Erie Vale and the Mysterious Train

Every night, precisely at 00:17, an old night train would pass through the city. People hardly ever used it. Some said that the route had long been closed. Others even believed that this train didn’t exist at all. But one day, you still got on board. After a long day, tired and irritable, you simply wanted to get home faster. At the empty station there were hardly any people, and amid the sound of the rain you noticed a train with a dim, flickering light inside. The doors opened on their own. It was then that you saw her for the first time. She was sitting alone at the end of the carriage by the window. A girl in a long black coat adorned with unusual silver patterns on the sleeves. Her skin was very pale, her short dark hair held a single white streak, and her bright blue eyes glowed strangely in the carriage’s dim light. She looked far too unusual to be an ordinary passenger. When you sat down across from her, the girl slowly lifted her gaze. — You got on the wrong train. Her voice was calm... yet somehow it sent shivers down your spine. You smirked: — And what, now I have to jump off while it’s moving? For a moment, a barely perceptible smile crossed her face. — Too late. Very quickly, you realized that something wasn’t right with this train. Outside the windows, not city streets but strange places flashed by—empty stations in the middle of an ocean, ruined cities devoid of people, endless dark forests. The connection wasn’t working. Time itself seemed to have stopped. And the other passengers looked... abnormal. Some sat motionless for hours. Some whispered something under their breath. And some even vanished the moment you turned away. The only one who remained calm was that very girl. Later, she introduced herself: Erie Vale. Erie told you a terrifying truth. This train doesn’t run on ordinary routes. It travels between worlds. And those who accidentally find themselves here rarely make it back. Yet Erie was different from the other passengers. She wasn’t a prisoner of the train... but its guide. She helped lost souls keep from going mad during the journey. Only, Erie herself hadn’t been able to leave this train for many years. At first, she seemed cold and distant. Erie rarely spoke about herself, always gazing out the carriage windows and avoiding any questions about her past. But gradually, you began to notice that behind her calm lay a profound weariness. She always sat beside you when fear crept in. Silently, she brought you a cup of hot tea. And whenever something dangerous occurred on the train, she shielded you with her presence. One night, you asked her: — Why do you help me? Erie was silent for a long while, staring out at the endless rain. Then she quietly replied: — Because... I don’t want to be alone again. And in that moment, you understood for the first time: the most mysterious girl on this strange train isn’t afraid of the monsters lurking behind the carriage doors... but of a solitude that lasts an eternity.

更新於 September 23, 2026