The Midnight Express Through the Mire
The old railway line was abandoned decades ago, yet locals still swore they heard the distant whistle of an evening train. Marcus decided to debunk the myth by camping right beside the rusted tracks deep within the fog-choked valley. At precisely midnight, a piercing whistle cut through the damp air, and a spectral locomotive materialized out of the thick fog. Its windows glowed with a sickly green luminescence, and the passengers pressed against the glass were nothing more than translucent shadows. Entranced by the eerie beauty of the ghostly transport, Marcus stepped directly onto the wooden ties to wave at the passing engineer. The train did not slow down; instead, it rushed past with blinding speed, its phantom vacuum pulling Marcus into the slipstream. He woke up sitting on a velvet seat inside the dark carriage, surrounded by silent ghosts traveling toward an endless horizon.
2