Judging by the size of the station, this place never saw much activity. Stepping up to the abandoned ticket house, even that felt hard to believe. The place looked at least 60 years old and was shrouded in woodland; it was certainly from before their time. Even the adjoining road was unpaved gravel. Certainly not comparable to München Hauptbahnhof.
Laura poked their head through the ticket house window. Faded posters, splintered wood and an almost empty departures board greeted them. Distant rustling leaves and their own breathing were all they could hear. It seemed they were alone here. That would be just fine.
Murgen-Halstadt was…pretty out of the way for this corner of the world, never mind Murgen-Halstadt Bahnhof. They could feel their heart beating in their chest. They couldn't help it. Even a hint of abnormality made them feel this strange cocktail of excitement and fear, after everything they learned from the rest of the Hand. Everything they learned about pretty much everything over the past couple years, now that they thought about it. A familiar feeling by this point, but no less exhilarating.
Laura's boots slowly clomped on the ceramic floor as they took in the ambiance of the small single-story building. The place was in surprisingly good shape: sure, the beige walls were chipped and the only bench was smashed, but at the very least it probably wasn't going to collapse on them. A faint smell of decay mixed with old wood and drywall to produce one of those unmistakable old building smells. They swore they could even make out a 'Bundesrepublik Deutschland' on one particular old poster.
The 'White Railway' was supposedly accessible from here. For a local legend, it was pretty hard to dig up. The locals were certainly cagey about it, that was for sure. From what they knew, it was likely some sort of Way, and they were here to find out one way or another. Daniel and Midnight were concerned when they told them their plans, sure, but it's not like they were totally unfamiliar with the Ways. They kept their curiosity in check. Laura was still glad for their concern, though. Those people were indispensable.
Stepping out onto the platform, Laura took a deep breath and looked around. A bird squawked in the distance as they noted the grass growing over the tracks. A handful of benches were stationed at both ends, with some on the middle of the concrete platform. The departures board was as empty and gray as the overcast sky. They still didn't feel much better. Anything could happen.
Picking the bench that was least decrepit, they sat down and were about to get out their smartphone when they realized they were sitting on something. Would someone really leave something here? They scooted over. Under their skirt was a large, worn leather wallet.
They exhaled. Guess that answered that question. Another one entered their mind, however. Did they look inside?
…They looked around. Not a soul. Of course, it was hard to tell, given that they didn't currently have any reliable way of detecting ghosts or other sundry spirits. Something this out of place could prove informative. Ah, what the Hell, they muttered to theirself. Not like they'd mind.
The wallet in question was heavy and rough. Laura flipped it open. The swastika practically jumped out at them. It didn't look that old; that 19.07.09 stamped in the corner wasn't that old either. This was unexpected. Too unexpected.
They kept going. The kennkarte of one Johann K. Erlich from Salzburg, Greater Germanic Reich was theirs for perusing, as were about 6 other ID documents. They didn't recognize the bearded older man in the various photographs. Was this…really what they thought it was? An artifact from a regime that was supposed to be dead? Even if there was a way around here, how would this have gotten here? And more importantly, how did they survive up to 2009?
This was getting worrying. Laura could feel their heart again as they turned the wallet around in their hands. Maybe this answered one other question, but it opened yet another one. Were they absolutely sure they wanted to go poking around for this Way? It's not that they were totally unprepared, but…
A breeze started to pick up. The old bomber jacket was, on second thought, rather light for this sort of weather. They shivered and shook their head. Maybe they should leave. The wallet was likely proof enough.
The high-pitched whistle elicited a gasp from them. Okay. This was definitely getting freaky. Laura waited a second before willing theirself to look down the track in the direction of the noise.
They didn't have time to recall why an old steam engine like that would still be in service on a disused line - much less why it would be painted that color - before they realized they weren't the only thing out of place here. Laura was up and running back the way they came a second before they finished that train of thought.