The Ghost Train

Chapter 1: The Missing Persons

The fluorescent lights of the Rockhaven Police Department's forensic lab cast harsh shadows across the evidence laid out on the steel table. Sarah Mathews pushed a strand of auburn hair behind her ear as she leaned closer to the grainy security footage, her green eyes narrowed in concentration. Three separate case files were spread around her workstation, seemingly unrelated until she'd spotted the pattern.

"You're still here?" Lieutenant Reeves's gruff voice broke her concentration. His imposing figure filled the doorway, coffee in hand despite the late hour. "It's almost midnight, Mathews."

"I know, but look at this," Sarah said, gesturing to the monitor. "Thomas Chen, Maria Delgado, and Jamal Washington. All reported missing within the last month, all last seen at Thornwood Station."

Reeves sighed, setting his coffee down and leaning over her shoulder. "Lots of people go through Thornwood. It's one of the busiest stations in Rockhaven."

"Not at midnight, they don't," Sarah replied, clicking through the time-stamped footage. "And not on trains that don't exist."

She pointed to the screen where a blurry figure—Thomas Chen, a 29-year-old software engineer—stood alone on Platform 3. The timestamp read 11:58 PM. Two minutes later, a train pulled into the station, though the footage became strangely distorted. Chen appeared to board, and the train pulled away.

"The footage gets unclear right when the train arrives," Sarah noted, frustration evident in her voice. "It happens with all three cases. Almost like there's some kind of interference."

"Equipment malfunction," Reeves suggested with a shrug. "Those cameras at Thornwood are ancient."

"Three identical malfunctions on three different nights?" Sarah countered, pulling up another clip showing Maria Delgado nine days later, same platform, same time. Then another with Jamal Washington. "Three different people, same platform, same mysterious train."

Reeves rubbed his jaw. "Could be a private charter."

"That doesn't show up on any records and appears within minutes of midnight each time?" Sarah pulled out her notepad where she'd jotted down her findings. "I checked with the transit authority. No trains are scheduled on Platform 3 after 11:30 PM."

She hesitated before continuing, anticipating Reeves's reaction. "And there's something else. I found social media posts from each victim. They were all researching something called 'The Ghost Train'—local folklore about a phantom train that appears at midnight."

Reeves's expression hardened. "Christ, Mathews, not this again. I didn't take you for someone who believes in ghost stories."

Sarah bristled. "I'm not saying I believe in ghosts. I'm saying all three victims were researching the same urban legend before they disappeared on a train that shouldn't exist. That's a connection we can't ignore."

"There's a simpler explanation," Reeves said, his tone dismissive. "Human trafficking ring using Thornwood as a pickup point. Or a killer who knows the station's blind spots. Either way, it's flesh and blood people, not some supernatural express train."

Sarah bit back a retort. Reeves had been this way since she joined the department three years ago—quick to dismiss anything that didn't fit his narrow worldview. She'd earned her reputation as the department's most meticulous forensic analyst by following evidence, not assumptions.

"I want to dig deeper," she said instead, closing the video files. "There's something here, something we're missing."

Reeves sighed heavily. "Fine. You've got two days to find me something concrete—fingerprints, DNA, surveillance of suspects—actual evidence. Not folklore. If you can't, these cases go to Missing Persons and you get back to your regular caseload. Clear?"

"Crystal," Sarah replied, already turning back to her evidence board.

After Reeves left, Sarah pulled out her phone and scrolled through the social media accounts of the missing persons again. Thomas Chen's last post was a grainy night photo of Thornwood Station with the caption: Midnight train tonight? #GhostTrain #RockhavenMysteries. Maria Delgado had been more detailed, posting in a paranormal forum about historical sightings of a silver train that "traveled between worlds." Jamal Washington, a history student at Rockhaven University, had been researching disappearances at train stations dating back to the 1940s.

Sarah pinned their photos to her evidence board. Three strangers with nothing in common except curiosity about an urban legend—and now, disappearance.

The next morning, Sarah arrived at Thornwood Station as commuters rushed past her, a stark contrast to how the station would look at midnight. She badged her way into the security office where a middle-aged man with thinning hair looked up from his monitors.

"Gary Jenkins," he introduced himself. "Transit Authority Security. You must be the analyst from RPD."

Sarah nodded. "I'm looking into the recent disappearances. Can you show me where the victims were last seen?"

Gary led her to Platform 3, currently busy with morning commuters. "All three were right here," he said, pointing to a spot near the end of the platform. "Strange place to wait, especially that late. Not many trains stop here after hours."

"What do you know about the train they boarded?" Sarah asked, watching his reaction carefully.

Gary shifted uncomfortably. "Official statement is there was no train scheduled. Must've been a system error in the logs."

"And unofficially?"

He glanced around before lowering his voice. "Been working here fifteen years. Thornwood's an old station, built in 1893. There are stories."

"About a ghost train?" Sarah prompted.

Gary's eyes widened slightly. "You've heard them too? Look, I'm not saying I believe that stuff, but some of the old-timers swear they've seen things. A silver train that shows up at midnight and isn't on any schedule. Appears from nowhere, disappears to nowhere."

"Have you ever seen it?" Sarah asked.

"Me? No." He hesitated. "But my predecessor, old man Wilkins, he claimed he did. Said it had something to do with the new moon, that's when the veil is thinnest, whatever that means."

Sarah made a note. New moon. All three disappearances had occurred on or near new moon nights. Coincidence?

"Any footage of this... unscheduled train?" she asked.

Gary shook his head. "That's the weird thing. Cameras always glitch right around midnight on those nights. Static, distortion. IT says it's electromagnetic interference, but they can't find the source."

Sarah knelt down, examining the platform edge. "Were there any physical traces? Footprints, personal items left behind?"

"Nothing usual," Gary said. "Though cleaning crew found these weird crystal-like flakes after each disappearance. Like frost, but it doesn't melt. Maintenance swept them up."

Sarah's head snapped up. "Do you still have any of these... flakes?"

"Might be some stuck in the platform cracks. Cleaning crew isn't exactly thorough."

Using tweezers from her kit, Sarah carefully extracted several tiny crystalline fragments from a crack near the platform edge. They glinted under her flashlight, refracting light in an unusual pattern.

"I'm going to need access to your complete security footage from all three nights," Sarah said, placing the crystalline samples in an evidence bag. "And any witness statements from staff or passengers."

As Gary went to retrieve the files, Sarah took photos of the platform, noting sightlines and potential blind spots. The station had been renovated several times over its long history, but Platform 3 retained much of its original architecture—ornate iron columns, intricate tile work, an arched ceiling that amplified the echo of announcements.

A perfect setting for urban legends to take root.

Back at the lab that evening, Sarah examined the crystalline samples under a microscope. They had an unusual molecular structure unlike anything in the department database—not frost, not salt, not any common crystalline substance found in an urban train station.

Her phone chimed with a calendar notification: next new moon in three days.

Sarah looked up at her evidence board. Three missing persons. One mysterious train. Countless unanswered questions.

If the pattern held true, someone else might disappear at Thornwood Station on the next new moon. And Sarah was determined to prevent that from happening—even if it meant confronting the impossible possibility of a ghost train.