IT ALL STARTED WHEN I GOT ON A WEIRD TRAIN IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM

I was going to visit my cousin, and the train looked really old. Not like cool-old , but creepy-old. The lights kept blinking, and my phone had zero signal. I was just sitting there bored...... until I saw something

A NOTEBOOK

It was just lying there on the opposite seat. No one else was in the coach. I looked around to check, but nope, I was alone. The notebook looked kinda new, which was strange because everything else was super dusty

IT SAID

" DO NOT OPEN EVER "

Of course, I opened it. I'm not dumb, just curious

The first thing I read inside was

" DON'T CROSS THE BRIDGE AT MIDNIGHT "

Right then, the train stopped suddenly.

I jumped a little

I looked outside and saw a bridge covered in fog, and the rain was still pouring.

The speakers crackled and said,

" Please stay calm". We are stopped due to the weather".

But the weird part? No one else was there. Not a single person on the train. I couldn't hear anything but thunder and wind

I got off. I know, dumb move maybe, but I felt like the notebook wanted me to

At the other side of the bridge, there was a small town. But it looked.....frozen. Not just cold, but like everything had paused. A dog in mid-step. A swing halfway moving. Even the snowflakes weren't falling. They were stuck in the air like they were part of a painting.

I found a lantern sitting on a bench.

When I touched it, it lit up by itself. I carried it as I walked into the town.

It was spooky quiet. I looked through a glass window and saw a shadow, tall and moving inside when I blinked, they gone like....poof.

The notebook was still with me. When I opened it again, there were new words:

" RETURN THE TRUTH, OR THE SHADOW WILL FIND YOU ".

I swear, something cold passes behind me. I turned around and saw a shadow tall, and dark and kind of......not human. It didn't walk - it floated

I RAN

I found an old Train station, all broken and dusty. On the wall, there was a newspaper stuck with tape

THE HEADLINE SAID

" BRIDGE DIASATER: "5 MISSING IN THE STORM 20 YEARS AGO".

Their names were all faded except one " ELLA "

That name was scribbled in the notebook too, like someone was circling it a lot

Underneath was written " SHE HID THE SECRET "

I searched the station and found a small locket in a drawer.

On the back it said:

" TO ELLA WITH HOPE "

My heart was racing, but I knew I had return it.

I ran back toward the bridge. The shadow came again, right behind me the storm was louder now, like it was angry

At the center of the bridge, I held the locket in one hand and the lantern in the other. Then I yelled,

" I KNOW THE SECRET NOW ".

I dropped the locket in the river below

Suddenly, the wind stopped. The fog faded. The bridge stopped shaking. The lantern glowed bright for a second

then turn off.

I looked at the notebook one last time. All the pages were blank now.....except the last one

It said:

" HOPE"......

I walked back to the train

This time, it was full of people

I sat on the same seat. No one notice me. Like I was never gone.

But I know what happened

And I'll never cross a bridge at midnight again.

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My First Story ._.