Chapter 1: You do not belong here.
The sun slowly sets across my continent as it should. It wraps the hills in its most warm embrace and in its orange-red blanket. The small ponds, filled with their sparkling water, getting heated by the sun and its beautiful reflection, as if thousands of small diamonds were hit by light. The fish slowly swam and danced in the water, with no care given to the world and the pond’s surroundings.
A sight to truly behold, this is not what I gaze at. I’m more occupied with waiting for my train to arrive. Rural village, small community with little of what can be called normal transport. Only this train and a few roads lead here and considering I’m not in a position to afford, let alone drive a car, this is my best bet. Why would I waste money on a car, when I can just use this public train to get from one place to another.
As the cold, late autumn wind hits my face, I close my eyes for a second. It burns my eyes and I can feel them water a bit. That train better hurry up or I will just walk the two hour long ride. I have done it before. Felt like shit for two weeks, learned that you don’t walk for four hours on a rainy day. This is how people learn. I think. I hope so.
The station lacked a few basic necessary things, such as a proper ticket booth, seats or any form of sitting commodity and, most annoying of all, a place where you could go in to get shelter from the weather conditions. You just had to endure and hope for the best.
I reach into my pocket and take out my phone. It is a bit old, does the job like it needs to. Works for me, don’t care about the rest. If it works, I ain’t buying a new one.
I glance over the messages and whatever cheap crap companies are trying to sell me. No idea how they got my number, but it is highly annoying. Just like a mosquito, you can get rid of one, well, in my case, block them, but two more will just take their place and be even more aggressive with trying to sell me whatever the hell they have. As I glare, I feel something hit my neck. Cold and swift. Then my glasses. It slowly becomes hard to see.
I look to the sky. Even more drops fall on my glass. The reddish sky has now turned blue and menacingly cloudy. Great. Raining, again. Like it hasn’t been doing the exact same thing for a week, but here it goes, doing it again. If this train doesn’t arrive I wil-
I stop my little self monologue as the metal giant creeks and halts at the station.
“Oh, speak of the devil, here it is.”
It was one of those trains that should have been decommissioned thirty years ago, yet here it was. I thank whatever god was up there, so I don’t have to suffer the cold and the rain. I pocket my phone and I have to shuffle around a bit to find my ticket. I step onto the train and the ticket master greets me.
“Welcome. Welcome to the train of Ghazarus. Your ticket.”
The man was a tall, bit chubby man. He wasn’t fat enough to seem overweight, but he had enough meat and muscles to easily beat you in a fistfight. On his chest, he had a small, hand used paper shredder, with a small lever on its side. He had a red stripe on his shoulder that stood out, on the mostly blue coat. A few golden buttons on his chest also seemed a bit out of place, but well made.
He glares at me, waiting for the ticket. I quickly handed it to him, a bit embarrassed that I spent a few seconds just glaring at him. He looks at the ticket, then shreds it. He walks away, his hands behind his back. His white gloves seemed weird, considering his trousers were black and even his coat was dark blue. A weird combination, but who am I to judge?
The train seemed cleaner than usual. It wasn’t usually dirty to say, but it felt like they actually had people cleaning it more than once a week. Heck, since when was there an actual ticket taker? Did the government finally give some money to the mayor and the village, so they can have a more pleasant way in and out of the village? Nice. I just hope extra manpower doesn’t equal increasing ticket prices. Perhaps this Ghazarus was the new company supplying the trains and all? Would be nice to have more trains like this.
I sat down at one of the seats. It is pretty comfortable for the price I’m paying, almost a robbery. Hm, I don’t recall a few things, perhaps they received money to replace most of the interior of the train, but not the train itself? Not that unheard of, considering the whole railroad would need to be refitted for newer trains, as these are older than the train itself. Interesting choices, but ones I’m fine with.
Raindrops hit the window as I settle down. Only a few at first, then more and more. It rapidly increased and I’m once again thankful that I don’t have to stand and wait for the train. Now, in two hours I will be drinking a large cup of hot fruit tea and perhaps, a warm shower won’t hurt. Gotta let out the steam caused by this week. Yes, some frozen pizza would fit nicely too.
I glance around. Seems like no other passenger is on board. As I look, I see the ticket master walk towards the engine room. I raise my hand to get his attention and he walks over to me.
“Hey, I know it is kinda weird to ask, but you heard about the city of Truro? It isn’t far from here, around two hours. When we reach the destination, would you please wake me up?”
The ticket master glares at me for a second then turns back and walks away. I just hope this was a sign of him agreeing. I get more comfortable in my seat. It is soft, perhaps fur. The seats feel nice, warm, the outside cold is but an unheard of idea inside, as every corner is filled with warmth. My eyelids feel like huge stone forts, fealing heavy. I shut my eyes like a steel door and it is not far that the kiss of a dream arrived in the form of a small butterfly, landing the kiss of sleep upon my tired lips.
I see nothing, but a cold, endless void. It had nothing in it. There was absolute and never ending silence. As I’m forced to be in this heinous place, I hear a voice. I can’t understand it, but I can feel it getting louder. I can finally hear it.
“In the end. A day shall come when even gods parish. This is the law of time. Even gods must fall. But not me. never. Never. NEVER. N E V E R!!! I WILL LIVE FOREVER.”
I woke up. What a shitty dream. I rub my eyes as I take my glasses off.
“What time is it?”
I speak under my breath as I take out my phone. It is dead. I could have sworn it was at forty percent. Perhaps the phone too, said Friday and died. I just hope it was just the battery and not the phone as a whole. As I look at it I yawn a big one. Shitty sleep leaves you with feeling shitty.
I glare out the window. We were in a tunnel. Weird, I recall no tunnel, fuck that ticket taker, he didn’t wake me up in time. What a great thing, there fucking go my night plans. I get out of my seat and begin walking around the train. As I do so, the lights go out. I click my mouth, as the night has gotten even worse.
I quickly run my hands through my pockets until I feel something firm hit my hand in my chest pocket. Matchbox. Nice. I open it and reach for a match. I lit the match. I hear something, something weird. I look around but see nothing.
I hiss in pain as the match reaches its end and burns my hand. It falls to the ground and extinguishes. I reached for a new one and lit it. Before me, stands something large. It was like a wolf, with its black fur and its golden eyes glaring into mine. It reaches two of its fingers out and extinguishes my match. I do not move, I do not feel I just wait. The lights come back on. I can feel my body screaming, but I just stand there. Finally, my rooted legs allow me to turn and walk.
It is there. It just toyed with me, like with an injured prey. It picked me up, digging his firm claws into my shoulder and then threw onto the ground. I wheeze in pain as I try to crawl away. The thing bites into my leg, like a crocodile, not wishing to let off its prey. It begins to drag me away as I try to dig my nails into the floor. It is no use. I’m gonna die. I’M GONNA DIE HERE.
It continues to drag me, digging its teeth more deep into my meat and I bleed more and more. It just doesn’t let go of me. But then it stops and lets go of me. It raises its ears and stops. It slowly turns its head and stands back up. I can hear a language I do not understand.
“Na, mit ad isten? Hát nem egy bolhazsák? Mit fogtál, blöki?”
I can see a man in military uniform, perhaps world war one, world war two??? No idea, I’m busy trying not to bleed out. He leans a bit to look at. The person shakes his shoulders.
“Nem nagy szám, de attól még az enyém. Nekem is ritkaság, jó boncolni való fiatal. Állj félre. Vagy, tudod mit? Mókásabb ha ellenállsz. Rajta, járjunk egy jó táncot.”
The being lunges at the man and all I see is, that the thing stops, then, a gunshot roars. The thing falls on its back, blood entering the floor. It drinks the blood, ever eagerly, as if it is the last thing it will ever drink. The man still speaks in a language I do not understand, but sounds highly displeased and annoyed.
“Ennél többre számítottam. Szánalmas.”
The man walks up to me and glares at me, then at my wound. He kneels down next to me.
“Beszélsz Magyarul?”
I glare at him and he glares at me. He cleared his throat.
“Sprechen Sie Deutsch? Verstehst du mich?”
I continue to glare at him, fear slowly arising. He cleared his throat again.
“Do you speak English?”
Fear has already set in. I cannot move or speak as I cannot stop looking at him. He sighs.
“Fala português?”
I shake my head.
“English, english.”
He smiles. Somehow, he is now even more unnerving.
“Finally, a common language we both speak. I mean, I speak it all, so it would be pretty hard for me to not speak it. Was afraid I’m gonna have to go through all the possible languages. Would have been pissed if you said english when I was finished with all.”
He reaches his hand out. I hesitate to take it. He shakes his shoulders.
“Not forcing you to take it, but there are a lot more “House guests” around, so if you want them to take ya, I can just leave you here, if that’s what you want.”
I frantically shake my head. If he leaves me I will die.
“Alright, I will carry you to my room.”
He takes my arm and throws me over his shoulder, like I’m some kind of sack to be easily carried around. He begins to take steps, like I’m not even there to weigh him down. He steps over the twitching corps of the thing that attacked me. Parts of his skull, brain, muscles tissue and blood paint the ceiling in an unorthodox way.
I can hear my blood slowly dripping onto the ground. Every few seconds there’s a small thud, as a few drops fall onto the floor board. I take deep breaths trying to process what the fuck is going on. I’m afraid to ask him, what he might do to me?
“Here we are.”
With that he throws me off his shoulder. I land on my hand and it injects deep pain across my arm. Like a terrible wasp sting, just across your whole arm.
“What was that for?!?!”
I roar as he opens a door. He just looks back at me and points into the room. I slowly get up, which is now even harder, as not only my leg hurts, but now one of my arms as well. I enter a room that looks more like a library. I look at the guy, who is now sitting in a large, red, sofa like chair. He is slowly drinking a cup of tea. He clicks his mouth a few times and reaches over a box, containing sugar cubes and places two in his tea. With his spoon, he mixes them and looks at me.
“So, you are new here I presume.”
I nod.
“Any idea as to how I get out?”
He reaches into his pocket and takes out a monocle. He adjusts it to his right eye and looks at me.
“Want me to be honest or lie?”
My heart both races faster, but also skips a few extra beats.
“Honest…”
He places his cup down and takes off a pipe from his table. He turns it downwards and spanks it a few times. Dust, ash and remains of tobacco falls out, some ash even coats his hand. He glances up to me.
“Well, you can, indeed, leave this place. Pretty easily. You just need to get down at the next stop, that is in a few hours.”
My mouth turns into a smile. Thank god, I’m safe. I can return to m-
He speaks again.
“If you want to return to the world you came for, then it will take a lot longer. Around…”
He throws his pipe onto the table. It lands with a wooden thud and he walks over to a counter. He takes out a piece of paper and a pen. He begins to write and I can hear him mutter under his breath, but not what he is saying. He comes back to me with paper in hand and looks at me, then back to the paper.
“If you want to return to the place you came from, you will need to wait around… 526 years. Give or take a few months. I didn’t calculate that deep into it.”
I once again freeze. 526 years…? I will not live that long… Does that mean I’m stuck on this train forever? Will I die here???
The guy just throws the paper onto the table and picks his pipe back up. He reaches for some tobacco and puts it into his pipe. He takes out a matchbox. Wait, that’s my matchbox! He lights his pipe with it and exhales some smoke.
I decide to let go of asking for my matches. Right now I’m in no condition to do so. He looks at me and takes the pipe out of his mouth.
“I can see that you are concerned, but fear not. Here, you do not age. Even if you did, it would be your least problem. Believe me. Also, you didn’t close the door, did you?”
I shake my head.
“Yea, I can see that. “
He points his pipe behind me and I turn. I can see a small, dog seized thing. It had two horns where its eyes should be, a red tail and yellow teeth. I turn towards my new found friend and mouth him a “what the fuck”.
“A “Bleeder”. A pack like an animal. Well, “animal.” it hunts in packs of three, usually eating bones, corpses, sometimes even hun-.
A loud scream is heard from the ceiling of this library. I look up and see nothing. I look back down, only to see the guy holding a Bleeder in his hand. He clearly looks annoyed as he glares down at his pipe, now laying on the ground. He grits his teeth as he holds the thing, which is wiggling around his hand, trying to get free.
“As I was SAYING.”
With that a loud crack echoes through the room. The thing doesn’t move any-more and he lets go of it. It falls to the ground twitching.
“Let me just make it easier.”
He reaches over to the paper on which he did his math. He begins to write on it and I just sit there, leg still bleeding. After a minute or so he hands it to me.
“Rules for the Bleeders. You let them in, I take two out, you take the third one out. Get to work.”
He leans over and picks up his pipe. He stands up and begins to walk away.
“Wait, what is your name? Mine i-”
I’m cut off as he glares at me, eyes filled with searing hatred.
“If you survive a few basic tasks, you can tell me your name. I don’t care until then.”
I stand up, as my legs burn with pain. I look at the list.
Monster: Bleeders
Type: Easy
Rules:
1: Bleeders are small, blood red, dog seized hunters. They feast on corpses and heavily injured preys.
2: They aren’t your teammates neither your enemy. If you are capable of holding yourself together and not bleed everywhere, Bleeders might be even of use for you. They only consume flesh. Anything of value including; Weapons, medical stuff, food and water are always found in good condition. Even when they find them, they just kick them aside. Also worth noting that they do, indeed, eat other monsters as well.
3: As you saw, they are blind. No, it isn’t their hearing that’s stronger, its their smell. Smell for blood, actually. Blood, sweat, urine, anything with a strong odour.
4: More so a general rule, but DO keep yourself clean. Not only so that Bleeders have harder time smelling you, but here, you can still catch scabies
5: The bite of a Bleeder is around as strong as it looks. It won’t rip your arm off, but if one bites you, it will ALWAYS draw blood. Did it barely scratch you? Blood. Will. Come. Why is it a problem? More Bleeders. More blood= More Bleeders. It might not be terrible to feel one or two bites, but twenty every few seconds WILL kill you.
6: These sons of bitches are mobile when they want to be. You saw it yourself. They use it to flank you and get a bite. You might not even feel it, until you see more and more come for you.
7: Just kill them like I did. Break its neck, it is the best as it draws no blood. If that isn’t an option, just kill it and get the hell out.
Rule + Concerning the library
8: It is larger then it looks. By a lot. Do not get lost, the smell of rotting flesh is complicated to air out.
++ If you manage to catch it, throw it out at the door. I will be soon back, do anything stupid and I won’t be kind.
I finished reading the rules. It seems as if he isn’t too happy about me letting these things in. I stuff the paper into my jacket and look around. As I do I feel something drip onto my nose. As I learned in chemist classes, I take a few steps back and look up. I see, in the darkness, a large red spot glaring from the ceiling. It suddenly begins to fall and I take a few more steps. A loud thud thunders through the room. The Bleeder lays unresponsive. I walk up to it and glare at it.
I grab it by its neck and begin to drag it out toward the door. As I reach the door and open it, the thing begins to move. I let out a shriek and dropped it. I try to close the door, but the Bleeder puts its head in the gap, trying to force it open. I glare with fear at it, as it chomps for my bleeding leg. I look around, but don’t see the military looking guy.
With a swift move, I open the door and slam it again. I hear a shriek and do it again. Again. Again. And again. I take deep breaths as I look at the bleeder. I can see its neck having a huge bulge. I might have broken its spine or something. It wasn’t moving, that’s for sure.
I open the door and with my good leg I kick it out. I close the door and slowly sit down. I can feel sweat running down my face and back. I then hear a slow, ironic clapping.
“Wow, that was super impressive. You only almost died to a weak little shitling. How spectacular.”
He glares at me, pipe in mouth. He seems neither happy nor upset. He reaches under the table and throws me a small medical kit and a towel. He then points at a small chair next to me. I sit down and begin to patch myself together. He closes his eyes and leans back in his chair. As I open the medkit a small note falls out. I pick it out and look at it.
Rules for the “General”
HE IS NOT YOUR ALLY!
I stuff the note into my pocket and wash my face with the towel. The box had only a few things in it. Some alcohol and a few rounds of bandages. I pour it over my leg and the “General” quietly smokes. His chest slowly rises and falls. The small bandage does its job for now and I can mostly cover my leg with it. The General opens his eyes and looks at me.
“Which part of “They have great smell” Did you fucking miss?”
I look at him, confused. He plants his head into his hands and slowly shakes his head.
“Just because I don’t name alcohol doesn’t mean they won’t fucking smell it. You should have used the tower to wash the alcohol off after a few minutes. Yes, it would have added new bacteria, but it’s still better to get it from a fresh towel, then getting it from the mouth of a “House Guest”. If you walk out and get swarmed, I’m not gonna help. I’m gonna laugh my ass off. Leave. We have left the tunnel, for now, no more House Guests.”
With that he leans back in his chair. He motions with hand for me to get out. I do as he tells me to do so and I leave the room with the towel and now empty medical kit. I open the door, only to find myself in another room, no sign of blood or the Bleeder. I turn back to ask him, but I see only an empty row of seats. I reach into my pocket and sit down. Let us see what this guy is.
Rules for the “General”
HE IS NOT YOUR ALLY!
Hello, hello? If you are reading this, it means that you are unfortunate enough to not only get on the train, but also meet the General. General, or in full name “Prónay Ambrus de Iharfa”.
This man… No, he is not a man any-more, but something else. This was once a man. Now, it is nothing but a sick person, yearns for entertainment and now-days he does it in a way no man can justify.
Alright, since I managed to get loose from his grip, I can give you some information on him; He has been here for around a hundred years. It is complicated and I have no idea how this train actually works, but I know that he has spent that time learning. Learning things, language’s mathematics, poetry, whatever that library holds. But now… He started learning chemistry and biology. He, he uses people to test his theories. Cut them open, while alive, to see what happens if you pour liquid nitrogen on the human heart and its tissues.
I… I have witnessed things which no one should. I do not think I will be in his favor for long, if you read this, assume I have been liquidated. At best, by my own free will. At worst… Death did not come swiftly, painlessly or gently. But, I’m not here to cry for my own fate, I’m here to warn you. You got a medical kit from him, which I gifted to him. I don’t know how long this note has been there, it matters little. In my years, while protecting his back, I managed to make some rules about him. Never thought they would be of use, but now, I wish I had written down all of them.
Rules;
1: He speaks all the major languages. Perhaps, when you read this, he speaks all. But in heart, he is Hungarian. He will use Hungarian to talk with people and to make deals. Most deities have their own way of understanding a language, be it any. He might bargain and add you in. If you read this, it means you don’t speak Hungarian or you would be dead by now. Either learn Hun or force him to only use whatever you speak.
2: He loves his work, but he is also lonely. Do you know any good literature, painting, or historical figures? Talk with him about it. It might bring you closer to him, not by a lot, but it might what separates you from life and death.
3:Do not provoke him. I don’t think I have to elaborate.
4: He is extremely harsh when it comes to the safety of his library. I came to the conclusion that it has become his “Pocket Dimension”. It appears when it wants to, where it wants to.
5: I hear him approaching. He is close. I hid a cyanide pill inside the box, you have to break the box in two and it will fall out. When you need to, bite it. Two seconds of fearful doom is better than whatever these things on this train plan for you and a grace compared to what Prónay would do to you.
With best wishes and hopes.
Leonard Kasuth.
I finished reading the note. I bite my lips and look around. As I do I see something in the corner of my eyes.
Two soulless eyes look at me. What seems to be a medieval knight armour sits in a chair, legs crossed. The black armour is glaring at me, as blue flames hold together his body. Two purple dots appear in his eye. It looks at me for a few seconds then looks in-front of himself and picks up a knife and a work. He gently hits the hard boiled egg, which was in hiss egg cup.
After a few hits, he puts down the knife and removes a big part of the eggs shell. He picks the egg up and puts it to his mouth. Sharp teeth materialize and he bites a piece off the egg. He then turns his head once again, and looks at me. He looks at the egg and then at me. He reaches his hand out, still holding the egg. He slightly tilts his head and points at the seat before him.
I could try to run, but he seems like he could kill me if I tried. I should have left while I had the chance. I sat down before him. He picks up a cup before himself and takes a sip. I gaze, in terror, as, from his back, four, large hands, all ending in large, claw like metallic fingers emerge. With one of the lower hands it hits the table a few times.
“May I help you, sir?”
A female voice almost sings. I look up, to see a young, early 20s female looking at the knight. The thing shakes its head and with one of his large hands, points at me. The girl turns towards me.
“What would you like for breakfast, sir?”
I think for a few seconds.
“Bacon and eggs please, with some milk.”
The girl looks at a list in her hand and looks back at me.
“Sorry sir, we are out of milk, but we have something similar, it is consumed by people who need calories, it tastes similar to milk, but has 300 calories per servings. Would you like that instead? It is in a small bottle.”
I nod and the girl takes a step back and vaporizes. As I look, once again in terror. I hear some sounds coming from the thing before me. It has placed its mug down and stood up. Its large hands, now are nowhere to be seen. It turns to me waving one of its hands as it walks away. I whisper a small “The fuck was that” under my breath.
The girl appears again, in her hand, a plastic box with my food and two bottles of the drink she told me about.
“I thought I was gonna get it on a plate. Not complaining, just surprised.”
She places her hands together and smiles.
“Sir Knightmare has asked that this be done. By his words, you are too stressed to eat now. He also paid for your orders. Have a fantastic day, sir!”
I’m left confused, but with food in my hand. I quickly get up and walk away, before something else comes. I hid in one of the corners of another room, a few doors down from where this had happened. What the hell is this place? Why is it that my kind wants to cut me open while I’m alive, but a demon with powers to break me didn’t even try to harm me.
I reach into my pocket and take out my phone. It works now. Perhaps it gets shut off while I’m in a tunnel. I got connection to the interted, that is something. I won’t die from going crazy ,now, I hope so. Guys, or whoever or whatever is reading this. I will try to keep you guys updated on what is happening in this cursed train. i just hope I can survive. But a more important question is;
Who can I trust here?