The door opened to a room shrouded in thick fog, the kind that seemed to seep into Evelyn's lungs and weigh down her chest. The air smelled faintly of damp earth and decay, and every step echoed louder than it should, as if the carriage itself was listening.
Evelyn's eyes adjusted, revealing countless objects scattered across the floor: broken toys, faded photographs, letters yellowed with age. Each one pulsed faintly, as though alive, whispering fragments of forgotten lives.
"This… is like a memory graveyard," Maya muttered, shivering.
Evelyn nodded, stepping forward cautiously. "The train… it's showing us things we've hidden. Things we've tried to forget."
Shadows flickered along the walls, forming faces from Evelyn's past—friends lost, moments of fear, regrets she had buried deep. One shadow stepped closer: a distorted version of herself, smiling cruelly, eyes black pits.
"You think you know yourself… but you are lies and memories," it hissed.
Her heart pounded. "I… I remember. I can't… I won't let you win," she shouted.
The floor trembled. Faint whispers merged into words:"Reveal… confess… or be trapped in your own mind forever."
Evelyn saw a photo lying among the scattered items—it was her, years ago, staring at an empty train platform. Her younger self reached out, expression pleading. She realized the train had pulled fragments of her life, twisted them, and thrown them into this carriage.
"Everyone grab a memory," she commanded, gesturing to her friends. "We solve the puzzle together. Don't let it isolate us."
One by one, they picked objects: Alex held a small music box, Leo a broken watch, Sophie a tattered notebook. Each item replayed a memory, some pleasant, some horrifying. Shadows slithered closer with every hesitation, feeding on doubt, fear, and regret.
Evelyn focused on her object—a faded photograph. She whispered aloud everything she had tried to forget: the fear, the guilt, the choices she had avoided. As the words left her mouth, the shadow that mimicked her shrieked and recoiled, dissolving into the fog.
The carriage trembled, then stilled. The fog lifted, leaving the path forward clear. A door loomed ahead, its edges glowing faintly.
Evelyn exhaled, muscles trembling. "We survived… but it's learning. Each carriage is preparing us… for something worse."
A faint, mocking whisper followed them as they stepped through the door:
"The next carriage… will take more than memory. It will take your soul."