The Heart of Darkness

As the train rumbled across the rails, his ears heard the clickety-clack, and his eyes followed suit. He opened them to the disorientating dull orange glow of ceiling lights shining down.

Where the hell am I?

His head was pounding with a headache that felt like it was going to split his skull in half. It took several seconds for the throbbing pain at the base of his head to subside enough to register his surroundings. He realized he was in a train car right away, he grasped the top of the seat in front of him and peered over, there were only empty seats, he turned and looked to the windows and saw only darkness beyond. He could not make out any landscape or lights off in the distance. What time is it? His mouth had been dry when he woke up; now it felt like sandpaper. He reached for where he normally kept his phone to see what time it was, but couldn't find it. It had to be late as there was no visible light outside. Why do I have no memory of boarding this train? The lights flickered off momentarily and then back on casting their dirty shade of orange shadows back across the train car.

He frantically searched his pockets for any clues and found a pack of gum, some loose change (and no wallet), a key fob holding his five keys - two house keys, two car keys, one for a safe deposit box - a penknife, and a folded piece of paper with "Come find the heart of it all" written on it in blocky red letters. He opened the note and read it again, it wasn't his handwriting. He knew that much at least, but this was important somehow, or would be soon enough, but right now all it did was confuse him further. There was no ticket or any other sign of why he was on this train. Come to the heart of it? What could that possibly even mean? How much time had passed since he'd gotten on board? Why couldn't he remember boarding at all?  And where the hell are the other passengers?

The pounding in his head was getting worse. He put his hands over his ears trying to keep the rumble of the tracks and the rattles of the window panes from amplifying the pain in his head. He could feel his heartbeat thumping under his fingertips. He closed his eyes and waited, hoping that relief would come before his head exploded. There were too many questions swirling around inside his mind and he just couldn't think with this pounding in his skull.

He stood up slowly, feeling unsteady on his feet. The swaying movement of the train seemed to make everything move slower than normal, almost like an old filmstrip being played back at half speed. He grabbed onto the overhead bar and tried to look down the aisle. It didn't last long before another wave of dizziness hit him and he fell back into his seat. He sat there staring at his own face reflected in the window until it blurred away into blackness.

He blinked rapidly and rubbed his eyes, waiting for the image to return. This time he saw three images of himself looking out the windows, each one farther apart and slightly smaller than the previous one. When he finally understood what he was seeing it startled him, he jumped up off the seat so quickly that it pushed him backwards towards the rear where he banged against one of the rear seats enough to knock the wind out of him. He pulled himself upright, leaning heavily on the handrail, and again stared outside the window trying desperately to find some landmark in the darkness. Just anything that would reveal to him where he was. The train seemed to be traveling faster than any other train that he had ever been on before. The thought of derailment scared the hell out of him.

He squinted hard through the window again but still couldn't discern anything through the dark. The orange glow of the lights seemed eerie in the reflection of the windows. He felt the hairs on his arms start to stand up as he was starting to grasp the situation. Where the hell am I and how did I get here? He couldn't shake the thoughts from his mind. The vibration of the rails was echoing louder now as if the windows were going to pop out of their panes.

His stomach growled loudly and his throat felt parched. Where were all the other passengers? He had been on a train many times in his life, but never had he been on a train so void of activity. He glanced up the aisle and through the window of the car door and could see even more empty seats ahead. He needed to press forward and check the other cars, maybe even check in with the train staff to see where they were headed. It was hard for him to tell just how fast the train was traveling without being able to see the landscape go by, but he could tell by the way the car was shaking that it had to be full speed. God, I hope this is as fast as it goes. He knew that he needed to start moving up to the forward cars, but he resisted doing anything for fear of falling over and cracking his skull open on the floor. The pounding headache was making it hard for him to balance against the violent shakes of the car against the bumpy rails. He decided to wait a while longer and see if anyone else showed up. Maybe he'd get lucky and someone would walk by who could help him figure out what had happened. He leaned heavily on the handrail, breathing deeply until he felt calm enough to stand straight again.

After several minutes he couldn't take it anymore and headed down the aisle towards the front cars. He kept his hand pressed firmly against the handrails and seat edges to steady himself as he passed from one car to the next. He felt like a drunken bar patron that was trying to find his way home after a night of binge drinking. The first few cars that he managed to get through were as empty as the one he woke in, but after passing fifty or more his stomach was starting to sink at the realization of the possibility of being the sole passenger. Where are the car attendants? Why is there no one else on this train? Each time the train would hit a rough patch of the tracks the lights would dim out and make a crackling sound as they came back on. He could tell that he was getting close to the engine cab. He could hear the roar of its pistons and feel the shake through the floor paneling. He could see through the door window that he was approaching the final passenger car. "Where the fuck is everyone?" he screamed at the top of his lungs. It was extremely unsettling to have traversed the entire train and not have met a single soul on board. How could there be no staff on board? Was there anyone even conducting this damn thing? Just the thought alone was enough to turn his flesh white and nearly cause him to pass out from fear.

As he neared the end of the last passenger car, even before he reached the door that would lead him to the engine car itself. A terrible stench filled his nose as he made his way through. It had smelled like a landfill of road kill on a summer's day. It was enough to make his eyes water and retch with dry heaves. He took a moment to compose himself, but just as he took another step forward the lights of the cabin went dark. He reached out for the handrails in the dark but fumbled, he fell forward but was able to catch himself on a seat nearby. The entire train car started to rumble as if the railway was suddenly made of wash-board. His head still pounding but the fear and adrenaline had taken over. He feared he really was alone on this train and that it really was out of control with no conductor at the helm. The lights came back on and he was once again painted in its dim orange glow. The rumbling of the train against the rails was still shaking him around, but he had to keep moving. If this train was really out of control he had to find the controls.

He stumbled his way to the door and pressed himself to the door finally managing to open it. He stepped through the divider and opened the engine car door. He didn't know what to expect at this point, as he was mostly operating on pure adrenaline instinct. As he opened the door the smell wafted towards him like pure rotten death finally released from a vacuum seal. It was nearly enough to make him pass out, but through his watery eyes, he could see the compartment was full of bodies. Their faces were frozen in grimaces of shock and pain. They were piled together in a tangled heap of limbs and torsos, arms and legs intertwined with bloodless skin that glistened in the light like wet silk. The whole thing was suspended in midair by countless strands of spiderweb-thin tendrils that ran from the ceiling to every part of their bodies. The webbing was made of thick veins that glowed red with a pulsing rhythm as though it were a beating heart mangled together.

He stumbled backward, tripping over his own feet, knocking back into the previous cabin door as he scrambled to get away from the grotesque scene. He turned around and fled back the way he came.

He went through all the cars in this fashion before realizing that nothing was chasing after him. He just wanted to distance himself from the horror that he had just witnessed. He now knew that he was alone on this train except for that disgusting abomination of terror. His heart beat rapidly in his chest and sweat dripped off his forehead as he hurried to distance himself from the horrific sight.

He stumbled his way back to the furthest car getting knocked around by the speed of the train as he tried to run. The rumbling motion of the train became more pronounced once he reached the last car where he paused to catch his breath and try to understand what had happened. He wiped the sweat from his brow with the sleeve of his shirt and glanced out the window. He still couldn't make anything of the outside world. It felt as though the train was going to derail at any moment. The noise of the windows rattling was making him even closer to fainting. Suddenly the intercom speakers above him clicked on and a voice spoke that sounded like it was choking on blood. "Why did you run away?" said the gurgling voice. "Don't you want to join with the rest of the passengers?"

The man's heart sank in his chest as he heard those words. He slumped into one of the seats and tried to make sense of what was going on. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking violently. He tried to focus on calming himself, taking deep breaths, and forcing his heart rate to slow down. After several minutes of sitting there, he noticed that the air around him started to grow colder. The very air around him was starting to chill. He could see the moisture out in front of each of his rapid breaths.

There was the sudden sound of rain pelting across the windows. It was loud and thick, it sounded like birds were flying at full speed and smacking against the sides of the train. He looked out and could no longer see darkness, but instead only deep red. It was like watching blood rain down from the sky that saturated the windows. He wanted to scream in panic but managed to hold himself back.

As he watched, the world outside began to fade away as if he were looking through a window kaleidoscope of blood reds. He tried to shake it off by closing his eyes tightly and rubbing his temples but when he opened them again the vision hadn't changed. The train was rumbling hard now as if the speed was going to derail the train for sure now. It was a bullet train of death now to him. He almost wished it would derail as the thought of dying to derailment would be a blessing than having to contend with whatever pure evil was onboard this train.

He suddenly felt a presence standing over him and spun around, expecting to find someone looming over him with murderous intent, but no one was there. He looked back out the window and saw nothing but red streaks running down the glass like paint splashing on canvas. He could see the train's velocity was making the red fluid cut across the window like wind blowing ripples on a lake. The train shook and rattled so fiercely that he had to grab onto the armrests for support as he clung desperately to them for dear life. The walls around him vibrated so intensely that he feared they might collapse inward upon him at any moment. His heart pounded painfully in his chest and threatened to burst through his ribcage. He tried to force his breathing to calm down but it wouldn't do any good because his lungs were no longer under his control.

He remembered his pocket knife and frantically reached for it, opening the blade with trembling hands as he gripped it tightly in case he needed to defend himself. He didn't know where this train was headed or why he had been brought here against his will, but he suspected that he'd better start preparing for a fight sooner rather than later. He held his ground as best he could and waited for what was coming next…but nothing happened. He lowered himself slowly back into his seat and took a steadying breath ready to stab whatever grotesque abomination would be coming for him.

Then it happened! Just as he had begun to believe that maybe he had imagined everything that had happened thus far; an ear-splitting shriek ripped through the air like a chainsaw ripping through wood. The scream seemed to come from everywhere at once. It reverberated inside of his skull like a thousand nails being driven into a chalkboard. The train shook and shuddered like it was going to break apart beneath him. Then came another screeching sound, louder and higher pitched than before. This one made him think of a banshee screaming for her lost loved ones.

The train lurched forward causing him to lose balance and fall sideways against the wall. The impact sent jolts of pain throughout his body. He could hear things crashing around him as parts of the train were tossed around like toys in a child's playroom. He could feel himself being thrown around like a rag doll until eventually, he found himself pinned face down between two seats. Something heavy landed on top of him crushing him further into the corner of the seat, but thankfully it wasn't enough to snap his neck. The screams continued unabated, but none of it sounded human.

He gripped his pocket knife even more tightly as the silence settled over the train as if some unseen force had been holding its breath for too long and let it out all at once in one great rush...

"Hey man! Wake up, wake up!"

A man's voice shouted in his ears and snapped him back to reality. He opened his eyes and saw that he had just stabbed some poor man right in the chest. There were two bloody holes in the stranger's shirt where he had thrust the knife into him. Blood was flowing freely out of both wounds which caused him to look down at his hands and realize that they were covered in blood as well. The man stared at him in disbelief as tears streamed down his cheeks and the look of death glazed over his eyes.

The man struggled to speak but was unable to form words as blood poured out of his mouth and down his chin. The man's lips moved but no sounds came out. Instead, bubbles formed on his tongue and then popped leaving small traces of blood behind. His eyes rolled upward and blood bubbled out of his nostrils as he died in a pool of crimson liquid.

It had all just been a nightmare, but in the end, he did find the heart.