The town's streets were empty, the kind of quiet that pressed against your skin and made your bones ache. Evelyn pulled her jacket tighter, the chill of the night gnawing at her. Her eyes darted through the fog curling along the pavement, searching for something she wasn't sure she wanted to find.
"Evelyn… are you sure about this?" Alex's voice trembled, though he tried to sound braver than he felt.
Evelyn's lips curled into a small, tense smile. "Legends exist for a reason, Alex. Tonight, we find out why."
Leo shuffled his feet, uneasy. "Yeah… or we end up as some horror story no one ever tells."
Sophie said nothing, but her eyes were wide, reflecting the faint glow ahead—the old train station. It had always been abandoned, yet tonight it seemed almost… alive, as if it had been waiting for them.
The clock struck midnight.
From the mist, a train emerged.
It was black, impossibly long, its metal body glinting faintly in the lantern light. Steam hissed along its sides, though the air was still. Shapes moved behind its windows—ghostly, warped faces, hollow eyes staring, mouths opening in silent screams.
Evelyn's heart pounded. "This… this isn't real."
"Do we… go?" Maya whispered, her voice shaky.
Evelyn stepped forward. "We have to. There's no turning back."
The doors slid open silently, a cold draft rushing out to meet them. Once aboard, the train lurched forward though they hadn't moved. The station vanished behind them, swallowed by fog.
A voice echoed through the carriage—low, hollow, and suffused with malice:
"Welcome… to the Midnight Train. Solve its puzzles… or remain… forever."
Evelyn swallowed hard, her fingers tightening on the edge of a seat. She could feel eyes on her from every shadow, every corner, every reflection. Somewhere in the dark, it waited—watching, judging, hungry.
"This is… real," she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
And the train… had only just begun.