Chapter 2All Passengers Gone, Agent Said the Train Never Left

Last time, they locked me away like I was crazy. This time, I needed irrefutable proof.

I opened my phone’s camera and started recording.

“It is currently 3:20 PM on February 16th, 2026. New Year’s Eve.”

“I’m in car number 05 of the G404 Express.”

I narrated quietly, panning the camera across the car. The lens captured the young couple in front of me sharing a cup of instant noodles. In the aisle, a young mother struggled to soothe her wailing infant. Diagonally behind me, a few older men were playing a loud game of cards, the snap of their hands hitting the table echoing through the car.

Finally, I turned the camera on the man next to me.

“Hey, want to say hi? A little holiday travel documentary,” I said with a smile.

He looked a bit shy, covering his face with one hand as he offered me half of his freshly peeled orange with the other. “Don't film me, I'm a mess. Here, have an orange. It's sweet.”

“Thanks,” I said, making sure to capture the orange, and the digital watch on his wrist, in the video.

I saved the clip and immediately uploaded it to my family’s group chat, then posted it to my social media.

Caption: “Full speed ahead! Mom, get the dumplings ready, I’ll be home soon!”

As the replies rolled in from aunts and uncles—emojis wishing me a safe trip—the last knot of anxiety in my stomach loosened.

I had video. I had witnesses. I had a GPS trail.

Not even God himself could call me a liar this time.

I popped a segment of the sweet orange into my mouth. It was delicious.

“Miss, do you feel that…?” the man beside me suddenly asked, his brow furrowed. “Is it just me, or is this ride getting really rough?”

I paused. “Is it?”

I glanced down at the water bottle on the tray table. The surface of the water was vibrating violently.

“And… my ears are ringing,” he said, rubbing them with a pained expression.

A cold dread trickled down my spine.

Last time, I’d been so focused on getting to the restroom that I hadn’t paid any attention to my surroundings.

Just then, the train’s PA system crackled to life with a piercing shriek of static.

“Screeeeee—”

Everyone in the car clapped their hands over their ears. The baby’s cries intensified. Grumbling turned to angry shouts.

“What the hell is going on? Conductor!”

“They’re going to make us deaf!”

I whipped my head toward the window.

A dark, gaping hole loomed ahead. A tunnel.

The instant the front of the train entered the tunnel, the lights inside the car flickered.

An immense pressure slammed into us. It felt like my head was being squeezed in a vise, my eyeballs about to burst from their sockets. The baby’s cries became a high, thin wail. The man’s curses warped into a low, guttural groan.

“Sir! Sir, are you okay?” I gasped.

Just as my hand was about to touch his sleeve…

Crack!

A sharp snap echoed in my mind.

The lights went out completely. A second later, they flickered back on.

I was panting, my hand still hovering in the air.

But the man beside me was gone.

I shot to my feet and scanned the car. The couple with their noodles, the mother with her baby, the men playing cards…

In a single second, they had all evaporated.

The entire train car was spotless, as pristine as a factory model. Even the creases on the seats had been smoothed away.

I was the only one left, standing alone in the aisle.

The half-eaten orange was still in my hand, its juice dripping onto the floor.

“Aaaah!”

A scream ripped from my throat as the familiar, suffocating despair crashed down on me once more.