thriller
The Vanisher - Part 2 . Top Story - April 2025.
If you have not read part 1 to this story, written by Komal, then please do so via the following link: Elana worked in a bakery named Maison Landemaine in Paris. Six days a week, she was surrounded by the smell of demi-baguettes, Tarte au Citrons, and the most delicious smelling croissants. She liked her coworkers enough and the routine nature of her job was comforting.
By Rowan Finley about a year ago in Fiction
“The Forgotten Town That Doesn’t Exist on Any Map – A Chilling Urban Legend”
The Discovery It began like any other road trip. Jenna and Marcus were driving cross-country, taking the scenic route through old backroads of rural Pennsylvania. Their GPS signal had been weak for hours, but the road was clear, and they weren’t in a rush. As the sun began to dip below the treetops, a faded wooden sign caught their attention: Welcome to Dry Hollow – Pop. ??? The sign was old and splintered, the paint barely visible. It wasn’t listed on any of the travel apps they were using. Curious and a bit spooked, they decided to explore. They turned off the main road and entered a place that seemed suspended in time. A Town Stuck in Another Era The houses were Victorian in style but dilapidated, as though untouched for decades. Overgrown weeds swallowed front porches. Streetlamps flickered with a dim orange glow, despite the sun not having fully set. An old diner stood at the corner of what looked like Main Street, with a neon sign that blinked “Open” even though there was no one inside. What was most unsettling wasn’t the state of decay—it was the silence. Not a bird, not a dog barking, not even the wind. Just absolute, eerie stillness. Yet the town didn’t feel abandoned. It felt… watched. The Locals Who Shouldn’t Be There Just as they debated turning back, they saw her. An elderly woman, dressed in a faded floral dress, sitting on a rocking chair. She smiled, but there was something strange about it—like her face was remembering a time her soul had long forgotten. “Not many folks come through Dry Hollow anymore,” she said. Jenna asked how long she had lived there. “Oh, all my life, dear. Since 1924.” Marcus laughed nervously. “You look great for a hundred.” She didn’t laugh. “Time moves different here.” Before they could ask more, a man stepped out of the shadows. “You should get going before dark,” he said firmly. “Roads get hard to follow at night.” They didn’t need more convincing. They got back into their car and took off. The Town That Disappears Back on the main road, the GPS came back online. Jenna tried searching for Dry Hollow—nothing. No results. They backtracked the way they came, trying to retrace their steps. But the turnoff was gone. The old sign? Vanished. It was as if the town had been swallowed whole. They checked historical maps and online databases when they got home. No mention. They even asked locals in nearby towns—none had heard of Dry Hollow. Theories and Whispers Urban explorers and Reddit threads occasionally bring up similar stories. A handful of users claim to have visited towns with similar qualities: people dressed in out-of-date clothing, silence too deep to be natural, and a strange sense of timelessness. Some think these towns are echoes—residual energy from tragic pasts, like entire towns caught in spiritual loops. Others believe they are slips in reality, where the veil between dimensions thins. A few even whisper about government experiments, towns erased from the grid for reasons better left unknown. One popular theory says Dry Hollow was quarantined after a mysterious illness in the 1930s. Rather than letting the infection spread, the town was wiped off every official record—and perhaps something else kept it going. Why You Shouldn’t Look for It It’s tempting to think of Dry Hollow as just a myth—a creepy campfire story for the digital age. But if Jenna and Marcus’s story is real (and they stick by it to this day), then perhaps some places aren’t meant to be found. After all, some maps leave things out on purpose. Final Thoughts Whether Dry Hollow is a figment of overactive imaginations or a sliver of an alternate reality, stories like this keep our fascination with the unknown alive. They remind us that even in a world of satellites and surveillance, mystery still has its hiding places. So next time you’re on a lonely road and you see a turnoff that wasn’t there before—ask yourself: do you really want to see where it leads?
By GadgetGroundabout a year ago in Fiction
The Elevator That Skipped the 7th Floor
A New Job in a Tall Building When Farhan landed his new job at the prestigious Echelon Towers, he couldn’t believe his luck. The company was top-notch, the pay was solid, and the office was on the 14th floor of a sleek high-rise downtown. It was the kind of job you tell your relatives about with pride. On his first day, he wore his best shirt, arrived ten minutes early, and stepped into the building’s shiny chrome elevator. He pressed 14, watching the soft blue light blink. But something strange caught his eye. The elevator panel read: G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9… Farhan frowned. Where’s 7? --- A Missing Floor At lunch, curiosity got the better of him. He asked his new coworker, Sana, about the missing floor. “Oh,” she said with a shrug, “there’s no 7th floor here.” “That’s what I saw,” he replied. “But why?” “Old superstition, maybe?” she guessed. “Like how some buildings skip the 13th floor. Who knows? I just take the stairs most days.” Still, something didn’t sit right with Farhan. The building was modern, logical, precise. Skipping a floor felt like a glitch in a place built for perfection. --- An Accidental Stop Two weeks into the job, Farhan worked late. The office was empty, the halls quiet. He packed his bag, yawned, and called the elevator. As the doors slid open, he stepped in and pressed G for ground. But instead of going down, the elevator jerked. It stopped. The panel read: 7. His breath caught. There was no button for 7. Yet here he was. The doors opened slowly. A dim corridor stretched before him. Dust floated in the stale air. The lights were low, flickering. Farhan should’ve stayed inside. Should’ve pressed Close. But curiosity wins over caution more often than it should. --- The Forgotten Floor The hallway looked abandoned. Old wooden doors lined both sides. There were no signs, no office numbers, no nameplates. He took cautious steps. A soft humming echoed down the corridor, like electricity buzzing through faulty wires. Then he heard it: Click. A door creaked open on its own. Inside was a room frozen in time. Old filing cabinets, rotary phones, typewriters. Paper scattered across desks like people had left in a hurry — and never returned. He picked up a paper dated May 1974. Farhan felt a chill run down his spine. This was impossible. The building was constructed in 1998. --- Whispers in the Dark He turned to leave but found the corridor darker now. The flickering lights had gone out behind him. And then… footsteps. Not his. Steady, slow, deliberate. Farhan backed away, heart pounding. A whisper crawled through the silence: “You’re not supposed to be here…” He spun around. No one there. He ran back to the elevator. Pressed the button. Pressed it again. Nothing. The hallway seemed longer now, warped, like the building was breathing — stretching. He banged on the doors, panic rising in his chest. Then the panel blinked. G. The elevator door opened. Bright lights. Normal panel. Normal floor numbers — minus 7. He rushed in and didn’t look back. --- A Closed Mouth Gathers No Dust The next morning, Farhan told no one. Not his boss. Not Sana. But he did his research. He found no blueprints for a 7th floor. No old articles. Nothing. Like it never existed. He even asked building security. “Sir,” the guard said firmly, “Echelon Towers has no 7th floor. It never did.” “But I was—” The guard gave him a look that said, Drop it. Farhan nodded and walked away. --- One Last Glance A month later, Farhan quit the job. He told people it was too stressful. Not the right fit. But the truth was, every night he worked late, the elevator would pause. Just for a second. Right between floors 6 and 8. Once, when he glanced at the panel, he saw a flash — just a glitch — but he swore it read: "Welcome back." He never took that elevator again. --- Still There The Echelon Towers still stands. People go to work. Ride the elevators. Live their normal lives. But every once in a while, late at night, someone hits the button for floor 8… …and the elevator stops on a floor that doesn’t exist.
By GadgetGroundabout a year ago in Fiction
SpaceX Launch Creates Mesmerizing 'Nebula' in Sky: April 21, 2025, Space Picture of the Day
In a dazzling demonstration of technology meeting natural beauty, a recent SpaceX rocket launch painted an awe-inspiring image in the early morning skies, resembling the brilliant, swirling colors of a deep-space nebula. This captivating spectacle occurred during the company’s 32nd commercial resupply mission (CRS-32) to the International Space Station (ISS), solidifying SpaceX’s place not only as a trailblazer in aerospace technology but also as an unintentional artist of the cosmos.
By Sakibul Islam Sakibabout a year ago in Fiction
