The Traveler of Darkness

James lived in a small town where nothing ever happened. The streets were quiet, the nights were long, and the same people passed by each day. He worked at a gas station on the edge of town, usually finishing his shift around 10 PM. Every night, he walked home using the same dark road that cut through a quiet neighborhood. He had done this for years and never thought much about it—until one night, things changed.

That night, the street felt different. The air was colder. The lights flickered. James pulled his jacket tighter and walked a little faster. As he turned the corner, he saw someone ahead.

It was a man.

The man was walking slowly, dressed in a long black coat. He wore a dark hat, and his head was tilted downward. James couldn’t see his face. He assumed the man lived nearby and didn’t think too much of it. But something about the man made him uncomfortable. His steps were too slow, too steady, like he wasn’t in a hurry at all. And then, just as James looked away for a moment, the man was gone.

There was nowhere he could have gone. No alleys. No open doors. No parked cars. Just empty road.

James stood still for a minute. Maybe he imagined it. Maybe he was just tired. He shook it off and continued walking home.

The next night, the man was there again.

Same road. Same spot. Same black coat and hat. And again, as James got close, the man disappeared. This time, James stopped and looked around carefully. Nothing. No sound. No movement. Just the wind.

By the third night, James felt afraid. He told himself not to be silly. It was just a man. Maybe a strange one, but nothing more. Still, part of him wanted to take a different way home. But he didn’t. He wanted to prove to himself there was nothing to fear.

And again, the man appeared. Walking slowly. Not saying a word. James tried to speak.
“Hey,” he called out. “Do you need help?”
The man didn’t turn, didn’t stop. Just kept walking.

James followed him, but no matter how fast he walked, the distance stayed the same. It was like trying to chase a shadow.

On the fourth night, James brought a flashlight. He pointed it at the man, but the light didn’t touch him. The beam stopped just before reaching the dark figure, as if the man was surrounded by something that pushed the light away.

That night, James couldn’t sleep.

On the fifth night, James waited for the man. He stood behind a tree at the usual spot. When he saw the black figure approaching, he stepped out. “Why do you keep walking this road?” he asked.

The man stopped.

For the first time, he lifted his head.

There was no face.

No eyes. No mouth. Just smooth, dark skin. Like a blank mask.

James couldn’t move. His heart pounded. He took a step back. The man took a step forward.
James turned and ran.

He didn’t look back. Not once.

The next morning, he called in sick to work. He told his friend Eric about the man. Eric laughed. “You need sleep, man. You’re seeing things.”

But James knew what he saw.

On the sixth night, James did not want to leave the house. But he felt pulled. As if something in him had to go. Like someone whispering inside his mind, telling him: “Just one more walk.”

He picked up his flashlight and walked the same road.

The man was waiting.

This time, the man didn’t walk away. He stood in the middle of the road, unmoving.

James walked up to him slowly. “Who are you?” he asked, his voice shaking.

The man raised his hand and pointed at James. Then he spoke in a voice so low, it felt like wind inside his ears.

“You followed me. Now you take my path.”

Suddenly, everything around James turned dark. The road. The lights. The stars. Gone.

And just like that, James was gone too.

No one saw him after that night.

His house stayed empty. His phone was left behind. People searched, but nothing was ever found. Only one thing remained: a long black coat, hanging on a tree near the road where James used to walk.

Now, some nights, people say they hear footsteps on the street.

Slow. Steady. Never-ending.

A man in a black coat, walking the same road.

But if you try to speak to him...

He disappears.