The Demon Train (Book #1 in the Rachel Payne Horror Series)

by Emily Ford

The Demon Train

  BOOK #1 IN THE Rachel Payne horror SERIES

  By Emily Ford

  Copyright 2014 by Emily Ford

 

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

   

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  CHAPTER ONE

  33 year-old Rachel Payne arrives at the Chicago Amtrak station just in time to catch the California Zephyr. Having just flown in from Cincinnati, and away from the drama of divorcing a cheating husband, she looks forward to the fifty one hour trip to San Francisco and plans to use the alone time to rest and relax. The past year has been the most stressful in her life, what with finding out her husband of eight years not only had an affair but fathered a child outside the marriage, adding insult to injury. Rachel had been trying to have a child for nearly half of their marriage, but she wasn’t able to conceive.

  With the divorce now over, and that chapter in her life finished, she can’t wait to start fresh and has been invited to live with her sister and brother-in-law north of San Francisco. She’s traveling light, and brings with her only a medium sized suit case on wheels and her handbag. She already shipped what little clothes and belongings she had to her sister’s house. When booking the trip, she splurged and purchased a first class ticket with a luxurious sleeping car, hoping the arrangements would help her relax and give her the rest she needs.

  Rachel boards the silver Amtrak train, ticket in hand. She’s not sure how to get to her sleeping cabin and while she’s curiously peering around the train car, a train steward in a bright red jacket, black pants, and red fedora approaches her.

  “Hello Miss. Can I help you find your room?” The steward is polite and gestures for her to let him take her suitcase.

  “Yes, thank you,” she says, wheeling her suitcase to him so he can take the handle.

  “Right this way,” he says, leading her towards the back portion of the train to the sleeping rooms.

  As they walk the aisle through several train cars, other passengers are finding their seats and stowing their luggage underneath them. Many travelers are already sitting at the booth-type seating areas eating and drinking in the dining cars. The steward leads her through the final train car and stops in front of a closed door.

  “Ah, here we are. Room 1846.” He slides open the dark wood panel door to the sleeping cabin and rolls her suitcase in for her.

  The room is small but looks to be comfortable. It has a neatly made bed on the left, and a seating bench on the right. The plush royal blue carpet that lines the walkways of the train continues into her room. A large window with rounded corners has curtains drawn back to reveal a plain cement wall on the outside of the train.

  “Don’t worry, the view will improve remarkably once we get going,” the steward reassures. He turns to Rachel and smiles. He’s a tall young man in his early 20’s, with sandy brown hair cut short beneath the fedora, and dark ocean-blue eyes. His mannerisms are respectful and polite and he comes across as being ahead of his years. He hands her a gold colored key. “This is your room key, just make sure to lock it whenever you leave.”

  Rachel takes the key and reads the steward’s gold name tag. “Thank you, Don,” she says.

  The young man tilts his head and smiles pleasantly. “Is that jasmine you’re wearing?”

  Rachel looks down at her shirt, trying to remember if she put on any scented lotion today. She had not.

  “Um, no, I’m not wearing anything that smells good today,” she says with a sheepish laugh.

  “My mistake. It must be another passenger,” he says. He nods to her and gives her a courteous bow. “It’s been my pleasure, Miss. Please let me know if you need anything during the journey, and I hope you have a wonderful trip!”

  Don leaves her cabin to attend to other passengers. Rachel sets her handbag down on the bed and glances around the tidy cabin. Her eyes land on a small wooden nightstand with a small lamp next to the bed. She goes to the nightstand and opens the drawers. The top drawer is empty, but as she pulls the bottom drawer out something inside rolls around. Half way open, the drawer gets stuck but she tugs it the rest of the way out. Inside is a cylindrical container of salt.

  “Salt?” she says, picking up the half-full container and shaking it.

  The smooth, calm voice of an elderly male flows over the train intercom. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your conductor. It pleases me to announce that we are ready for departure. The doors will now be closing, so please take a seat while we depart the station. Thank you for choosing Amtrak.”

  Don passes by her room just as Rachel is about to put the salt back in the drawer of the nightstand. He notices the cylinder and the puzzled look on her face.

  “Oh, goodness, is that salt?” He says with surprise.

  “Yes, it was in the nightstand!”

  He swiftly reaches for the container and scoops it out of her hand. “I am so sorry about that. I guess the last passenger really liked their food salty!”

  “I guess so,” Rachel says with a laugh. She interprets the steward’s haste to remove the salt as his effort to apologize for the strange article in her room. “It’s okay, really, for all I care it can stay in here!”

  Don shakes his head. “I’ll remove it for you.” He’s holding the salt at arm’s length in front of him, the smile on his face fading. He looks at Rachel, and noticing her inquisitive gaze, forces the smile back. “We’re about to depart!” he quips, then spins and speeds out of her room.