Chapter 1 : All Aboard!

Billy dragged his suitcase up the stairs cursing heavily. Why did everywhere else have escalators except for this stupid train station? He breathed a sigh of relief as he finally made it to platform 2. A quick glance around told him that Doncaster train station had not changed. There was still the dirty coffee shop, the horde of expectant pigeons and a spattering of customers.

Everything had gone wrong today. First of all, there was his mother’s coffin. His brother and he had paid for the upgraded version but the funeral home insisted that their records did not show this. Of course, it was difficult to make a fuss at the funeral with all of the guests there. And by then it was too late. Then there was the priest talking about Maggie Delaney, whoever she was. And to put the cherry on the cake the catering service had turned up an hour late and only provisioned for forty guests even though Billy had paid for sixty.

Luckily, he had made it to the train station on time. His booked train, the 15:45, had of course been cancelled due to technical problems. And now he was waiting for the next train. If he hurried to the underground station, he could still make it to Heathrow on time for his flight but only just.

He looked at the information board and cursed. The due platform had changed. He now had two minutes to get to platform 7 - which meant going down the stairs again and up the other side.

Billy dragged himself and his suitcase to platform seven, with seconds to spare.

He sucked air painfully into his lungs. He definitely needed to start exercising again. He always intended to - but who had the time? Tomorrow he would start with a gentle jog around the condo compound. Or maybe the day after - he would need to rest after the long flight.

He looked at the information board - the train was of course delayed by five minutes. He hated waiting, but it was better than having to rush around like this. He hated rushing far more than he hated waiting – after all the British were trained from birth to wait. They had it down to an art form.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket. There were no messages. Charles, his brother, was probably upset that Billy had left without more than a cursory wave and goodbye. Billy thought about returning for Christmas and patching things over – after all Charles was the only family, he had left other than an aunt and some cousins that he had not seen in over twenty years. It had also been a few years since he had spent time in England. Perhaps it was better to put away their childhood arguments and rivalries. He had no time for that sort of nonsense anymore.

Trying to kill time he looked around the train station. He liked to observe others as they waited – a slice of life. The key was to observe without appearing to be. Look at the clock, look at the notice board, then look at the people. But not for too long. Then look away as if you were looking for something else.

He saw two young Asian girls, one in a wheelchair waiting on the platform about ten metres to his right. The girl in the wheelchair wore large round spectacles and had a practical bob haircut with a long fringe. The other had her hair in ponytails tied with an extravagant length of pink ribbon, draping down her shoulders. She even had a matching pink hairband. They were both still wearing their school uniforms. Commuter students then, he thought. The two girls had their heads close together, chatting away and giggling.

To his left, a few metres away, a skinny man with long brown hair and a hipster beard chatted to a dusky-skinned woman in ripped jeans whose head was half shaved, the other half died blue. The two appeared to be arguing. He thought they might be lovers, but their body-language said otherwise. The woman was definitely the more animated of the two.

Other than a sad-looking platform attendant they were the only ones in the station. A quiet time at Doncaster station he mused to himself. Still, it was only approaching 4 o’ clock in the afternoon. It would get busier later.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

A flicker of blue light caught his attention. But as soon as he looked it was gone. Maybe just one of the signal lights he mused. He then noticed a person on the opposite platform. Despite his instincts, Billy found himself staring. The man was tall and wore a pin-striped suit and bowler hat. And was that a monocle? Very unusual for Doncaster station or anywhere else in this day and age, but then it took all sorts. The man even had an umbrella on his arm. Very unusual indeed. Billy had heard about cosplay but this was something else. Maybe some TikTok stunt. He forced himself to look away. It would not be proper to be caught staring.

He looked at the clock again. Two more minutes for the train. He thought about having another look around but decided that would make him look weird. Instead, he checked his phone for messages and then his suitcase. It was reassuringly still there.

Finally, he heard the noise of an approaching train. The 15:58 to King’s Cross was only a few minutes late. It was a modern miracle!

The lights of the train were dazzling as it slowly approached the platform. He looked away for a moment to see the man in the suit on the other side of the platform. He still could not make out any of the man’s features. As the man saw him looking, he raised his hand and tilted his hat in Billy’s direction. Billy looked away; his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. To be caught staring - how rude! He tried to watch the train drifting closer, but his eyes uncontrollably tracked back to the man.

The man raised his umbrella over his head and started to open it. Billy could see a pulsing blue light emanating from the tip of the umbrella. The man looked like he was squeezing the glowing light out of the umbrella. The light increased in intensity until it was as dazzling as the train’s lights.

Then suddenly everything went dark. Billy felt like he was being smothered in blackness. He could not see anything. He could no longer feel the platform beneath his feet. He could no longer smell the rank acrid station smell that every British train station seemed to have. He could sense nothing.

***

Billy did not leave consciousness – it just felt like he was drifting in the void for what seemed like an age until there was a sharp twisting sensation. Pain seared through his head.

“Welcome to Infernus!”

The voice boomed around Billy, making the pain even worse.

“You will soon be entering Infernus Alpha. Here you will experience adventures that you have never dreamed of. Through danger and constant striving, you will find you path to power.” The voice reminded him of the airport announcer calling his flight.

“What the hell is going on?” Billy shouted.

“But be careful adventurer. The path to power is never easy. Prepare for the tutorial stage.”

“Answer my question,” Billy shouted even louder.

“Your questions will not be answered. It is just a recording,” another quieter voice said. The voice dripped into Billy’s ears like honey.

“Who are you? Where am I and what am I doing here?”

“You have a lot of questions Billy Preston.”

“How do you know who I am? What the hell is this?”

“Think of me as a friend of sorts. I am here to help you – to free you from your boring life. With my help you will find power beyond your dreams.”

“I have some pretty weird dreams,” Billy muttered to himself. Then aloud he said, “I liked my boring life.”

The other laughed – the noise harsh and strident, tearing into Billy’s ears. “Did you really? Don’t bother lying, Billy, we both know the truth. You were just another ant – working every day to make someone else rich. Not that your work was very inspiring. Even your dreams were dull and insipid. Where is your passion? Even your wife left you – bored to tears by your bland personality. This your moment Billy Preston. I suggest you grasp it with both hands. After all, few get a chance like this. Today is your lucky day!”

Billy stopped the bitter reply that initially came to his mind. He could sense that the other was toying with him. He was not going to give them the pleasure of seeing him squirm.

“Do you have anything useful to tell me?” he asked simply.

“Useful? Maybe not! But you have choices in front of you Billy. And who knows, maybe you will become an important piece in the game. It has to be better than your previous life, right? So humdrum!”

“Why me?”

“Why not? Yours is not to reason why...”

“Mine is to do and die? Not a great selling point.” Billy was really getting pissed off by the other’s condescending tone. “You could at least tell me your name.”

The other laughed again. Billy raised his hands to his ears futilely trying to stop the discordant noise.

“Time to go, Billy Preston. Good luck!”

Billy felt himself wrenched away as the world around him twisted again.

“The tutorial will start in 3, 2, 1...”