The lights died.
For a breathless moment, the world inside the train turned pitch black. The party stood frozen in the darkness, only the faint humming of the cursed train and the echo of their breathing filling the silence.
Then—
DING...
The lights flickered back on, pale and slightly warmer this time.
"Huh?" Luna blinked.
Aiden turned his head.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
The train was no longer empty.
People sat in every seat. Couples holding hands. Elderly folks resting their heads on one another. Children bouncing in their seats with laughter and decorations hung from the luggage racks like festive streamers. The entire train car now looked like a celebration in motion—as if the train itself was hosting a wedding.
Ivy's eyes sparkled. "Waaaa! It's like a moving house full of happy people!"
Lysandra clutched her cloak tightly. "Where did they come from...? This place was empty seconds ago."
"Are they... real?" Luna asked, eyeing a young woman feeding her boyfriend a chocolate truffle.
The couple giggled, and the guy whispered something naughty into his lover's ear. She smacked him playfully.
"If you try that in front of my father at the ceremony, I swear I'll turn your balls into jewelry."
"Worth it," the guy said with a wink.
Ivy blinked. "...What's balls-turning jewelry?"
Aiden looked away. "Let's... not dwell on that."
Another couple were necking passionately in a booth, completely ignoring the world. A woman was fixing her lipstick in a hand mirror while straddling her husband's lap.
Ivy tilted her head. "Are they wrestling?"
"No," Aiden said flatly.
"I wanna wrestle too!" Ivy beamed.
Lysandra's eye twitched. "You will not. Ever. Wrestle like that."
Ivy pouted.
Luna smirked, slithering closer to Aiden. "If that counts as wrestling, then we wrestled plenty last night, didn't we, Master?"
Lysandra immediately snapped, "W-What did I just say about that in front of others?!"
"We're surrounded by ghostly exhibitionists, I think we have bigger issues," Aiden muttered.
Just then, a gentleman across the aisle—young, dressed in a fine tuxedo with a flower in his breast pocket—turned to them and smiled.
"Are you excited for the wedding too?"
Aiden blinked. "Uh... wedding?"
"Of course," the man said cheerfully. "It's today, isn't it? Everyone's going to the ceremony."
The woman beside him nodded. "Such a lovely couple. A true love story."
Aiden glanced around. The others had continued their conversations, seemingly stuck in a moment that played on loop. Same kisses. Same laughs. Same toasts.
"Are they... memories?" Lysandra whispered. "Illusions?"
"Maybe both," Aiden said. He turned to Luna. "Touch one. See if they react."
Luna nodded, stepped forward, and poked a man who was sipping wine.
Her finger passed through him.
Lysandra gasped. Ivy let out a small squeak.
"Ghosts?" Luna said.
Aiden nodded slowly. "Or echoes of something that happened before..."
Ivy tiptoed forward and stood on one of the seats, squinting down the aisle. "There's more rooms! I mean boxes! Like this one! Can we go through them, Onii-chan?"
Aiden ruffled her hair. "Yeah. Let's check them one by one."
They moved to the next car.
It was... a dining car.
Tables with silver platters. Wine glasses. Floating candles. A man with a violin played softly at one end, repeating the same four notes. Another couple danced slowly in the center of the aisle, their ghostly steps never missing a beat.
Luna touched a glass. Her hand phased through. "Still not real."
Ivy grabbed a floating piece of bread—and it stayed in her hand.
"Eh? This one's real!"
She bit it.
Aiden blinked. "...Why is the bread real?"
Lysandra hesitantly touched the table. Her hand passed through. "Not for me..."
"Maybe because she's innocent?" Luna asked.
Ivy grinned with a mouthful of bread. "Because I'm cute and small!"
Lysandra grumbled. "I'm cute and small too..."
"Nope," Luna said smugly. "You're just small."
"You—!"
Aiden whistled sharply. "Focus, girls."
As the group moved deeper into the haunted train, the flickering lights overhead continued their unnatural rhythm—on, off, stutter, hum—like the train was breathing. And with every pulse of the lights, the eerie celebration of love continued around them.
They entered the next car.
The second they stepped through, a loud thump-thump shook the walls.
There was something happeing inside a chamber.
Everyone froze.
Thump-thump-thump-thump.
"O-Onii-chan…" Ivy whispered, clutching the back of Aiden's coat. "I think… someone's bouncing…"
Another loud thump, followed by a soft moan.
"Oh gods," Aiden muttered, facepalming.
"Th-they're fighting again!" Ivy guessed innocently. "Why do these people keep wrestling?!"
"It's not wrestling!" Lysandra snapped, covering Ivy's ears. "I-It's a mating ritual!"
Luna burst out laughing. "Mating ritual?! What are we, beetles?"
Lysandra's entire face turned green. "W-well, how else would you explain—?!"
Another loud moan came from behind the closed cabin doors. The walls shook slightly.
Ivy blinked. "Onii-chan… do humans always make that sound when they're happy?"
Aiden coughed so hard he nearly staggered. "Ivy, don't listen to—actually, just don't hear anything. Ever again."
Luna snorted, clinging to Aiden's side. "She'll figure it out when she's older~ For now, let her think it's sumo."
Lysandra's head was steaming. "I hate this dungeon…"
They passed the cabin slowly, all eyes cautiously glancing toward the door where the sound came from.
"Maybe we should knock?" Luna teased.
Aiden shot her a glare. "Don't even—"
SMACK.
The wall beside them shook violently.
Ivy yelped and jumped into Lysandra's arms. "W-WAAAH! They're fighting hard!!"
"WE'RE MOVING ON!" Aiden declared like a commander in a warzone, pushing everyone toward the next cabin.
They shuffled forward, trying to avoid any eye contact with ghostly couples that may or may not be involved in extremely "festive" activities.
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END OF CHAPTER : 28 : THE PHANTOM TRAIN MYSTERY : THE PASSENGERS!
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