"Station 2906 is opening the gate."
It has been like an hour and the train hasn't even arrived yet. The crowd in this train station makes the whole place bustling with people. A random kid crying and a man wearing a suit with sunglasses passes through me. Seriously, whose idea is it to arrive at the train station 3 hours before the train arrived?
Oh right, myself.
Amazing.
'Great, just.. absolutely perfect. All alone in this shitty place and the crowds are annoying. I wish they all disappear.'
The cup of tea in my hand right now is starting to get cold. Not that I care, I don't like tea anyway. I don't like coffee either, but at least it could keep me awake. I like black coffee, it's black like my soul. Long live coffee.
'What am I supposed to do..'
===
I started to open my eyes and yawned. I still feel so sleepy.. wait what.
'Wait.. did I just fall asleep?'
I look at my surroundings. The crowds are mostly gone. Only small groups of people could be seen here and there. They're mostly just waiting for their train. Then, I slowly check my watch.
'I've been sleeping for 4 hours. Fuck, I missed the train.'
I stand up and stretched out. Luckily, there's no one looking at me when I do it. Those few small groups of people are too busy on their phones. Sometimes, I feel like people these days used their phones too much, especially if they're around their friends, but at the same time, I would be a hypocrite if I did that.
'I hate everything...'
Problems always follow me everywhere. Gosh, I wonder if I'll ever have the chance to live a normal happy life in a small house deep in the forest or something... I don't know, I just want to live somewhere alone.
I looked at my ticket. It's useless since I missed the train. I throw the ticket to the floor and stomped on it. If I have to choose what bird do I look like right now from Angry Bird, I'd look like Red. I stomped on the ticket like a child throwing a tantrum.
"Station 2816 is opening the gate."
My eyes widens and I immediately looked up at the megaphones that are attached to the pillars. I stopped stomping on the ticket as well.
'Station 2816? Isn't that my train? But.. how? That's not possible, the train from Station 2816 should've already left an hour ago.'
I looked down to the floor and removed my foot from the ticket that I stomped on. I picked it back up. The ticket is dirty because of my shoe. I quickly rub the ticket on my jacket and rush towards Station 2816.
'And.. did Station 2816 change their place with Station 2846?!'
I run towards Station 2816.
'How is this even possible? Actually, who cares.'
My legs are as fast as Sonic's at this point.
'F*ck, my steps are so loud.'
But I kept running anyway.
'Come on, hurry up!'
I almost stumbled down, but I immediately picked up myself and ran as fast as I can.
'Quick, quick, quick, quick!'
Right after I arrived, I slide my way into the train right when the gate is about to close.
"Are you okay?"
A man is standing beside me. He looks really scary from this angle, and he's probably around 30 years old.
"I'm alright.." I answered.
I sighed a bit. The adrenaline starts to leave my body. When I look around me, people are staring at me. It's like they're concerned.. or just weirded out.
'I should stand up... I look silly like this.'
I was about to stand up but fell again when the train suddenly starts moving. It's unexpected. But then, the same man that stands beside me extends his arm towards me and lets me grab his hand for support. I nod a bit at him as I stand up.
"Thank you."
"No problem, miss."
I let go of his hand and grab the hanger attached to a metal pole on the train's ceiling. The ride is silent. There's not much noise except for the sound of the train and the rails. I could also hear the vibrations when someone typed something on their phone with the mobile keyboard. It's a peaceful ride, at least.
===
'It's been an hour..'
The train was supposed to arrive at the next station in around 30 minutes, but it's been more than that.
'Good thing that my legs won't get sore easily...'
"It's been quite long, isn't it?"
The man suddenly spoke. I shifted my attention to him. The short-haired man smiled a bit at me.
'I wonder if he's one of those golden retriever types of person..'
"There's a small renovation going on in the station. Have you not read the news?" The man asked.
"No, actually... I haven't checked the news at all these days. This week has been busy for me," I answered.
This whole conversation is already starting to drain my energy.
"Well, you should always check the news to stay up-to-date," The man suggested.
I really want to drop this conversation.
"Yes, alright," I replied.
There's not a single word spoken after that. The train ride goes on smoothly.
'Good.. I'm feeling tired, especially after running like crazy.'
"Ah, here it comes," The man suddenly said.
A confused expression appears on my face.
"What co-"
Suddenly, everything turns dark. The train also rumbles a bit. The train is going through a dark tunnel. Everyone disappears as well. Everything on the train seems like it started to move around by itself, including the chairs and hangers and even the doors. The tunnel is really long, it feels as if I just hopped on a train with "Hell" as its destination.
'Why isn't there a single light in the tunnel? Where is everyone?'
I looked around and there was actually no one here on this train. I looked out to the window but all I see is black. It's like an actual abyss right now. Not a single light. I grab my phone to turn on flashlight mode but my phone doesn't even turn on in the first place. After a few minutes, something changed. I can't see it, but something definitely changed. I could feel the hanger I'm holding is.. disappearing. How is this thing even disappearing? It's like a ghost.
'What is happening? I swear to God if this train is actually cursed or something... or maybe someone set up a prank here? What even is going on?!'
The next thing I know after I blinked, I'm already sitting on one of the seats and the train exited the dark tunnel.
'How did I get from standing while holding a ghost hanger into sitting on a seat in just a few seconds?!'
"You seem surprised."
That voice belongs to the same man. I'm sitting beside him.
"How.. what the he-"
"Calm down. I'm guessing you're new?"
"New? What do you mean by that?"
"Ah, so you ARE new.."
I keep looking at him with a confused look. I have no idea what he is talking about. I need time to process what just happened.
'First, a ghost hanger. Second, am I.. dead? There's no way, maybe someone killed me when I was sleeping earlier?'
At this point, I'm just really deep in thoughts that I didn't realize I've been staring at the man for quite a long time, creepily. It's like when Eren Yeager is staring at his dad from the past. When I did realize that, I quickly snap off my train of thought.
"Oh, sorry, I..." My voice trails off when I realized something.
'Now that I think of it, why does this man look... younger?'
"Let me guess, my appearance changed?" The man suddenly asked with a small smile.
"Yeah.. how did you know?" I replied with a question as well.
"Look around you." The man answered.
I looked around and..
Everything and everyone has changed.
'What..'
The shape of the train, the people, and the number of passengers on this train have changed. Previously, there were not many passengers on this train, but now there are a lot. The seats also changed as well. At first, the seats were lined up on the wall of the train. But now, all of the seats are lined up in rows.
Not only that, some people have fish scales on their skin. There are also robots and humanoids.
'..just happened.'
I looked back at the man beside me.
"How?" I simply asked.
The man's smile widens.
"Look out from the window," he answered.
I moved my head to look at the window beside me.
Tall buildings, flying jets, big holograms, and even more. The view is stunning. Not only that, unknown plants that have never been seen before are there as well. It looks like a big city. It's like.. a new, different kind of dimension or some sort.
'Where.. am I?'
"Welcome to Mecharpus, miss," The man said.
"Mechar.. pus?" I replied.
The man simply nods. Then, the view got blocked by a wall.
The train finally stops.