The door waited.
It didn't belong in the nightmare, yet it pulsed like a heartbeat—wooden, plain, and horribly ordinary. The kind of door that could lead to a kitchen, a bedroom, a place where life had once been simple. Normal. Safe.
But the words carved into its surface glowed with sick promise:"Step through, and the pain ends."
Alex's breath rattled in his throat. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot, but in them was something Evelyn hadn't seen in days—hope. "Don't you feel it?" he whispered, his voice shaking. "It's real. This could be it. The end of all of this."
Evelyn yanked him back, her fingers digging into his wrist until he winced. "No. Nothing here is real. It's just another trick, another way to feed on us. If you walk through that thing, Alex—you're gone. Forever."
The void answered with a pulse. The heart throbbed louder, making the rails tremble, the air quake. The whispers hissed, clawing at their ears:"She lies. She wants you to suffer. Step through, and it ends. Step through…"
Leo stood apart, silent. His veins glowed faintly in the dark, pulsing with the same rhythm as the heart. He was trembling, but his face bore a crooked smile. "Maybe… maybe Alex is right. What if Evelyn's the one feeding it, holding us here with her fear? What if surrender is freedom?"
Evelyn spun toward him, fury breaking through her fear. "You think giving yourself to that thing is freedom? That's not freedom, Leo—it's erasure! It won't let us out—it will use us!"
But even as she said it, she saw the doubt flicker in Alex's eyes. The temptation was too strong. The train wasn't attacking now—it was inviting. And that was worse.
The door creaked. Slowly. Beckoning.
And Evelyn realized something that made her blood run cold.
The train didn't just want them afraid. It didn't just want their suffering.It wanted them to choose it.
Her hand tightened on the dead lantern. Her breath came ragged. "Don't do this, Alex," she whispered, her voice breaking. "If you step through… I'll lose you. We'll all lose."
Alex's hand hovered over the handle. His lips trembled. His whole body shook.
And the heart thundered, louder than ever.