The last passanger

The last bus from Shimla to Narkanda left at 10:40 p.m.Everyone at the bus stand knew that.That was why Arjun immediately noticed something strange when he saw a woman sitting alone at the very back of the bus.It was 11:18 p.m.The bus was almost empty. Arjun was sitting near the driver, while his friend Kabir had taken the seat behind him. An elderly man named Mr. Thakur sat by the window, and a college girl called Rhea was scrolling through her phone.The woman at the back wore a grey shawl.
Her face was hidden.“Did she get on at the bus stand?” Kabir whispered.
Arjun shook his head.“I didn’t see her.”Neither had Rhea.Mr. Thakur, however, suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“Don’t talk to her,” he said quietly.Kabir laughed.“Why?”Mr. Thakur stared at the road.“Because this bus shouldn’t have stopped anywhere after 11.”
Nobody laughed after that.Twenty minutes later, the driver slowed down near a deserted stretch of mountain road.There were no houses.No shops.Nothing except pine trees and darkness.
The woman at the back suddenly stood up.“Stop here.”The driver looked at her through the mirror.“Madam, there’s no stop here.”“I know.”Her voice was strangely calm.
“Just stop.”The driver refused.The woman remained standing.Then every light inside the bus went out.Rhea screamed.
For five seconds, there was complete darkness.When the lights returned, the woman was gone.The bus was still moving.Kabir stood up.“Where did she go?”Arjun checked the aisle.
Nobody.The rear door was locked.The windows were shut.Then Mr. Thakur whispered,“Count the passengers.”Arjun looked around.“Four.”
The old man shook his head.“Five.”Everyone stared at him.He pointed toward the back.“She was never counted.”Before anyone could respond, the bus suddenly stopped.
The driver turned around.His face had gone pale.“Someone is sitting beside me.”Arjun frowned.“What?”The driver pointed at the empty passenger seat next to him.
“I can feel someone breathing.”Nobody moved.Then the bus started again.But something was wrong.The road outside looked unfamiliar.
They had been travelling for almost an hour, yet the same crooked pine tree kept appearing outside the window.Rhea checked her phone.“No signal.”Kabir looked at the time.
10:40 p.m.He stared at the screen.“What the hell?”Arjun checked his own phone.10:40 p.m.Mr. Thakur’s watch also showed 10:40.
The driver suddenly slammed on the brakes.Ahead of them stood the same bus stop where they had started.The bus doors opened by themselves.A voice came from the back.
“Last stop.”The grey-shawled woman was sitting there again.But this time, her face was visible.Rhea began crying.She recognized her.Everyone did.
It was the photograph of a woman displayed on a small memorial board at the bus stand.She had died in a bus accident exactly ten years earlier.Mr. Thakur slowly stood up.
“Don’t look at her.”But it was too late.The woman smiled.Then she pointed toward the empty seats.“There are still four passengers missing.”
The lights went out.The next morning, police found the bus abandoned beside the mountain road.There was no driver.No Arjun.No Kabir.
No Rhea.No Mr. Thakur.Only five empty seats.And on the dusty window, someone had written from the inside:“The bus is still looking for them.”