MIDNIGHT AT RIVERSIDE STATION
1100 Words
CHAPTER NINE:Midnight At Riverside Station
Rain fell steadily over the city as
midnight approached.
Lana stood by her apartment window,
staring at the silver key in her hand.
The message on her phone still glowed
on the screen.
Midnight.Riverside station.Bring the key
alone.
Behind her, Ethan leaned against the
kitchen counter with his arms crossed.
“ You still don’t have to do this.”
Lana looked up.
“Yes, I do.”
“ It’s a trap.”
“I know.”
“Then why walk into it?”
She looked down at the key.
“ Because whoever these people are,they’ve
been following my family for twenty years.”
She looked back at him.
“I’ m tired of running for something I don’t
even understand.”
Ethan was silent.
“Finally he nodded.
“ Then we’re doing this together.”
Lana smiled silently.
“ The message said alone.”
“ I ‘m choosing to ignore that part.”
Claire, sitting on the couch nearby,raised her
hand.
“I would like it officially recorded that this is
a terrible idea.”
“Noted,” Ethan said.
“Good.”
By eleven forty-five, they were parked two
Streets away from Riverside station.
The old station had been abandoned for
years.
Broken windows lined the building.
Rust covered the railway tracks.
The station clock had stopped working
long ago.
It was frozen at 12:07.
The place looked forgotten.
Perfect for secrets.
Perfect for danger.
Rainwater dripped from the roof as
They stepped out of the car.
Claire stayed behind.
After twenty minutes of arguing, Ethan
had finally convinced her that one less
person in danger was a good idea.
She still wasn’t happy about it.
“ Call me every five minutes,” she had
ordered.
“ That is not how danger works,”
Ethan replied.
“I don’t care.”
The station platform was empty.
Or at least it appeared to be.
Lana held the key tightly in her
pocket.
Every shadow looked suspicious.
Every sound made her jump.
Than a voice echoed through the
darkness.
“You came.”
Lana turned.
A figure stepped from the
shadows.
Dark coat.
Black gloves.
Familiar face.
Victor Mercer.
Alive.
Impossible.
Ethan moved slightly in front of Lana without
thinking.
Victor noticed.
He smiled.
“Still protecting her.”
Ethan’s expression hardened.
“Stay away from her.”
Victor laughed softly.
“ You sound exactly like your father.”
The words hit Ethan hard.
Victor sew it immediately.
Enjoy it.
“My father isn’t part of this.
“Oh, Ethan.”
Victor shook his head.
“ Your father is the reason this started.”
The station felt silent.
Lana looked at Ethan.
Ethan looked away.
Victor stepped closer.
“Did he tell you.?”
“Tell me what?” Lana asked.
Victor smiled sadly.
“Richard Hayes wasn’t trying to protect the
secret.”
He looked at Ethan.
“ He was trying to to steal it.”
Lana sew Ethan ‘s jaw tighten.
He already knew.
Or suspected.
Victor continued.
“ When you parents found out ,everything
fell apart.”
“My mother wrote about betrayal in her
journal,” Lana said quietly.
Victor nodded.
“ She wasn’t talking about me.”
Rain fell harder around them.
For several seconds nobody spoke.
Then Lana asked the question that had
haunted her for days.
“ What does the key open?”
Victor looked directly at her.
“ The truth.”
“ Everyone keeps saying that.”
Because it’s true.”
He reached into his pocket.
Slowly.
Carefully.
And pulled out a second silver key.
It was identical to Lana’s
“The two keys were made to open one
lock.”
Lana stared at it.
“What lock?”
Victor smiled.
“The one your mother died protecting.”
Suddenly headlights flooded the station.
One car.
Then another.
Then another.
Three black SUVs rolled into the parking
lot.
Their doors opened almost immediately.
Men dressed in black stepped out into the
rain.
Six of them.
Maybe more.
Victor’s expression changed instantly.
For the first time since meeting him—-
he looked afraid.
Ethan noticed too.
“Who are they?”
Victor looked toward approaching figures.
“ The people your mother was hiding from.”
Lana’s heartbeat quickened.
“Who are they?”
Victor looked back at her.
His answer came quietly.
“The Order.
The name meant nothing to Lana.
But it clearly meant something to Ethan.
His face lost color.
“ No .”
Victor nodded.
“Yes.”
The man continued walking towards them.
Slowly.
Confidently.
As if they already knew they had won.
Victor looked at Lana one last time.
“Your mother trusted the wrong people.”
Then he looked at Ethan.
“ And so did your father.”
One of the man stepped forward.
Tall.
Older.
Calm.
His voice carried easily through the
rain.
“Lana Carter.”
She froze.
“We’ve been looking for you for a very
long time.”
Ethan stepped in front of her.
The man smiled slightly.
“Just like Richard.”
Ethan’s fists clenched.
“Who are you?”
The man ignored him.
Instead, he looked directly at Lana.
“The keys belong to us.”
Lana shook her head.
“They belonged to my mother.”
The man’s expression darkened.
“No.”
He pointed toward the silver key in her
hand.
“That key belonged to your father.”
The world seems to stop.
Lana stared at him.
“My father is dead.”
The man tilted his head slightly.
“That depends on which father you’re
talking about.”
Silence.
Even the rain seemed quieter.
Lana felt her heart stop.
“ What does that mean?”
But before the man could answer,Victor
Suddenly shouted:
“Run!”
Everything happened at once.
The station exploded into movement.
The men rushed forward.
Ethan grabbed Lana’s hand.
Victor blocked two of the attackers.
Someone shouted.
Glass shattered somewhere nearby.
Then Ethan pulled her towards the tracks
“Move!”
They ran into the darkness as footsteps
echoed behind them.
Lana looked back once.
Victor was still standing in the rain
Still fighting.
Still buying them time.
Their eyes met briefly.
And for the first time,Lana wasn’t sure
if Victor Mercer was her enemy at all.
Behind them, the older man’s voice
echoed through the station.
“You can’t run from the truth forever,
Lana!”
The rain swallowed the rest.
But one question stayed with her as she
disappeared into the night.
If the key belonged to her father…
Who was her father really?
- Writer
