The day had started like any other. David stood on the nearly deserted platform, his fingers gripping the crumpled train ticket in his coat pocket. The night air carried an unnatural chill, making him shiver despite his thick jacket.
He hadn’t planned on taking this train—his original route had been canceled due to an unexplained delay. When the station clerk handed him the replacement ticket, a strange look had passed across the old man’s face.
Now, as the train rumbled forward into the abyss of night, he wished he had asked more questions.
The first sign that something was amiss had been the eerie silence. Trains were usually filled with murmured conversations, the rustle of newspapers, the occasional snore of a sleeping traveler. But this one? Nothing. The few other passengers sat rigidly, their gazes locked on the void beyond the windows.
Then, there was the conductor. When David had boarded, the man had barely spared him a glance, his face pale and drawn, his uniform oddly outdated. He had punched David’s ticket with mechanical precision before shuffling off into the darkness of the next car.
Now, as the train plunged deeper into the night, David couldn’t shake the feeling that he had stepped into something beyond his understanding.
The disappearance of the woman across from him had confirmed it—this wasn’t just any train. And if he didn’t find out what was happening soon, he might not make it to his destination at all.