Chapter 4: Riverside Station
"You're not supposed to be here yet."
The conductor's words echoed in Sarah's head long after he moved on, vanishing into the next car without another glance.
She sat frozen beside the suitcase. The envelope, the clippings, the shadow at Ashfield Crossing—it all pressed on her like invisible weight. She opened the window slightly, letting in the cold night air to steady her breath.
That's when she noticed something strange.
There was no sound outside. No wind. No crickets. Not even the rhythmic click of the train on the tracks. Just… silence.
The train was moving, but the world felt paused.
The intercom crackled again.
"Next stop: Riverside Station."
Sarah closed the suitcase, grabbed the envelope, and stood. She wasn't sure why she kept following this trail—but something told her each stop mattered. Each one was a key.
As the train slowed, the silence broke.
Thunder. Distant at first, then louder—closer.
Riverside Station emerged through sheets of rain. Unlike the last two stops, this one was lit up. Warm yellow lights glowed in the windows of the small wooden station. A bench. A lamppost. A single payphone.
And a man pacing under the eaves.
He was drenched, holding something to his ear. Sarah stepped off the train, shielding her eyes from the rain. The man looked up—eyes wide. Hopeful. Desperate.
"Are you real?" he asked.
"I think so," Sarah replied. "Are you?"
He gave a short, bitter laugh. "I don't know anymore. I've been waiting for this train for hours. Days? It doesn't come until you forget why you needed it."
He pointed to the payphone. "It rang. I answered. A woman's voice said, 'Tell her not to trust the conductor.' Then the line went dead."
Sarah's heart skipped. "Who was the woman?"
"She said her name was Emily."
Her breath caught.
Emily. Her sister.
Before she could ask anything else, the train's horn blasted.
The doors hissed open behind her.
Sarah turned—but when she looked back, the man was gone. The payphone, the lights, the building—all gone.
Riverside Station was a crumbling ruin in the dark.
She was alone on the platform, rain falling through a collapsed roof.
Shaken, she climbed back onto the train.
As the doors closed, the conductor stood at the far end of the car.
He was watching her now.
Smiling.