But this time, when I saw the name in front of my eyes, my breath caught.
“Hisar...”
Panicking, I looked at my watch.
Then I looked at the woman in white.
She was looking straight at me.
And the same mysterious smile was still on her face.
In a very soft voice, she said—
“Do you still think you’re on your way to Ludhiana right now?”
I couldn’t answer her question.
Because outside the train was, unmistakably, Hisar Railway Station, and I was completely bewildered.
To be continued.
Part 6: The Illusion in My Eyes
“Hisar...”
The railway station sign was clearly visible in front of me. I was looking out the window, and I couldn’t believe that the train I had been riding to Ludhiana only moments ago had somehow suddenly reached Hisar again.
The woman in white sitting across from me was still smiling the same way. There was a strange gleam in her eyes, and it felt as though she could read every thought running through my mind—that I was nothing more than a puppet in front of her, one she was controlling.
I nervously looked at my watch.
The time was the same.
I pulled out my phone.
It showed the same time too.
I looked out the window again.
Hisar Railway Station?
I closed my eyes for a few moments, then opened them again, but the scene was exactly the same. Nothing had changed. Even on that fog-filled night, beads of sweat began to form on my forehead, and then I looked at my hands.
They were trembling.
I tried to reason with myself—
“No... this can’t be real. I’m going to Ludhiana. I’m sitting on a train. How could this be Hisar? The train had already left Jakhal Station, so how could it have reached Hisar—and so quickly?”
Just then, someone gently shook my shoulder and called out to me.
“Mr. Sumit...!”
I jolted.
My eyes flew open.
I looked ahead.
The same woman in white was sitting across from me.
Panicking, I looked outside the window.
This time, Hisar Railway Station wasn’t there, and the train was moving.
The same dense fog surrounded everything outside.
The train was still stopped at the station, yet it kept appearing to move and then stand still again. I took some water from the bottle, splashed it on my eyes, and looked outside. The train was stopped at Jakhal Station.
I turned my head toward the platform.
A sign was visible through the fog.
I strained my eyes.
Jakhal.
It was as if life suddenly returned to my body.
I stared at the sign for several moments.
Then I looked at my watch again.
Only a few minutes had barely passed.
In astonishment, I put my hand on my head.
“So... I never reached Hisar?”
The words slipped out of my mouth.
The woman looked at me and asked in a perfectly ordinary voice—
“Where did you reach?”
I looked at her.
My voice was trembling.
“Hisar...”
She stayed silent for a few moments.
Then she gave a faint smile.
“But the train is still stopped at Jakhal.”
When I heard her, the hair on my arms stood up.
“Then how did I see Hisar?”
She shrugged.
“Maybe it was just an illusion in your eyes.”
An illusion in my eyes...
I repeated her words silently to myself.
Could that really be it?
Maybe I had been under constant stress for hours. First the empty coach, then the mysterious family, then that strange voice, after that the man appearing in the fog—and now this woman in white, who didn’t even want to tell me her name. It felt as though...
Maybe my mind had finally grown exhausted.
Maybe I was dreaming with my eyes open.
But one question kept troubling me from inside.
If it had only been an illusion in my eyes, then how had I seen Hisar Railway Station so clearly?
I had seen the station sign.
I had seen the platform.
I had seen the lights.
I had even felt as if the train had actually reached Hisar.
I closed my eyes and rested my head against the seat.
“Maybe I really am exhausted...”
I said it softly.
The woman looked at me.
“You should get some rest.”
I opened my eyes.
“How do you know I’m tired?”
She smiled.
“It’s obvious from your face.”
I didn’t answer.
The train was still stopped at Jakhal Station.
A few blurry lights were visible on the platform. Somewhere in the distance, I heard a dog barking, and then everything fell silent.
I checked my watch again.
A few minutes had passed.
But it felt as if several hours had gone by.
I picked up my water bottle and took a sip.
That was when my eyes fell on the woman’s suitcase.
It was still tucked beneath her seat.
I thought—
If this woman was also going to Ludhiana, why was her luggage arranged so neatly?
And the strangest thing of all—
When this coach had been completely empty a short while ago, where had she suddenly come from?
I tried to stop myself.
I didn’t want to ask her any more questions.
But stopping the questions rising in my mind wasn’t easy either.
I asked quietly—
“Ma’am... can I ask you something?”
She looked at me.
“Go ahead.”
“When I first saw you, this coach was completely empty. How did you suddenly appear here?”
The smile vanished from her face for a few moments. Then she composed herself and turned to look out the window. After that, she looked back at me and said—
“I was already on this train.”
I immediately asked—
“But I didn’t see you. And you appeared right in front of me, so how could you have already been on the train?”
She looked at me and smiled.
“Not everything is what it appears to be.”
Another shiver ran through my body.
“What do you mean?”
She said nothing.
She simply turned to look out the window.
I kept staring at her.
Her words continued to echo in my ears—
“Not everything is what it appears to be.”
I silently prayed to God.
Just then, the train let out a sudden, piercing whistle.
I jumped.
The train began moving slowly.
The sound of the wheels grew louder.
Jakhal Station began to recede behind us.
I breathed a sigh of relief, closed my eyes, and thanked God that at least the train was finally moving forward.
But only a few minutes later, that same strange feeling began to return.
I looked out the window.
Through the fog, I saw a shadow.
A man was standing on the platform.
He was completely still.
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
The shadow was still there.
My heartbeat quickened.
I tried to identify the man.
Was he the same person who had told me—
“You’re not going to Ludhiana for the first time...”
I immediately looked at the woman.
She was looking straight at me.
The same mysterious smile was on her face.
I looked toward the window again.
The man’s shadow had disappeared.
I asked nervously—
“Did you see him too?”
She didn’t answer.
“Ma’am... I asked if you saw him too.”
She slowly turned toward me.
Then she said—
“Who?”
I pointed outside.
“The man who was standing there.”
She looked out the window.
Then she looked into my eyes and said—
“There was no one there.”
I fell silent.
A strange coldness settled inside me.
Had there really been no one there?
Or...
Were my eyes deceiving me again?
I closed my eyes.
But this time, I wasn’t afraid of a ghost or a mystery.
I was afraid that I might lose the ability to tell the difference between the events unfolding right in front of me and the illusions in my mind.
And then I heard a very soft voice in my ears—
“Mr. Sumit...”
I opened my eyes.
The woman was sitting across from me.
She was smiling.
But this time, the sound of her voice made my heart nearly stop.
Because she said—
“The next time you see Hisar... don’t trust your eyes. You look extremely troubled, so try to sleep for a while. Maybe some rest will help.”
I kept staring at her. Then I thought that she was right, so I began to lie down. As I settled in, I realized I still had so many questions to ask her.
But before I could ask any of them, all the lights in the train went out at once, and the entire coach was swallowed by darkness.
And in that darkness, I heard only one voice—
“The real journey has begun now...
And you’re sleeping peacefully?”
To be continued...