The two friends reached the train station at 8:59.
The place was empty.
No cars.
No people.
Not even a bird.
Jake pushed the rusty door.
It opened.
Behind it was a staircase going down.
“That's definitely not creepy,” Jake said.
Max turned on his flashlight.
They walked down.
One step.
Two steps.
Ten steps.
The stairs seemed to go on forever.
Then they reached the bottom.
There was a long tunnel in front of them.
Old lights hung from the ceiling.
Most of them were broken.
Only one was still working.
It flickered above a small wooden table.
On the table was a note.
Max picked it up.
It said:
YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES.
Jake looked around.
“Thirty minutes for what?”
A loud beep came from somewhere in the tunnel.
They both jumped.
A red light turned on.
Then another.
Then another.
The tunnel behind them suddenly went dark.
Jake grabbed Max's arm.
“Uh... Max?”
“What?”
“Look behind us.”
Max slowly turned around.
The staircase was gone.
There was now a solid wall where the stairs had been.
Max's flashlight shook in his hand.
A speaker crackled above them.
Then a voice said:
“Welcome back.”
Max froze.
Jake whispered:
“We've never been here before.”
The speaker crackled again.
“You have 29 minutes.”