The moment they stepped through the dark doorway, the hall shifted violently.Walls stretched impossibly high, mirrors multiplied, and the floor seemed to ripple like liquid beneath their feet.
Sophie stumbled. "It's… moving… with us!"
Alex grabbed her arm. "It's not just moving. It's alive. The Heart is controlling this place."
Shards of mirrors rose from the floor like jagged teeth, trying to slice at them.Reflections lunged, but not as separate images—now each mirror seemed to spawn smaller mirror-creatures instantly, attacking from every angle.
Evelyn raised the lantern. Its light cut through one wave of attackers, and then another appeared."This is endless," Leo whispered, voice tight with panic. "It's learning faster than we can fight!"
A mirror near the ceiling bulged, then split open. From it emerged a massive shadow: a distorted, twisted combination of all four of them.It moved with perfect synchronization, mimicking every fear, every hesitation, every weakness.
The Heart's pulse thundered through the hall. Every step, every heartbeat, every breath of theirs echoed through the mirrors and the shadow.The corridor bent around them, forcing them to fight and run at the same time.
Sophie screamed as her reflection wrapped around her legs, pulling her down.Alex kicked, punching through the reflection—but it didn't disappear. It split into more reflections, each one smaller, faster, more vicious.
Evelyn gritted her teeth. "Focus! The Heart can't create will! It can only react to ours!"
Together, the four of them formed a tight circle, lantern in the center, light blazing.Step by step, they moved forward, forcing the reflections to recoil, forcing the shadows to break apart.
But the Heart was cunning.The farther they went, the more the hall shifted, the more the reflections became personal nightmares, each tailored to their deepest guilt.
Alex froze for a split second—seeing his parents' faces in the mirrors, accusing him of leaving them behind.Sophie faltered—seeing herself failing to protect Evelyn again and again.Leo hesitated, thinking of the friends he'd abandoned in earlier sections of the train.Evelyn's stomach dropped as the Hall whispered memories of everyone she had failed to save.
The lantern flared. Evelyn's voice rang out, firm:"We decide what's real. Not the Heart. Not this place. Not our fears."
The reflections shrieked.The shadows recoiled.And for the first time, the corridor stopped shifting—just enough for them to glimpse the next doorway.
A single pulse of darkness throbbed in the distance, like a heartbeat calling them onward.The Heart was aware.It was watching.And it was readying its next strike.