“It’s this late already?” I grabbed all my books and papers and stuffed them in my bag and rushed out of my university’s library. I slid my student card over the scanner but I hit my head against the glass door. I did it again, and another time and finally I was allowed to push through the double doors. I hopped over a bench while rubbing my forehead and holding in my tears and spiraled down a flight of stairs as fast as my legs would take me. I ran out to the main entrance only to realize I was a few minutes too late to take the bus home.

I trudged on to a train station wearily. The time was half past twelve, midnight, and I was sure I had already missed the last train home. Even so, I made my way to the station just to see the train schedule and maybe, though highly unlikely, there might still be another train running this late. It was quite unsettling, walking alone on the dimly lit streets while the only sounds I heard were my footsteps, heavy breathing and the occasional squeak of rats or crows cawing. That night was much colder than usual, and I could see my breath well up in a fog in front of me. I zipped up my jacket and put my hands in my pockets.

I arrived at the station and found the place in total darkness, and I really felt like crying. I would have to walk for more than two hours just to reach home. As I was about to turn away, I saw, in the distance, the lights of a train coming. I jumped over the fence and ran to the side of the tracks. The train slowed down and stopped for me. The doors opened and I saw that the interior was dimly lit but, surprisingly, filled with people. As I walked into the train, I was stopped by the conductor, a pale old man with a cap and blue uniform.

“Are you sure you’ve got the right train? He asked me while looking straight into my eyes.”Yes,” I mumbled while averting his gaze; there was just something weird in his eyes, as if he saw straight through me. He shrugged and allowed me on board. I sighed and looked around for a seat. I noticed all the passengers had the same kind of expressions, or rather, they were expressionless. As I walked, some turned to look at me. It was creepy, some of them just sitting there and staring at you with their blank faces. I finally managed to find a seat beside a woman who wore a light pink sweater and had her face covered with a hood. I approached her and asked if it was alright for me to sit there and I was shocked when she turned to look and me and say that it was fine. Her face was pale, maybe even white, but her lips were as red as blood. She shifted inside and made space for me to sit down.

After sitting down in silence for a few minutes, I noticed that she was looking at me. At first I simply ignored her. After all, I was pretty confident in my looks, but after a while it got pretty disturbing. Just as I was about to ask her if there was anything wrong, she whispered, “You are not supposed to be here.” I got a little upset over her statement. I know I didn’t buy a ticket to get on, but what was a desperate teenager to do in the middle of the night with no way back? “You need to get off now,” she added. There was urgency in her voice, and I noticed her eyes darting around. I instinctively looked around and saw a number of other passengers staring at me with their blank faces.

She grabbed my shoulder and forced me to look at her. “This is a train for the dead,” she said gravely. “These “people” will eat your soul if they find out that you’re still alive so that they are able to live again. You’ll be worse than dead; you’ll be an empty shell, unable to go to heaven, or if you believe it, hell.” I froze in my seat as cold sweat drenched my shirt. That was a bad joke; a very bad one. I looked around again and the sight sent shivers down my spine. In the dimly lit carriage, I saw all the passengers turning their heads to stare at me. Old men, women, and children alike had the blank face, expressionless, with their eyes unblinking at me. Some were even standing up already. At the doors that separated this carriage from the other, I could see even more faces looking in my direction. I jerked away from the woman beside me. I heard footsteps; some of the others started to walk towards me. My brain refused to think and I was stuck surrounded by “dead” people.

“Won’t you just eat me as well?” I opened my mouth for the first time since I got on the train. “Look, you need to get off, and I’m the one trying to help you here,” she replied exasperatedly. I nodded stiffly and looked at her for instructions. She grabbed my hand and started walking, slowly, towards one end of the carriage. Her hand was as cold as ice. “Breathe slowly and don’t panic.” All the while, I couldn’t stop myself from looking around. As we passed from car to car, all the passengers seemed to follow us. I noticed some of them had reddish coloured clothing. The atmosphere was unbearable. Suddenly, something grabbed my other hand. I turned around and saw a young man pulling on me and bringing his head closer to me. I struggled, which caused more of them to come towards us. Finally, I couldn’t stand it any longer and I kicked him hard. He fell down and seemed lifeless for a while before getting up again.

Suddenly, the woman started to run and pulled me along with her. The train became chaotic; everyone was making weird gurgling sounds and low growls. She cleared the way in front by pushing through the crowd; they were not interested in her, but they tried to latch on to me whenever they got too close. We reached the end of the train; it was a dead end. I looked behind us and I saw a group of them coming towards us. I felt like I was in a high-budget horror movie. It just felt too real to be a dream. She pushed open the door and jumped out, pulling me with her. The following seconds seemed to be in bullet time. I saw of the “people” standing at the edge of the door, but refusing to jump off. I saw the concrete come closer to my face. On impact on the ground, I rolled for a good 10 seconds or so, and remained on the ground for an even longer period. My face was bleeding all over, and my clothes were torn in many places. I lay there panting in pain, but I was alive.

The woman approached me and stared at me on the ground. She was pretty much unscathed. I managed to mumble a “thank you” to her through constricted breaths. I tried to get up, but my arms wouldn’t support my body. She kept staring at me, which was very unnerving. She bent down and brought her face closer to mine. I started to panic again, but my body wouldn’t move. She licked her lips and placed her hand on my face.

“Now, you’re all mine.”

-Terence