instructions on when and how many to take. The next 24 hours went by, each marked by an innocuous beep from Mia's digital watch. I couldn't get my mind off the name. Gehenna, it sounded familiar.

It was definitely something I'd heard before, if only to be stuffed away in the back of my mind, polluted by pointless information I'd gathered throughout my life. 42 hours passed, as counted by the beeps. People were getting restless, unable to stand up or move around without alerting the surveyor. We still hadn't made a decision whether to stay on the train as we reached Gahena or to bail and try out our own luck elsewhere. Are we really going to listen to some cryptic message? Philip asked. Like, I don't want to be all pessimistic, but why should we trust them? They're telling us to stay on the train, but do they mean as it stops?

Or now while it's heading there? Mia asked. Does it matter? Shouldn't we just do the exact opposite of what they tell us? No. whatever happens, we're getting the fuck off this train when it stops. As long as there's solid ground to walk on, we're not staying a minute longer than we have to, John interjected. 60 hours passed, and the void lingered outside our train, ever present, and full of unseen horrors.

Despite the stress, I'd somehow managed to drift off to sleep. Though restless, it was a deep sleep occupied by an incredibly vivid dream of Gehenna. I saw it as an empty ruin of a city, trapped in the center of a steep valley. Mia and Frank stood by my side with defeated expressions on their faces. As we observed our surroundings, a bright light lit up the gray sky, almost blinding us with its presence. I tried to lift my arms to block out at least some of the light, but I couldn't lift them. Something within the light had paralyzed me, surging through my body with intense pain. As I winced in agony, my mind suddenly felt clear than it ever had.

And then I remembered. It was just a piece of fragmented information, long since forgotten, that I'd learned during my childhood in a religious class. Gehenna, it was hell, and we were heading straight for it. I awoke abruptly due to a high-pitched, glaring sound emitting from a speaker system hidden in the ceiling. It jolted all of us to our feet in panic, as we tried to dismal. decipher what it meant. What the hell is that sound? John yelled as he clutched his ears. It was rhythmic,

Morse code, just like before. Though, in the mess of static and distortions, I could barely make out the individual beeps. After a couple of minutes, despite the mess of sounds, it became apparent that the sound was just a loop of beeps with a simple message played on repeat. Leaving vacuus, Stand by. Leaving Vakus, stand by. Leaving Vakus, stand by. Leaving Vakus, stand by. It was incredibly loud, vibrating enough to loosen the already fragile barricade in front of the door and windows. On the other side, the surveyors were trying to break through, and with a final push, the door gave in. Dozens of them flooded in through the broken barricade, stumbling over each other in the process. All the while, they kept their eyes fixated on each of us, non-blinking, full of agony.

Push them out! John yelled as he rushed at them with a stick, shoving the one furthest behind back through the door, than the next, but they kept getting back up. The rest of us rushed to aid John in his futile attempt, but before we could even reach him, every single window in the train shattered from the force of hundreds of sentinels, throwing their mangled bodies at the car. Covered in the shards of broken glass, I fell to the ground alongside Frank, who tried to use me for balance.

A piece of glass cut my left eye, temporarily blinding me from pain. As I got the piece of glass out, I saw the sentinels digging their way through the broken windows, turning to a viscous fog and pouring in through each crack in our barricade, reforming themselves on the other side,

just like before. It was hopeless, and all we could do was stand there in a frozen panic, unable to think of any plausible escape. Mia and Philip had sought cover in one of the corners where they sat. embracing each other, while John charged at the sentinels wielding nothing more than a kitchen knife. As the mix of sentinels and surveyors came at us, the alarm kept blaring, and I prepared for my

quickly approaching demise, leaving Vakus stand by. Suddenly an impossibly bright light filled the entire void, instantly turning the sentinels to mere filaments of darkness lingering in the air. It persisted for minutes, completely blinding out any memory of the empty void we'd left behind. And then the speaker gave out a new message in the form of Morse code. Designation, Gehenna, 18 hours, do not get off the train, the goat said. As quickly as it had come, the light faded. It took a while before our eyes adjusted, but once they did, we were greeted by a brand new world outside the windows.

The once empty void had been replaced by endless fields of bright green grass, only contrasted by tall, blue mountains in the horizon, miles and miles away. The sentinels themselves had all but vanished, while the surveyors had turned back into lifeless corpses, now doing nothing more than littering the hallways. Where are we? Mia asked. Gehenna? Did we make it? Frank asked.

No, we still have 18 hours left, I corrected him. I took a hopeful look out the window and stared at the lush fields just out of reach. The ground looked so soft, and I contemplated for a moment whether it would be smarter to just jump off the train. That idea was quickly put to rest as I got a look around the train, now filled with blissful daylight that it immediately changed the mood.

All right, let's head for the locomotive and try to shut this train down, John said. We quickly made our way through the train, littered with the fresh corpses of people that died weeks ago. Their connections to the sentinels had been broken, leaving them limp on the ground with no direction. Once we reached the locomotive, we were faced with a heavy iron wall blocking our entrance, a door with no handle nor a keyhole to open it. Great, what now? Frank asked. Maybe we can climb out one of the windows and get there from the outside, John suggested. Before we could even indulge the idea of climbing on the outside of a moving train,

we were all shoved to the ground as the train rapidly lost speed. The tracks screeched as the wheels locked themselves in place, and we quickly came to a sudden stop. What the hell just happened? We've stopped, but there's no platform or anything outside. Mia said as she peeked outside the window. Doesn't matter. Get your stuff. We're getting off this nightmare.

We returned to the dining car and picked up our bags, alongside any amount of food and supplies we could possibly carry. We hadn't yet reached Gehenna, but considering the implications that we were heading straight for hell, this would be a safer bet. For the first time in weeks, we stepped down on solid ground, with a brilliant green field only a few feet away from us. Philip took charge, carrying what little medical supplies we had left, while John followed. There was a decently brisk wind that felt great in an otherwise hot climate, but the grass didn't seem to sway even in the slightest.

As minute a detail as it seemed, it warranted a closer look. They were crystals, green, razor-sharp. sharp crystals that from just a few feet away resemble to blades of grass. Wait, don't... I tried to yell, but it was too late, and Philip stepped down hard on the field. Ow, fuck! He called as the crystals cut through his shoes, into the sole of his foot. The rest of us froze in our step as we saw Philip pull back in agony clutching his leg.

It's not grass! I trailed off. Fuck, it hurts! Philip groaned. Mia instinctively ran to his aid and pulled off his shoe. Let me have a look, she said. There were green crystals embedded deep in his soul, covered in jagged edges, making it almost impossible to pull out without causing more damage. We've got to get you back on the... Mia froze mid-sentence.

The crystal was spreading, with tiny shards breaking off, embedding themselves into Philip's skin, tearing through it as they grew. What? What's happening? Philip stuttered. Though the growth was slow at first, it quickly sped up, covering his entire foot within a minute, before proceeding up his leg. Get them off me. He yelled in pain as Mia reached out to try to rip them off, but John stopped her before she could touch them. Wait, you'll get them on you too.

John yelled. He pulled out his knife and got ready to peel the shards off Philip. But the crystals simply cut through the knife like butter, spreading onto that as well. In shock, John stumbled back and dropped his knife. Mia once again tried to run over and help him, but we all held her back. All we could do was to stare at Philip

as the crystals dug their way into his body. His bones audibly cracking and his skin rupturing as they continued spreading. He just lay there screaming in agony until the crystals got to his lungs. And before long, his entire body had been turned to rock. Before we could process or mourn our loss, the crystal started spreading along the ground, slowly making their way towards us. Back on the train!

John screamed. As we got back on board, we did our best to seal the doors and windows. But even then, we had no proof it would stop the spread. The train had broken down, and with no way of getting it back up and running, all we could do was wait as the green field of crystals spread onto the train and to us. It was just a matter of time. Mia stared out through the train window. Her eyes fixated on the crystallized remains of Philip.

They'd known each other for most of their lives, and now he had become nothing more than a memory, forever preserved within the green rocks. It had been a day since the train broke down, but despite the time that had passed, there wasn't any noticeable change in daylight. The sky hung above us, blue and bright, though no sun existed to let us know whether we were still on Earth.

Instead, the light seemed evenly distributed across the sky with no visible source. I tried my best to comfort me on, though nothing I could say would ease the loss, and trauma we'd all just experienced, our best bet would be simply to keep everyone alive through the next part of our horrific nightmare. Though the crystals had slowed down once we retreated, they kept reaching out for the train, and had already covered two of the cars in the back, slowly inching their way ahead during the day we'd been stuck. They seemed to react

to touch, spreading faster with any interaction between us and the environment outside the train. While trapped in the morbidly beautiful landscape, John had taken it upon himself to find a way into the locomotive. The entrance had been sealed by a heavy metal wall, and it seemed that even from the outside, there weren't any windows nor feasible ways of entering. It was simply a block of iron that had effortlessly dragged us through two dimensions, broken down only to cause us pain. John, as fit as he was, had turned into a spitting image of death itself, both from exhaustion and the infection spreading through his wounded leg. Pearls of sweat formed on his forehead as he looked for different tools to smash his way through the wall, a noble but futile effort.

John, you need to get some rest, I demanded. He appeared to be on the brink of collapse. I didn't dare say too much against him, both from fear of pissing him off, and because he stood our best chance at escaping. No, I'm fine, he shouted back as he popped a couple of pills, a mixture between antibiotics and painkillers. He leaned against the wall, looking out through the window at the ever-growing crystals outside. There's no time to stop. If we don't do anything, we'll be dead in a matter of days.

I know, John, but we can work without you for a couple of hours. You have to take care of yourself. Just leave me alone. I need to think. there has to be a way inside. I know it, he said as he shoved his way past me, off to search for more tools. The train had turned quiet, illuminated by bright light from the sunless sky above. The air felt heavy and was filled with the stench of dead surveyors, but it was still preferable to the threat of sentinels. It was now an easy task to search for both supplies and any equipment

we could use to aid us in our escape attempts. Another day passed in the field. of crystals, and Mia still hadn't spoken a word, apart from checking on John's bandaged wound and instructing him to keep taking the antibiotics. Of course, despite the inflamed and painful cut in his leg, he refused any rest. Frank and I eventually decided that we'd force him to take a break, even if it meant physically restraining him. After a short talk with Mia to make sure she agreed, we set out to force John into temporary retirement. He had turned oddly quiet, and we had to search every car to find him. When we found him, he was hunched over on the ground with the bandage ripped off.

Black liquid oozed out from his wound. Before we could even call Mia in to help, the train jolted to movement. Its forward motion was short-lived as the train quickly came to a stop as the back cars had fused together with the crystals. The train! It's working again! Frank yelled excitedly, before realizing we stopped moving. We looked at each other in sudden realization and shouted simultaneously. The cars!

We have to disconnect them, Frank suggested. You do that. I'm going to stay with John. Tell Mia, we need her quickly. I said as Frank started running to the back of the train. I sat down and shook John in an attempt at waking him. And while he didn't respond, at least he was breathing. I glanced at the black liquid trickling down his leg, forming a puddle on the floor,

not daring to touch it. Whatever it was, it didn't look anything like the yellow pus I'd expected from an infection. Mia came running to his aid, quickly checking his pulse and breathing. He's burning up, Mia said. Suddenly the train broke loose, and we started moving away from the green fields of infectious crystals. Frank joined us with as many supplies as he could carry from the back cars, trying not to leave food or medication behind. I can't believe we're moving again.

Frank said gleefully as it returned to us, showing little concern for John's deteriorating state. Near the front of the train, there was a sleeping car, which we cleaned out and put John to rest. Moving the mountain of a man was a tough challenge on its own, but it was nothing next to the challenge of keeping him alive through sepsis as the infection spread into his bloodstream. Mia took on the task of watching John, making sure he drank and fed him its antibiotics while the train moved closer to Gehenna. it would only be a matter of hours until we reached our final destination. And I had yet to tell the others what the place truly was. While Frank was busy trying to contact the outside world,

using one of the few battery packs still working, I approached Mia to tell her the pitiful truth about our journey. I sat down and glanced out the window, watching the landscape change as we quickly passed by. The infinite green field that had taken Philip started to give way to solid, rock, gray, and continuous, with scanty cracks breaking its perfect surface. Tall structures extended from some of the cracks, looking like red tree stems covered in veins and arteries, pulsating and twitching in response to our passing. At the top, they broke up into bubbles filled

with swishing black glue, similar to what it oozed from John's wound. Red forests, reeking of rotten flesh grew in density as we kept moving closer to a literal hell. Every now and then, creatures would emerge from the densest parts of the structures. Bizarre beings, vaguely resembling horses, with long bodies and impossibly thin legs stretching at least 15 feet away, and eyes that were pitch black, sunken things, far too large for their heads. About a dozen of them had gotten an inkling to our presence, and galloped elegantly along our moving train, keeping up the pace. Mia, I have to tell you something, I said carefully.

She didn't respond. She just kept staring at the creatures that were following us. They never got too close, probably only curious as to what and who we were. We're not going to make it, are we? She said without a hint of emotion in her voice. What do you mean? Gehenna, I know the name. It means hell, she continued.

The red forest outside kept getting denser, forcing the creatures to break off. And as the trees grew taller, the sky darkened. I'm sorry. I should have told you earlier. I didn't want us to give up, she said. I kept my mouth shut. She'd been struggling with the same information as me,

yet she kept helping us. It wouldn't make sense for me to confess that I already knew as well. I'm sorry about Philip, I said after a minute of silence. Thanks. He would have wanted us to keep fighting. I checked the watch,

only to notice the seconds tick slower. than normal. According to the time, we were only an hour away from Gehenna, but with every watch having slowed down, there was no way of telling how far away we really were. So, what do we do? I asked. When we get there? I nodded. I don't know. But right now, we have to. She was cut off by John starting to shake violently, screaming in agony without fully regaining consciousness. At first, it looked like a seizure. But once we saw his leg, we realized it wasn't anything that could possibly be explained by modern medicine. His leg had torn open completely, and black tendrils stretched out,

wriggling around in the air as if searching for something. The obsidian black appendages looked exactly like the flesh of the sentinels, and it immediately dawned on both of us that the sentinel had deliberately let John live after spreading itself within him. We both screamed in shock, unable to decide whether to leave John behind and flee or to stay and try to save him. Frank came rushing in just in time to see one of the tendrils shoot out from his leg and try to grab me, but I ducked beneath it just in time.

What the? We have to cut off his leg. Mia yelled in panic. Frank, get the knife and something hard. How are we going to... I asked with a trembling voice. We'll cut through the flesh with a knife and try to break the bone, but I... Before we could even start to plan out the amputation, John shot to his legs, partially waking up from the pain, realizing what was going on.

Get... Get away from me. He groaned as one of the tendrils shot out of us, ripping flesh away as it extended from his wound. I pulled Mia with me out from the compartment, and we fled forward into the next car just as Frank came running back with an axe he'd found. Where's John?

He asked. We didn't need to answer the question, because John quickly followed us, walking with his mangled, sentinel-infested leg. One of the tendrils had grown out from the wound, forming an amorphous black blob on the floor, still attached to John, feeding off his body.

His leg had completely shattered and split open, but the infection had spread even further, reaching his abdomen, covered in tiny holes occupied by more dark appendages. Amputation was no longer a viable option, so we kept backing away as John screamed in agony, physically trying to fight against the sentinels' movement inside him. As we got to the space between cars, John unwillingly grabbed onto Mia with his arms. She fought back, but even without the tendrils, John was far stronger than all of us. I can't stop it. He forced out.

Please, use the axe. Frank got ready to hit John, but one of the tendrils swung at it, snatching it away. John kept fighting, turning his head to one of the exits, reaching out for it with all of his remaining willpower. Don't fucking die on me. He said before pulling the handle, the door opened, and John let himself fall off the train into the thick mess of red trees and darkness. I held on to Mia as she collapsed to the floor from exhaustion, carefully checked. if she'd been wounded from John's grip. Frank closed the door John had fallen out of, and we all stared at each other in silence. John had died to protect us from himself,

and with that, an immense feeling of loneliness overwhelmed me. Our best chance of survival was gone, and our next stop will be hell itself. I kept staring at the slowly ticking clock, based solely on my biological assessment of time. It felt like days had passed. But according to the clock itself, it had been no more than a measly half hour. It was the same with each clock on the train. They simply didn't work together with reality, measuring each minute as a small eternity. With John dead, we felt more vulnerable than ever, and since his death, we haven't spoken a word. I know we're all on edge, but I think it's time we discuss what we'll do once the train stops.

again, Frank said in his usual annoyed tone. Both Mia and I knew our true destination, but hadn't yet told Frank. Alas, the time had come. And if we stood even the faintest chance of surviving, we had to be able to rely on each other. Frank, we need to tell you something, I said. His eyes narrowed in suspicion at my obviously guilty tone. Tell me what? Our destination. Gehenna, well, I trailed off. Yes, what about it? It's, uh, Gehenna is hell, Frank. We're all going to hell.

Mia burst out, annoyed by my hesitation. We fell silent for a few seconds, while Frank processed what we just told him. Then, he suddenly burst out laughing. Really? Hell? That's the best you could do? He said. I just nodded in response. So, you mean to tell me, that we're already dead and that our next stop will be the realm of Satan himself?

Yeah, I guess. Why is that funny? Well, if you hadn't noticed already, two of us died. How is that possible if we're already dead? Where's John and Philip? He had a point. Our conventional idea of hell required us to be dead already, though it never stated whether you could die twice or what happens upon the second death. We're clearly not dead, but that doesn't.

mean we're not going to a horrific place. Regardless of what you might think, Gahena means hell, Mia said. The argument went on fruitlessly for a while, Frank never giving in and admitting that we weren't going to reach salvation once the train stopped. In the meantime, I kept staring out the window. The once green fields of killer crystals had long since vanished, and the forest of red pillars had grown so dense that it finally blocked out each ray of light, brave enough to attempt to illuminate our path. If I hadn't known better, I would have thought we were back in the void, but it felt different, far hotter than it had before, and even more devoid of hope. Before I got a chance to question the environment, the darkness gave way to a large, open space,

rid of any life, just a rocky, flat surface surrounded by infinitely tall cliffs on each side. It was a valley, gray and dull, with little to no light penetrating a layer of thick clouds above. All of a sudden, the train started to slow down. We're coming to a stop, Mia said as she peeked out through the window. The tracks end here. Before long, the train stood still, and all the doors opened, signaling for us to get off. There was a sign on the empty platform next to us, written in a language I couldn't comprehend. I pulled out my crumbled-up ticket and compared the text, noticing that some of it matched.

Gahena, I mumbled. So what now? We get off the train and wander the wasteland? Or sit here with the last of our supplies, waiting for hunger to kill us? Frank asked. We never got the chance to make a decision. The train simply started disintegrating under our feet. First the windows turned to sand.

Then the seats rotted away, as if hit with a thousand years of time. And finally, the floor started to crack, causing us to plummet onto the tracks below. I groaned in pain as I landed, severely twisting my ankle, while the others landed slightly more elegantly. Mia and Frank helped me to my feet as we witnessed the last chunks of train just vanish before our eyes. We climbed off the tracks and onto the train platform. It was situated on a bridge, giving us a clear view of our surroundings. It was a city, or at least it used to be one. Now it was nothing more than the ruins of a previous.

inhabited place. Tall cliffs stood around the city, too steep to be climbed, too massive to allow for much light. We were in the shadows, clueless and lost. I looked around at the worn-down buildings, desperately searching for any kind of life, but there was none to be found. Without any other options, we headed down to the streets and started searching for a way out. The houses were mostly empty, too broken to set foot in without risking total collapse, filled only with crumbled papers written in a language none of us could understand. Where they had furniture, it was crudely constructed with debris of metal, and what could only be bone fragments, but whoever built it was nowhere to be seen. How much food and water do we have left? Frank asked. Enough for maybe a day,

Mia responded. He sighed in response, and we kept walking. I limped behind the other two on my twisted angle, until we eventually reached a large, open square, surrounded with what looked like temples. Unlike the surrounding city, they were beautifully built in stark contrast to their surroundings. In the middle of the square sat an emaciated figure, a man with white, thin hair. His ribs protruded from his starved body. He didn't seem to notice us as we quickly approached him to see if he needed help. But even as we spoke to him, he just sat there, rocking back and forth, as he mumbled over and over again in a hoarse, sickly voice.

I just want to die. Why won't you let me die? I just want to die. Why not? Why? Why? Why? Mia bent down in front of him and tried to get his attention.

His eyes had turned. white from cataracts, rendering him completely blind. Chunks of flesh were missing from his chest and abdomen. It was obvious. It was some kind of infection. She reached out and checked his pulse, quickly retracting her hand. He's dead. What do you mean dead? He's clearly living, talking and everything, Frank said. Look at him. No one could have survived these wounds, and he doesn't have a fucking pulse, she said. Of course. She was right. The man should have been dead.

Yet there he sat, crying in agony, begging for a death that never came. What do we do? I asked. I think. I think we should just finish him off. Frank said meekly. We can't.

He's... Mia stopped mid-sentence. Realizing that for once, Frank was right. I'm sorry. I think I've got to agree with Frank on this. He wants to die. The least we can do is to

I said as kindly as I could. Frank pulled John's knife out from the backpack and looked at us for the go-ahead. I nodded in return. You guys better look away, Frank said. He bent down behind the suffering man and whispered that he was sorry before quickly slitting his throat. To all of our surprises, not a drop of blood poured out from the newly formed wound. Instead, the man just fell to the ground and gargled incomprehensibly. A whole minute passed and then another, yet the man refused to die. Rather than freeing him, we just put him into a whole other level of misery, taking away his voice and ability to beg for death. I didn't, Frank stuttered as he realized what he'd done. With that, as if a veil had been lifted from our blind eyes, we finally saw the empty city for what it truly was.

Rather than the desolate ruins we'd met as we entered, we saw a fully populated city filled to the brim with suffering inhabitants, each mutilated in various degrees. Most of them were blind, with their eyes either ripped out or turned to cold. Those unfortunate enough to see had their limbs removed, or their organs torn out, unable to do anything to end their miserable existence. As the horrific realization hit us, the ground below us started to move. The city had finally noticed our unwelcome presence, and it reacted violently by pulling itself apart,

creating a gaping chasm in the middle of the square that swallowed anyone unlucky enough to be in the way. What's happening? Frank Aspen panicked. I don't know, but let's get out of here. I yelled in response. The chasm quickly widened, revealing a massive hole extending down into a dark abyss, with spikes and black tendrils extending from the burning walls beneath us. With my sprained ankle, I couldn't keep up with.

the others and slipped to the ground as it shook violently. Thomas! Mia yelled as she rushed to my aid. She pulled me up just in time to avoid being swallowed by the ground. We headed after Frank, who'd started running down one of the alleys, seemingly devoid of any people. As he entered the alley, the concrete wall started moving vigorously. Frank, wait! I yelled, but he didn't hear me. By the time he noticed the walls, it was already too late. Hundreds of spikes shot out from the walls, morphing out from the concrete buildings. Frank dodged the first one as he tried to retreat back towards us, and for a moment, it seemed he was in the clear,

before one final spike emerged and penetrated straight through Frank's abdomen. With a mortal wound, the wall fell silent. Frank collapsed to the ground, holding onto his guts, unable to scream from the intense pain. Frank! We yelled simultaneously as we rushed to his mangled body. He lay there in shock, his eyes darting frantically back.

and forth between us. Too wounded to move, he didn't even realize the severity of his injury. Mia tried her best to stop the bleeding by applying pressure, but it'd hardly slow down the incessant flow of crimson blood. I'm okay. I'm okay. I'll be all right. Frank kept repeating in panic, getting quieter with each iteration. He quickly blood out, too fast to accept his ultimate demise. All we could do was to sit over him as he let out a final breath. The ground started moving again, not to attack us, but to swallow Frank, to fuse his limp body with the concrete beneath them. Within seconds, he'd vanished and become one with the city of Gehenna. Before we could get the chance to catch our breaths, the wall started moving once again.

With my injured leg, I knew I had no chance of escape, but Mia didn't have to die with me. Mia, get out of here! I yelled as spikes formed around us, reaching out to destroy our vulnerable bodies. Then, out of nowhere, a dark rumble sounded alongside a bright light, and the ground came to a standstill. An old man emerged from up the alley, wearing a worn-out but perfectly tailored suit, and it came in his left hand.

The sound shook us, and I grabbed my ear futilely trying to block it out, but it barely helped. What the hell are you kids doing here? The man said, as both Mia and I passed out, lasagne sur-gillet, Pucance-Moyerned for 15 minutes. We'd say that's their dojo.

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apply. forgetting that I had literally spent the past couple of weeks in hell. The old man that had saved us stood by the window, staring out at the empty street, mumbling in a language I couldn't understand. Good morning, he said without even turning, somehow noticing my awakening. With a throat like sandpaper, I couldn't even respond.

I looked around the room with my tired eyes, quickly realizing that Mia was missing. Mia, where is she? Don't worry about her, Thomas. She's resting in the chamber as the infection fades. He said matter-of-factly. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, noticing a glass filled with a murky, brown liquid on the bedside table.

Infection? I asked, as I inspected the glass. It's the closest translation I could come up with. Everyone touched by the void, slowly starts to drain, their souls wearing out as they merge with this place. He turned and limped towards me, revealing a mangled leg, kept up by his cane made from bone and a bright green crystal, exactly like the ones from the fields we'd passed. Everyone, except for you, Thomas, he said.

What does that even mean? I asked. before the man could answer, a loud, brief scream could be heard from one of the other rooms, one sealed by a heavy metal door, similar to the one on the locomotive. What was that? Without an answer, he limped over and touched the door with his cane. It morphed into an opening, which he walked through, then it promptly closed itself off. A few minutes passed, and I got back on my feet, stumbling over to the door, unable to open it, I pushed my ear against it at an attempt at listening to the other side.

But as soon as I touched it, the whole returned, and the old man walked through it, shortly followed by a drowsy Mia. Tom! She exclaimed in joy as she embraced me in a tight hug. The three of us sat down around a table made from concrete and bone. You must have a lot of questions. And though we're short on time, I'll answer as many as I can, he said. Mia and I looked at each other, both wondering where to start.

Who are you? I asked. That's a tough one, he said as he scratched his head. I'm what you could call a guardian, and my job is to keep this place locked down, preventing any unfortunate souls from accidentally slipping through dimensions and ending up here for the rest of eternity. Before that, before my time, I don't know who or what I was. I believe I used to be human. But it has been so long that any memory before this place has long since been wiped out.

He paused and looked at the untouched glass on the bedside table. Drink it, he said, as he looked at me. Without questioning him, I drank the liquid out of some strength. compulsion. It tasted like this, but it immediately revitalized me, as if I had returned back home and recovered from the ordeals in hell. How did we get here then? Mia asked. The man looked at the floor with a shameful expression on his face. It's my fault. For millennia, I've kept this place safe, but even I have aged considerably. Eventually, I will perish like all things should. And the people that are already here, like the ones we, Mia trailed off,

they came during the time between the last guardian and myself, when there was nothing here to keep the gates between our worlds closed. Those who meet an untimely death, or are unable to process or accept it, they all come here. I tried to help the ones that were already trapped, but they were far too gone. Not like you two. Not like us? You two still have a chance to escape, but we have to move quickly. With that, the man shot up and started gathering a bunch of papers. The papers had different kinds of drawings and text that was unreadable. Similar to the text on my train ticket, he stashed the papers into a bag. Take these, he said as he put the bag of papers in my hand. We left the house and carefully ventured into the dark streets, with the sky so riddled

with thick clouds that even if a sun existed, he couldn't possibly brighten up the ruins of Gahanna. The street was mostly empty, just a few suffering lost souls wandering, curious to our sudden presence. They started to follow us. Don't pay them any attention. They won't bother us until we get closer to the light, the man said. He guided. our way through the twisting and turning streets, eventually giving way to a vast, barren field, riddled with mutilated bodies and lost souls. Without hesitating, the man started walking into the piles of dead, faster than the both of us despite his mangled leg. Ahead of us, miles and miles in the distance, lay massive cliffs, stretching straight up into the sky, obscured at the top

by storm clouds. As we touched the cold ground with our feet, a dim light appeared by the base of the cliffs, shooting through the air. What's that? I asked. Your way out. It's a cave that serves as a doorway between our worlds. I've tried to close it, but I'm too weak. Now it will at least serve some purpose. As we passed the dead, some of them awoke, albeit two weeks. to rise. They stared us down, shrieking unintelligible words of agony. The guardian tapped the ground with his cane, the crystal facing down, and the dead fell silent once more. He fell to his knees as he lifted the cane, unable to support himself without its help. What happened to your leg? I finally worked up the courage to ask. It's a recent injury caused by the sentinels, as you call

them. They're usually confined to their void, kept at bay by my mere presence in this world. But recently, they've been getting braver. I guess they know my time is up. What will happen without you? Mia asked. The sentinels will take over Gahanna, rule it as they used to millennia ago, and the gates will open, allowing any unfortunate soul to fall through the gaps of reality. Unless... Unless someone takes your place? I asked. He nodded. I looked over at Mia, who had finally realized the same as myself, that one of us had to stay behind and become the next guardian. Tom, Mia said as she looked at me with pleading eyes, I turned to. towards her, but before I could respond, the ground below us started moving. I looked down to see that

the barren fields had given way to an infinite pile of corpses, all rapidly waking up by our presence. Some started to scream, while others were aware enough to grab for us. The guardian pointed his cane at them again, and while some fell silent, he wasn't strong enough to keep them all at bay. Something's wrong, he said quietly. There was no way we could reach the king. with the lost soul's awakening, and the guardian knew it. Without a word, he slammed the cane to the ground, falling down with it, and an impossibly strong light penetrated the air, instantly silencing the dead. As he saved our lives, his skin started to crack and burn with the vast amounts of energy surging through him. Run for the cave! The man demanded as he collapsed to the

ground, rapidly falling apart. We rushed to help him, but he was surrounded by an invisible barrier making it impossible for us to reach him. No, leave me, he groaned. We looked at him in despair as the light started to fade, and the dead started to awake once more. He'd bought us a few minutes, but time was quickly running out. Do as I say, and run. I grabbed Mia and pulled her with me,

and we dashed for the cave only a few hundred feet away. The movement of thousands, if not millions of lost souls, moved the ground enough to cause cracks that shot towards the cave, ripping rocks from the wall. The cave started collapsing, and we dove through just in time to avoid being smashed to pieces by the falling rocks,

one hitting Mia on her shoulder, tearing through her flesh. Are you all right? I asked, as I helped her to her feet. Yeah, the wound isn't too deep. I'll be fine. We turned towards the light that filled the cave. It was a frame of glowing fog

surrounding a pitch-black portal, hanging a few feet above the ground. That's it? I asked. I guess so. It doesn't exactly look inviting, but there's nothing else around. Even the ground within the cave was riddled with the bodies of the dead, and with each second we spent there, they started to wake up.

We have to hurry, Mia. You go first. I said as I walked closer to the portal, she didn't follow. She just stood back and stared at the swirling darkness hanging in front of us. I'm not going with you, she said quietly. What? You heard him, Tom. This place needs a guardian. If we both leave, millions will suffer.

I just can't do it. Mia was far too good of a person, unwilling to consider her own well-being over that of others. And I knew in my heart that nothing I could say would change her mind. She walked up to hug me. A final goodbye before we parted ways for the rest of eternity. I held her tight as I whispered into her ear. I'm sorry. Sorry about it.

Without letting her finish the sentence. I grabbed onto her, swung around, and shoved her into the portal. The second she realized what was happening, it was already too late. Her body washed away in the darkness, giving me a final look of sadness before she vanished. Gehenna needed a guardian, and Mia wouldn't have let me stay behind. So without any other choice, knowing that she had a much brighter future back on Earth than myself, I made the decision for her. One moment of betrayal, to give her a chance at a good life, even if it meant myself staying.

behind for the rest of time, it would be worth it. After Mia vanished, I felt at peace. Something within me knew she'd made it home. With that, I gained a whole new awareness of the place I would call home. The papers given to me by the old man, once filled with an incomprehensible language, suddenly turned into instructions for me to follow, and that's when I knew the place had chosen me long before I even entered Gahanna. I was supposed to stay behind. My job now will be to close every gap between this world and earth, meaning that after this message, no one will ever hear from me again.

Tell my family I never suffered. And Mia, if you ever read this, I'm sorry. I hope you live a great life. Richard Saxon wrote this story and many others for this podcast. He recently came out with his first book. It is only $2.99 on Amazon, and it is free if you have Kindle Unlimited. Search Tales from the Depths on Amazon, or click the link in the description below.