It was the start of a new week and John was going to be late again. He glanced at his watch for the 7th time in the last 3 minutes and according to the time piece, he should have been at the station 14 minutes ago.

Clutching his briefcase tighter, he began walking faster, his pace increasing with every step. Around him, the people of Jet City went about their businesses, no one paying attention to the tall figure half walking half running towards the train station.

“Hold it!” John yelled as the last person stepped into his train. He was still a good way off. The conductor cast a weary look in his direction before holding the door open. It was at this point that John threw all dignity and demureness to the wind and ran like his life depended on it. By the time he reached the conductor, he was sweating buckets and his lungs threatened to give up on him.

“I probably should hit the gym, eh?” He said to the conductor with a laugh. The other man simply ignored him and walked away.

The doors shut then and the train jerked into motion. John had to find a seat quickly.

An elderly lady on the seat closest to him stared into his eyes like he was the one that killed her cats. He gave her a polite smile and began walking down the aisle. He soon spotted an empty seat and was making his way towards it when something on the floor caught his foot.

“Shit” he muttered under his breath, barely stopping himself from falling face first and looking like an even bigger idiot. The old lady sniggered from the other side and John had to restrain himself from flipping her off. Instead, he adjusted his faded, ill-fitting suit and turned to see what made him trip.

Lying on the floor was a leather journal so brown and cracked around the edges that it made the book look ancient and was bound by an intricately woven string.

John looked at the passengers around. It didn't seem to belong to either of them. In fact, no one seemed to notice him standing there, struggling to keep his balance. He bent to pick up the journal.

As he straightened up, his eyes caught the old lady's again.

Seriously, what was wrong with this woman? John ignored her, sitting down with the journal open on his lap. At least he had something to keep him entertained on the long ride to work.

He carefully turned the brittle, yellowed pages of the journal, reading the entries that dated back to the 1300's. Each story described in the detail a single day in the lives of complete strangers and John soon noticed a pattern.

All of the people, men and women alike, had stumbled upon this same journal on their way somewhere, but the entries were written as though someone else were watching them…a little too closely. Every move, every twitch was recorded.

Stranger still was the fact that they all saw the journal after meeting an ‘unusual old lady's, after which they disappeared.

John could feel his blood turning cold as he read on, unable to stop. The dates were getting closer and John was sweating all over now.He had reached the last entry.

With a trembling finger, he traced the date written at the top of the page in beautiful calligraphy;

March 10th, 2025

Today.

John read on in horror. His entire day was written here, from the moment he opened his eyes to the moment he sat with the cursed journal and as he looked, more words appeared on the page, written by an invisible hand.

“John Christopher Derby was filled with fear as he read his last moments. And that was the end.”

A terrible premonition filled him as yet again, he lifted his head and locked eyes with the old lady. She wore plain modern clothes and looked harmless enough, but when she smiled, it was an ancient, evil smile, one that could only be achieved by living centuries on the earth.

At that moment, the train came to an abrupt halt and plunged John into darkness.