Chapter1:TheTrainoftheDamned.
My name is Jack.
Iwasneverinterestedinexcellingatanything.
Atschool,Iwasjustanotherteenager withahabitofsittingbythewindow,pretendingtheworlddidn'texist.
Maybethat's whynoonenoticedthatsomethinginmewasabouttobreakthatmorning.
The sky was covered with gray clouds when I boarded the train.
I had the feeling that an invisible weight was crushing my chest. Every breath was harder than usual, as if the air itself refused to enter my lungs.
I told myself it was just fatigue.
Acold,maybe.
I didn'timaginethatthiswouldbethelasttimeIcouldfeelsomethingasmundaneas being tired.
The carriage was half empty.
A few people were dozing in their seats.
Two of the most important people in my life were talking quietly.
Their faces were so familiar that they gave me a moment of calm.
Valentine, my childhood friend, was sitting behind me, her backpack resting on her lap.
She had that concentrated expression she always wore when listening to
someone intently.
Next to her was Claire, her best friend, who had also become part of my small world.
They were speaking in whispers, but it was clear they shared the same nervousness that was weighing on my chest.
I simply sat down, trying to ignore the feeling that something was about to snap at any moment.
The train advanced with its monotonous rattling.
For a moment, I let the swaying of the carriage lull me.
That's when a sharp sound forced my eyes open.
A dull thump at the door of the front carriage.
Noonemoved.
Maybeweallthoughtitwasamechanicalproblem.
Afaulty brake.
Anything normal.
Until we saw the first figure step through the doorway.
Atfirstglance,itlookedhuman,butsomethingaboutitssilhouettewas…wrong.
Veinsbulgedfromitsskin,tight,pulsating,swollenasiftheywereabouttoburst.
They containednoredblood,butathick,impossibleblueliquid.
The creature tilted its head at an unnatural angle, as if it didn't understand what a neck was.
Itseyesweredevoidofexpression.
Onlyhunger.
A choked scream rose from the back seats.
It was the last time anyone managed to make a sound.
The beast lunged at the first passenger with a speed no movie could simulate.
Adry impact, a crunch of bones, and a shriek that immediately cut off as its throat was torn out.
I wanted to stand up.
Torun!Toscream!
Buttheairfrozeinmywindpipe.
Mybodydidn'trespond.
I looked up and discovered, with a dread that chilled me to the stomach, that none of the others could move.
Weallremainedpinnedtoourseatslikebrokendolls.
Some were crying silently, eyes wide, unable to even lift their hands to cover their faces.
The creature raised its head, looking at us curiously.
And then the others arrived.
There were five of them. Each one more deformed than the last.
Theblueveinspulsed with a sickly rhythm, marking a heartbeat that wasn't human.
They advanced slowly, as if savoring our terror.
I felt my heart pounding so hard it could break my ribs.
The world narrowed into a tunnel where only the footsteps of those things and the metallic taste of my own fear existed.
That's when I heard a sob behind me.
Valentine.
Iwouldrecognizehervoiceevenifitweremixedwitheveryoneelse's.
Itwasabroken, containedcrythatmademewishmorethananythingIcouldtakeasteptowardher andtellhereverythingwouldbeokay,evenifitwasalie.
"Jack…" she murmured in a thread of a voice, so faint it barely reached my ears. "I'm scared…"
Ifeltsomethingtearinsidemychest.
Clairewasnexttoher,tremblingasshegrippedValentine'shandwithallhermight.
Herlipsmovedinasilentprayer,orperhapsshewasjustrepeatinghername.Intheir eyes,Icouldreadthesamecertaintythatwasbeginningtochillmyblood:thatnoone was coming to save us.
I tried to answer, but my vocal cords refused.
Mythroatwasanunbreakableknot.
One of the creatures pounced on a man in the front, sinking its jaws into his neck.
Blueandredbloodmixedinapoolthatbegantospreadacrossthefloor.
My vision blurred as the paralysis held me prisoner.
Iwantedtoclosemyeyes.
Icouldn't.
I was forced to witness everything.
The carriage door slammed shut with a dry bang.
Thesilencethatfollowedwasworse than the screams.
For a second, no one moved.
Not the creatures.
Notus.
Only that being who had entered first—the one with the most swollen veins, the eyes empty like a well—walked slowly down the aisle, stopping every now and then as if looking for something.
A wounded man, barely conscious, tried to sit up near the front seats.
The monster stopped in front of him.
Itsbarefeet—deformed,elongated,withsomethingthat seemedtobranchoutunderthenails—brushedthemetalfloorasittookanother step.
Itwasalmostimperceptible:astrangetickleinmyspine,likeanelectricshocktoo weaktohurt,butenoughtomakemywholebodytenseup.
The man became completely immobile.
Hispupilsdilated.
Hischestroseandfellerratically.
Athreadof blue drool began to drip from his mouth.
I didn't understand what had happened.
I didn't know if it was some kind of poison, a signal, a power I couldn't see.
I only understood that, suddenly, that man was no longer there.
My breath caught in a gasp.
The rest of the creatures—five, maybe more—didn't react.
They continued tearing bodies apart without paying attention.
But the first one… that one was watching me.
For an instant—so brief I almost thought I imagined it—I felt its gaze anchor onto me, that somewhere behind those empty eyes, something recognized me in a way I couldn't comprehend.
The train slowed down and stopped with a long screech.
The automatic door opened.
And for a heartbeat, I thought it would finally be over.
A dozen soldiers entered the carriage, their steps heavy, their weapons ready. "Secure the perimeter!" one of them shouted, his voice distorted by the communicator.
The monster didn't take its eyes off me.
It continued walking with the same calmness, and every step it took on the metal seemed to release that invisible current that drained my will.
Instantly, all the soldiers were immobilized… while those disgusting creatures accompanying it lunged at them to devour them; that's where my hopes of leaving this place ended.
The immobilized soldier suddenly sat up straight.
His arms hung lifelessly at his sides.
But his legs began to move toward us, step by step, with a clumsy, empty movement.
Terror chilled me to the bone.
I didn't understand how it did it.
I just knew that every step that thing took was one step closer to turning us all into puppets.
Valentine burst into sobs. "Jack…" she whispered, her voice cracking. "I just… want to go home…"
Me too.
More than I had felt in my entire life.
The train shook beneath my feet.
The taste of blood filled my mouth as the electrical buzzing clouded my mind.
A blast rumbled too close.
The shot went through my left side like a burning iron.
My scream was barely a broken gasp.
I felt something warm soak my waist and leg.
Only when Valentine let out a strangled whimper did I realice the bullet had hit her leg too.
She collapsed behind me.
Her breathing became a choppy sob.
The world narrowed to a single thought:
I can't let him kill her.
With a roar I didn't know I possessed, I lunged at the monster.
My trembling hands found a metal pipe next to the seat.
I raised it over my head and brought it down against its skull with all the strength I had left.
The impact was a dull strike.
The creature barely tilted its neck, as if analyzing my effort.
Then, slowly, it turned its expressionless face toward me.
I was gasping.
My vision was filling with black spots.
But I didn't back down.
The creature bent down and its jaws opened.
I felt the teeth sink into my neck.
The pressure was so unbearable I thought my spine would give way.
A shriek escaped my throat, mixed with a gush of blood.
The air was gone.
My hands went up purely on instinct.
I dug my fingers into those empty sockets and squeezed.
The blue fluid burst out, soaking my face, entering my mouth and the open wound in my neck.
The monster drew back with a low hiss, half its face stained with its own blood. For a second, I thought I had truly wounded it.
But as my legs buckled, I watched one of its eyes—the one I had just crushed—rebuild before me, cell by cell. The pupil reformed, and for an instant, its gaze pierced me with a consciousness that belonged to nothing human.
My knees hit the floor.
The cold spread across my back.
Then the creature turned its face toward Valentine.
She could barely look up, her lips trembling.
"Ja…" she tried to say my name, but her voice broke.
The creature leaned over her.
I screamed something I no longer remember.
I saw its jaws open and close over her neck with the same precision with which it had marked me.
Her body arched in pain.
Her eyes dimmed as a trickle of blood ran down her chin.
I felt something break inside.
With a moan, I dragged my legs.
Every inch was hell.
I collapsed beside her.
I took her in my arms.
Her hands hung limp.
Her gaze didn't meet mine.
A spasm rose in my throat.
Blood filled my mouth.
A dark thread fell onto her face, trickling over her lip.
A weak reflex made her swallow before passing out.
"I'm sorry…" I muttered, in a voice that was barely mine. "I'm so sorry…"
The monster watched us for a moment.
Andthen,forthefirsttime,itsmiled.
Itwasa ghastlygrimace.
Acertaintythatnothingwehaddonewouldchangeourfate.
The frost completely overcame me.
Myvisionwascoveredinshadows.
Then the creature turned its face toward Claire.
Foramoment,Irecognizedherinthe darkness.
Darkness.
Silencecamelast.
AsilencesodeepIthoughtitwouldbeeternal.
Then everything went out.