Predatory Natures

Lara Williams signs on as crew aboard the Banebury, a luxury train running its off-season route. She wants distance from a scandal that damaged her reputation and a school year that fell apart. The job is meant to be a clean escape.

Then she spots Rhys, a former friend whose place in her life she has never settled, working the same route. Being stuck with him is awkward enough before anything else happens.

During the night, two extra carriages are quietly coupled to the train. They hold rare plants that grow at an alarming speed, and they arrive with two siblings, Gwen and Gwydion, who say they study accelerated growth. Lara does not believe their account.

The train keeps moving toward its destination, and there is no stop where anyone can get off. As the plants begin to affect the passengers, the effects seem less like an accident of botany and more like something directed at Lara herself.

This is an atmospheric thriller with botanical horror. The whole cast is confined to one moving train, so the tension builds in a closed space with no way out.