Rain whispered secrets onto the rotting tin roof of Vikraal Junction—a station so forgotten it wasn't on Google Maps. A place the locals called "Ghost Terminal."
ACP Aarav Reddy stepped onto the cracked platform, his polished boots splashing in muddy puddles. The fog was thick as sin. Rusted signage creaked in protest. His coat flapped behind him like a cape, the mist swallowing his silhouette.
The dead don't haunt places. They haunt mistakes…
He crouched beside the tracks. Rubber tire marks.Fresh footprints. Unmistakably human. His eyes narrowed. So the legends were just camouflage. He tapped his spectacle's IR switch.
Through the thick haze, two glowing heat signatures flickered in red. They were moving stealthily... one gave a hand signal to the other.
Bingo.
Aarav (into mic):"Alpha Team, prepare intercept at Checkpoint K. Mark this as Code Phantom."
He stood slowly, mind sharp. They staged a haunting so no one would get too close. Smart. Terrifyingly smart.
The train pulled in with a screech of metal and a low, animalistic moan. Its headlights barely pierced the fog. The station lights flickered—once, twice, like the world was warning him.
He boarded alone.
Inside, the air was stale. The smell of rotting fabric, mixed with faint gasoline. Torn seats. Broken lights. Curtains moved without wind.
And there—near the back—an old man sat motionless. A folded newspaper in his hands with "news a Bollywood actress is missing since 4 days".
Aarav took the opposite seat. The train jolted forward. The old man slowly turned toward him, pale eyes locking.
Old Man (smiling eerily):"Do u want to read the newspaper."
Aarav (cool, controlled):"No i am not intrested."
Then suddenly the lights snapped off.
Aarav didn't flinch.
Just tech glitches, right?
When they returned, the old man was gone.
In his place: a woman in a bridal saree, her neck craned unnaturally, smiling far too wide.
Ghost Woman (whispering):"He told me I'd be safe… like you did.Now I smile until my jaw breaks."
That voice… no. That's impossible.
Aarav's hand hovered near his holster.
Aarav (calmly):"Then let me break your curse."
BOOM.
The train slammed to a halt. Smoke hissed from the undercarriage. Metal clanked like screams. Fog burst inward.
Team Alpha charged.
Thud-thud-thud — combat boots echoed down the train's metal spine.Click — safeties off."LEFT CLEAR!" "HOLD—ROOM FULL!"
A side panel burst open. Two women screamed. Another lay barely conscious. One of them sobbed into Aarav's shoulder.
Woman (whispering):"They… they kept us in boxes… like meat…"
Behind a false floor, they found crates of smuggled heroin—and five more captives, wrapped in tarps.
One child was found in a storage bin, trembling.
Officer Viraaj (tech guy, muttering):"Ghost train my ass. This was a rolling crime scene."
Aarav:"They used fear as insulation. You wrap a train in ghost stories and people stop asking questions."
Viraaj tore a sticker off one of the crates.It was a mask. A cartoon smile. Stylized. Crude.A calling card.
Aarav returned to his office, soaked in grime and tension. He dropped his coat. Something felt… off.
His glass of water had moved slightly.
He turned—just in time for a rock to shatter his window, landing on his desk with a soft thunk. A USB drive was taped to it.
No note.
This again…
He plugged it in.
Static.Then: flickering video feed. A dimly lit room.A figure in a white porcelain mask. Smiling.
Smiling Man (on video):"Smile if you're guilty.""Some puzzles open minds…Others open coffins.""You couldn't save her then.But maybe this one?"
A spotlight switched on.
There she was—tied to a chair. The Bollywood star who was missing .
She was smiling, unnaturally. But her tears betrayed the truth. She looked directly at the camera. Her mouth stretched upwards, but her eyes screamed.
That smile… That pain…
Smiling Man:"She used to smile for the world. Now she'll do it for me.Until the last breath… unless you do better this time, Detective."
Behind her, on the wall, something glinted.
A sticker.The same smiling mask.
The video cut.
Aarav sat in the darkness, his own reflection staring back at him from the blank screen.
You couldn't save her… again.
And outside, a distant whistle echoed.Was it the wind…Or was it the train, back again?