A short story that started as an exercise from the Mood lesson.

Ron Qin worked on this story for a year and a half on and off from last year until now, from P5 to P6, perfecting the story from draft to completion.

The tiles of the station were all cracked and the dim lights were barely illuminating the dark, empty platform, Olivia was lost in her own thoughts.

"A quarter past eleven," she mumbled, convincing herself. Her heart was racing, like a wild deer chased by a hunter. Her heart was anything but calm.

Short of breath, Olivia’s fingers clasped tight around her bag tighter and tighter against the hard leather. She was alone, for a moment she thought the world was like an empty room full of loneliness and fright.

Yoriichi loomed out of the darkness with his red coat. He had a red scar that shaped like a flame on his left side of his forehead and held a red sword that shined like the sun. He stepped around, glancing here and there until something compelled him to stop for a brief minute. The flickering light buzzing…

Yoriichi glanced towards Olivia.

“You were chased by a ghost, weren’t you?”

Who is this man? Olivia thought to herself, How does he know?

Olivia lied, telling the man she wasn’t followed by a ghost. He seemed unconvinced.

“Are you waiting for someone?” she asked.

The train arrived with a screeching halt that pierced the night, its dreamy whistle echoing in the air.

As Olivia approached to board the train car, Yoriichi stood in front of her.

"There are things you need to understand first," his eyes scanned the shadows around them.

"What things?" she asked, her voice beginning to break.

“Do you believe in demons?” asked Yoriichi .

“Certainly not.” she replied.

His eyes sparkled with a light of hope, excitement and dread spread in Olivia’s mind, "What do you mean? I just want to go home."

"Home?" He chuckled .

"I don't understand," she whispered, feeling the pressure of life on her.

"I wanted to escape from the ghost." she whimpered.

"Escape?" he echoed, "You really think that's how you run from ghosts? " He stepped back a little, giving her some space but she was filled with dread.

Yoriichi said, "It's up to you, believe it or not.”

Olivia thought, “Fine but I’ll keep an eye on you.”

She said she believed him but she was actually doubtful in her mind. Anyways, she still asked, “B-But how are we going to beat the demons?

“We are just normal people,” Yoriichi shrugged, “Not me.”

“What do you mean?”

He didn’t say anything but he pulled out his sword and chopped it into a hard iron block. Within a blink of an eye, the iron block shattered to a million pieces.

The ghost suddenly appeared, it said, “It’s all your fault!” The ghost sprinted to them. Yoriichi pulled out his sword and chopped the ghost into two halves. It disappeared into thin air.

“Calm down, nobody will harm you when I’m around.”

But the ghost appeared again, Yoriichi frowned and thought, “An Unkillable Ghost?” He asked Olivia seriously, “Did you do something bad to him?”

Olivia’s head suddenly blew up. She remembered everything. It That was a sunny day, Olivia was walking on Dueling Lane. She witnessed a murder case, James was wearing a black shirt and his hood over his face. Tom, who was murdered, called for help but she was too scared to help and ran away.

That night, a storm was blowing furiously, the clouds were crying and the rain was sobbing. Olivia dug her head in the pillow. When she was sleeping as a log in midnight, she suddenly woke up and sat up. She shouted, “No! Please don’t kill me!, I’m really sorry.”

After that day, she suffered from nightmares about that scene everyday.” Now, Tom became a ghost and wanted revenge.”

Olivia said, “Oh, sorry man. I was just too scared to help you. Please forgive me.”

The ghost said softly, “Thank you for these words.” The ghost disappeared.

Olivia said, “I’m glad it’s finally over. I won't suffer anymore.”

As the last echo of the ghost disappeared. She felt lighter, as if a giant rock had been lifted from her shoulders.

Yoriichi put his sword back in its scabbard and told Olivia, “You faced your past, Olivia. That takes a lot of courage.”

Olivia nodded and said, “Now, I finally know running won’t solve anything. I have to face my fears.”

Olivia felt a rush of hope. The journey which was waiting for her was uncertain but she was ready to face it.

When the train arrived at the station, she said to Yoriichi, “Bye. Thanks for protecting me. I hope we can meet again!”

And as the train drove into the night, she knew this was not only the last train home. She watched the train of her old life disappear by the window.

As the sun rose, a ton of possibilities were waiting for her.

The Last Train Home