Subtitle The Train ✦ Top

"We all are, until the train stops where we didn't expect it to," she said. She finally turned to him, her gaze sharp and unnervingly kind. "Where are you really going, Elias?"

The use of his name made the air in the carriage turn cold. He hadn't introduced himself. He hadn't spoken to anyone in weeks. "I'm going to the end of the line," he whispered. subtitle The Train

When the silver doors hissed open, he stepped into Carriage 4. It smelled of wet wool and cold metal. He took a seat by the window, the glass acting as a mirror for a face he didn't quite recognize—thinner, older, etched with the exhaustion of a man who had spent years running in place. "We all are, until the train stops where

He looked back at the woman's seat, but it was empty. On the floor lay a small, tarnished key. He hadn't introduced himself

Elias picked it up. He realized then that the train wasn't taking him home. It was a holding pattern for the souls who had forgotten how to walk on their own feet. He stood up, walked to the emergency lever, and pulled.

"The end of the line is just a turnaround," the woman said, standing up as the train began to slow. "The real journey is deciding which station you're brave enough to get off at."