Stranded - Mysteries of a Ghost Town

p r o l o g u e

I wiped the blood off my hand on what remained of the torn jacket.

Blood had dried on my skin as if it had oozed out a deep wound. The blood wasn't mine. The jacket I rubbed against wasn't mine, the wallet and phone and the three-month-old baby I carried with me weren't mine.

It all belonged to a person who I strangled with my bare hands.

I was a killer.

But if I had left her alive and writhing in pain, I would've been a monster. She would've hated me if I had left her alive with them. Like them.

I crawled up the steps to the empty station. The silence that greeted me rang my heartbeats even louder.

The quaint station was a stranger to the catastrophes that had happened in the past few hours. It didn't know of the horrendous murders that happened to the strangers who alighted from the train some hours ago and remained ignorant of the monstrosities that happened to me.

I dragged myself to the waiting area to catch the next train. The board read, "To Port Elia in 1m"

I didn't trust it now, and I shouldn't have trusted it when I first arrived here. It was too late; I was too late. We all could have survived this.

But now it was just me and this baby. I had no idea where Rex was. He was supposed to meet me here - we decided when I had asked him to run away. He didn't want to, but I forced him.

I just hope that he was alive.

My legs had no injuries I knew of, yet I refrained from standing up or walking. I rested against a clean bench facing the rail tracks.

My legs were sore and shaking immeasurably from all the running I did in the last few minutes. The muscles in my thighs had tightened, and it felt like they were no longer part of my body.

I looked at the coffee shop to my right, everything was stocked up, ready to brew fresh coffees. The doughnut trays were filled, and the cold drinks and water freezer were full as if someone had come from Gorgefall to replenish them after some passengers stole the food a few hours ago.

This was all a trap.

I closed my eyes, trying to stop tears and hold the sob building up my throat. Nothing could be done now. The scenes flashed in my head as a constant reminder to tease me how one mistake could completely change one's life. And these memories would haunt me for the remainder of my life.

I opened my eyes and tightened my fist. How can I be a little grateful and hopeful about having the rest of my life when all those who came here with me couldn't be the same!?

I look down at the bundle of clothes I was holding, the bundle that kept the baby safe. She was asleep but smiling at me because she too could have the rest of her life like me, unknowing that her mother gave up her life for her. After all, she hadn't learned what guilt was.

Many minutes had passed since I arrived at this place covered in blood, but the board still said, "To Port Elia in 1m". We had figured out for some time that the board didn't indicate how much time was left until the next train, but it was a countdown.

The sound of sudden footsteps growing louder and louder with time startled me. I saw a shadow of a tall person approaching us.

I gathered whatever courage had left to snatch myself up and run if I had to. But as the shadow came closer, I saw the face.

I wobbled in his direction as he picked up his pace and ran towards me. He threw his arms around us, "You guys are safe, alive."

My throat choked up to hold back a nasty cry, leaving me speechless.

He moved a little back, worry and concern clouding his eyes, "I thought I lost you too. Where's everyone else?"

I shook my head. I wanted to say I killed Pepa. I choked her with my two hands while she was begging for her life, but I couldn't form words.

Rex pulled me close and rubbed my forearm as if saying he understood.

He looked down at the baby in my hands and tried to caress her head when he suddenly stopped.

"Viv, why isn't the baby breathing?"

I held the baby with two hands, unbundled her, and tried to shake her gently. No movement.

"I think the baby is-"

His words got cut off when a train announcement rang in the station.

"Train to Port Elia is arriving now."

I took in a breath of relief even though I knew that Pepa's death was in vain. Her child didn't survive either. But the baby had been this way for quite some time now. I thought she was asleep, but now that I thought of it, it was dead for quite some time.

The board didn't indicate the time until the next train; it indicated the deaths until the next train.

But the baby was dead some time ago. What changed in the last few minutes? We heard the train's siren in the distance, which shook the whole railway station.

Rex's eyes got wider in shock, seeing something behind me.