"Doesn't matter now. I threw away that stupid key chain away anyway." Alice walked back to the cabin and unlocked the door. The cries certainly came from inside the room, and Alice was certainly shocked by what she saw. "Am I seeing things?!"
She immediately backed up after seeing a ghost appearing before her eyes. The ghost, a young woman with teal-blue hair wearing a long dress and a feathered bonnet, was sitting on the train seat and crying. Alice suddenly felt a rush of sadness and dismay in her. This is different. Something about her isn't right. Her heart and emotions are a mess. She won't rest until she gets what she wants. Alice approached the ghost and asked, "Excuse me, but are you okay? What's wrong?"
The woman heard Alice's voice and answered clearly to the best of her ability. "Finally. Someone who will actually talk to me. You have no idea how long I've been here. They just won't let me off the train."
"Wait. Who won't let you off the train? It just stopped at the station a while ago."
"You don't understand. My husband Dan is waiting for me at the station near our new home. I know for a fact that the train stops near there, but I can never seem to be able to walk past the doors. What am I supposed to do?!"
"I see your predicament. Relax and don't cry." Alice sat down and patted the woman's back. "Why don't you tell me how you got here in the first place?"
She nodded her head and said, "Dan was taking us home from our honeymoon after we got married a few days before. During the ride, he took me out to the special deck cabin where it was crowded with people. His intent was to tell me how much he loved me, and he barely yelled past 'Runo, I love-' before getting hit by some solid object flying out from nowhere. His whole head was cut off, and I was so shocked and scared. After that, people kept telling me that Dan went home peacefully already, but I've been on this train since forever!"
"Oh dear, that must have been terrifying. But part of it reminds of an experience that I once had..."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"Alice, hurry up! I want to say it when I still have the chance!"
"Okay, I'm hurrying, Shun!" Alice nearly tripped over a bolt on the floor on her way to Shun. "What's the surprise?"
Shun waited for Alice to come over and said, "You'll see it soon. Actually, more like you'll hear it soon."
"I want to see or hear it now. Please..."
Shun took a deep breath and said, "Just be prepared to hear something loud."
"Shun Kazami, what are you going to do?"
With a smirk on his face, Shun stepped over the railing a little and yelled, "Alice Gehabich, I...love..." Suddenly, the train made a very abrupt stop, causing Shun to hit his chest and abdomen on the railing and become slightly unconscious and unable to speak.
"Shun, are you alright? Answer me! Shun!" Alice looked around and yelled, "Help! We need medical support!" As people rushed over to help, Alice cried and held his hands tightly. "Shun, no matter what, I'll find a way to save you."
~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~X~
"It took quite a long time for him to wake up from the hit, but he never got to finish what he wanted to say." But who cares? I doesn't matter now. "Don't worry, Runo, I'll help you find a way to have you be with Dan again." Alice reassured.
"You will? Oh, thank you so much! This is like an eternal prison to me that's keeping me away from Dan. I want to get off this train now." Runo wiped her face with a handkerchief, which gave Alice an idea.
"Runo, may I borrow your handkerchief?"
"Sure. Here you go." As Runo handed her handkerchief to Alice, it changed from being a part of the ghost to solid material.
"Thank you." Alice put it in her pocket as Runo kept crying. As Alice was about to exit, she saw a clipboard on the table. "What's this?" Alice read the papers to herself.
The patient is suffering from PTSD and isn't getting any better. She constantly says that her husband Dan is waiting for her at their home. The main cause of her condition is most likely personally seeing her husband die cruelly in front of her. The patient will be put in a mental hospital for the time being until her condition becomes better.
"Runo's condition is this bad?" Alice put the clipboard back down in shock as she looked in Runo's bag. "Two train tickets? Runo doesn't even know she passed away already and still thinks that she's on that train..." Why is this like how I thought that Shun still loved me? I used to be as stubborn Runo is right now.
Alice also found an old newspaper article and read that as well. "The press even published Dan and Runo's story. I feel sorry for these two. They were a perfect couple."
Putting the newspapers aside and holding the handkerchief in her hand, Alice ran back to the empty boiler room. "It's about time that I should stop this train. Runo's story is just too sad. I can't stand it!" She knelt down by the lever and scrubbed the soot off the sign. "Why is this the only mechanical devise on this entire train? Either way, it has to be the mechanism that controls the train. But why won't this soot rub off?! I can't read the words."
Tears fell down from Alice's eyes down her cheeks and landed on the labels. "Why are Suguru and Shinji making me do this? Why do I have to help Runo? How did I end up here in the first place?!" She punched her fist on the label but took her hand back after the intense pain, "Now there's soot on my hands. Wait...the soot came off onto my hands. I got it!"
Alice looked around for any source of water, but there was none to be found. "I guess I'll have to cry some water out."
More tears rolled down Alice's eyes as each drop landed on the sign and softened the soot. "It's working! Time to wipe it off and read the sign." Alice scrubbed hard to get rid of the soot as the sign became blue-gray again with words.
"Top means 'go,' middle means 'slow,' and bottom means 'stop.' Time to pull the lever way back." With both hands on the handle, Alice used the last of her energy to move the lever from the 'go' position to 'stop'. When the lever reached 'stop', the train's furnace made a loud pop sound.
"I did it...I finally did it! The train is slowing down and coming to a stop! Runo, you can go home now!" But something wasn't right. The train was slowing down, but it was still going very fast. I thought I stopped the train. What happened? Suddenly, the train stopped moving and jerked, causing everything to shake violently.
"My head...it hurts so badly. What happened?" Once again, the screeching dissonance of the train slowing down along the tracks came back, and Alice covered her ears the entire time until the train fully stopped. "Wait...I heard something."
Alice walked back to the seats and saw that only one pair of sliding doors were open, and they were located next to Runo's cabin. Runo exited her room and descended the stairs to the platform, right before the doors closed again. Alice followed Runo, but the doors wouldn't open. "Really?! Now the train won't me off!"
Standing a few yards away was a tall man with brown hair in about his early twenties. That must be her husband Dan. They're finally reunited.
Suddenly, another man walked out onto the platform, but he looked younger and was slightly shorter with raven-black hair. Isn't that Shun? How did he get here?
Runo ran up to the first man and embraced him warmly. "Dan, I'm so glad to be home! How have you been?"
Dan stepped back and held the woman's face in his hand. "Runo, I missed you so much. Now we can finally be together. Shun, thank you for telling me to wait for Runo at this station. I owe everything to you."
What? It really is Shun! What's he doing here? At least Runo and Dan are together now. Runo's broken heart can finally be cured! Despite Shun's existence in the scene, Alice still watched the couple celebrate in joy from inside the train.
"Well, you can thank this other really close and helpful person of mine who helped me find this station and convince the conductor to go through here." Shun replied. "Besides, that used to happen to me before, only not as serious. If only I could repay her for always being at my side in the hospital..."
Close friend? He couldn't have meant me, right? At least he knows that I spent almost twenty-four consecutive hours with him at the hospital. Tears rolled down Alice's cheeks at the thought of what Shun last said, despite how much she didn't want anything to do with him right now.
Soon, everything, from Dan and Runo to the train station, disappeared as the train moved on to its next destination.