** **
“Ethan!”
The voice echoed through the empty street.
It was Mike.
There was no doubt about it.
Ethan's hand tightened around the steering wheel.
His first instinct was to open the door.
Mike had to be out there.
He could help.
Then he remembered what the passenger had said.
Don't answer if someone calls your name.
“Ethan!”
This time the voice sounded closer.
Almost beside the taxi.
“Where are you?” Ethan whispered.
The passenger didn't move.
He simply stared ahead.
The voice came again.
“Ethan! Open the door! Hurry!”
It sounded desperate.
Panicked.
Exactly how Mike would sound if he were in danger.
Ethan couldn't ignore it anymore.
He leaned toward the window.
The street outside was empty.
Then…
A figure stepped out of the fog.
Mike.
He looked soaked from the rain.
His clothes were dirty, and there was a small cut on his forehead.
He ran toward the taxi.
“Ethan!”
He slammed both hands against the passenger window.
“Thank God! Unlock the door!”
Ethan reached for the lock.
The passenger spoke quietly.
“Look carefully.”
Ethan stopped.
Something felt… Wrong.
Mike was breathing heavily.
His face looked frightened.
But his clothes…
They were completely dry.
Not a single drop of water.
Even though it had been raining all night.
Mike kept banging on the glass.
“Open it!”
His voice cracked.
“He's lying to you!”
He pointed at the passenger.
“Don't take him where he wants to go!”
Ethan looked at the man in the back seat.
The passenger didn't even glance toward the window.
“He isn't Mike.”
Ethan swallowed.
“What?”
“He only sounds like him.”
Mike banged harder.
The windows shook.
“Ethan! Listen to me!”
His face twisted with fear.
“If you don‘t open this door, you’ll never get home!”
Ethan's heart raced.
Every part of him wanted to believe his friend.
He slowly lowered the window by an inch.
The passenger's eyes closed.
“Don't.”
Too late.
The moment the glass moved…
Mike stopped shouting.
A strange smile spread across his face.
It wasn‘t Mike’s smile.
It stretched far too wide.
Far wider than any human smile should.
His eyes didn't blink.
They simply stared.
His voice changed.
Deep.
Cold.
Almost hollow.
“You shouldn't have done that.”
Ethan froze.
Mike's face began to change.
His skin slowly turned pale.
His eyes became completely black.
His smile grew even wider.
A loud knock came from the roof of the taxi.
Bang.
Another one.
Bang.
Bang.
Something was walking above them.
Slow.
Heavy.
One step at a time.
Ethan looked upward.
The roof bent slightly with each step.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The fake Mike slowly backed away into the fog.
Without turning around.
Without taking his eyes off Ethan.
Then he disappeared.
The knocking stopped.
Silence returned.
Ethan quickly rolled the window shut.
His hands wouldn't stop shaking.
“What… Was that?”
The passenger answered without emotion.
“It wanted you to invite it inside.”
Ethan stared at him.
“What is ‘it’?”
“You'll learn.”
“I don't want to learn!”
His voice echoed through the empty taxi.
“I just want to go home!”
The passenger finally looked at him.
“You still believe home is waiting.”
Before Ethan could ask what that meant…
The taxi began moving.
On its own.
His foot wasn't on the accelerator.
His hands weren't turning the wheel.
Yet the car continued down the road.
“Ethan grabbed the steering wheel.”
“No… No…”
He tried the brakes.
Nothing happened.
The taxi ignored every command.
It drove as if someone else was controlling it.
The buildings outside slowly disappeared.
The streets became narrower.
Old trees appeared on both sides.
Their branches stretched across the road like long fingers.
A rusty iron gate stood ahead.
It slowly creaked open by itself.
The taxi passed through.
Beyond the gate stood hundreds of old gravestones.
Blackwood Cemetery.
The engine finally stopped.
The doors unlocked with a soft click.
For the first time since the ride had begun…
The passenger reached for the handle.
Before getting out, he spoke one sentence.
“They're already waiting.”
He stepped into the darkness.
A cold wind swept through the cemetery.
Ethan looked around.
The place was empty.
Or so he thought.
Then he noticed them.
Between the gravestones…
Dozens of silent figures stood perfectly still.
Watching him.
None of them moved.
None of them spoke.
Yet every single face was turned toward Taxi 27.
And among them…
Ethan saw someone he recognized.
Daniel.
The taxi driver who had disappeared years ago.
Daniel slowly raised one hand.
Not to wave.
To warn him.