The bus rolled into Good Hope just after noon, its engine coughing as it came to a stop near the faded "Welcome" sign. The sun was high, casting sharp shadows across the main street, where a few townsfolk lingered in the heat, watching the arrival with idle curiosity. The bus door hissed open, and for a moment, no one moved.
Then, slowly, a single figure stepped down onto the cracked pavement....Jeremiah! , his face drawn, eyes shadowed by exhaustion and something deeper, something haunted. He carried nothing to mark him as a tourist. Just the weight of memories that pressed on his shoulders like a physical burden.
He paused on the sidewalk, blinking in the harsh light, as the bus driver climbed down and stretched, glancing at the empty seats behind him. The driver seemed unconcerned that only one passenger had returned from the canyon tour. He gave Jeremiah a nod, then turned to the small group of locals who had gathered nearby.
"All's well," the driver called. "Just dropping off. Rest of the group's finishing the tour on the other side, like always."
The townsfolk nodded, accepting this explanation without question. Dirty Joy had made sure of that. He'd told everyone in Good Hope that his new expedition tours were a one-way adventure: tourists would board in Good Hope, travel through the canyon, and disembark at the far side, where another office...his office....would handle their return. No one seemed to find it odd that none ever came back the way they'd left.
Jeremiah stood for a long moment, letting the reality of his return settle in. The town looked changed.....not the same dusty storefronts, no faded banners, fast rhythm of life. But he knew, with a certainty that chilled him, that nothing was the same anymore.
He started down Main Street, his steps unsteady. He passed the diner, where the waitress glanced up and offered a distracted smile. He passed the general store, where the clerk was stacking cans in the window. Everything looked normal. But Jeremiah knew what lay beyond the canyon...knew what happened to those who entered the settlement and never returned.
He found Jake, Lila, and Samuel waiting for him at the edge of town. The three of them looked up as he approached, relief and worry mingling in their eyes.
"Jeremiah!" Lila was the first to reach him, pulling him into a fierce hug. "We thought you were gone for good."
Jake clapped him on the shoulder, his grip firm. "You look like hell, man."
Samuel hung back, notebook in hand, eyes sharp behind his glasses. "What happened in there?"
Jeremiah took a shaky breath, trying to find the words. "I… I don't know where to start. It's all a blur. The last thing I remember clearly is getting on the truck. After that… it's like I was falling through shadows."
He sat on the low stone wall, the others gathering around him. The afternoon heat pressed in, but Jeremiah shivered.
"It was the bus this time," he said quietly. "I was the only one who came back. The rest… they're gone. Or trapped. I don't know."
Jake frowned. "How did you get out?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "It's hard to explain. Time doesn't work the same in there. Sometimes it's a truck, sometimes a cart. Sometimes it's night when you arrive, sometimes it's morning. The settlement… it changes. The people change. I kept forgetting why I was there. Sometimes I'd remember, just for a moment, and then it would slip away again."
He looked up, meeting Lila's eyes. "I was in a dark room for what felt like days. Or maybe hours. I couldn't tell. The only light came from a crack under the door. I heard voices- tourists, I think, asking questions, calling for help. But no one ever answered."
Samuel leaned forward. "How did you escape?"
Jeremiah's hands trembled as he spoke. "One day, a new group arrived. I heard them talking in the hallway. One of them.....an older woman.....was asking everyone the date. She kept repeating it, over and over, like she was trying to anchor herself. When she asked me, something clicked. I remembered the date I'd left Good Hope. I remembered everything. The haze broke, just for a second, and I ran. I found a door that wasn't there before, and when I opened it… I was on the bus, heading back here. Alone."
Lila squeezed his hand. "You're safe now. You made it out."
Jeremiah shook his head. "No one's safe. Not while Dirty Joy is running this. He's sending busloads of people into the canyon. They never come back. The town doesn't even notice.....they think it's all part of the tour."
Jake's jaw tightened. "We saw the buses. We saw the new office. He's got people lining up for the next trip."
Samuel flipped through his notebook, scribbling furiously. "It's worse than we thought. He's using the settlement as a trap. The loop resets, and every time it does, more people disappear."
Jeremiah nodded. "I saw it happen. The same people, over and over, stuck in the same routines. Some of them remember, just for a moment, and then it's gone again... Changing things. Making the loop tighter, stronger."
Lila shivered. "How do we stop it?"
For a long moment, no one spoke. The weight of what they'd learned pressed down on them, heavier than the summer heat.
Finally, Jake spoke. "We need to break the loop. For good this time. We need to find a way to get everyone out- and stop Dirty Joy from sending anyone else in."
Samuel nodded. "We have to map the cycles. Find the weak points. There has to be a way to disrupt the reset."
Jeremiah looked at them, hope flickering in his eyes. "I'll help. Whatever it takes."
They sat together in the shade, planning their next move as the town bustled around them, oblivious to the nightmare unfolding just beyond the canyon's edge.
*******
Later, as dusk settled over Good Hope, the group gathered in the back room of the diner. Jeremiah leaned forward, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, as he tried to explain what he'd experienced inside the settlement.
"It's hard to describe," he began. "It's like being underwater. Everything is muffled, slow. The days blend together. Sometimes I'd wake up and not remember my own name. Other times, I'd remember everything.....why I was there, who I was looking for.....and then it would slip away again."
He looked at Lila. "You were there. Sometimes you recognized me, sometimes you didn't. Sometimes you were older, sometimes younger. The people in the settlement… they change. It's like the loop pulls in new faces, new stories, every time it resets."
Jake leaned back, arms crossed. "What about Dirty Joy? Did you see him?"
Jeremiah shook his head. "Not directly. But I heard his name. People whispered about him...said he was the one who brought the newcomers. The one who made the deals. I think he's outside the loop now, controlling who goes in and who comes out."
Samuel tapped his pen against the table. "He's using the settlement as a filter. Sending people in, watching what happens, then starting over with a new group. He's feeding the watchers."
Lila's voice was barely a whisper. "How many people are trapped in there?"
Jeremiah closed his eyes, remembering the faces he'd seen.....some terrified, some resigned, some already hollowed out by the endless repetition. "They don't even know they're trapped. They just… exist."
Jake's fists clenched. "We have to do something. We can't let this keep happening."
Samuel nodded. "We need to find the center of the loop. The place where the resets start. If we can disrupt it, maybe we can break the cycle."
Jeremiah looked at each of them in turn. "I'll go back in, if I have to. I know the way now. I know what to look for."
Lila squeezed his arm. "Not alone. We go together."
Jake nodded. "Together."
They sat in silence, the enormity of their task settling over them. Outside, the town carried on...unaware, unafraid, untouched by the darkness gathering at its edge.
The Town's Blind Eye
As the days passed, Jeremiah watched the town with new eyes. Dirty Joy's tour office was always busy...buses arriving, groups departing, the cycle never stopping. The townsfolk welcomed the new business, grateful for the money and the energy it brought. No one seemed to notice that the tourists never returned.
Jeremiah tried to warn them, but his words fell on deaf ears. The mayor thanked him for his concern, but assured him that everything was above board. The sheriff shrugged, saying that people came and went all the time. Even the bus drivers seemed unconcerned, happy to collect their pay and look the other way.
Only the group....Jake, Lila, Samuel, and Jeremiah....understood the truth. Only they saw the pattern, the trap, the growing danger.
They met every night, sharing what they'd learned, piecing together the puzzle. Samuel mapped the cycles, noting the times and dates of each reset. Lila interviewed the townsfolk, searching for anyone who might remember something strange. Jake watched the tour office, tracking Dirty Joy's movements, looking for a weakness.
The Plan
One night, as a storm rolled in from the west, the group gathered in the old church at the edge of town. The wind howled through the broken windows, rattling the pews.
"We have to go back in," Samuel said, spreading his maps across the altar. "But this time, we go together. We anchor ourselves....names, dates, memories. We don't let the loop take us."
Jake nodded. "We find the center. We find the watchers. And we end this."
Lila looked at Jeremiah. "Are you ready?"
He nodded, determination burning in his eyes. "Ready."
Jake shook his head, his voice steady but urgent. "No, Samuel, you couldn't find the watchers inside the settlement. They're outside the loop.... controlling everything from a distance. If we want to break this for good, we need to expose what's happening here to the world beyond Good Hope."
He leaned over the maps, tapping a finger on the town's main road. "We need to inform the government. Bring in real investigators, scientists...anyone who can help us uncover the truth about the canyon and the settlement. This isn't just our fight anymore. If Dirty Joy keeps running his tour program, more and more people will get trapped. We have to stop him, at least until we know what we're really dealing with."
Lila looked from Jake to Samuel, her expression torn between hope and fear. "Do you think anyone will believe us?"
Jake's jaw tightened. "We'll make them believe. We have evidence.....Jeremiah's story, the missing tourists, our own memories. We start with the authorities, and if they won't listen, we go to the media. Whatever it takes."
Samuel nodded slowly, considering the new plan. "So we split our efforts. One group works to shut down Dirty Joy's operation, the other gathers proof and contacts the outside world."
Jeremiah's voice was quiet but resolute. "We can't let another bus leave for the canyon. Not while people are still trapped inside."
The wind rattled the stained glass, thunder rumbling overhead. In the flickering candlelight, the group felt the weight of their decision.