30 Hours to Nowhere: a collection of short stories

"Train 36"

I was expecting a letter from my brother, and having not heard from him in some time, I decided to travel to meet him.

The station was empty besides me and a short italian man who sat on another bench. He was dressed in a ratted suit and fast asleep. It was eerily silent other than the resting man's occasional sniffle and snore.

Then there was a rattle that shattered the silence and broke my bored daze. The sleeping man remained un-awoken by the noise, and looking at the clock, I realized that it must've been early.

The train rolled into the station with a hiss and clicked into a stop.

I un-crumbled my ticket and looked at the name, mine was for Starline Express, but the train that arrived had only the number 36 painted in peeling, white paint on its side. I closed my eyes in wait for my train.

"Excuse me, miss?" I opened my eyes again to find a young conductor standing before me. "We have an open room on our train if you would rather not wait another hour."

There was something off about him, but that was overshadowed by his stunning appearance. His eyes were a soft, hypnotizing greyish-blue and his smile was thoughtful and kind.

"Yes, okay." I stood up and fixed my dress, not wanting to turn down the opportunity to find my dear brother faster.

As he led me to the train's door, I noticed that the italian man was gone. I assumed that he had already found his way on or had left the station.

We passed through a thin corridor with windowless doors that led into rooms, and as we did, I heard soft whispers coming from the closed cabins. They were incoherent, and they gave me a underlying feeling of dread and anxiety as I drew closer to the door the conductor was leading me to.

"Here we are." He smiled and opened the door enthusiastically, beckoning me inside. I obeyed with an uneasy smile of my own. "Oh! And I do believe that this is yours." He took a package from his coat and handed it to me. "Have a good day." He closed the door and disappeared from view.

The whispers seemed as though they were in my ears as I sat and inspected the object that was placed in my hands. The package was oddly shaped and plainly decorated with a letter attached to it. There was no return address and it simply had my name, Mary, and Train 36 written on it.

I promptly tore the letter from it and read it.

Dear Mary,

I fear that you will only receive this if you've already boarded the dreaded Train 36. I write to warn you, my dear Mary, there is a very good reason I have not writ to you, and that is Train 36.

You won't see anyone get one, but everyone will be gone, and you will notice that the train has arrived at 3 in the morning. The Devil's hour beckons it to arrive at Malsbury Station. The conductor is the horseman Death; his black horse is the steam engine. He carries the whispering souls into Hell, and I beg you, sweet Mary, not to go with them. No matter how alluring he seems, Mary, he is death. The Train 36 is the chariot of the Devil. You alone, if you have found your way on board, are the living.

Enclosed is something we have both feared and avoided, but I fear worse is that you meet the same fate as I. I rode Train 36 in hopes of returning to you, perhaps another letter before I left would have calmed you, but I have reached Hell, and cannot return to the land of the living.

Enclosed is a gun. Heaven is better that Hell and you must escape Death's violent grasp before you enter the tunnel. If shadow envelopes the train, the dead ones, the violent dead ones on their way to where I woefully reside, they will reveal themselves and keep you.

Whatever you do, you must act quickly.

With love and sorrow,

Victor Gloom

I stared, wide-eyed with terror, at the wall. The whispers didn't intensify, but I could finally hear the tone that they sung to: death.

I stood shakily, the dread still drained my face of color and filled my mind with images of Hell. The package fell from my grasp with a clang as it landed upon the floor.

"Victor..." In my head, I decided that there must be another option than just death either way.

I decided to jump.

I exited the chamber cautiously, looking both ways in fear of the deathly conductor. He was nowhere in sight. I sighed inwardly as I started to pad gently and quietly back down the corridor to the door i had originally boarded through.

I turned the corner, seeing my passing freedom through the window. I could see rain, but it was clear when I had gotten on. I thought nothing of it.

I looked back, making sure that it was safe to continue with my unconventional plan.

I sighed and turned back to the door.

My body froze as my blood ran cold. The conductor stood in front of the door, facing me with a happy smile. His skin seemed paler than it had and his eyes were dulled by a unmistakable madness.

"I wouldn't advise jumping," he cooed, but my body remained rigid. "Nor this." He held up the package which contained the gun. As he did so, a black plague spread on the paper covering until the whole object was a grainy black. He crushed it easily, reducing the rotten mass into nothing but ash.

Behind him and through the window, I could see a dark shadow washing over the valley. It was the cliff in which the dreaded tunnel and portal to Hell laid.

The whispering grew louder as did Death's smile as we became shrouded by the tunnel.

I didn't dare look behind me, I could already feel their horrid, dead gaze upon me; my eyes were set on watching the dangerous smile of the conductor as everything faded into darkness. I was too late, Victor.