There never was a business trip.
Never anything like it.
It must've been a week ago, but the day started like any other normal day. My dad was getting ready for work, while my mom was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. I had just woken up and gotten ready to go downstairs. At that time everything seemed to be normal, but when I reached the kitchen hall, I could tell something was wrong.
My parents were on the phone with a stranger. The voice on the other line was coarse and strange, like the crackling of TV static. I was trying to eavesdrop from the hallway but I couldn't make out the words being spoken. If anything, I could tell my parents weren't doing any of the talking, they were just standing there, listening, like they were in some sort of trance. I couldn't tell what was going on but by the time they hung up the phone, their moods and behaviors changed. They were usually bright and cheerful in the morning but that day they were emotionless, almost robotic. The day continued with my dad going to work like normal, as I went to school. The kids on the playground were talking about an urban legend that was spreading around town in those recent months.
"Hey, did you hear?" one of the kids whispered to his classmates. "Tommy's parents went on a business trip a couple of weeks ago and haven't come back yet..."
"You don't think it was the bus stop ghost, do you?!" another kid interjected.
"Shut up! Ghosts aren't real!"
"Bu-u-t i-ts t-t-true they never came back right?" All the kids were terrified of the ghost that haunted the bus stop.
However, even if ghosts aren't real, it was still true. People have been going missing more frequently for the last six months now. The townspeople have been noticing, and they've all been wary of the bus stop ever since. No one has seen a bus in this town afterall, and no one ever needed one. But then why was there a bus stop in the town? And why only one?
When I got home from school that day, my dad was already home. Not even a greeting was said to me when I walked through the front door. I ran upstairs to see both my parents in their room, packing their suitcases.
"Dad!" I ran up to my dad going for a hug. When he finally noticed me he pushed me aside and continued to pack.
"Mom?" I looked towards my mom for help, but I was met with the same cold shoulder. They continued to pack all their belongings into their suitcase and when they were done, they just stood there. No movement. No words. No sound. It was as if they were still in their trance from the morning. The silence continued throughout the afternoon, until finally... the clock struck midnight. They were suddenly woken up from their trance. Grabbing their suitcases, they started walking towards the front of the house. When they reached the front door, my mom suddenly turned around and gave me a hug.
"Your father and I have to go catch the bus now..." She pulled me away revealing the most horrifying, blood-curdling smile on her face. And her eyes...dark, nothing but an eternal void filled them. I couldn't look away. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't my mom.
They both turned away now. Opening the front door and carrying their bags, my mom's last words to me were...
"W-we're so s-sorry..."
She was trembling as she spoke those words, and somehow I knew that those were her real final words. Her last few words as herself as she walked out the door.
I remembered everything now, every tiny detail that's happened in the past week. The pain in my head started to subside as the details became clearer and clearer, but another sensation started to devour me. Despair.
"They're gone..." Tears started to run down my face.
"Jae..." Her purple eyes looked at me with pity as she ran up to me putting her hand on my back. The next few words that came out of her mouth were inaudible. I was too busy lost in my thoughts to hear. I regained all my memories but at what cost. How could I ever forget my parents? What was I doing this whole time? This gut wrenching feeling, how did I ever just forget?
"I remember now! It was the bus!" I cried out. She took me by the shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "The bus took my parents!"
"Jae, calm down!" It took her a couple of shakes to get me back to my senses. "We'll save your parents, so explain to me what exactly happened!"
I gave her an explanation of everything that happened during the past week as calmly as I could. She stood there listening, thinking deeply. After I was finished with my explanation she stood there quietly for a minute, until finally she spoke.
"I see." She started pacing about a bit in the living room. "A bus station that draws people in with phone calls... Now that's interesting."
She continued pacing before turning towards me, her eyes bright.
"Now this is worth investigating!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me along with her again. Bolting out the front door with my arm in tow, she turned her head towards me and with a wide smile she shouted, "Come along my dear Jaeson! We're going to crack this case right open!"
The time was now 2 a.m., the streets were empty, only filled with fog. As we walked along the dark streets, the fog started growing thicker and thicker as we got closer and closer to our destination. However, the street lights that lit our path eventually grew dimmer and dimmer, leaving us in the dark as we wandered. We continued walking for what seemed to be an eternity, until we finally saw a faint blue light in the distance.
"That must be it!" she yelled out as she started running towards the light. I tried to catch up behind her.
As the faint blue light grew brighter, the silhouette of a bus stop could be distinguished through the fog. From all the different stories I heard, the bus stop was always empty, but as we hastily approached, there was a dark figure standing there.
"Shhh..." She held out her arm, stopping me from crossing. She pointed at the dark, shadowy figure and then motioned for silence. We slowly started creeping our way to the bus stop, and we soon found ourselves only several feet away.
The dark, shadowy figure didn't move a single muscle as we approached it. When we got closer, we finally realized what it was.
"So this is what it was..." She seemed fascinated by the man standing there silently with a suitcase by his feet. He was in the same sort of trance my parents were in that night.
"Interesting..." She waved her hand in front of the man's face to elicit a reaction. There were no signs of movement, not even a blink. "Patient seems to show no signs of consciousness..."
She stared down at the suitcase. Taking the suitcase, she opened it up and started searching through it.
"What are you doing?" I asked, confused by this sudden violation of another person's privacy.
"Obviously... I'm searching for clues!" She continued to rummage through the case. Eventually her head pops back up. "Nope. Nothing unusual here."
Her attention turned towards the bus stop next. She circled the stop, as she carefully observed each part of the worn down frame.
"Strange..." She continued. "It seems to look like a normal bus stop. But something is off..."
Just then, the sound of a bus horn went off in the distance. A visible headlight was getting closer through the fog.
"Here!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me into line with the stranger.
"What-" I was cut off before I could finish my sentence.
"Just follow my lead... and whatever you do, don't make a sound." She gave me a small wink to reassure me as we silently stood there, motionless, waiting for the bus to approach.
As the bus got closer, I could make out more of the details of it. It was a very old bus, rusted in parts. Judging by its condition, it probably shouldn't have even been moving at all. The bus finally reached the stop, and as soon as it did, the doors creaked wide open.
The man next to us started to move as soon as the bus doors opened. He picked up his suitcase and entered the bus. I tried to look into the bus as he entered to see who was driving the bus, but the man's back was blocking the view. Next it was my turn to enter the bus. I slowly walked up the small stairs, and when I reached the top I froze in shock.
The whole bus from the driver's seat to each row was empty.
I was nudged from behind, making me come back to my senses quickly and I continued to walk towards the back of the bus. The entire bus was empty, except for the three of us that had just entered it. We separated from the man and found a seat near the back, sitting together. As we sat, she slowly leaned in towards me and whispered:
"Stay calm, the real adventure starts now..."
And as soon as she said those words, the bus door closed. The horn went off one last time, and the bus started to move. Driving us away further and further into the dark, the bus slowly disappeared into the fog...