everyone starts looking around worried when you realize that taylor and logan were nowhere to be seen, then all of a sudden you hear several thumps so you all stare in the direction where it came from.

"logan?!" you exclaim and starts crawling towards the edge since you didn't wanna risk standing up and falling off. "taylor??" tyler yells and follows after you since he assumed that the two of them would be with each other.

the others start going in different directions as they look around for the two. then after a few seconds ben grabs aiden's arm and points down at logan that was under you all and was nearly slipping off the train.

aiden let out a pretty loud, "logan?!" so you and tyler snap your head towards them. ashlyn was quicker though since she crawled closer towards the two, "did you find him?!" "what about taylor?!"

logan slowly starts slipping even further off but luckily taylor was there to grab his arm and help him back onto the train. "logan, buddy, wake up!" she yells with a shriek. she then looks up at you five, "guys, open the cart door while i hold onto-" "uwwwahh!"

she snaps her head back towards logan who had become conscious. "logan you're okay!" "i'm not! i'm not okay!"

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

you slump down onto the ground of the cart (that the train was transporting) and lean back while using your hands to support your weight. "can't believe we pulled that off..." you whine.

you seven were all sitting in a circle while panting and ashlyn looks around at everyone concerned since you all had literally just jumped onto a moving train and somehow not died.

"no one broke anything right?" she asks even though everyone had bruises and small cuts from the fall. you groan and touch your cheek and then look at your hand that had some blood on it.

logan looks to the left, "i don't think so...i lost my glasses though..." he says to the wall. ashlyn sweat drops at the sight, "i'm over here." "oh." logan looks to the right instead so that he was looking at you.

ashlyn lost a bit of hope.

'wrist sprain.' ben signs so you look at him concerned. 'you okay?' you sign to him and he nods in response.

aiden on the other hand had his signature smile on his face. "i'm good." he replies with a hint of nonchalance as taylor nervously looks down at her chest, "i think i bruised a rib, but it's not broken.. probably."

tyler leans back with a loud groan. "everything hurts." he whines and you point to your cheek that was bleeding, "i think i might've cut my cheek somehow..." "yeah genius, like the blood doesn't give it away."

"tyler, i am this close to throwing you off this train." "ha! i'd like to see you try, pretty." you frown and jump onto him as you two start rolling around on the floor in a playful wrestle.

taylor looks at you two and lets out a relieved sigh, "i hate to say it, but i kinda miss their fighting.." she says which made aiden nod in agreement. "...yeah, miss their 'troupe' somehow."

ashlyn looks at you two and shakes her head slowly but she had a small smile on her face, happy that despite everything, you're still yourself... oh, and tyler too ig.

she then turns serious again and looks at everyone else. "did the money alex gave us make it?" she asks so aiden nods his head, pulling out the money that was in his pocket before putting it back in again so it wouldn't get lost.

"good, cause the phone definitely didn't..." she frowns as she remembers how she had accidentally let go of the phone and how it hit you in the face which caused you to almost fall off the train if it wasn't for tyler.

aiden then brightens up as he remembers something. "oh, i should probably mention that ben dented the train cart earlier. like full on crumpled it and left a hand impression...i'm glad that wasn't my leg."

he shudders as he remembers how ben left a hand print on the train cart that was made out of STEEL.

tyler pins you down to the floor and seemed to be thinking about something. "how'd he do that??" he asks himself but let out a grunt when you flip him over so you were pinning him down.

"probably the same way i snapped the infected guy's neck." you tell him as he blushes as the way you were straddling him. taylor forces a smile when she sees the position, "are you two gonna fight or-"

"SHUT UP!" "SHUT UP!!" you and tyler yell at the same time and step away from each other.

we're all progressively becoming more and more like the phantoms. we've become faster, stronger, and more volatile. and it's not just us racing against an unknown time limit and unknown changes...

it's probably worse for our parents (and cat..and child) since they're stuck in the phantom dimension constantly. what if by the time we do find a solution and help, they're already...

"so...are we all that strong now or just ben?" taylor asks as she pokes ben's bicep. logan looks at her, "most likely all of us...though i'm not sure if that's a good sign." he sweat drops.

aiden beams, "i could go punch the wall and find out?" "yeah, go break your hand. smart idea." tyler rolls his eyes.

the fake blonde pouts and then comes up with an idea, "hey... speaking of punching things. remember when n/n punched that machine back at the arcade?" he brings up a nostalgic memory.

logan nervously nods, "yeah..." he looks away with a sweat drop as he remembers just how hard you hit that thing so it fell over. aiden smiles, "so that must mean she's the strongest, right?"

almost everyone raised a eyebrow at his statement and turned towards you- only to see you hanging out the open train cart while holding onto the door for your dear life since the wind was HARSH.

ben let out a quiet gasp and runs over to get you safely back inside the cart, which made everyone sweat drop and immediately trash the idea of you being the strongest.

ashlyn closes her eyes and then opens them again after a while. "we'll get off the train once it starts slowing down for it's next stop. then we'll find some food, buy some gear, and figure out the best way to get to new york from wherever we end up."

she looks up and realizes that you, tyler and aiden had somehow ended up in a three-man fight?? she felt a tick mark appear on her forehead as she stands up and approaches you three.

...

"sorry ma'am." you three say in unison and bow in front of her with bumps on your heads from her hitting you three, while she was standing before you three with her arms crossed.

logan chuckles and looks at the sight even though he couldn't see but then his smile dropped when he remembered an important detail. "ah...can't they just track the train we're on right now and make it stop?"

everyone shut up at his question but then let out a simultaneous groan. "WE CAN'T CATCH A BREAK!" tyler yells while pulling at his hair. taylor on the other hand had a blank expression on her face, "oh right... they can do that."

and as if just on cue, the train stopped, which made it let out a loud screech that irritated ashlyn. but instead of whining about it, she stood up. "we need to get off the train." she says sternly while walking over to the opening of the cart.

──✧˚.⋆

when you all had succesfully jumped out of the train and into the forest, to say that you all were exhausted was an understatement. everyone was resting on the wet grass since it was raining and you all looked like you escaped a mental asylum (i wonder why..).

then we hid in the trees while they conducted an impromptu train search, and while we did y/n had commented "i bet you're getting nostalgic, ty." but a few seconds later the branch she was on snapped and ben had to catch her.

both tyler and y/n fought when we got down, it was a waste of time but we allowed it.

after hours, they started the train back up again, and we hopped back on. we got off again when the train started to slow down for its next stop. snuck onto a different train, hid in the train cart during the night to avoid the horde of phantoms.

and finally made it to a small town the next day. we used the money alex had given us to get a phone, and get supplies, like new clothes. 

so you had gotten yourself some new clothes that consisted of grey jeans (ashlyn forced you to wear actual jeans), and a black long-sleeved turtleneck, and you wore an oversized short-sleeved sage green v-shirt over it.

aiden had accusingly pointed at you and yelled, "skater girl?!" which actually offended you if you're being honest.

oh, and something else happened too regarding you and logan. wink wink, remember that promise?

now moving on, we've finally made it to a dingy motel where we can clean up and rest for a moment. "...i'm starving." taylor whines, she was resting on the bed on her stomach while her feet were in the air.

ashlyn was laying next to her and the poor girl was barely keeping her eyes open. "...let's get some rest first, then we'll go find something to eat." she mumbles and in the blink of an eye, she was asleep.

taylor yawns and goes to cuddle up to ashlyn in the most straight way possible while aiden let out a sigh. "looks like the girls are out, how about you n/n-" he choked on his own spit when he saw you.

you and ben were sitting by the table since taylor, aiden and ashlyn had the bed while tyler and logan had the sleeping bags. you and ben however, were both asleep.

what shocked him was that ben was resting on the table while you on the other hand, had your arms crossed even though you were passed out and instead of falling alseep forwards, your head looked like it snapped backwards.

he lets out a sigh and slowly stands up to adjust your uncomfortable sleeping position, he gently takes your head and puts it onto the table next to ben before he let out a yawn and went back to the bed.

everyone was asleep now, you and ben were sleeping by the table, aiden, ashlyn and taylor were on the bed while logan and tyler were on the floor in sleeping bags. if you were awake, you'd comment on how this reminded you of the first night in the phantom dimension.

but right now, you just needed sleep.

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

the next day you all had gone to eat, and boy you were HUNGRY. everyone was wearing their new outfits paired with caps or beanies (you had a beanie) since you didn't wanna get recognized.

you were sitting in between tyler and ben while taylor sat by the window since she quite proudly proclaimed, "i wanna see the beauty in life while i can" so you let her sit by the window.

your food was almost gone and you tried to snatch some from tyler but he had refused and almost stabbed your hand at your attempt so you gave up and ate some from ben's, who was much kinder about sharing.

ashlyn takes a sip of her drink before looking at everyone, "alright, let's figure out our options of transportation since we've figured out where we are." she says but was cut off by aiden, "fill me in when i get back, i gotta use the restroom."

after aiden had gone to the bathroom, tyler quickly followed for some odd reason so you took this chance to steal some of his food discreetly.

then after a while of waiting for them you had to go to the toilet aswell so you stood up and loudly proclaimed that you had to shit before walking into the girls' restroom. and after doing your business you washed your hands.

"y/n." you hear someone call out your name so you look up at the mirror and yelp when you see your reflection.

you looked like... a monster, you looked like you had been living in the phantom dimension for over a decade. the other you had frizzy hair and a wide, eerie smile on her face. "y/n." she says again.

the other you slowly reaches out her hand to touch your face but you screeched and hit the mirror, the mirror shattering into pieces as your reflection turns back to normal. you pant and run a hand throguh your hair, "fuck.."

yes, you had been having dreams about the old, brash, and mean you trying to kill the current you. but the only difference was that the old you looked like a phantom in your dreams, actually fuck it, it was just really fucking creepy.

you can't think about smart options like ash, think fast like aiden or any of the others. you're just dead weight that got herself killed trying to save her friend, then why are you having such werid dreams?

why can't ashlyn have weird dreams like that instead? not that you want her to suffer instead of you, but she plays a better role than you anyway. and besides, you're sure that nobody else in the group is having these dreams.

unless, tyler?

⋆.˚✧────────✧˚.⋆

a/n: bruv i hope these dreams dont play a big role in the webtoon because istg
if i find out that theyre something special i am going to delete this whole book and kill aiden instead of y/n because wtf

chapter published. february 27, 2025