[The train will reach its final station shortly after this announcement. All passengers must depart the train at this station. Please retrieve your personal belongings at the luggage area at the back of the cabin.

      We hope you have a pleasant stay.]

“I’ll see how it goes, just about now.”

The endless abyss out the window slowly grows fainter. The train gradually emerges out of the endless tunnel. Outside of the cold train windows, I see a dense forest of tree-like fauna. The sky is pitch black, just as usual. The night here in Entelechia is endless, and I don't know why. Nobody knows why, even to this "day". Having worked here for months, there is not a lot of information about my workplace, which is expected considering how little the number of entities, let alone humans, that pass by here. Occasionally, there are ‘seasons’ which bring a slight amount of light, but that’s what I’ve heard from those that have passed by and saw a slightly brighter sky. How frequent or infrequent it is, is anyone’s guess.

The train slows down to a halt. It’s arrival signaled by the screeching sound of brakes grappling at the tracks. I proceed straight to the doors, my luggage and suitcase in hand, not thinking much. For a moment, I forgot about the circumstances I have gotten myself into. As the doors part, I am greeted by a red sphere, floating in the middle of the station.

It’s Chester.

I step off the train and walk straight towards Chester. The doors close shut behind me and the train starts moving again. Soon, the last coach is out of sight. As it passes, the same breeze grazes at my face and back.

“Mazaka,” Chester blurts out. “What is that black suitcase about?”

I highly doubt telling Chester I have a gun would change anything, but in any case, I’d rather not tell him.

“I kept a few, things that I’d want to place on the shelves as a decoration.”

“Ah, if that's the case, then you better not lose it. Let’s head back to the cafe, shall we?”

We exit the station and looked towards the direction of the only building in the vicinity.

As I exit the station, I feel the sharply cold wind touching, caressing at my face. Temperature fluctuations here at Entelechia are …… extreme, to the point both I and Chester have run out of superlative terms to describe the “weather” here, if it even is one at all. I remember the first time I was here, it was below freezing. Within a few days, however, I was sweating my skin out. Luckily for me, tonight I wore my jacket.

In front of us is the tree-like fauna I saw from the train’s window just now. It has taken over the place, and without much or any livestock to graze at the overgrowth, it is free to expand its boundaries at will. Since the sun is taken out of the equation in this world, the “greenery” here grows drastically different from what a human would call a “plant”. Some of the leaves of the gnarly looking trees are midnight blue, while most of them boast yellow-brown leaves, giving the place an endless autumn-like atmosphere. A stone slab path leads the way into the forest, which ends at the cafe.

A few street lamps line the path, lighting the path with its gentle yellow glow at waist height.

We begin ascending the slabs on the slight slope. It was a pain to drag my luggage up the haphazardly set stones. Chester, of course, has the privilege to coast up the steps without the need to walk. The serene atmosphere as we gradually reach the cafe is occasionally interrupted by the sound of leaves crunching below my feet. Gazing around, my eyes wander in the trees. I feel a sense of peacefulness, similar to the times I ventured my neighborhood forest as a kindergartener. The slight gradient flattens out a few paces before the cafe. In front of both of us is a familiar sight – Blue Horizon Cafe and Patisserie.

“As per what you had said over the line, I have yet to open the cafe to any customers.”

The cafe, originally salvaged from a dilapidated building that once stood here, has a western cottage styled exterior. A few “flowers” native to Entelechia are planted below the windowsills of the windows in varying sizes and beside both front and back doors. Signage adorns the door frames, welcoming travelers and customers alike. An additional extension protrudes out the left side of the building, which was built to accommodate the kitchen. Peeking into one of the windows, it seems that only the ambient lights are turned on, giving it a solemn ambivalent atmosphere.

We began to walk towards the main entran-

“Mazaka, I think I left something at the station… while I was waiting for you.”

“Really? What did you leave behind? I’ll go get it for you.”

“No, it's fine. Ill escort it myself. Go ahead and open up the cafe first, will you?

Chester leaves for the station in haste.

"Escort?"

Chester was already long gone by the time I asked.

Chester runs a brothel now? Never mind, the routine will go one as usual. I face myself towards the oak coloured door. The cold temperatures outside surely do make one yearn for the warm leaking through the seams in the door. I hesitate to reach for the doorknob for a brief moment. It feels as if I have finally reached home, for once. I correlate this feeling with my familiarity with the cafe. I work here, after all.

“Tonight’s a new… day?”  I say, in a half-hearted attempt to prep myself.

“Everything tonight, Mazaka, will play out just fine, as usual……”

I stare blankly into the door thinking, as my hand reaches for the doorknob.

The doorknob feels warm to the touch, like skin.

? ? ?

Someone else’s hand is holding the doorknob!?!!