Seven Strangers

The boy in the hoodie stepped off the train first…

As soon as his foot touched the brass platform, he let out a strangled sound… It was a gurgling choke!

“Ughkk!”

Farrah’s breath caught. She instinctively reached for him, but froze mid-step.

Shane moved fast, already halfway to the door. “Hey--!”

The woman with the rosary gasped and dropped to her knees, clutching her beads so tightly her knuckles turned white.

“Oh God, oh God, protect us…”

The man in the business suit who tall, silent, and unreadable, took a step back, as he squinted his eyes. He didn’t speak, but his hand hovered near his coat pocket, as if reaching for something… He was definitely terrified and relieved seeing that he wasn’t the one suffering.

One of the other men who was lean, with sharp cheekbones and a scar across his jaw muttered… “Already? That fast?”

The younger woman with dyed purple hair flinched and pressed herself against the train wall. She couldn’t believe what was going on. “Is he dying? Is that what happens if we step out?”

Everyone had different reaction and Farrah, despite having the urge to assist the young man as a medical practitioner, she couldn’t help but feel cautious going out of the train.

She was about to call out when something unexpected happened.

The boy dropped his hands that was previously clutching his neck and burst out laughing.

“Hahaha! Gotcha!” he wheezed, grinning like a maniac. “You should’ve seen your faces!”

Everyone stared, frozen at the sudden realization.

Farrah was also stunned. Shane stopped in his tracks with his expression darkening.

“You think that’s funny?” he said coldly.

The boy shrugged, still chuckling. “Hey, we’re all cursed, right? Might as well enjoy the ride.”

The woman with the rosary didn’t move.

She just stared at him, lips trembling, whispering prayers under her breath. “My prayers worked…”

Farrah heard those words and shook her head…

In the meantime, the man with the scar scoffed. “You’ve got guts, kid. Or no sense.”

As for the purple-haired girl, he just exhaled shakily. “I thought you were dead…”

“Don’t do that again.” The other suited man who seemed to be around mid-thirties said coldly.

Farrah didn’t respond. She just stared at the boy with her pulse still racing.

‘So that’s how it’s going to be…’ she thought. ‘Not just survival. Mind games.’

She decided to keep this in mind. She had to strengthen her mind if she wanted to survive this game.

She stepped off the train with her boots clicking against the brass platform.

Shane followed, his eyes still locked on the boy.

One by one, the others disembarked.

The woman with the rosary was the last one as she hesitated. But after a prayer, she then crossed herself and stepped out, clutching her beads like a lifeline.

As Farrah turned to glance back, the train let out a low, mournful whistle.

Steam hissed from its undercarriage, and the doors slid shut with a finality that made her chest tighten.

The Avarra Line began to pull away with its wheels grinding against the track…

Within seconds, it vanished into the crimson mist… and supposedly, it would return after a month…

***

Before anyone could leave the desolate train station, Shane raised a hand.

“Wait,” he said, getting everyone’s attention... “Before we go any further… I think we should at least know each other’s names.”

The group paused.

Farrah glanced around. The boy in the hoodie tilted his head, amused at his suggestion.

The man with the scar, the suited guy, and purple-haired girl looked uncertain.

However, the woman with the rosary clutched her beads tighter and nodded.

“We don’t have to be friends,” Shane continued. “But if something happens… if someone gets pulled into something they can’t escape, it might help to have someone call your name. Remind you who you are.”

No one spoke.

Then, slowly, the woman with the rosary nodded.

“I agree,” she said softly. “If I… if I get pulled further into the sin of lust… I want someone to help me. To call me back.”

She looked up with determination…

“My name is Teresa.”

Farrah nodded as the woman’s name suited her.

Teresa looked like someone who had spent her whole life resisting temptation, and now she was trapped in a city built to exploit it.

The purple-haired girl hesitated, then stepped forward. “I’m Ciara.”

The boy in the hoodie grinned. “Name’s Kai. Professional dancer...”

This young man no longer looked nervous at all. It even seemed like he was excited to visit this city that was supposedly going to test one of the seven deadly sins, lust!

The man with the scar, on the other hand, shrugged. “Call me Steve.”

The suited man sighed and decided to go with the flow. “Nathan.”

Farrah nodded as she noted everyone’s name in her mind. “Farrah.”

Shane looked at each of them in turn. “Shane…”

A moment of silence passed between them… Seven strangers, bound by a curse, standing on the edge of a city designed to unravel them.

Farrah glanced at Teresa again. She was still clutching her rosary, but her shoulders had relaxed just slightly.

‘Names… A thread to hold onto.’ Farrah mused. She felt that their names might be important in this type of trial... However, she couldn't prove it yet.

Then, together, they decided to leave the desolate train station and see the Crimson City themselves.