Stuck In Paradise

Train Fright

The creature let out another horrifying cry that shook the train as the group tried to rebalance themselves. Hero, for the first time in his life, would have definitely preferred the spiders compared to what he was looking at.

The deer was relentless with its beginning attacks, knocking Kel backward and glaring at all who came close. It let out a low growl as if trying to show that it won’t back down without a fight.

Omori was the only one with the guts to attack back, slashing his knife at the beast with zero fear. Hero was kind of surprised to see him like this. After all, Sunny normally hid behind either him or Mari when he saw something that belonged to a horror movie and this thing definitely looked like it crawled out of one.

He knew he couldn’t just stand by and watch all of this happen. If Omori worked alone then who would protect him? Releasing a sigh, he reluctantly picked up his pan and ran forward. Swinging, he managed to surprisingly get a good hit on the face. He felt a jolt of pride go through him until the creature cried out and ran straight towards him.

Jumping back, Hero managed to dodge in time but that was probably the most horrifying thing he could experience.

“Go Hero!” Kel shouts as he watches Hero continue to dodge, running to join in the battle and fight.

This wasn’t as bad as he expected. If Hero remembers correctly this thing is just like a mini-boss as Kel would put it. If the fight keeps going like this, with him being a distraction and the others attacking, everything should end up fine.

And it was fine...that was until the creature started talking.

In a scratchy female voice, the creature spoke as it stared Omori down.

“...S̴̻͌̊͘ủ̷̢͓̮̳ṅ̵̝̩̯̣͛n̴̟͆̉̑̕y̵̡͛.”

Did...Did Hero hear that right? He could have sworn it said Sunny….

Omori’s eyes widened a bit before he regained his composure. He ran forward and slashed the beast more with his knife. This time when Hero ran forward to help him, so did Aubrey and Kel.

“Leave Omori alone you monster!” Kel jumped onto the beast and whacked it multiple times on the head. The creature let out a cry and knocked Kel off before whacking him backward. Aubrey slammed its back with her doll which only made it angrier.

Instead of attacking Aubrey, the creature decided to charge at Omori who was promptly knocked off his feet and hit the ground with a thud. Despite this, Omori got back up and brushed himself off as if nothing had happened.

“S̵̖͙̒̈́̚ṵ̶̯̐̑n̴̛̲͚̆̿n̷̗͍̍y̶͕̑͜,̵̧͍̤̔̋̽ ̶̯̽͋S̸̤̳̤̆̃u̸̙̪͜͝ņ̶̻̆͌͘n̶̛̮͉̹̂y̴̠͈̏̎,̸̹͒͠ ̸̭͙̇S̴̞͙͓̄͊͝ǘ̶͚̦ṇ̴͉͝n̶̩̆͋̇ͅy̸̲̦͑̑” The creature spoke more, sounding suddenly desperate as if it was calling out to him.

“Is...Is that voice saying what I think it is saying?” Aubrey whispered near Hero, confirming he wasn’t the only one hearing the creature speak.

“It said Sunny’s name multiple times…” Hero whispered back, hoping they heard the same thing.

“But why? What does Sunny have to do with all of this?” Aubrey asked as she watched Kel and Omori continue to surround the monster.

“I don’t know but there is only one way to find out.” Hero answered before running to join Omori and Kel.

“Stop bothering us!” Kel yelled as he threw his ball directly at the creature’s face. Its body split open where its mouth should be and caught it before tearing it to shreds. Kel is lucky that the ball decided to respond in his hands as he watched the fabric of the previous one get swallowed.

“Well, that was horrifying…” Aubrey commented before the beast turned towards her, “Huh? Oh, come on! I did nothing wrong!”

“L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾” The creature responded, a hint of anger laying in its voice.

“L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾, L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾, L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾.L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽,r̴͔̋̉̽̾L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽,r̴͔̋̉̽̾L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾, L̷̏̈͌̍i̷̭͚͊̑a̸̮̅̋̽r̴͔̋̉̽̾” The thing taunted, staring at Aubrey with its haunting eye. It stepped towards her before Omori attacked it again, distracting the creature from what it was about to do.

Aubrey moved away from the creature as her body felt like someone just locked it in a freezer. She felt frozen and scared. It was as if the creature actually knew what she had done.

...Maybe bullying Basil wasn’t the best idea.

Omori continued to attack, leaving Kel and Hero in the dust. His movements were becoming more rapid as if he could sense the distress the creature is causing in his friends. He wanted to end this and fast. The creature, however, wasn’t going to make it easy. It charged at him and let out horrific cries that made Hero want to cut his ears off.

Eventually, after a while of trying not to get hit, Omori managed to get the creature to collapse on the ground. Its one eye staring at him with what appeared to be fear and sorrow. Its breathing was slow as the atmosphere grew tense.

Hero felt suddenly disconnected from the present. His head was swimming as his brain recognized the look the beast was giving Omori. It begged for forgiveness. Forgiveness for what, Hero couldn’t tell.

A stray tear fell from his eyes but if you asked him what was wrong he wouldn’t be able to tell you. Nothing was feeling real, as if this was a third-person game, and whoever was playing decided to pause.

“Focus. Try to stay in the present.”

A voice Hero didn’t recognize whispered. He tried to focus but there was too much going on in his head.

“S̷̖̒̔͂͜u̵̠̣̐̌̅̂ṋ̴̪̒͝ͅn̴͙̘̅y̶̺̓͊͜͜.̶̰͂̓.̴̹̯̤̊̎̚.̶̘͚̭͂͜ ̶̠͚̘̊̽͋I̴͙̤̣̒͒̕'̵̛͓̩̑̊͛m̷̛̥̈̂.̷̞͘.̶̮̟̝͇̑.̸̖̣̟͠s̴̛͈̣̿o̸͕̥̰̒r̴̘̥̠͘ȑ̷̨̢̫̩͘y̷̯̱̭̿͝.̵̬̭͙͔̆.̵̞̖̙̍.̸͚̬͑̊͝” was the last words the beast uttered before Omori stabbed it right in the eye, snapping Hero out of whatever was happening to him.

It was like a jolt of lightning went through all of them as the coldness of the car eased off them and the

Though, just for a second, Omori looked like the action dealt him more pain than the creature. Maybe he felt the same way Hero did just now. He would never know.

The train lights flickered back on breaking Hero’s thoughts as the sound of the train moving filled his ears.

The shadow people on the train no longer existed and instead were replaced with toast for some odd reason.

“Did...Did we do it?” Kel asked.

“I think...I think we did.” Aubrey responded.

The train’s wheels squeaked as the train stopped and sunlight filtered through the windows. Sounds of people chattering filled the air as the train doors opened. The gang practically ran out of the train the moment they could.

Their nightmare was over...for now.

Something told Hero this wasn’t the end.