Harriet Steele, a ginger-headed, 14-year-old British girl known for her mischief, one night takes it too far.

Harriet sat in the chair next to her window, immersed in the pages of '' The Magical Train And My Experience.

Her alarm clock showed the time as 11:14 PM. Her room perfectly matched the aesthetic of Harriet, glistening in the moonlight, casting dark shadows on her dark orange

blanket and white teddy bears. She had a small wooden table in one corner and a brown wooden shelf filled with books in the other. Her wallpaper was a dark green, complementing the orange in her room. Since it was night, Harriet wore her favourite PJs, a pair of green pants and a shirt with orange patterns. She sat cross-legged, deep in thought, occasionally checking her clock. When the clock hit 11:20 PM, Harriet jumped out of her chair and got dressed in a denim jacket, white top and jeans and slipped on some shoes. She quietly ran downstairs, making sure not to make a single creak that might wake up her father. Once she was safely out of the house, she bolted down the street, book in her hand.

 She took lefts and rights, backtracking sometimes and then running again until she reached the train station. She checked her watch. It was 11:45 PM! Had she already lost twenty-five minutes? She'd better hurry up. No one was about, since it was the middle of the night on a Tuesday. Harriet got her book out and sat on one of the benches nearby. She started flipping the pages till she reached page 10, a guide to summoning the train. It read that many tried to summon it, but the Midnight Train could only be summoned on 12 random days of the year that no one knew. It looked like no one had tried almost every night to see if she could summon the train, like

Harriet.

Harriet began to chant softly.

''The Midnight Train, the wonders you hold

A place full of mysteries and stories untold

I whisper words to call forth the train

The magic awaits, a riddle in the rain

But therefore, I say that you must obey

For I speak the words to summon the train''

Harriet recited the poem 12 times as the church clock rang 12 times.

She waited to see if this was the day. She expected nothing since she had done this every day so far, and

nothing had happened. Today nothing happened, or so she thought. Harriet started to walk back home when she heard something. A stream engine? No, it couldn't be. But it was. As soon as she turned around, fog surrounded the area and quickly blinded Harriet to what was before her. Cold air was washing over, making her shiver. She felt strange, as if she were swimming in thick air. She felt her feet leave the ground, and weirdly, didn't panic. Harriet closed her eyes and let the wind push her forward. Suddenly, the fog cleared and she opened her eyes. She felt her feet touch the ground again. She was on the train.

 There was a warm silver light on top of her. It was long

and narrow, with rows of black leather seats. The overhead shelves were empty- with no luggage. There were dusty tables and chairs, and carts. The walls were royal brown, and the ground was carpeted black. The train was beautiful. 

Excitement filled Harriet. All she wanted was to get on this exact train. She had spent every day and every night researching this. She had stayed up till midnight for a year, which was messing up her sleep schedule, and she had tried almost every day. She had finally made it. But it quickly stopped when she realised she had never told her dad she had left. Well,  Paul Steele knew nothing

about her obsession with the midnight train. Had he known that she was sneaking out every day to check if she had any luck in summoning a train? No. Though her dad knew how fascinated she was with this train, he forbade her from ever trying to wake it. After what happened to her mom, her dad told her he understood how real it was. He told her he knew that it was magical and not a myth. Yet, He didn't wanna risk losing her, too.

 Harriet had been going behind his back, completely. And the guilt was eating Harriet up inside. She tried to swallow the lump in her throat.

Breathe, she told herself.

You've been waiting for this for years! There's no turning back now anyway.

As she said it, the compartment doors were closed, and the train sped along the tracks. She took a deep breath and sat down. Harriet calmed herself. It's fine, she thought. I still have my phone.

Harriet brought out her phone and tried to call her dad, but it was out of charge. ''I could've sworn I charged it she muttered. She tried not to panic. Was this a repeat of the same thing that happened last time? It was, wasn't it? It was all playing out the same, even back to the warning her dad had given Emma Steele. No, she reminded herself, I got myself into this.

 She knew this was the way to get her family back. She would bring her mom and her Granddad back. And if she also never came back..

No, she thought, it's not gonna come to that.

She tried to forget her worries and remember all the good things she would get out of this.

Harriet got up and started to explore the train.

Ty for reading lol

I think I like this one

tell me what ya think

PART 2

Harriet walked around the train, pacing in circles. As worried as she was, she couldn't help but feel excited.

Well, I mean, she had finally made it. It was a little spectacular. She tried to watch outside, but it was completely dark. She couldn't see anything. After a while, the train started to slow down, but she still could see nothing out of the windows. The compartment opened, and Harriet took a deep breath. She stepped outside

And [ PLACE HOLDER ], she looked around. She couldn't make out her mom anywhere. But she did manage to find two other people: a girl and a boy. The boy looked about nine or ten, and the girl looked about twelve or thirteen. No one else was there. She walked up to them. They were both sleeping on the ground. She didn't want

to wake her up but didn't know what else to do, so she gently nudged the girl. She blinked open her eyes. She was dressed in winter clothes. She had long blonde hair, and she was pale.  She looked scared. ''Who-WHO ARE YOU?'' She yelled. She backed away, dragging her brother with her. Harriet didn't want to come across as a kind of threat. She put out her hand. ''My name is Harriet Steele'' she tried for a smile. The girl relaxed her shoulders, just a bit, but she still wouldn't come closer. ''Why are you here?'' the girl asked. Harriet thought about it, then told her how a long time ago, her Granddad went on the train and never came back. Due to his disappearance, her mom researched everything

she could about the train and then went on it too, so she could get her dad back. But she didn't come back either. So Harriet set her goal of getting her family back.

Harriet went to the ground so she could get on the girl's level. ''Could you please tell me your name?'' Harriet asked. 

The girl hesitated, then said '' I'm Charlie, this is my younger brother Felix- FELIX!'' Charlie called her brother to wake him up. Felix jumped up with a start. He had the same blonde hair as his sister. He had brown eyes and wore an oversized winter jacket and fur boots.  '' UH oh.

Who are you?'' He asked Harriet, confused. '' This is Harriet Steele'' Charlie told him. ''Now- how did you guys get here?' Harriet asked them. Charlie's expression hardened. ''I- we'd rather not tell a stranger.'' 

Harriet wanted to be helpful, even if they wouldn't open up. ''I can help you'' she told them. Felix widened his eyes, ''You can? How?'' Charlie pulled him down. She got up and dragged her brother with her. They started whispering about something, and they said Harriet's name twice.  They seemed like they were arguing. Eventually, Felix stormed off and slumped back into their corner. Charlie followed, but she didn't look too happy about it. She grumbled, ''How can you help us?''.

Harriet sat next to them and started fishing out her

notes from the bag she had packed. ''This is everything my mom researched about this place: how to summon the train and how it works. There are some things I don't understand, like why there are notes about wars and prisons, but I bet I could help you guys escape this place.'' She explained. Charlie mumbled something that Harriet couldn't make out. ''Excuse me?'' 

''Nothing'' Felix said quickly. Charlie sighed. ''Fine. But where do we even go?''

Harriet sat thoughtfully for a minute. Then she said, ''I have no idea. But we can look! Come on.'' They all went out of the train station building.  Outside was just a long, narrow pathway, with dead plants on both sides. There

were two sides, one in front of them and one behind. It looked quite gloomy. ''I guess- we follow the path.. ahead?'' Harriet stated. And so they went, walking and walking. It was a straight road, no turns or anything, so they figured they would find their way back.  They walked on and on, with no stops, but it didn't seem like they went any farther. They couldn't see an end to the road. Harriet was confident that it would be okay and that they would find their way out. Charlie was worried sick. She walked like she was in a minefield, paying full attention to every step. And Felix- well, Felix didn't fully understand what was happening. He just trotted along, following his sister and Harriet, whom he quite liked. ''So- what do you

like to do?''

Harriet shrugged.

I mostly spent my time researching that train. Hm.. I guess- I like to paint?'' she said.

''Cool. I like to paint too- I also like playing with toys, I always keep my favourite one, Bunny, in my pocket. See?'' He showed off his stuffed toy. It was a normal bunny stuffed toy, which Felix drew armour on.

''Oh, cool bunny warrior'' 

''Thanks,'' Felix was really excited. 

Harriet found walking boring all this time, so she tried to talk to her new travel partners. ''So, how old are you guys?'' She asked them

''I'm ten and a half!'' Felix said happily. 

''Great, what about you?'' She asked Charlie. 

'' Thirteen'' she mumbled.

 ''Awesome, I'm fourteen''

There was a silence

''So, nice weather here, huh?'' Harriet said awkwardly.

They walked on the path for a long time. The sun started setting. Eventually, they walked into a familiar-looking place- the same place they started. Charlie stomped her foot on the ground. ''Come on!' she yelled. ''We started here! How does that even work? We weren't walking in a circle or anything, it was a straight line!'' She kicked the dirt. ''Come on- let's try this way'' Harriet said. They started walking to the path behind them, hoping it was

different from the other one. It took longer than the other path. The sunset was by the time they assumed they were halfway through. Felix was dozing off while they were walking, so they decided to set up camp. Harriet's bag didn't have anything like a pillow or a blanket, so they just lay down on the grass and slept.

Harriet was on the verge of losing it. She found it hard to sleep in places that weren't her room. Once, she went to her cousin's place for a night when she was six and spent the whole night throwing a tantrum. She barely slept. So she was the first one up in the morning. What she did pack in her duffel bag, though, were a couple of

breakfast bars. She counted, and it wouldn't last a week, so she had to ration. One bar divided between them for breakfast and dinner, so they would have to survive without lunch. She didn't know the time, so she just woke up Charlie and Felix when she felt like it. She gave them both their share of breakfast. Charlie looked dazed and very tired. Felix looked scared and tired. ''Couldn't sleep?' 

''Sort of'' She replied. And Felix just nodded.

That wasn't really a clear answer, but Charlie wouldn't say anything else, so they continued their hike.

Felix couldn't stand eating barely a quarter of a bar every day. Harriet felt bad, but they couldn't give any more.

''Sorry, Felix, but we don't know how long we'll be here, so we need to be prepared for a long time.'' Charlie pulled Harriet aside. ''Come on, just give him like two more pieces she told her. ''But-''

''No. He's a kid. I don't mind not eating half of a breakfast bar for a day, I'll give up my share, just give it to him''

Now, Harriet felt even worse. They hadn't eaten longer than her. ''No- I'll give my share. You guys are probably hungrier than I am.

Charlie gave her a slight smile, then nodded and gave it to Felix. He looked better after that. This time, when they

walked, Charlie talked more than last time. They ended up talking about things like their families or pets. Felix just eavesdropped because, well, because that's just what younger siblings do. Charlie stuffed her hands in her pockets. 

''So, could- could you tell me how you ended up here?'' Harriet asked her.

Charlie sighed, ''Sure. It was Christmas Eve, and we were with our parents, trying to stay awake all night to catch Santa. And Felix got bored, so we went outside in the snow and played hide and seek. I hid under a bench in the train station. It wasn't dark, even though it was near

midnight. Felix found me easily. Our parents called us in, so we were going home. But then, suddenly, it was like we were teleported into the train. There was cold air everywhere, and my feet left the ground, and then boom, I was on the train with Felix. Then we tried to leave, but couldn't. Then, when we reached here, our train disappeared. So we camped in that train station for the night, then woke up and- well then we met you.''

''Wow..'' Harriet didn't know what to say to that. It completely slipped her mind that when she left,++ it was February 3rd. So they walked a couple more metres before they said anything else. Then Charlie frowned,

''Do you guys hear that?'' 

''Hear what?''

She backed up. Then they all heard it. A growl. It was loud, very loud, like it was coming from close to them.

''Run?'' Charlie suggested.

''Run'' Harriet agreed. They ran, ran like their lives depended on it, till Felix was outta breath and Charlie had to carry him. They didn't stop, but 

Whatever was chasing them was faster than the three. And then he caught up with them, and something behind them pushed them down. And when they turned around, Felix whimpered in fright. In front of them was a monster, a monster with three fangs, the body of a

werewolf and the head of a white tiger. It was terrifying.  Felix ran to the arms of his sister. The creature roared, roared harder than animals on the TV, or the zoo or the forest. It was deafening. And then they couldn't move, each one of them was paralysed. Then it attacked. It pounced on Felix, the smallest of the three. He yelped, but they started to be able to move again, but not enough to help him. Harriet saw that Charlie was crying. She had to help Felix and Charlie. She struggled, but then decided to yell ''HEY! LOOK AT ME, LOOK. AT. ME.'' The weird hybrid of a monster jumped off Felix and ran to Harriet. But she didn't have a plan. Her mind just started racing for what to say for her last words. All she

could manage was a scream. Then the monster stopped. It growled one last time and then left.     Felix was hyperventilating. Charlie was crying, and Harriet just gazed at the pawprints the creature left. Eventually, Charlie was able to move again. She helped her brother up and then grabbed Harriet. Then they started walking away in silence.

Felix wouldn't let go of his sister's hand after what

happened. Charlie didn't say anything, though. Harriet just walked with them in a daze. She didn't know what to make of what happened. Neither of them would like to talk about 'it'. The monster that attacked them, and why it left them alone. Felix seemed ok, he just had a few scratches, which Charlie and Harriet fixed up as best as they could. They walked along the path, and after the creature attacked, they all paid full attention to every noise, creak and step. Then, Harriet decided this might have been the better path after all, because in front of them was a big castle. It was huge, pretty, and it stood tall. And it looked a thousand years old. Maybe it was. Charlie gazed at it in awe. Felix wasn't as excited as he

would've been before the creature attacked, but he was still pretty happy. ''Felix, stay here, and don't go in until we say you can''

''But-''

''We'll just take a second''

Felix crossed his arms. ''Hmph! Fine''

Charlie dragged Harriet aside. 

''Listen, I don't-Felix!''

He was trying to eavesdrop. Then he went back. ''Right, so I don't think we should go in''

This caught Harriet by surprise.

''What? What do you mean? Why not?''

Charlie looked at Harriet as if she were dumb