The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Train to Glorybound 
by K.R. Morrison 

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“Well, crap.” I stood watching as happy partygoers pushed and jostled each other onto the train. But I was late, and the gates had shut. There was no one around to let me in.

“Problems?” I heard behind me.

I whirled around to see a young man standing a few feet away. He wasn’t wearing a train employee uniform or even a badge, but I had to take a shot.

“Yes. I’m supposed to be on that train. It’s heading for Glorybound.” I pointed through the window. Even from here I could hear all those happy people warming up to the good times that were promised ahead.

He watched with me as the last passenger, cocktail in hand, stumbled through the door of the end car.

“Sorry to hear that,” he said in a low voice. He sounded genuinely sad.

Then he turned to me and smiled. “I know another way to get to Glorybound.”

“Oh?” I was all ears.

My companion led me to the end of the building, where there was an access door to an alley.

I stepped back. “Oh no you don’t. I think I will leave you here; maybe even flag down a cop.”

“Suit yourself.” He shrugged.

Then he opened the door and went in. Despite myself, I was curious as to what was in there. Besides, he was now inside, and couldn’t do me any harm while I was still outside, could he?

I stepped over to the doorway and peered in. It was too dark to see much of what was in there, but I could barely make out something written on a post just inside the doorway. I went closer to have a look at it.

The sign, its letters written in a dimly-glowing gold color, read: “This Way to Glorybound.” It was covered in dust, so I knew the man I’d been talking to hadn’t just now put it up.

Well, if I had to walk there, I’d do so. Ahead was a bit of a glow, so maybe this was a shortcut. Ha! I’d get there before anybody else!

Not too far in I started to run into trouble. As in, large sharp points protruding from the wall. The further I went, the more intense they became.

“Ah, this ain’t worth it.” I turned to go back.

My way was blocked by thick darkness.

“Oh man. Now what?”

“Don’t worry.” The man’s voice was nearby, but I couldn’t see him. “I will help you through.”

For whatever reason, I felt I could trust him. I started ahead again, and in what seemed a very short time, I had emerged from the passage.

Before me was the outline of the walls of a city bathed in light, but it was still far ahead, with a narrow footpath that I still had to travel.

Suddenly there was a horrendous screech, and I looked down in horror.

The very train I had supposed to be on had become a hideous Wyrm. I could still see the people trapped inside, screaming to get out.

The Wyrm threw itself into a raging chasm of fire, which closed over as it disappeared.

“Told you I knew a better way.” The man was beside me, and I had to keep from screaming at the sight. He was covered in cuts and lacerations. It came to me that he had put himself between me and danger the whole way through the passage.

Even as I realized this, he disappeared in a flash of light.

Trembling, I set my feet upon the path to the city.

Fiction © Copyright K.R. Morrison
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com.

More from K.R. Morrison:

Enoch’s Return: Pride’s Downfall Book 4

All hell broke loose, as demon fought saint, and undead fought mortal. Fangs and swords, fire and light, mingled in a cacophony of noise that would have awakened the dead — if they hadn’t already been in the pitch of battle.

Toby was looking forward to celebrating his 21st birthday with family and friends. However, the day is shattered by the arrival of his sister, Erica, fresh out of the juvenile detention center, where she has lived in isolation most of her life. There is something very wrong with her still; witness her biting the ear of her taxi driver and licking the blood from her lips, and the way she antagonizes everyone around her. The other thing that is very off-putting about the day is a gift he receives – a musty tent and a few iron spikes that have been lying in the ground for years. Toby faints at the sight of the “treasure,” while Erica reacts violently and runs off to who-knows-where.
While he is unconscious, Toby learns who he truly is, and of his mission.

Available on Amazon!