Death Bus

I work in this city to make a living, and I'm always tied up with work until late at night. Finally, I finished today's overtime work. By then, it was already deep into the night. I rushed to the bus stop in a hurry, eager to take the last bus home.

The bus stop was deserted, with only me standing there alone. It was pitch-dark and quiet all around. The streetlights emitted a dim, flickering yellow light, as if they were about to go out at any moment. The distant streets were empty, not a single soul in sight. Occasionally, a cold wind blew by, making me shiver involuntarily. I subconsciously pulled my coat tighter.

After waiting for a while, the last bus slowly rolled in. The bus was old and battered, with mottled marks all over its body, and the windows gave off an old smell. The bus door creaked open. Inside, the lights were dim. There were only a few passengers, sitting sparsely. Everyone had expressionless faces and blank stares, not saying a word. I chose a seat by the window in the back row. As soon as I sat down, I felt the seat was ice-cold.

The bus started moving, rattling non-stop all the way. The scenery outside the window was blurry, as if covered by a layer of fog. I was extremely tired, so I closed my eyes and wanted to take a short nap.

I don't know how much time had passed when a sudden emergency brake jolted me awake. The bus had stopped at a platform I had never seen before. There was no signpost at this platform. The surrounding area was full of wild grass, growing in a mess, and giving off a foul smell of decay. The bus door slowly opened, and a woman in a white dress got on the bus. Her face was as pale as paper, her lips had no trace of color, her eyes were empty, and she walked lightly, making no sound at all.

She walked straight to the middle of the carriage and stood still. She exuded a cold aura, making the temperature in the carriage seem to drop several degrees all of a sudden. The other passengers seemed not to notice and remained in their dull states. My heart skipped a beat, and I felt that there was something indescribably strange about this woman.

The bus continued to move forward. The silence was so eerie that it made my hair stand on end. Only the hum of the engine and the sound of the wheels rolling could be heard. From time to time, I secretly glanced at the woman in white. She remained motionless, not even blinking her eyes.

After a few more stops, the passengers got off one by one, but no new passengers got on. There were fewer and fewer people in the carriage, and the atmosphere became more and more oppressive. Every time someone got off and the bus door closed, I felt as if something was slipping away quietly, and my fear grew stronger.

When there were only the woman in white and me left on the bus, this suffocating feeling became unbearable. I stood up and planned to walk to the bus door, hoping to get off at the next stop.

Just then, the bus suddenly shook violently, as if it had hit something hard. I lost my balance and almost fell flat on my face. I looked out of the window in a panic, but it was completely dark outside, and I couldn't see anything.

Immediately afterwards, the bus screeched to a halt, and the engine stopped running. The carriage suddenly fell into a deathly silence. It was so quiet that I could clearly hear my own rapid breathing and the pounding of my heart.

Suddenly, the woman in white slowly turned her head and stared directly at me. Her gaze was strange and terrifying.

"Wh... why do you keep staring at me?" I asked, my voice trembling.

The woman in white didn't say a word. She slowly raised her hand and pointed behind me. I quickly turned my head to look back, but there was nothing there. When I turned back again, she had already floated slowly towards me. Her feet didn't touch the ground, and her skirt swayed gently. Her face became even paler, and her facial features seemed to be distorted. Her eyes were filled with nothing but hatred.

"Help... Help!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, pounding on the bus door with all my might, but the door remained firmly shut, not showing any sign of movement.

The woman in white got closer and closer to me. I felt the cold seeping deep into my bones, making my whole body numb and unable to move. Just as she was about to touch me, a sudden bright light flashed in front of my eyes, and then I lost consciousness.

When I came to my senses again, I found myself back at the bus stop. The last bus was long gone. I checked my phone, and to my surprise, the time displayed was still the moment when I first arrived at the bus stop.

Filled with doubts, I dragged my heavy feet towards home. All the way, I constantly felt as if there were a pair of eyes staring at me from behind. When I got home, I turned on the TV to calm my nerves. A piece of news caught my eye: "Recently, a woman disappeared mysteriously on the last bus. The police are conducting a full investigation..." On the TV screen, the photo of the missing woman was exactly the woman in white.

That night, I had a dream. In the dream, I was back on that last bus again. The woman in white was still standing in the middle of the carriage, slowly floating towards me. Her figure got closer and closer. I wanted to run but couldn't move my feet. I could only watch helplessly as she approached. Suddenly, she stretched out her hands and grabbed my neck. I struggled desperately but couldn't break free.

Ever since then, I have had the same nightmare every night. My mental state has gotten worse and worse, and my work has also been affected. My colleagues all think I've become very strange, but I'm too scared to tell them the truth.

In order to figure out what exactly was going on, I decided to go to the police station to learn more about the missing woman. The police officer who received me had a serious expression. He told me that the woman had behaved strangely before she disappeared. She often took the last bus late at night, and the boarding locations were different each time.

After leaving the police station, I felt even more uneasy. I started asking around about that last bus. Some people said they had seen strange lights and shadows on that route, while others said they had heard the sound of a bus running late at night, even though there was no bus service at that time.

As days passed by, I still couldn't shake off the shadow of this incident. Whenever night fell, I would involuntarily think of that last bus and the woman in white. That fear was deeply engraved in my heart, making me terrified of the night.