The pulse beneath her feet wasn't just a beat anymore—it was a presence, alive, aware, a monstrous rhythm syncing to her own racing heart. Evelyn's lantern burned white-hot, casting shadows that cut through the chaos like blades.
She stepped forward, toward a massive, gaping hole in the center of the carriage floor. Beyond it stretched a dark corridor, veins pulsing along the walls, dripping black ichor. The heart itself, she realized, was inside there. That was where the train's will, its hunger, its consciousness… lived.
Every instinct screamed at her to turn back, to flee. But the lantern flared brighter, feeding off her fury, her grief, her defiance. "I'm not done," she whispered. "Not yet."
The corridor twisted as she moved, stairs forming under her feet, then vanishing, leaving her to step onto solid air. The walls writhed with faces—passengers long gone, their eyes empty, mouths twisted in silent screams. She swung the lantern, and the flames licked at the walls, melting shadows into ash.
Then came the first attack.
From the veins, massive tendrils erupted, snapping toward her like hungry snakes. They hissed, coiled, and struck with terrifying speed. Evelyn leapt, swinging the lantern, flames cutting through the black mass. Each strike sizzled as the shadows screamed, but she kept moving forward.
The deeper she went, the more the train reacted—corridors warped, ceilings stretched impossibly high, walls melted into rivers of writhing darkness. The heart pulsed louder, faster, almost in panic.
And then she saw it.
The Heart itself: a massive, throbbing sphere of black and crimson, veins writhing, eyes forming and closing across its surface. It was watching her. Feeling her. Mocking her. Breathing with her rage.
Evelyn raised the lantern, flames roaring. "I'm coming for you!" she shouted. Her voice echoed through the veins, bouncing off every pulse, every vein, every shadow.
The heart trembled, shrieking—a sound that made the very air scream with it. The train was finally aware… and it didn't like what it saw.
Evelyn took a deep breath and stepped onto the surface of the Heart, her lantern held high.
This was the final battlefield.