Evil Origins: A Horror & Dark Fantasy Collection (93 page)

“He
punched our ticket. We must get off the train,” the boy said.

John
leapt from the seat and ran towards the back of the car, away from his boy-self
and William the Conductor.

“It
was an accident. It wasn’t my fault. I did my best to protect my
friend. Calling the police would not have changed anything. She was already
dead. What difference would it have made?”

William’s
hand grabbed the tip of his cap, and he tilted it towards John.

“I
didn’t ask for this,” John said to William.

“Look
in your hand, sir. You purchased the ticket—regulations require that I
punch it.”

The
train pitched to the side, tossing John against the window of the left
aisle. He caught a glance of the terrain on the other side. Despite
the night’s heavy curtain of darkness, John saw the land bathed in a red
glow. The trees of the Tennessee valley fell through the earth, and
dancing flames took their place. Pyramids of gleaming skulls rose from the
red sand, with serpents slithering through fractures in the bone. John
caught the scent of rotting eggs while the moaning winds caressed the aluminum
frame of the passenger car.

The
other passengers on the train stood and walked towards John. A dim
recollection surfaced in his memory as he recognized the funeral fashions of a
quarter-century past. Familiar faces washed over John before he could link
them to a name. The swaying motions of the train did not alter the
passengers’ slow, measured pace. They surrounded John, smiling at William
the Conductor.

John
bolted from the seat and slammed into the door leading to the next
train. He pushed the button and felt the dry heat burn his face. The
door slid open to reveal the retreating track, the last car hitched to the
train. When he turned around, his young self stood before him.

He
shoved John in the chest, catching him off balance as the train sped around a
corner. As John fell through the air, waiting for the violent impact, he
read the boy’s lips.

“Your
ticket has been punched.”

###

Acknowledgements

Thank you, dear reader, for taking this journey with me. If you enjoyed the book please leave a review on Amazon. It can be brief (20 words) and written in a few minutes. Authors depend on reviews from readers like you. And if you really enjoy my work, send me an email at
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In addition, visit
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Do you love horror and dark fantasy? Do you wish you could
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http://jthornwriter.blogspot.com/p/the-keepers.html

Special thanks to Angela Addams for her support of this
collection.

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