The Beast on the Tracks

by Amy Cross

  Opposite, there's a bar that seems relatively busy. I'd like to be a good boy and just drive away, but I also know that I'm way too tired to be behind the wheel. So, figuring that the responsible thing would be to try to find a room for the night, I climb out of the car and make my way toward the bar's front door.

  ***

  “Okay,” the barmaid says with a smile, “I'll send him over in a few minutes. Thanks.”

  As she puts the phone down, I can already tell that she's been successful.

  “The Hopper Hotel has a room that you're gonna love,” she explains. “The hotel's just round the corner, so it won't take you long to get there. Now, how about one drink for the road?”

  “I don't know,” I reply, “I think maybe...”

  “One drink,” she adds, interrupting me. “You can't just come into a place like this, ask for help finding a room, and then wander off without buying anything. That'd be... antisocial. Plus, this place really needs the money.”

  “I'll take a whiskey,” I tell her. “Single malt, one cube of ice.”

  “Same for me!” a guy slurs nearby, barely able to sit at the bar without sliding off his stool.

  “No, you're done for the night, Vince,” the barmaid replies as she heads over to grab a glass. “I'm cutting you off. Go home.”

  The drunk guy mutters something angrily under his breath as he gets to his feet and stumbles away. I turn and watch him go, and I feel a flash of relief that at least I'm not at that stage of alcoholism. Not yet, anyway. I could get there, though. I think I have it in me to be a real drunk one day, and at some point I'm definitely going to have to sort myself out. After all, I don't want to become a total cliché. Drunk, divorced middle-aged lawyers aren't exactly a rarity in this world.

  “There you go,” the barmaid says, setting a drink down in front of me. “This one's on the house, by the way.”

  “I thought you said -”

  “I guess I'm just trying to be nice,” she adds. “Let's just say that it's been a long shift, and sometimes I like to do little nice things to remind myself that there's still some good in the world.” She pauses. “So what brings you to Sobolton, anyway?”

  “I'm just passing through,” I explain. “I'm a lawyer, I've been doing some work with some outreach projects. Trying to get kids to make the right choices in life, that sort of thing.”

  “Nice,” she replies. “You must really love lawyering.”

  I open my mouth to answer, but then I hesitate for a moment.

  “I always wanted to be a teacher, actually,” I admit finally.

  “Oh, snap! Me too. Or a belly dancer. Or a weather reporter. Or, and I know this'll sound crazy, but I've always liked the sound of drag racing.”

  “That's still something I could do some day,” I continue. “Teaching, I mean. Maybe. I guess it's never too late to make a different choice, right? I just want to help people.”

  “Sounds like you're doing that already.”

  “Most of the kids in the project have just made bad choices,” I tell her. “Getting them to realize they still have choices is... difficult. In some cases, they still have to face the consequences of their previous actions, and they think the whole world is against them. And the truth is, sometimes it's really hard to get people to change. There's no guarantee that things will work out. The universe doesn't tend to re-order itself just so a few people can be happy.”

  “That sounds profound,” she replies, with a faint smile. “It's good that you want to help people, though. I wanted to do that once, but...”

  Her voice trails off.

  “But what?” I ask.

  “It's not easy doing big things in a small town,” she says. “Or is that just an excuse?”

  For a moment, there's an awkward silence. I want to say something that'll help her, that'll maybe inspire her, but I can't think of a goddamn thing. And then, just as I figure I need to at least make some smalltalk, her phone buzzes and she checks her message.

  “Oh, shut up,” she mutters as she types a reply.

  “Just my stupid, braindead boyfriend.”

  “Oh.”

  I have to admit, for a moment there I feel a flicker of regret. I mean, this barmaid is hot and very friendly, but she's given no indication that she's interested in me. Besides, I'm just passing through Sobolton, so it's not as if there'd be any kind of future to pursue. I guess maybe I'm just a lonely guy who liked talking to a pretty girl for a few minutes.

  “I should get over to the hotel and check in,” I say finally.

  “Out the front door, turn right, right again, and you can't miss it.” She's typing another message. “Stupid Luke. Why can't he just pick me up after work like a regular boyfriend?”

  “My name's Richard, by the way,” I say, holding a hand out toward her across the bar.

  “Hi, Richard,” she replies, shaking my hand but clearly more interested in her phone now. “I'm Debs. Sorry, I really have to reply to this. Good luck at the hotel. And tell my buddy Milly at the reception desk that I say hi!”

  ***

  Wandering out of the bar, I stop and look up at the sky. Maybe I don't look at the sky often enough, or maybe something's just different tonight, but I swear the stars seem brighter somehow. I guess there's just less light pollution here, or maybe I'm just imagining things. Maybe I'm just being an old romantic.

  I head to my car and grab a few things, and then I make my way back past the bar in search of the hotel. To be honest, I'm starting to think that this stopover was a bad idea, that I should have just pushed on through the night and driven home. Sure, tiredness can kill when you're behind the wheel of a car, but that's something that happens to other people. I'd have been fine. And as I round the corner and spot the hotel ahead, I'm really, truly starting to think that it'd be good to get home and sleep in my own bed. I slow my pace as I approach the hotel, and then I stop by the window and look through to reception.

  There's a girl sitting at the desk, most likely waiting for me.

  I take a deep breath as I try to decide what to do. I'm not usually very indecisive, but right now I feel utterly torn. The sensible side of my brain is telling me to go inside and stay the night, while there's another part of me that thinks another five hours behind the wheel wouldn't be too risky. The worst thing, of course, would be to just stand out here dithering, so I tell myself that it's time to make a choice. Am I going to do the smart thing and check in to this seemingly very lovely hotel?

  Yes or no?

  ***

  No, I'm fine. Definitely. Really. I don't need to stop and rest.

  Four hours after leaving Sobolton, my eyes are feeling really sore. I'm driving along a fairly quiet road, and I have to admit that I'm starting to think that I should have gone into the hotel after all. At the same time, I only have another hour to go before I can get to the comfort of my own bed, and frankly I'm longing for the feel of my memory foam pro-tech self-cooling pillow under my head. I mean, seriously, until you've tried a $500 pillow, you have never slept properly.

  Wow, listen to me.

  I'm such a pompous ass.

  Still, the thought of that pillow is very alluring right now, and I'm struggling to keep from closing my eyes. Just an hour to go, maybe less, and then I can walk through my own front door. That's gotta be better than sleeping in some anonymous hotel room, right? Plus, I can always have a glass of wine before bed, just to make sure that I really have no trouble nodding off. Just one glass. One delicious glass, and then bed. Man, until you've tried a $500 pillow, you can't begin to -

  Realizing that I'm falling asleep, I sit up straight, but the car is already veering off the side of the road. I turn the wheel sharply, too sharply as it turns out, sending the car thudding back the other way. This time I'm too slow to react, and the car crashes off the side of the road and hits a ditch. And then, as the entire vehicle spins around and slams into a tree, I realize that there's one thing I forgot to do when I set off from Sobolton. For the pas
t four hours, I've been driving without my safety belt attached.

  The force of the impact rips me out of the car, sending me crashing through the windshield and then out into the cold night. I hit something – a tree, maybe – and I feel bones shatter in my chest and neck and head as I'm spun off into another tree and then knocked hard to the ground. I roll for a short distance, down a narrow incline, before coming to a stop at the bottom. Flat on my back, I'm somehow still conscious, but I swear I can feel blood leaking from somewhere inside my head, and a moment later I realize that I'm not breathing. I try to get air into my lungs, but all I manage is a very faint, very dry gasp.

  This is not the end.

  I'm not going to die here.

  I wasn't even that tired, I was just dozing, and I wasn't going too fast. At worst, I should have pranged the side of the car, but a crash like this is way too huge. I barely even closed my eyes, I swear.

  This isn't fair.

  I should have stayed in that dumb little town. I should have checked into that hotel. I won't make that mistake again, I'll always be more careful. I just need to survive tonight, I have so much work I still need to do. I'm still not breathing, though, and I can feel something sharp at the back of my throat, like a piece of bone that's broken through. I can't move my arms or legs, and for some reason I still can't breathe. My eyes begin to close, just as the stars all dim at once, and that last thing I think is that I'm so very cold.

  ***

  Several hours earlier...

  Yes.

  I mean, of course I'm not going to drive home. I spend so much time advising other people on what's the smart thing to do, so it'd be supremely idiotic and hypocritical of me to jump into my car when I'm so tired. I'm a great driver so I'm sure I wouldn't have any problems, but it's better not to take the risk.

  So I push open the door and step into the hotel.

  As I approach the desk, the girl closes some books that she was studying. Glancing down, I see that she appears to be studying for some kind of teaching qualification. I glance at her name-badge, and then I look at her face and see the most beautiful eyes staring back at me. For a moment, I'm actually not sure what to say. The crazy thing is, I almost feel as if I've met this girl before, even though I know that's impossible.

  “Hi,” she says with a smile, “are you the guy from the bar? My friend just called through and said that you need a room.”

  “Yes,” I reply, before realizing that I probably sound a little dumb. “I mean... Yes.”

  “Yes?”

  “Yes.”

  Her smile grows. “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.” I sigh as I realize that I must be coming across really badly. “Richard,” I add finally. “Richard Archer.”

  “Well, Mr. Archer,” she replies, as she starts tapping at her computer, “you're in luck. We're not very busy tonight, so I can get you an upgrade to one of our best rooms, at no extra cost.”

  “I don't mind paying,” I blurt out.

  “It's okay,” she says. “Let me treat you.”

  As she continues to type, I try desperately to think of something cool or witty to say. This Milly girl – I got the name from the badge she's wearing – is the first person who has ever made me feel genuinely lost for words, so this is not a situation that feels even remotely familiar. I don't even feel particularly tired anymore; just stupid, and a little out of my depth.

  “Sorry,” she mutters, “you might want to take a seat. I need to reboot the computer.”

  I sit down as she turns the machine off and on again. For a moment, there's a slightly awkward silence between us, but then I notice that she's looking toward the window. Turning, I follow her gaze and see that she's looking at the sky in the distance. The stars are still very bright, and after a few seconds I turn back to her.

  “Pretty cool night, huh?” I say. “I've never seen the sky like it.”

  “I have,” she replies.

  “Happens a lot here, does it?”

  “No.” She pauses. “Every few years. But to be honest, no-one else ever seems to notice. You're the first person apart from me who ever mentioned it.”

  “I don't see how anyone could miss it,” I reply. “The stars are just so much brighter tonight.”

  “Sometimes I wonder if it means something.”

  “What do you think it could mean?”

  She seems lost in thought for a moment. The computer has finished rebooting, but she doesn't seem to have noticed. Instead, she's still looking at the window, almost as if she's mesmerized.

  “I don't know,” she says finally, turning to me again. “I think it means something, something big, but I think maybe there's just no way to know what. All I know is that when the stars are like this, I feel as if the universe has opened up a little. Sometimes that's scary, because I feel as if there's so much evil out there, but sometimes I think there's a lot of good as well. I guess I just hope that it somehow balances out.”

  “I can't imagine there's much evil in a place like Sobolton,” I tell her.

  “You'd be surprised. Sometimes I go down to the old railroad. There used to be a line that ran right through town, but it was discontinued and removed years ago. You can still find traces of where it used to be, and sometimes I go there and I feel like there's some kind of... echo.”

  “Of what?” I ask.

  “I don't know.” She smiles. “I must sound crazy, huh? Please, ignore me.”

  She turns to the computer and logs back in.

  “I don't think you sound crazy,” I tell her. “In fact, sometimes I feel the same. Sometimes I feel as if the world is constantly in flux and every choices sends me spiraling off into another set of possibilities. Sometimes I think there's so much I don't know, even about my own life. For example...” I pause, wondering whether I should say what I'm thinking, but then I realize that there's no point hiding anything. “For example,” I continue, “I don't know why, but I have this really strong feeling that you and I have met before.”

  “Me too,” she blurts out, seemingly relieved that I said it first. “I know we haven't, I know it's impossible. I just think that...”

  Her voice trails off, and a moment later the computer beeps.

  “It's still not working,” Milly mutters as she taps at the keyboard. “I'm really sorry, it's gonna take a while longer, but I think I'll have to check you in manually, using the forms. Is that okay?”

  “That's fine,” I tell her. “I'm in no rush.”

  “You'll need this,” she says, taking a pen from a pot and handing it to me. She seems very nervous now, as if she can't quite bring herself to look at me. “I'm afraid we're going to have to do this the old school way.”

  “Again, I'm fine with that,” I reply as I take the pen, “and -”

  Before I can finish, our fingers touch and I'm filled with the sudden certainty that I have met Milly before. In a flash, I remember so many things that I know can't possibly have happened. I see Milly kneeling on a railroad in the moonlight, and then I see her running through a cemetery, and screaming in some kind of bunker. Then I see her smiling at me in a forest, and sobbing in the snow, and shivering in some kind of rundown shack, and walking along an empty stretch of track and standing in the kitchen at a party and -

  Suddenly she pulls back, breaking the connection and letting the pen fall onto the desk. At the same time, she looks utterly astonished, almost as if she also experienced some kind of... moment.

  For a few seconds, we sit in silence.

  “Are you okay?” I ask finally.

  She continues to stare at me, but she's clearly lost for words.

  That's how we sit for a little while, as I try to work out whether to mention the strange memories that seemed to pop into my head from nowhere. I don't want to freak Milly out, but it's as if I remembered a whole other existence, and I'm starting to think that the same thing happened to her. And as I try to work out how to begin the craziest conversation of my life, I see the window reflecte
d in the mirror behind Milly's head, and I watch as a shooting star races across the night sky.

  No matter how chaotic the universe might feel, sometimes it's still possible to find your way to where you're meant to be.

  BOOKS BY AMY CROSS

  1. Dark Season: The Complete First Series (2011)

  2. Werewolves of Soho (Lupine Howl book 1) (2012)

  3. Werewolves of the Other London (Lupine Howl book 2) (2012)

  4. Ghosts: The Complete Series (2012)

  5. Dark Season: The Complete Second Series (2012)

  6. The Children of Black Annis (Lupine Howl book 3) (2012)

  7. Destiny of the Last Wolf (Lupine Howl book 4) (2012)

  8. Asylum (The Asylum Trilogy book 1) (2012)

  9. Dark Season: The Complete Third Series (2013)

  10. Devil's Briar (2013)

  11. Broken Blue (The Broken Trilogy book 1) (2013)

  12. The Night Girl (2013)

  13. Days 1 to 4 (Mass Extinction Event book 1) (2013)

  14. Days 5 to 8 (Mass Extinction Event book 2) (2013)

  15. The Library (The Library Chronicles book 1) (2013)

  16. American Coven (2013)

  17. Werewolves of Sangreth (Lupine Howl book 5) (2013)

  18. Broken White (The Broken Trilogy book 2) (2013)

  19. Grave Girl (Grave Girl book 1) (2013)

  20. Other People's Bodies (2013)

  21. The Shades (2013)

  22. The Vampire's Grave and Other Stories (2013)

  23. Darper Danver: The Complete First Series (2013)

  24. The Hollow Church (2013)

  25. The Dead and the Dying (2013)

  26. Days 9 to 16 (Mass Extinction Event book 3) (2013)

  27. The Girl Who Never Came Back (2013)

  28. Ward Z (The Ward Z Series book 1) (2013)

  29. Journey to the Library (The Library Chronicles book 2) (2014)

  30. The Vampires of Tor Cliff Asylum (2014)