At midnight, station keeper Ellis found a wet umbrella resting on the deserted platform. No train had stopped there for twenty years.

From the tunnel came the slow scrape of luggage wheels. Ellis raised his torch. The beam reached only the first few sleepers before the darkness swallowed it.

Inside the ticket office, the old departure clock began to move backwards. A single fresh ticket slid beneath the locked door.

Ellis turned it over. On the blank paper, water spread into the shape of a hand. Five dark fingerprints appeared against the other side of the window.

He backed toward the platform exit. Beyond the glass, an empty train arrived without headlights, its doors opening onto complete darkness.

Ellis left the umbrella where he had found it and walked away without looking back. Behind him, the departure clock struck thirteen.