Ethan had never heard of Midnight Hollow, yet there he was, standing on its abandoned platform. The ticket in his hand felt ice-cold despite the summer air. The train’s whistle echoed through the empty night as a silver locomotive pulled into the station.
Something was off. The conductor, an older man in a crisp uniform, barely looked at him as he muttered, “One-way ticket. No turning back.”
Inside, the passengers were eerily silent, their faces pale, their eyes hollow. As he sat, the train lurched forward. A woman across from him turned, her lips trembling. “You don’t belong here yet.”
His heart raced. “What do you mean?”
She leaned in, whispering, “This train is for those who left something undone. Until you fix it, you can’t move on.”
His mind reeled. The last thing he remembered was speeding down the highway, his phone lighting up with a missed call from his sister. They hadn’t spoken in years. Then—nothing.
He jolted upright. Was he dead?
The train’s lights flickered. The windows blurred. Suddenly, Ethan was no longer on the train but standing outside his sister’s door. He gasped, the weight in his chest lifting.
A chance.
He knocked.
The door opened.