Backtrack

A troubled psychotherapist haunted by the death of his daughter Evie. He experiences nightmares and eerie visions that push him to investigate a string of patient deaths on the same date. His grief makes him skeptical, yet determined to uncover the truth, even at personal risk.

A mute girl who appears in Peter’s waiting room and writes the name Elizabeth Valentine. She dies with inconclusive cause of death, and her initials eerily echo Evie’s name. As a ghost, she becomes a catalyst that links Peter’s patients to a hidden history.

Peter’s mentor who appears as a non-reflecting ghost after death from his perch in the story. He disputes Peter’s perceptions and hints there is more to the derailment than a simple accident. His spectral guidance pushes Peter toward confronting uncomfortable truths.

Peter’s childhood friend who participates in a tragic secret about a train derailment. He later dies by suicide in the switch tower and reappears as a spectral memory. He holds information that could unlock the past but resists confession until forced by the truth.

Peter’s father, a retired cop who is revealed to be deeply involved in the cover-up surrounding Elizabeth’s death. He exerts force and tries to silence witnesses, ultimately meeting a grim consequence when the past catches up with him.

A police officer and daughter of a passenger who died in the crash. She initially resists Peter’s claims but becomes entwined in the truth as details about Elizabeth and the wreck surface. Her skepticism gives way to a tense confrontation with dark family secrets.

Peter’s deceased daughter who appears in visions and later is seen by the beach as she walks into the sea to final peace. Her haunting presence drives Peter toward redemption and toward envisioning a future for his family.

A former patient whose death is among those linked to the late-night derailment. His ghost surfaces in Peter’s visions as part of the haunting evidence the doctor uses to reconstruct the past.

Peter’s wife, who suffers from severe depression and has little interaction with him for much of the story. By the end, she joins Peter’s contemplations, acknowledging the tragedy and seeking a future together.