The three knocks echoed through the abandoned station.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
Marcus stood completely still.
Elias watched him carefully.
Nobody else seemed willing to breathe.
Then Marcus raised his weapon.
“Everyone stay where you are.”
His voice was calm again.
Too calm.
The survivors obeyed.
Elias looked down the dark tunnel.
Nothing moved.
No footsteps.
No breathing.
Nothing.
That should have been reassuring.
It wasn’t.
Marcus slowly walked toward the tunnel entrance.
Elias followed.
“Marcus.”
“I know.”
“You shouldn’t go alone.”
Marcus stopped.
For a moment, he looked back.
Something had changed in his expression.
The fear was still there.
But he had buried it.
“I won’t.”
He pointed toward two armed survivors.
“You two stay here.”
They nodded.
Marcus turned back toward the tunnel.
“Nobody follows unless I tell them.”
Elias didn’t argue.
Not yet.
The station was larger than Elias had expected.
Old railway platforms stretched into darkness on both sides.
Broken signs hung from rusted supports.
The tracks disappeared into two separate tunnels.
Marcus checked the ground.
“Nothing.”
Elias crouched beside him.
There were footprints in the dust.
Fresh.
Barely visible.
He touched one.
“These weren’t here before.”
Marcus looked at the prints.
“How many?”
Elias followed them.
“One set.”
Marcus stood.
“Human?”
Elias examined the shape.
“Looks like it.”
Marcus’s expression hardened.
“Then we have a survivor.”
Elias shook his head.
“Maybe.”
Marcus looked at him.
“You don’t believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Marcus nodded.
“Good.”
He looked toward the tracks.
“That’s how you survive.”
They returned to the main platform.
Mara had gathered everyone into groups.
Food was being divided.
Weapons checked.
Children kept close to their parents.
For the moment, everything seemed normal.
Almost peaceful.
Elias watched Marcus.
He was counting again.
Thirty-two.
Then thirty-three.
Then thirty-two.
Marcus rubbed his eyes.
Elias approached.
“How many?”
Marcus looked at him.
“What?”
“The survivors.”
“Thirty-two.”
Elias nodded.
Marcus looked away.
Then he whispered:
“I counted thirty-three earlier.”
“I know.”
Marcus frowned.
“You weren’t there.”
“No.”
Elias paused.
“But I saw you counting.”
Marcus stared at him.
“I don’t remember doing that.”
Neither of them spoke.
Then Marcus noticed something written on the concrete wall behind Elias.
Three numbers.
32
Below it:
33
Below that:
32
Marcus stared.
“Did you write that?”
Elias shook his head.
Marcus stepped closer.
His fingers brushed over the markings.
The first number was old.
The second was fresh.
The third was newer.
Marcus’s face slowly changed.
“I don’t remember writing any of them.”
A woman suddenly screamed.
Everyone turned.
One of the children was missing.
Mara immediately began counting.
“Where’s Lily?”
Her mother panicked.
“She was right here!”
People scattered.
“Lily!”
“Lily!”
Elias ran toward the eastern platform.
A small figure stood at the end of the tracks.
“Lily!”
The girl turned.
“Elias!”
She ran toward him.
Elias caught her.
“What are you doing here?”
“I heard my dad.”
Elias froze.
“Your father?”
She nodded.
“He called me.”
Elias looked toward the tunnel.
“Where?”
She pointed.
“Down there.”
Elias crouched.
“Did you see him?”
“No.”
“What did he say?”
The girl hesitated.
“He said he was waiting for me.”
Elias’s stomach tightened.
Lily’s father was standing behind Mara.
Alive.
Watching them.
His face had gone pale.
He rushed forward and hugged his daughter.
“Don’t ever do that again.”
“I’m sorry.”
He looked at Elias.
“Thank you.”
Elias nodded.
Then he noticed something.
Lily was still staring at the tunnel.
Her eyes were fixed on the darkness.
“What’s wrong?”
She whispered:
“He said you were coming.”
Elias’s blood ran cold.
“Who?”
Lily pointed into the tunnel.
“My dad.”
Her father immediately shook his head.
“I never said that.”
Marcus ordered everyone away from the platform.
“Nobody goes near the tunnels.”
A survivor asked:
“What about Lily?”
Marcus looked at her.
“The thing used her father’s voice.”
“How?”
“We don’t know.”
The survivor shook his head.
“Then how do we know it’s not already inside?”
Marcus didn’t answer.
That silence frightened everyone more than an explanation would have.
Mara approached him.
“You need to tell them something.”
Marcus looked around.
“They’re already afraid.”
“They need the truth.”
Marcus lowered his voice.
“The truth is that we don’t know where it is.”
“That’s not enough.”
“It has already entered the station.”
The room went silent.
Marcus continued.
“We just don’t know where.”
They searched every room.
Storage areas.
Maintenance rooms.
Old ticket offices.
Bathrooms.
Even abandoned train carriages.
Nothing.
No creature.
No person.
No sign of movement.
Eventually, Marcus stopped.
“Everyone returns to the platform.”
They gathered again.
Elias stood beside Noah.
Subject Nine remained strangely quiet.
Elias looked at her.
“You know something.”
She didn’t answer.
“Nine.”
She finally looked at him.
“The creature isn’t hiding.”
“What?”
“It’s watching.”
Elias frowned.
“How do you know?”
“Because that’s what they were designed to do.”
Noah looked at her.
“Designed?”
Subject Nine immediately realized what she’d said.
She looked away.
Elias stepped closer.
“You said designed.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“Designed to do what?”
She remained silent.
“Nine.”
“Observe.”
The word was barely audible.
“Some Chimera weren’t designed to kill.”
Elias stared at her.
“They were designed to study human behaviour.”
Noah’s expression hardened.
“So this thing is studying us?”
Subject Nine nodded.
“Learning how we respond.”
“Why?”
She looked toward Elias.
“Because the better it understands us…”
She paused.
“…the easier we become to control.”
A metallic sound echoed through the station.
Everyone froze.
It came from one of the old train carriages.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Stay here.”
He approached the carriage.
Elias followed.
Marcus glanced at him.
“I said stay.”
“I’m coming.”
Marcus sighed.
“Fine.”
They entered the carriage.
Dust covered the seats.
Broken windows let moonlight inside.
Nothing.
Marcus checked each row.
Elias moved toward the rear.
Then he saw something.
A backpack.
Old.
Covered in blood.
He picked it up.
Inside was a small notebook.
Marcus took it.
The first few pages were ordinary.
Names.
Dates.
Supplies.
Then the writing changed.
The final page contained one sentence.
It doesn’t imitate voices.
Marcus stared.
Below it:
It remembers them.
Elias felt the marks beneath his skin pulse.
The notebook slipped from Marcus’s hand.
A voice came from the front of the carriage.
“Marcus.”
They both turned.
Nobody was there.
Then:
“Elias.”
Elias raised his weapon.
“Show yourself.”
Silence.
A voice answered.
His own.
“You already know where I am.”
Elias looked around.
Nothing.
Then Subject Nine screamed from outside.
“Elias!”
They rushed out.
Subject Nine was standing near the platform.
Her eyes were fixed on the tunnel.
Elias reached her.
“What happened?”
She pointed.
There was someone standing inside the tunnel.
A man.
Motionless.
Marcus raised his weapon.
“Identify yourself.”
The figure didn’t respond.
Elias took a step forward.
“Who are you?”
The figure slowly raised its head.
It was Subject Four.
His body was covered in black veins.
His eyes were still completely black.
But this time he wasn’t smiling.
He looked terrified.
He pointed behind himself.
“Run.”
Marcus frowned.
“Why?”
Subject Four’s voice cracked.
“Because…”
He looked toward Elias.
“…it found you.”
Something moved behind him.
Subject Four screamed.
His body was violently pulled backward into the darkness.
Elias fired.
The shots disappeared into the tunnel.
Silence.
Then Subject Four’s voice echoed back.
“Run…”
But it wasn’t coming from the tunnel.
It was coming from behind them.
Everyone turned.
Subject Four stood at the opposite end of the platform.
Blood covered his face.
His head was tilted unnaturally.
He smiled.
“Too late.”
The lights went out.
Gunfire erupted.
People screamed.
Elias grabbed Noah and pulled him down.
Something moved through the crowd.
Fast.
Too fast.
Marcus shouted:
“Don’t shoot!”
A survivor fired anyway.
The muzzle flash illuminated the platform for a fraction of a second.
Elias saw it.
A pale creature moving between people.
Not attacking.
Moving.
Studying.
It stopped beside Marcus.
And whispered in his brother’s voice:
“You promised.”
Marcus froze.
Elias grabbed him.
“Marcus!”
The creature vanished into the darkness.
Marcus stumbled.
His weapon fell.
He stared at the empty space.
“He’s here.”
Elias shook him.
“Marcus!”
“My brother.”
“No.”
“He came back.”
“No, he didn’t.”
Marcus shoved Elias away.
“You don’t know that!”
The lights returned.
The creature was gone.
But Marcus was no longer looking at the darkness.
He was looking at the people around him.
Counting.
Thirty-one.
He counted again.
Thirty-two.
His eyes widened.
“Where’s the thirty-third?”
Nobody answered.
Elias stared at him.
“There were never thirty-three.”
Marcus slowly looked at the wall.
The number remained.
33
Then something scratched beneath it.
A fourth number appeared.
34
Elias’s blood ran cold.
The station lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then a voice whispered from somewhere among the survivors.
“Elias.”
He turned.
Every survivor was staring at him.
No one had spoken.
Then the voice came again.
This time from directly behind him.
“We’re not the ones trapped in here.”
A pause.
The voice smiled.
“You are.”