Daniel's body slowly sank to the ground.
His mouth opened and closed, trying to form words, but none came out.
Then, like wind, he simply dispersed.
“No!” Ethan cried, lunging forward.
Their fingers nearly brushed against each other.
Their fingers nearly connected.
Daniel was gone. Only the cold night air remained.
Ethan stood frozen in his spot next to the taxi.
His heart seemed to swell in his chest.
He had finally found someone who knew about this…… And he was gone.
The passenger quietly closed the door to his right.
“Drive,” he said.
The taxi driver didn't move.
“I said, DRIVE.”
It wasn‘t a loud command. It didn’t need to be.
The engine of the taxi roared to life.
The headlights flashed on.
Slowly, hesitantly, Ethan got into the drivers seat.
The taxi pulled out of Blackwood Cemetery.
In the silence that followed, the two said nothing.
Actually, neither of them spoke at all.
The quiet was even more unnerving than the events that had just transpired. —-
After a few minutes, Blackwood Cemetery eventually passed by.
The road grew more familiar.
Streetlights dotted the pavement.
Traffic lights blocked Ethan's view of the stores.
Stores that were now closed.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Ethan spotted another soul.
A young man stood next to a small, cheap convenience store.
Ethan felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He slammed on the brakes.
“I'm getting help.”
He stepped out of the car.
The passenger said nothing as Ethan exited the vehicle.
The young man looked up as he approached.
“Excuse me!”
Ethan shouted.
The stranger smiled politely as he looked up.
“Can I help you?”
Ethan almost chuckled in relief.
Finally! Some normalcy in this bizarre situation.
“You need to call the police,” Ethan said.
“What happened?”
“I… I don't even know where to begin,” Ethan admitted.
The stranger looked at Ethan with a mix of bewilderment and concern.
“You don't seem hurt.”
“I'm not,” Ethan replied, taking a breath.
“My taxi driver… There's a man inside… I think something is wrong.”
The stranger glanced towards the road.
“What taxi?” The man asked.
Ethan gave him a strange look
He pointed behind him.
“There.”
The stranger looked towards the road, but his eyes widened in confusion.
“I don't see anything.”
Ethan turned around and looked back towards the road.
The taxi was parked exactly where he had left it.
Its headlights were on, and the passenger was inside it.
“How can you not see it?!” Ethan asked, frustration creeping into his voice.
“I think you're making a mistake,” the stranger said cautiously.
“It's right there!” Ethan insisted.
The stranger's expression softened.
“Sir…”
“… Are you feeling alright?”
Ethan felt his pulse begin to quicken.
“You really can't see it, can you?”
The stranger slowly shook his head.
“No.”
Ethan ran back towards the taxi.
Halfway there, he looked back at the sidewalk.
The stranger had vanished.
The street was completely empty.
As if he hadn't been there at all.
Ethan stopped running.
His breathing was uneven.
“I'm crazy,” he muttered to himself.
He climbed back into the taxi.
The passenger finally spoke.
“You spoke to someone who wasn't a part of the ride.”
“What do you mean?” Ethan asked.
“There are two worlds.”
Ethan looked in the rearview mirror.
“For a few moments…” the passenger said quietly.
“… They touch.”
“And then?” Ethan asked.
“They separate again.”
Ethan said nothing.
The things the man had said made no sense to him.
And yet…
And yet, somehow, everything he had experienced had meaning. —-
The taxi drove through the empty city.
A few minutes later, Ethan's attention was drawn to something strange.
There, on a digital billboard along the road, was something truly startling.
Instead of an advertisement, it was displaying a missing persons report.
His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter.
The image on the billboard was his face.
MISSING
ETHAN CARTER
Last Seen: Tonight
Along with a phone number and a note saying, “If you have any information, please contact Ashridge Police.”
Ethan slammed on the brakes as he passed the billboard.
“What is this?” He exclaimed as he got out of the taxi.
The billboard changed as he approached it.
Now it was displaying a different face.
Daniel.
Then another.
A young woman.
A boy.
An elderly man.
Every few seconds, it would cycle through different faces, some frightened, some calm, all of them looking human.
At the bottom of each one was the same time.
2:13 A. M.
Ethan took a step back from the billboard.
“How many people…” Ethan started.
The passenger spoke quietly from behind him.
“… More than anyone remembers.”
Ethan turned to look at him.
“Daniel said people forget.” They do,“ the passenger said.
”My family… “
”They're trying. “
”My friends? “
”They're trying. “
”What happens if they forget completely? “
The passenger didn't reply right away.
He continued to stare at the billboard.
”They stop existing,“ he said quietly
Ethan felt his heart lurch at the words
They stop existing
Not die.
Not be killed.
Stop existing.
As if they'd never been born in the first place.
His hands shook as he took out his phone.
He only had one bar of service, but it was enough.
Quickly, he dialed his mother's number.
The phone rung once, twice, then a voice answered
”Hello? “
”Mom! “ Ethan exclaimed.
Silence.
”Who is this? “ the woman asked.
Ethan smiled nervously.
”Mom… It's me. “
Silence.
”I'm sorry,“ the woman said.
”I think you have the wrong number. “
The call ended. Ethan stood there in stunned silence.
His phone fell from his hand and hit the pavement.
For the first time since the beginning of the ride, he wasn't scared of the passenger.
He was terrified of being forgotten.
Behind him, the engine of the taxi roared to life. The passenger looked out at the road through the windshield.
”We don't have much time.”
Ethan slowly picked up his phone.
The clock on the home screen still said the same time as before
2:13 A. M.
But something else had changed.
His wallpaper.
The picture of him and his parents…… Was now just his parents.