The cavern convulsed the moment Evelyn's lantern struck the Heart's core.The entire chamber pulsed violently, as though the Heart had taken a deep, furious breath.
Then everything went still.Silent.Cold.Dead.
Evelyn froze.She'd learned something in the last tunnel:The Heart never went quiet unless it was planning something.
The mirror-Evelyn hovered in the center of the cavern, fog swirling gently, too gently—unnatural.The shadow-Evelyn hung from the ceiling like an insect waiting to strike, limbs splayed at wrong angles.Both of them were perfectly still.Watching her.
The core twitched.A single massive vein burst open on the wall.Then another.And another.
Thick, black veins crawled across every surface, glowing faintly like molten cracks in stone.They pulsed with a rhythm separate from the Heart's usual beat—faster, harsher, angry.
Evelyn took a step back.The veins pulsed harder.The floor rippled beneath her feet.The air shook with a silent, crushing pressure.
Then the screaming started.
Not aloud.Inside her mind.Hundreds of voices—men, women, children—all speaking at once:
"Stop.""Turn back.""You can't survive this layer.""You don't belong here.""You are weakening us…""…and we hate you for it."
Evelyn pressed her hands to her ears, even though the sound wasn't real.Her heartbeat spiked, and the veins brightened, reacting to her fear.
The Heart wasn't feeding on fear anymore.It was weaponizing it.
The shadow-Evelyn dropped from the ceiling, limbs bending like wet ropes, landing silently in front of her.Its black eyes snapped open, glowing like burning coals.It screeched—a distorted version of Evelyn's own voice.
Behind it, the mirror-Evelyn's fog thickened, swirling violently.Her glowing eyes sharpened.Her body cracked like glass.
The two versions stepped forward together.Perfect synchronization.Perfect malice.Perfect pieces of her.
Evelyn tightened her grip on the lantern.Her pulse steadied, even as the veins pulsed harder, trying to crush her mind.
She whispered to herself:"It's trying to divide me.I won't break."
The lantern flared—But this time, the veins absorbed the light, swallowing it whole.
The cavern darkened.The shadow-Evelyn lunged.The mirror-Evelyn followed, fog forming a spear of shimmering darkness.
Evelyn threw herself backward as the walls erupted into living tendrils, trying to grab her ankles, wrists, throat—pulling her deeper into the flesh.
She hit the ground hard.Lights danced in her vision.The Heart pulse roared.
The veins around her glowed blood-red.
The cavern began to close.Shrinking.Crushing.
The two Evelyns stepped closer.A single voice echoed from the core—Deep.Cruel.Alive.
"Your will is strong.But now…it will break."
Evelyn forced herself onto her knees, lantern trembling.This wasn't just a fight for survival.This was a fight for identity—for control of her mind—for her soul—against the living Heart of the train.
And she refused…absolutely refusedto let it take her.