Chapter 6: Echoes of the Damned

Elton’s lungs burned as he ran.

The house was behind him now, but he knew that didn’t mean he was safe.

The road stretched endlessly in front of him, dark and twisting, its edges dissolving into a thick, black fog. The moon above flickered like a dying lightbulb. Time felt wrong—stretched, bent, unstable.

His hands shook as he tried to catch his breath. The world felt off, like he wasn’t supposed to be here.

Because he wasn’t.

Something had brought him here. Something was keeping him here.

A sound broke through the silence.

A whisper.

No.

Three whispers. Johnny. Brody. Eddy. They were here. Somewhere. Watching. Elton turned sharply, scanning the darkness.

Nothing.

Then a voice, just inches from his ear. "You can’t run forever, E."

Elton spun around, his heart slamming against his ribs.

Nothing but empty road. But he knew they were close. He could feel them.

Dead men shouldn’t whisper. Dead men shouldn’t follow.

And yet, here they were. A flickering streetlamp appeared ahead, its dull glow barely piercing the fog. Beneath it stood Evana, Viviana, and Yolanda.

They were waiting.

Elton approached slowly, his pulse still racing.

"You need to remember,

" Evana said, her tone softer than before.

"I don’t know what to remember," Elton admitted, his voice hoarse.

Yolanda took a step forward, her eyes darker than before.

"The route. The one you took that night. It’s the reason you’re here."

Viviana’s voice was barely a whisper. "You never should’ve taken it."

Elton frowned, his mind scrambling. What night? What route?

Evana raised a hand, pointing to the road behind him.

"Walk it again."

Elton hesitated. He didn’t want to. Something inside him screamed not to.

But the whispers were getting louder. The dead were getting closer. With a deep breath, Elton turned and took the first step.

The road was endless.

The farther he walked, the more distorted things became. The streetlights flickered out. The air grew thicker.

And then he saw it.

His E-Scooter. Lying on its side, just like the night of the accident.

His chest tightened. Memories clawed their way back.

He had been riding fast—too fast. The storm had been rolling in. The rain had made the road slick.

Then…The headlights.

A truck. A massive, black truck. No driver. No license plate. Just darkness behind the wheel.

He remembered the impact. The feeling of weightlessness. The sound of his own scream.

And then—

Nothing.

Elton staggered backward, gasping. His breath was shallow. His skin was ice.

"You’re starting to see it now," Viviana murmured, standing just behind him.

"But not all of it," Yolanda added.

Evana’s gaze was sharp. "The dead aren’t following you, Elton. You’re following them."

Elton’s mind reeled. No. No, that wasn’t possible.

Then he felt it.

The weight.

The crushing, suffocating weight of something standing directly behind him.

Slowly, he turned.

Johnny. Brody. Eddy.

They stood in the road, their forms more solid than before. Their eyes were hollow, their faces twisted in expressions of pain and rage.

"You killed us, E," Johnny said, his voice filled with something between anger and sorrow.

Brody’s head tilted unnaturally. "And now you’re going to join us."

Eddy grinned, his teeth too sharp. "We’ve been waiting for you to remember."

The road beneath Elton’s feet began to crack. The sky above split open, revealing a swirling, endless void of darkness.

Memories flooded his mind.

The truck. The impact.

The route.

He had taken a shortcut that night. A road that didn’t exist on any map. A road no one should have ever driven on.

And now he understood.

That road never led back.

It only led here. To them.

To this place. To death.

Johnny took a step forward, his form glitching like a broken image.

"It’s time to finish what you started." The ground beneath them gave way. Elton fell.

Darkness swallowed him whole.

Elton plunged into the abyss.

Darkness wrapped around him, swallowing his screams. The fall felt endless, but then—impact.

He crashed onto something solid, but the pain didn’t come. Instead, a cold numbness spread through him. The air smelled like rain-soaked pavement and burnt rubber.

Slowly, Elton opened his eyes.

He was back on the road.

But something was wrong.

Everything looked frozen in time. The trees stood still, their leaves suspended mid-air. Raindrops hovered motionless in the sky.

And ahead of him—

The accident.

His E-Scooter lay shattered on the asphalt. A mangled wreck of twisted metal and broken glass. Blood stained the road.

His blood.

Elton’s breathing turned shallow. His hands trembled as he took a step forward. Then another.

He saw himself.

Lying there. Motionless.

His own body.

He recoiled, stumbling backward. No. No, this wasn’t real. It couldn’t be.

A low voice cut through the silence.

"You finally get it now?"

Elton spun around.

Johnny. Brody. Eddy.

They weren’t glitching anymore. They weren’t shifting in and out of reality. They were fully here. Solid. Real.

Brody stepped closer, his boots scraping against the road. "This is where it happened. This is where we all died."

Elton’s head pounded. All?

Johnny clenched his jaw. "You weren’t the only one on that road, E."

Elton struggled to breathe. No. That wasn’t right. He had been alone. He had been—

Flashes of memory slammed into him.

The truck. The sharp turn. The three figures in the road.

He hadn’t swerved fast enough.

He hadn’t seen them in time.

The impact.

Their bodies.

Their screams.

And then—

Nothing.

A hollow, sickening realization settled in his chest.

"I killed you."

Brody’s face twisted with something unreadable. "Not on purpose. But yeah."

"And now?" Eddy’s voice was almost amused. "You’re stuck here with us."

Elton’s heart hammered. No. There had to be a way out.

"There is."

The new voice sent a chill through his spine.

Elton turned—

Evana, Viviana, and Yolanda stood in the distance, their faces grim.

Viviana’s dark eyes met his. "You don’t belong here, Elton. Not yet."

Evana pointed to the road behind him. It was no longer broken and endless. It stretched forward, leading somewhere.

"You have one chance," Yolanda whispered. "Take it." Elton didn’t hesitate.

He turned and ran.

The whispers grew louder. The dead screamed behind him. The road twisted beneath his feet.

Then— Light.

Blinding. Burning. And then— Gasp.

Air rushed into his lungs. His eyes flew open. He was lying in a hospital bed. Machines beeped around him. His body ached, but he was alive. A nurse rushed in, calling for the doctor.

"You’re awake," she breathed. 

Elton stared at her, his mind still reeling. He had made it back. But he knew the truth now. 

Johnny, Brody, and Eddy never left that road.

And they were still waiting. Waiting for someone else to take Dead Man’s Route. 

Waiting for the next soul to be trapped.