** **
Ethan stood outside Room 214.
The hallway was silent.
A moment ago, doctors had been running through it.
Now, there was no one.
He slowly pushed the door open.
The room was dark.
Only one monitor was on.
Its green line moved steadily.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
On the bed lay a baby.
It was him.
Tiny.
Still.
His parents stood beside the bed.
His mother was crying.
His father held her hand.
Neither of them could see Ethan.
He stepped closer.
The passenger entered the room but stopped near the door.
“You said it started here,” Ethan whispered.
“Yes.”
“Then end it.”
The passenger looked at the baby.
“I can't.”
“Why not?”
“Because this was never my choice.”
Ethan frowned.
“What do you mean?”
The passenger looked at him for the first time.
“I wasn't the one who crossed over.”
Before Ethan could ask another question, the room grew cold.
The heart monitor became faster.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
A dark shape slowly appeared beside the baby's bed.
It had no face.
No clear form.
It looked like a shadow that didn't belong in the room.
Ethan took a step back.
“So… That's it.”
The passenger nodded.
“It followed the open door.”
The shadow reached toward the baby.
Without thinking, Ethan stood between them.
The room shook.
The lights burst one after another.
His parents didn't react.
It was as if time had frozen around them.
The shadow stopped.
It slowly turned toward Ethan.
A voice filled the room.
Not loud.
Not soft.
It sounded like dozens of voices speaking together.
“Move.”
Ethan didn't.
“You've taken enough people.”
The shadow didn't answer.
Instead, it showed him something.
The hospital disappeared.
He saw Daniel smiling with his wife.
Then Daniel vanished.
His wife looked around, confused.
She no longer knew who he was.
Another face appeared.
A little boy.
Then an old man.
Then dozens more.
Every missing person.
Every life that had been erased.
The vision ended.
Ethan's eyes filled with tears.
“So that‘s what you’ve done.”
The shadow spoke again.
“They chose.”
“No.”
Ethan shook his head.
“They had no choice.”
The passenger quietly walked beside him.
“For eighteen years,” he said, “it has needed someone to replace it.”
Ethan looked at him.
“And you've been bringing people here?”
“I've been bringing only one.”
Ethan stared.
“What?”
“You.”
The room fell silent.
“Every ride…”
The passenger continued.
“… Has been yours.”
“I never took another passenger.”
“You were always the passenger.”
Ethan felt everything fall into place.
The strange roads.
The frozen time.
The notes.
The missing memories.
It had always been the same night.
Again.
And again.
And again.
He looked at the man beside him.
“So who are you?”
The man smiled for the first time.
A tired smile.
“I'm the driver who came before you.”
Ethan remembered Daniel.
“No.”
The man shook his head.
“Long before Daniel.”
“I made my choice.”
“I stayed so another child could live.”
His body slowly began to fade.
“My ride ends tonight.”
The shadow stepped closer.
The room grew colder.
The baby on the bed suddenly stopped breathing.
The heart monitor let out one long sound.
Ethan looked at the baby.
Then at his parents.
Then at the shadow.
Finally, he looked at the former driver.
“There has to be another way.”
The old driver lowered his head.
“I've searched for eighteen years.”
“I never found one.”
The shadow raised its hand.
The room trembled.
The monitor clock changed.
2:13 A. M.
The old driver looked at Ethan.
“It's your turn to choose.”
The shadow took one more step.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Then…
He smiled.
“I think I found another way.”
The shadow stopped moving.
For the first time…
It looked uncertain.