The Train of Odd Places【SHORT STORY】

When Alex bought their metrocard from the machine, they accepted whatever comes next might change their life. That’s why they came here, after all. The Train of Odd Places was known for being unknown. In all of the newspapers Alex read, they learned that the Train never stays in one city for long, and strange things happen to the few who enter. When it appeared in Alex’s small, uneventful town of 80,000, they took their chance to rid themselves of the dirt of their school “friends”.

Nobody else was at the entrance to the station with them. It was quiet. Each step they took deeper into the underground echoed like rumors, somehow getting even louder with every passing second. Alex arrived at the gate and swiped their card. Suddenly, but quietly, all of the shadows around them turned deep red. Like all other colors were just… turned off. Grinning with both excitement and confidence, Alex marched on; sending the supernatural change to the millions of blank filing cabinets in the back of their mind.

A pungi player dressed in a black trenchcoat sat on the ground at the platform when Alex arrived. He was playing beautifully to the basket in front of him, but no snake rose.

“Hi there, may I sit with you until the train comes?” Alex asked.

The boy paused his playing, “Of course! What’s your name?”

“I’m Alex Troyce, they-them.”

“Nerin Abel, he-him. What brings you here?”

“Well, this awful town gives me nothing. I wanted a change of pace, you?”

“I’m kinda the local weirdo at my school. I make things happen, I wanted something to happen to me, I guess. To be the receiver, not the creator.”

“That’s quite poetic. Bet this is what you’ve been waiting for for a while, huh. Where do you go to school?”

“Blue High!”

“Oh really? I’m just across the street at Cedar! Competitive schools that contort their students. Gosh I just want to get out of this place.”

Nerin brushed his brown hair out of his eyes and motioned to the closest platform sign,

“Well in two minutes, who knows where we’ll be,” he placed his pungi at his lips once more and began to play. Alex looked into the basket where the snake should be, but there was just a framed photo of a man who looked similar to Nerin.

Two minutes passed, and the sign they were looking at earlier beeped. But the train isn’t… and with no warning, no echo, no light, the train sped into the station and came to an instant stop.

“Jeez.. if there is anyone in there, there is no chance they have any guts left,” Alex said as they stood up, extending their hand to their new friend. Nerin picked up his instrument and basket and took their hand, pulling himself up. The two walked together to the nearest train car, coincidentally, or perhaps not, the only train car whose door stood open.

Upon entering, Alex’s attentive eye was caught by someone sitting with their head down in the corner… something with its head down in the corner? It didn’t look human. It looked like a bird of sorts with human proportions, though its head was massive, and more like the shape of a giant skipping stone flipped vertically.

The doors shut behind the two and the ground beneath them began to rumble. The train had started, no turning back now. Alex turned away from the bird-thing to find a pole to hold onto until they regained their balance. Nerin did the same. He looked at Alex and quickly motioned with his eyes towards the weird figure again.

“Yeah, I saw,” they whispered quickly. Nerin shook his head and motioned again. Alex glanced once more at it, and saw it was staring a piercing red eye at them. Slowly taking their hand off of the pole, they walked over to the thing.

“Hey, stop staring. I’m not a manipulable little girl anymore,” they said.

Something that sounded like a switch being flipped came from the thing. Alex’s vision blurred for half a second before returning to normal, and the bird began to speak, its beak remaining still.

“And yet moments ago you seemed to be doing the same to me. Now I ask, are you really as independent as you seem? Your confidence seems to have compelled you to confront me, has it not?” a deep voice emanated from the motionless creature. Alex took a step back.

“Who… are you?” questioned Alex.

Their vision briefly blurred again, the clicking noise accompanying it. It seemed like this was how the thing talked.

“I am the Train, the Train is I. Though I understand that can be hard to comprehend for you outsiders. You may call me Jockelyn, it was my name before I assumed control of this mechanism,” replied Jockelyn, “Now, I have a question for you two. Are you Tourists or Victims?”

Alex looked back at Nerin who stepped forward to meet them. He extended his hand out past Alex, and they turned around to see two floating jars that weren’t there just a second ago. They yelped in surprise, but then shook their head and regained their posture. Nerin gently grasped the right jar, labelled “VICTIM”, but when he tried to pull it closer for inspection, it sort of magnetized back towards its original spot. A coin floated towards the two from Jockelyn. It had braille imprinted on it. Alex felt both sides. “Choice is life, and life ends. You are not gone when you are dead, just a prisoner.” it read. They read it aloud for Nerin.

“You read braille?” He asked, surprise sneaking into his expression.

“Yeah, my mom’s blind as a bat, so it is useful to know.”

“Place the token,” Jockelyn interrupted.

Alex thought for a moment, then reached for the “TOURIST” jar and shook it. Though nothing was in it, it felt heavy, and like something was inside of it. They did the same with the other container, and found significantly less resistance.

“To change a life…” Alex paused, “Two lives,” they placed the coin in the jar labelled “VICTIM”. Suddenly, the red lights flickered, and the contents of the jars appeared inside. The tourists jar was filled with a multitude of coins, while the victims jar only had three or four others.

Despite his unmoving figure, Alex got the feeling Jockelyn was smiling.

“Well, this will be exciting,” it said. The train then began to rumble and rumble, the brakes screeched into the two friends’ ears like a monster from the deep. Alex lost their balance and crashed into Nerin, who fell to the ground and was kicked around by the seeming crash of Train of Odd Places.

~~~~●●●●~~~~

Alex woke up face-down on the floor of the train car. There were no lights on, and Jockelyn was gone. They got up and looked around. Suddenly, they realized Nerin was gone too. A red glow came from the next car over. Alex began walking towards the door and found no pain had come from the crash. When they got close enough to the door, it opened automatically.

The adjoining car had a singular light lit, the source of the red glow. Words with no voice spoke into their mind, “Where are you, Alex? Where are you? WHERE ARE YOU?”

Alex whirled around, but nobody was present.

“You’re lost, YOU LOST! Lost again, it all is! Your only friend now snatched, your path UNKNOWN!” it came again.

“Who are you!?” Alex shouted.

“I am your mind-train, your odd-train! Your true face, your masked tears!”

Goosebumps spread across their body like a plague. They pressed forward, towards the light.

“I wouldn’t go there if I were you! Or would I? Would you?” the voice questioned.

“I WOULD. STOP BUGGING ME!” Alex walked faster.

“This is what you wanted, wasn’t it? This train is special, you know?”

“I said. Stop bugging me,” They reached the light. A familiar clicking noise occurred as their vision blurred for a second.

“Ah, that truly is your name, Alex. It is always confusing with you people. You got lucky,” came Jockelyn’s voice.

“Where is Nerin?” Alex’s voice cracked.

“See, see? Lost again, LOST THEM ALL AGAIN!” the mind-voice played.

“Choice is life, choice is death. Death is a prison, do you crave freedom?”

“He’s dead..?” Alex asked, color draining from their face.

“Oh now that will be fun to play with won’t it? It will, it will! Is he dead? Is he a traitor? Who is he really?”

“SHUT UP!” Alex screamed, “Are you trying to get me killed, Train?!”

“We are trying to set you free,” “We are trying to set you free, free!” the two voices said in unison.

“Continue forth, Alex. Let yourself decide if we succeed or not,”

Alex slammed their hand into the nearest pole, the pressure refilling their confidence. They walked towards the next train car. To the side of the door was a label that read “FATHER”. Anxiety swelled into Alex’s chest as they entered the next car. This one seemed.. wider than the last, longer too. Something compelled them to turn around, and what they found didn’t even surprise them at this point. There was a second car somehow forking off from the one they came through.

“‘Keep marching forward,’ isn’t that what you always say? Isn’t that what he always said? So why do you hesitate now? Backwards isn’t forwards! Your choice, your choice!” said the voice.

“It’s not his statement anymore. It’s mine,” Alex turned back around and walked on. There was another singular light on in this car, and something was beneath it.

“But is it really? Is it so his that it became yours? Who are you, who are you, Alex? You know the whip in the closet, did it not do this? Are you you or are you his? WHO ARE YOU ALEX?”

Alex walked faster over to the red light. It was the photo that Nerin had. The glass holding it to the frame was shattered in three chunks. A frown formed on their face, and tears welled up in their eyes.

“Go away..” Alex muttered, “GO AWAY!”

“You could force our leave right now, Alex. The glass is there. Do you want to be a prisoner?”

“No. That would be… weak. It would be pathetic. I’m not like mom, and she even failed. Her eyes didn’t have enough blood in them.”

“Good. But discard your false strength. The next car will show you why! Teeheehee!”

Alex picked up the photo and pocketed it, “What are you trying to do to me.”

“We told you! We’re trying to set you free. Of course to be free one must go through hell and cleanse it, and we are your soap and water, yes!”

“You’re more like hell to me.”

“Oh you’ll see, you’ll see!”

Alex shook their head and pressed on, their stride shortening. The next car was labelled “FRIENDS?” They walked through.

It was pitch black. All they could see were papers and pencils all over the floor and what could be seen of the walls, though it looked like they had no depth, like wallpaper. Some of the pencils were real, however, and finely sharpened at that. Alex looked closer at the papers, they were all various quizzes or tests, all marked with A’s. Two steps in, and the papers all changed to lies, “CONFIDENT, FORWARD-THINKING, EAGER, OKAY,” they all read. The A’s turned to F’s. Every two steps they switched back.

“You know you’re living a lie, you do! How else would I know, too? You’re tired, you’re fried! Discard your false strength! Put it in a cell!”

Alex stepped in something slippery. They looked down. Blood. Then they became aware of the screaming, the sobbing. The darkness faded away, and they saw him, curled in a ball on the ground. Everything around him was… green? The papers around him seemed to blend together.

“...Nerin?” Alex spoke softly.

Nerin pressed his blood covered hand to the ground and turned around.

“Oh my god..” Alex rushed over and knelt down beside him.

“I DON’T KNOW WHO I AM,” he screamed, “ALEX I DON’T KNOW ANYMORE!”

Alex embraced him, “Shh, there there. I’m here. I’m your friend. I can help you.”

“Be yourself, Alex, discard your strength,” the voice said, a bit softer this time.

“Mmn. Nerin I don’t know how to help you. I can’t, I can’t,” they started sobbing too, “but.. I’m here for you.. I’m here.”

“I HATE MYSELF. I’M JUST A MASK!”

“Me too, Nerin.. me too. But we can worry about that later. Here, let’s get up.”

Alex helped lift their friend up, “Let me see your hand.”

Nerin put his left hand forward. There was a hole in the middle of his palm, pressing more and more blood out every second.

“Oh my gosh.. What did you do?”

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to, it just.. it just happened. I wasn’t thinking. The- The pencils, the voice, I couldn’t take it… it was too true...” his voice quavered.

“Don’t be- erm, you don’t have to be sorry. Let’s get out of here,” Alex took his right hand in their left and headed for the next door. It didn’t have a label.

When they stepped through, they found themselves in the initial car once more, and Jockelyn was in its same seat as when they first walked onto the train. They heard the whir of wheels, and the train began to move again. The lights turned on again, but instead of being red, they were blue, the calmest color. The two walked to the end of the car and sat opposite of Jockelyn. Nerin had stopped sobbing.

“Hey, you okay?” Alex touched his shoulder. Nerin nodded slightly, but kept his head down.

“You wanna grab something to eat tomorrow, during lunch break?” they continued. Nerin nodded once more.

“I can stop the train at the hospital. You two did well, better than some of the others,” the bird-thing poked in.

“Yes please, he’s really hurt. I think he’ll be okay though.”

“There is something you have, Alex.”

“Oh right,” they rustled their free hand in their pocket, “I believe you dropped this, Nerin.” It was the photograph. Nerin took it and began sobbing once more, leaning into Alex.

“Well, Jockelyn, are we free yet?”

“That is for you to decide.” it muttered as the train came to a stop.