Panic turned Charlie’s stomach up and down. Silence filled the entire railcar, while the man held out a hand expecting a ticket, and Charlie had no idea what to do.
“He’s with me,” the woman said. “Forget about the ticket. For once. Please.”
The giant shook his head. “Can’t do that, Camille, you know that. No ticket means I’ll have to report it.”
“My mom bought it online.” Charlie stared at the train ticket. His hands were sweating, and he kept folding and unfolding them on his lap. “Maybe that’s why it doesn’t look the way it should.”
“Please, Thaddeus, he’s just a kid,” Camille said.
The man licked his lips and opened his mouth as if to say something, then shook his head. “I have to report it.”
“Please, sir.” Charlie waved the ticket in front of him. “Look at it again. It must be valid. I’m sure this is all a mistake—”
He hadn’t even finished talking before Camille got up and sprayed deodorant in the man’s face. It happened so fast Charlie barely registered it.
The man cried out in pain, then stumbled back and raised his hands to his face. He bumped into one of the seats and cried out even more.
“Run!” Camille yelled.
Before Charlie could stop himself, he was running.
Chapter 5
It didn’t make sense to run away. This obviously had to be a mix-up, and even if it wasn’t, why would he run away from the train conductor like some kind of criminal? Yet he didn’t stop. A primal feeling from within the pit of his stomach drove him forward.
The giant’s footsteps boomed behind him, and he sprinted faster. For every step he took, it seemed as if the man came two steps closer. Charlie glanced behind his shoulder….
…and tumbled onto the floor. He rubbed his head, dazed from the fall.
A girl with long blonde hair and skin the color of a porcelain doll stared at him. She had the face of an angel, soft and round, with the bluest eyes he’d ever seen—the color of the ocean. A warm blush crept up his cheeks. She smiled at him, and he smiled back, blinking a few times. Time seemed to slow down, and he almost forgot all about the conductor chasing him. He usually didn’t care much about girls, but she was so beautiful he couldn’t help but stare at her. She wore a long white dress that almost looked like a nightgown, with long sleeves and a collar with fringes.
A hand on his shoulder interrupted his daydream.
“You okay?” a boy asked. He towered over Charlie, a red-haired kid wearing old-fashioned clothes, as if he’d gone to a Renaissance fair or something. He wore a dull brown sweater, the kind Charlie’s grandma liked to sew for Christmas, and that he never ended up wearing except when he was invited over to her house. His pants had tiny buttons below his knees, and they were a darker shade of brown. He even wore white socks all the way to his pants—at least they looked like socks, but Charlie couldn’t be sure.
“I’m fine,” he replied. Flashes of the conductor ran through his mind. “I… I need to go.” He struggled to get up, and his feet slipped on the carpet.
“Take it easy,” the boy said, holding out a hand to steady him.
“Who are you?” a voice as soft as a feather asked.
Charlie turned around and looked where the voice had come from—the girl, of course. She smiled at him, and his heart skipped a beat.
“Oh, uh, well, I… I’m Charlie.”
“Nice to meet you, Charlie. I’m Claire.” She held out a hand.
He could see the veins running under her skin, almost as if her skin was transparent.
“I’m sorry, but I have to go. He’s after me.” Charlie glanced behind him.
She raised her eyebrows. “Who’s after you?”
At that moment, the double doors of the coach flew open, and Thaddeus stood in the entrance. Sweat dripped off his forehead, and his hair was completely disheveled. He breathed loudly, and his eyes widened at the sight of Charlie.
“Him!” Charlie cried out.
The boy went to stand in front of him, blocking him from Thaddeus. “What do you want? You’re scaring him.”
“No valid ticket,” Thaddeus repeated, like it was a line he’d memorized for a test. “I have to bring him to her.”
“To her?” Claire’s voice was shrill, and her eyes widened.
“The kid is obviously new,” the boy said.
Charlie sniffed. Who was he to call him a “kid” when he was probably the same age?
“Give him a break. He probably just got the wrong ticket or something. Big deal. Don’t you remember what it was like when you were new?”
New? Were they some kind of theater group or something? It would explain the funny clothes, the dramatic scenes, and why they didn’t want any outsiders onboard the train.
Charlie’s shoulders relaxed. He could deal with a theater group.
Thaddeus shook his head. “No use, Gregory. The kid comes with me.”
“Don’t let him do it,” the girl said.
Charlie blinked, wondering what she was talking about, but then he realized she wasn’t talking to him, but to this Gregory kid.
Gregory shoved the giant backward.
The girl stood up, her white dress swirling all around her, and grabbed Charlie’s hand. She pulled him along, an iron grip on his arm.
Charlie squirmed in pain. He had no choice but to let her drag him along, while Gregory blocked the conductor from taking off after them.
Chapter 6
Claire led him to the bathroom just outside the coach, and pushed him inside. She came in after him and locked the door. “He’ll buy us some time, but he won’t be able to stall Thaddeus for very long.”
If she weren’t still holding on to his wrist, Charlie would have had trouble figuring out where she was standing. The bathroom was a cramped, claustrophobic space, but strangely enough, his fear of small spaces didn’t bother him now—not while she was still holding his hand. The only light in the room came from moonlight bursting through a small window.
“Let’s sit down. I’m exhausted,” She slumped down against the wall, pulling Charlie with her.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just get tired fast.” She shrugged and her shoulder brushed against his.
His eyes started to adjust to the darkness. The contours of a toilet, which thankfully didn’t smell, and a wash basin appeared. “I’d feel better if the lights were on,” he said.
“He’d notice us right away. By the way, we better whisper, so we can hear if he shows up outside.”
“Okay.”
“So tell me, how did you end up with the wrong ticket?”
“My mom bought it online.”
“Online? What the heck is that?”
Charlie frowned. “You know, online? Like on the internet?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Claire pulled her legs to her chest and rested her head on her knees.
Of course. Maybe those clothes aren’t just for theater plays. Charlie had seen a documentary once about people who still lived like it was the nineteenth century, without internet, television, phones, or anything of the sort. It explained the old-fashioned train, the period style clothing, why this girl had never heard of the internet before.
“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “Why is that Thaddeus guy so worked up about me not having a ticket?”
“He’s actually a nice guy. It’s just that… well, she gets mad when stuff like this happens. If she gets really mad, then she might cancel our trip for next year. She did that once already.”
“That sounds… bad?” Charlie guessed. To be honest, he had no idea what she was talking about.
“It’s the event of the year for us.” The girl looked him straight in the eyes.
His eyes had adjusted to the darkness enough that he could make out most of her face.
“I hate always being stuck inside. You’ll learn to hate it too, in time.”
She thought he was one of them, and
Charlie wasn’t sure how he could tell her he wasn’t, so he let it go. “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t ruin it.”
“Not your fault.” She put a hand on his shoulder, her face so close to his that he could make out the speckles in her eyes and the freckles on her nose.
Then the smell of decay hit him straight in the stomach. He turned away and cursed at the toilet for acting up now, but the smell vanished as quickly as it had appeared.
Noise from outside the door startled them. Charlie jumped up, and Claire put a finger to her lips. “Shh,” she whispered. She got up a lot slower, holding the wall for support. She grimaced, and breathed out loud from effort.
Charlie held her arm and helped her to stand up straight. He put his ear to the door so he could make out what was being said.
“She will not be happy,” Thaddeus said. “She isn’t too fond of you already. You should stay out of trouble.”
“Trouble is my middle name,” Gregory’s voice replied. “Come on, you saw that kid was terrified. He’s obviously brand new. Cut him some slack.”
“Don’t you remember last time?”
Silence followed. After a while, Gregory replied, “Yes.” His voice was soft, almost sad.
“Nobody ever saw him again.”
“I know. That’s why I have to help this kid.”
“She’ll just give him a warning now, but if he doesn’t come out eventually, then she’ll get real mad. He won’t be the only one she takes it out on.”
“She wouldn’t hurt Claire.”
“Hurting Claire is the best way to hurt you.”
Charlie looked at Claire. She stood next to him, her ear to the door as well. She gave him a half smile, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.
Moonlight entered the bathroom through the miniscule window above the toilet just then, and it shone straight on her face.
Charlie screamed and backed away. For a second, her face had looked just like a skull, with black holes where her eyes should’ve been, a mouth filled with rotting teeth, her nose nothing more than a stump.
She took a step forward, out of the moonlight, and her face turned back to normal. “Are you okay?” She reached for his shoulder, but he pulled back.
You imagined this, Charlie. You’re just tired and stressed out. People don’t just turn into skeletons. “I’m all right.”
Then someone began hitting the door, and Thaddeus’ voice yelled for them to get out.
Chapter 7
Claire jumped back, and Charlie positioned himself in front of her.
“If you don’t get out now, then I’ll bring both of you to Mrs. Weird,” the conductor warned.
Claire cowered behind Charlie. A sob escaped from her lips as she wrapped her arms around herself and shook her head. “No, no, he can’t do that.”
“We’ll come out. Leave her out of this,” Charlie said. He unlocked the door and stepped outside before he could change his mind.
“Good choice.” Thaddeus had taken a few steps back. “Now no more trouble. Come with me to Mrs. Weird. We’ll talk about this. She’ll understand.”
From the look on Gregory’s and Claire’s faces, he doubted that, but he nodded anyway and followed the giant, keeping his head up high. He felt like a soldier being led to the battlefield.
“I’m sorry,” Gregory said.
Charlie nodded. How bad could Mrs. Weird be? She’d probably give him a fine or a scolding for having the wrong ticket. No big deal, right?
He passed a dozen or so other passengers while he followed the giant to the back of the train. Most of them looked up at him when he passed by, but some remained focused on staring out the window, or reading their books. He passed Camille, and she sighed when she saw him, which didn’t exactly comfort him.
Thaddeus halted in front of a single door, decorated with flower patterns. Up until now they’d always gone through double doors. “Don’t speak unless you’re asked,” he said. “Always be polite. Best not get into any more trouble.”
The big man opened the door, and Charlie followed him inside.
Satin and velvet covered the walls and floor of the large, luxurious room. Everything was in different shades of red, from the burgundy red carpets to the wine red curtains. Three couches of various sizes dominated the room, and on one of them sat a woman, her back turned toward them. She must have been old, given her bob of grey hair.
A large chandelier dangled from the ceiling, but it wasn’t switched on. The only light came from various lamps hanging from the walls. Various shelves filled with all kinds of weird stuff, from ancient leather books to brightly-colored masks, empty flasks, and even stuffed animals, lined all sides of the room.
He felt as if he’d stepped inside of a fortune teller’s railcar at a fair.
“What is it?” The woman’s voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard. “I told you not to bother me.”
“Someone is onboard without a valid ticket.”
The woman held her head to the left, as if thinking it through. “Come here, boy,” she said after awhile.
Shivers ran down Charlie’s spine. How did she know he was a boy?
Thaddeus gave him a soft push in the back, and he stumbled forward. The same gut feeling that told him to run away from the giant earlier, now screamed at him to get out of there, but he was trapped between the woman on the couch and the conductor blocking his only exit.
He walked in front of the woman, and his mouth dropped to the floor. She was by far the most hideous creature he’d ever seen. She looked like a stereotypical fairytale witch, with a large, hooked nose, thin, almost invisible lips, and only a few teeth, all of them yellow. Her eyes were deep and hollow, black pits sunken in her face. Although a crooked over, tiny woman, she didn’t look fragile at all. Power oozed out of her, but the kind of power that was twisted and wrong.
“Hey, Charlie,” she said.
Chapter 8
“How do you know my name?” Charlie’s voice sounded strange, a lot higher than usual. The words felt heavy, and he could barely get them out.
“I know lots of things. Your name is just one of them. I also know that you’re on my train uninvited.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know this was a private train. My mom bought a ticket online and… it’s the first time I’m traveling alone.”
“It’s not your fault.” The way she said it, eyes filled with unspoken accusation, made it sound as though it was completely his fault. “Wrong place, wrong time.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Nobody is supposed to get on our train. Nobody but us. Even people who know nothing about us tend to stay away, which makes me wonder why you did get on the train. Maybe it’s almost your time. Maybe you’re already halfway to the other side.”
Charlie took a step back. The atmosphere in the room had changed, as if the parlor had filled with something dark and threatening, and even though he couldn’t see it, its energy buzzed all around him, like static electricity. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Mrs. Weird,” Thaddeus said, “are you saying that… he’s not one of us?” His voice was timid and small, totally unfitting for the giant, and the fear in his voice made Charlie’s heart drum even harder in his chest.
“Yes,” the old woman snapped. “He’s not one of us, he’s one of them.”
“Listen, I can just get off the train,” Charlie said. “First stop and I’m off. What’s that, Appletorn? I think we already passed Carlston—”
The woman held up her hand to silence him. “There’s no getting off this train, boy. Those stations are just illusions. This train doesn’t stop until we reach Weirdville.”
“My grandma will wait for me at the station,” Charlie rambled on. “She can pay you, or whatever you want.”
“This isn’t about payment.” The woman shook her head, her lips curled down. She almost looked sad, were it not for the menacing glow in her eyes.
“What is it about then?”
“Th
e problem is that we’ve tried to keep our existence a secret for a very long time now. We can’t let one boy ruin that.”
“I won’t tell anyone, I promise.” Charlie would promise anything at this point. Sweat dripped off his forehead and his knees shook as if an earthquake rumbled beneath him. Only willpower kept him from collapsing in fear.
“That’s a noble promise, boy, but it’s a risk we can’t take.” She stood up, crouched over like a witch, and barely reached Charlie’s height.
When she advanced on him, his knees finally gave way and he held on to the couch for support.
“You see, boy, you’re very much alive. And somehow you’ve stumbled upon a train filled with the living dead.”
Chapter 9
A raw laugh escaped from Charlie’s throat. The living dead? Zombies? “You can’t be dead,” he said, pressing his back against the wall. “You walk around. You talk. You—”
“That’s why we’re the ‘living dead’, and not just dead,” the woman said. “Now that you know our secret, we have no choice but to make you one of us.”
“You mean… you want to… kill me?” He shrieked out at the word ‘kill’.
The old woman didn’t reply, but merely smirked, revealing razor-sharp teeth where before she’d barely had any teeth at all. Her teeth were impossibly large for her mouth, like shark teeth in a human mouth, until she stretched open her mouth and it became one giant black hole, large enough to eat him whole.
Charlie screamed and pushed against a table standing next to him. The table fell on the ground and he jumped over it. Thaddeus reached for him, but he ducked under his arms and raced for the door.
The door slammed shut right in front of him. He turned around.
The woman stood up straight, one hand extended toward him, palm flat. “You can’t escape, boy.”
Charlie pulled the door lock with all his strength, but it didn’t budge.
The woman let out a loud, cackling laugh and advanced on him. Her black dress, ragged and torn, glided over the floor. He looked left and right to find a weapon he could possibly use, and settled for a small table, which he held out like a shield.
Weirdville: Fright Train (Lower Grade Spooky Fun Adventure) Page 2
