Laura's POV—
Hah! Kristen really pissed me off! Just as I was about to sit back in my seat, a man approached me. He asked, "Why aren't you taking part in our discussion?" I observed from head to toe, immediately recognizing him.
"You are Gabriel Dupont, right?"
He nodded his head and asked, "How do you know me?"
Gabriel's blue eyes held a bit of confusion, while his black hair was shining with an invisible aura. Of course, this aura can only be felt by those who know him, and I, for one, know him.
"Are you kidding me? I have watched all your movies, albeit with subtitles. Please don't be angry, okay?"
Smirking, Gabriel asked, "Why should I be angry with you? Honestly, I am really glad to meet a fan of mine in this unknown train. Although, I never expected someone here would be a fan of French movies."
"It's their fault. French movies are really good. And I am a fan of them."
Suddenly, someone put a hand on my shoulder. Turning back, I saw Louie to be smiling at me... but that smile didn't reach his eyes. His line of vision was targeted on my... neck. Oh, it seems I have forgotten to hide those hickeys.
"Louie, did you find something? A clue? Or, some important information," I asked. I slowly removed his hand from my shoulder and turned towards Gabriel, who was clearly having fun at my predicament.
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing," said Louie. His voice was dangerously low.
"Louie, see you later, okay?" I faked a smile, "Gabriel, you too."
Just as I was about to go, Gabriel raised his right hand towards me. A handshake? When I put my hand on his, he rubbed his thumb on my fingers. Then, he put a kiss on the back of my hand.
"We, Frenchmen like to follow some rules when we meet a beautiful woman," said Gabriel.
"Can I go now?" He smiled and released my hand. Shaking my head, I immediately left the company of those two. I need a new place to sit and analyse my situation. Sometimes, I really hate this body of mine.
The train's windows were blocked by a black layer. Whoever, it is... its motive is to cutoff us from the outside world. Then again, this outside world should exist for us to be cut off from.
"We should try to escape from this train," said a middle-aged woman.
"You can't. There is no way for us to get out of this train."
"You can only go up to the restrooms on each side of this carriage. We can't enter any other carriage."
Suddenly, the train doors snapped open. Everyone stopped talking. Their eyes welled up with hope. Finally, they can get off this wretched train.
Something feels wrong here. I noticed that the windows were now back to normal. Can't these idiots sense anything wrong here? Why did the train stop here? The doors opened and so did the windows. There is no way this train is allowing to escape from here.
Seeing no one was moving towards the door, I walked towards it and looked outside. The train has stopped somewhere in the middle of a road. Shops were on the both sides of the road.
Suddenly, someone pushed me back, making me crash on the train's floor with a thud.
"Stand back, little girl. Either go out or, make a way," said a very scary looking man. He was almost 6 feet tall and had a very muscular body.
He continued, "Do you have any problem?" His gaze was full of lecherous intent.
I lowered my eyes and said, "I don't have any problem. In fact, I am sorry for blocking the door."
The man laughed loudly. "Good! A woman like you really knows her place! Maybe I can play with you after we live this place. What do you say?"
Before I could say anything, a cold mechanical voice interrupted me. It said, "Welcome! I humbly welcome all you players to this train. It's not just a train... it's something which would determine your fate. But at the end, you are the one who will determine your fate. Life or death, it's all in your hands."
"What the fuck are you blabbering about? Who are you to determine my fate?" yelled the man, who had pushed me earlier.
"Player, you should keep your temper in check. It's not good for your already dead body."
Fuck! Did this robot... or, guy just dropped the 'bomb of truth?' Is he mad? No, perhaps it wants to create chaos among these disgruntled group of people.
"What do we mean? We are not dead!"
"Yeah! We are alive!"
"Why are you lying to us? Is this a prank? Where is the camera?"
"I warn you. I am going to sue you, when I leave this place. Next time, you will hear from my lawyers!"
"I will destroy your reality show!"
Multiple threats and idiotic sentences were thrown in the air. Except me, nobody believed its words.
"Players. Keep quiet or, else... I will kill all of you."
A shiver ran down everyone's spine. Its words were cold, unfeeling, and without mercy. I could feel it wasn't lying to us. It may really kill us if we don't control ourselves.
It continued, "All of you are dead in your world. Think carefully, and tell yourself. What happened before you all came here? Some of you had shown signs of heart attack. Some were killed or, murdered. And the rest were killed in an accident. Overall, you have all died once."
Everyone's face paled. I resisted the urge to slap myself at their foolishness. How could they not know this? Couldn't they see a pattern was formed by their words?
"Once?" asked Kristen, who was standing beside me. I flinched at her sudden appearance. Where did she come from?"
"You surprised me. No one here was able to catch on my words, yet you did. Rejoice player, I will give you a token at the end of our discussion."
Everyone was giving Kristen strange looks. Jealously, admiration, fear, and hatred. It was like a block of abstract noun was broken down to produce residues called emotions.
"As I said before, at the end... each one of you will determine your fate. Your life or death lies in your hand. Although for now, this train holds your fate. It will decide whether you will live or die."
"I don't believe you! I want to get out from here!" yelled an old woman. After her, some people also voiced their desire to get out of this train. It's not at all surprising to see some people are still not using their brains. They believe that it is lying to them, and everything will be back to normal once they leave this train.
"Very well. If you want to leave, you can. Listen carefully! All of you can decide for yourself, whether you want to stay in this train or not. But I warn you. Leaving this train won't end well for you."