The Vanishing Passenger

Alex sat in his usual spot on the late-night commuter train, half awake, staring out the window at the fog that clung to the tracks. It was a dreary ride home, as it always was. The train car was nearly empty, the only other passenger being an older man sitting across from him.

The man’s eyes were fixated on a tattered book, his face shadowed by the dim lights. Alex didn’t pay much attention to him, too exhausted from a long day at work. He yawned and shifted in his seat, trying to settle into a comfortable position.

As the train hurtled through the night, Alex noticed something strange—every time he glanced at the man, he seemed to be closer, as though he had shifted his position in the seat. But each time Alex looked away, the man’s posture didn’t change.

“Must be my tired eyes,” Alex thought, shaking his head to clear the fog in his mind.

A few minutes later, the train slowed as it approached a small, nearly deserted station. Alex could feel the air grow colder, the kind of chill that always seemed to settle in the abandoned stations at night. The train halted, and a thick fog rolled in from the open doors.

When Alex looked up again, the man was gone. It wasn’t that he had simply gotten up and walked away; no, the space where he had been sitting was empty, but it was as if the man had never existed. No one had passed him on their way out, and the train doors had been closed for a while. Alex felt a chill run down his spine as he glanced around, but there was no sign of the mysterious man.

Shaking off the unease, Alex shrugged it off. It must have been a trick of the mind. But as the train began to move again, Alex couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right. Every time he glanced out the window, he felt the oppressive weight of eyes on him, though the car remained empty.

A few stations later, Alex pulled out his phone and tried to distract himself by scrolling through his messages, but a feeling of dread lingered. His heart rate picked up when he heard a soft whisper coming from the direction of the empty seat. He looked up—no one. Just the empty seat, where the man had been sitting.

The whisper grew louder.

Alex stood up quickly, but the train seemed to lurch suddenly, sending him stumbling. He clutched the seat for support and looked around. There was no one. The train, as empty as before.

A sudden sharp tap on his shoulder made Alex freeze. He turned around quickly, his pulse racing. The man was standing right behind him, smiling a wide, unsettling grin.

"Don't you remember?" the man said in a raspy voice, the sound too close, too real.

But before Alex could respond, the man vanished. Just like that, without a trace.

The train screeched to a halt, and the doors opened, revealing the same small, desolate station. A cold wind gusted in, and Alex could only stare at the empty platform.

He stepped off the train, his legs shaking, unsure of whether the events were a nightmare or reality.