Unheard

The sun glinted violently, blinding her momentarily. The young girl covered her eyes, and after a few seconds, looked through the window once again. The train raced on the land, shaking her slightly. It was oddly relaxing. The viridescent hills chased her, and she saw a few children playing a game of soccer, all laughing as they tripped over each other’s feet. Suddenly, a bug flew onto the window, buzzing around wildly. She jumped, shaking her boyfriend, Ace, who was lying on her shoulder. 

“What’s wrong?” He asked, groaning at the sudden awakening.

“Sorry,” she muttered. “Go back to sleep.”

He blinked lazily at her before resting on her shoulder again. 

Music played in her ears, edging her to sleep, but she was disturbing by a sudden metallic thud that echoed from the front of the train, waking Ace, who almost fell off his seat. 

“What was that?” he asked, sleep laced in his voice.

“I-I don’t know,” annoyance crawled up her throat. She was just about to go to sleep after so long.

They sat still for a bit, waiting for another sound. 

The train shook, and she heard a loud shriek outside. There was the horrifying sound of metal scraping, as if the train was skidding to a sudden stop.

Crash.

Shouts sounded outside of their compartment, and she dashed outside, pushing the door abruptly to the side. The train was still moving, and she had to balance herself so that she didn’t fall forward. Passengers were running towards the front of the train, grabbing onto their loved ones’ hands.

“What is happening?” she thought, stepping past the people, muttering a quick “excuse me.” She glanced behind her to make sure Ace was following. He wasn’t anywhere in sight, and she tried her best to look past the growing crowd of people, but before she could get a proper look around, she had fallen to the ground. A couple of people stumbled around her, and she attempted to get up again. 

“I’m so sorry,” a frightened boy said, reaching his hand out to her. He must have been slightly younger than her, but she was grateful he helped her as she took his hand and hopped up again. 

“You’re fine, thanks,” she responded. “Do you know what’s happening?”

The boy shook his head. “No, but someone said something about the train crashing.”

Her blood ran cold and her spine chilled. 

“No, it can’t be,” she thought.

Adrenaline coursing through her veins, she ran at full speed again towards the front of the train. Well, as full of speed she could manage with people shoving around in the narrow corridor.

As she finally reached the opening of the train that let people out, she jumped out, looking around crazily. 

Children’s screams sounded around her and they echoed eerily in her mind, as she crowded to where several families were standing, mouth open in shock, tears streaming down some of their cheeks. 

There.

The driver’s cab of the train had a window that clearly showed the driver, her hair sprawled in front of her, as she leaned forward, blood drenching the mechanical parts in front of her. Her eyes were open wide and lifeless, face pale as a ghost. Her legs were sprawled in an odd angle, and her forehead was colored in red. 

A choked sob wrenched her throat and gut. She wanted to vomit. Another train lay ahead, the front of it completely spread on its side, half of it stuck into the other’s front. The train must have slid to the side of tracks in the crash, scraping parts of each other’s sides but not causing enough damage to the entire trains. The driver was dead too, they had to be. And based on the way some people were looking – like they had just seen a ghost – into the compartment, there couldn’t be any other explanation. She didn't want to see, though. 

It was then that she realized that there were tears dripping down her chin, which she didn’t bother to hide. 

“Ace,” she managed through her dry throat. No response. “Ace.”

She looked around. Where was he?

Drip

Drip

Drip

She flipped around, hair waving around her face. Her eyes filled with terror. 

No one was around her, the top of the train dripping with the crimson liquid. An eerie wind whipped through her hair, and the world seemed to turn dark, the land suddenly barren. Her heartbeat quickened and she wondered what had happened.

After pausing for a few minutes, she carefully worked her way past the puddles of blood, and toward the train once again. She couldn’t stay out here forever. And she had to get away from all this before she passed out.

She stepped in, and…

she wasn’t going to escape it, was she?

A corpse lay before her feet, the face of a man was pale. There were scars on his neck. He must have been strangled. But, this wasn’t a human that had strangled him. On his neck lay small puncture wounds, as well as red circles around each one, as if someone had placed a suction on each one. 

The more she studied his face, the closer she came to realizing just how familiar the man’s face was to her. Now, that she thought about it, everyone she had seen so far had seemed familiar. 

“Where am I?” she wondered, horrifying thoughts crossing her mind. 

Working her way past the body, she trekked through the aisle, her shoes catching onto some of the blood, creating footprints across the carpeted flooring. It caked her shoes and she felt incredibly gross. The blood led toward the fourth compartment on her right, and she slid open the door. This was her and Ace’s compartment. Before she even entered, she could see the wreckage. 

Part of the ceiling was caved in, pieces of metal lying around. She stepped in, the smaller pieces scraping underneath her feet, causing her to cringe. The plush cushions underneath were scratched and collapsed within themselves. Where was he? She tried moving the rubble around with her feet, but as nothing moved, she crouched down to use her hands. 

“Ace! Ace!” she cried, tears streaming down her already tear-streaked face. His body, completely crushed under the rubble lay in front of her. His clothing was drenched, and there was blood congealed onto the side of his head. She felt for his pulse, hoping against hope. 

He was dead.

And it was her fault.

She left him there.

She looked out the window, the land barren and the trees swaying slightly. The sky was a terrible shade of blue, streaked with a scarlet red. She could hear distant cries in the distance. 

She sat and brought her knees to her chest, crying herself until she had no tears left. 

She sniffled and wiped away her tears, calming herself down. 

She left Ace’s body and worked her way back through the hallway, visiting another compartment, where more blood was trekked.

It was a compartment near the back of the train, so it was left relatively undamaged. She entered it slowly. She wasn’t exactly sure why she decided to enter this one, but something about it felt oddly creepy. 

She stood at the window, looking around the compartment, fiddling with the hem of her hoodie. 

Click.

And then a ruffle. The sound of something heavy sliding.

Her cry of fear echoed throughout the compartment. A carcass had fallen out of the upper luggage slot, narrowly missing her head. It felt at her feet, blank eyes staring back into her own hazel ones. It was the boy who had helped her up.

Her breath quickened as she sprinted outside, letting her feet take her anywhere other than this place. Tears stung her eyes and found herself at the back of the train, the railing slightly bent from the odd angle the train was positioned because of the crash.

Her vision darkened and her lips were suddenly cracked and dry, her arms and legs aching. She brought her hands out, gripping the black metal viciously, bending over. She began hyperventilating, the images of the bodies flashing beneath her eyelids as she closed them. 

She turned around, leaning her back against the railing, sliding her body down to the ground, breath slowing. 

Her vision blurred slightly, if it was because of the tears, she wasn’t sure. Her vision cleared eventually, and she saw Ace, kneeling clasping his hands over his chest, hair splayed messily around his head. 

“Ace!”

He looked up. 

Then he smiled.

And his smile grew.

Until it looked as if it was splitting his face in half.

Then, a serpentine tongue flew between his lips, licking them unceremoniously.

Then, a dozen tentacles shot up from behind him, each with a beak-like structure at the end of them.

He slowly got up, his skin a pale blue, and his eyes completely black, as if someone had spilled ink in them.

“Ace..”

His eyes flicked slowly, walking closer and closer. She tried to back up, but there was nowhere to go. 

Her attempts to slide herself between the bars of the railing were to no avail. He was already right in front of her.

He kneeled down, his wretched face in line with her own.

“It was me all along…”

He brought his hands up to her face, and she noticed claws, sharp and rectangular, aiming for her.

The girl’s chilling scream was left unheard.

* * * * *

Beep. 

Beep.

Beep.

Beeeeeeep.

“Cynthia Everhart, deceased. Time of death: 3:13 pm” a doctor spoke, gloved hands clutching a clipboard tightly. His exhausted eyes filled with sorrow as he looked at the body of the elderly lady.

And no one was around to mourn for her.