by Terry Spear
“Not always, no.”
They arrived at Wendell’s family’s home, and he knocked on the door. When a man and woman answered, Wendell introduced them to his family. They were really gracious, wary of Hunter, which was always normal, but really thankful that they’d brought him home.
“We’re so grateful to you for bringing him back to us,” the uncle said.
“I’m going to ride the train home,” Wendell said, “so I can let Mom and Dad know I’m fine. Celeste believes she’s going to be in a train derailment, however. I don’t see any vision of it. Do either of you?”
“No, Wendell. Then again, if it doesn’t involve us, we might not see it. Your parents will be thrilled to see you. Give them our love.” Then his aunt and uncle thanked them again, and gave Wendell train fare. They shut the door.
“Do you have demon money to use?” Wendell asked Alana and the others.
“We can manage. But I have to let my dad know our plans first.”
Then they returned to the hall of records, walking together as before, keeping close so they didn’t lose anyone. Once inside the hall of records, Alana updated her dad on the computer. She explained what they were going to do for Jared, and then she and the others, who would travel with her, would come to see him.
“See you when you get here then,” her dad said.
And then they trudged through the deepening snow to the train station to buy their tickets.
“I wonder what part of Earth world they ended up in,” Alana said, as they had their tickets in hand and waited for the westbound train to arrive.
“In this direction, maybe someplace in New Mexico. If we don’t travel too far, maybe west Texas,” Jared said, trying to calculate where a portal might deposit them. They just had to hope it was somewhere near a town.
The train pulled to a stop, and they climbed aboard and found the luxurious stateroom they had bought tickets for, got in, and shut the door. Gold brocade covered the seats, and they had three windows that looked onto the vista, and two on the interior of the train, and one in the door. Except the windows facing the outside the train had only a view of snow.
This wasn’t half bad. Hunter closed the shades to the stateroom so no one would see Alana, if any Matusa happened to walk past their room. They removed all their parkas, hats, and gloves and stored them in overhead bins.
After a few minutes, the train zoomed off.
They watched out the window as the snowstorm didn’t seem to be letting up.
“See anything further?” Alana asked Celeste.
She shook her head. “Sometimes I have the one vision and no others concerning that incident. Sometimes I see more glimpses of the event, the same, and different.”
They’d traveled in silence for about half an hour, Jared constantly checking his watch, Hunter with his arm wrapped around Alana, and she rested her head against him, Wendell and Celeste watching the snow, while Samson watched Hunter and Alana.
Up until then, all they had heard was the clickety-clacking of the train traveling on the tracks. But then they heard a strange creaking and groaning.
Wendell stiffened. “I’ve ridden the trains all my life. I’ve never heard that sound before.”
Celeste and Samson held onto their seats. Hunter tightened his hold on Alana as she and Jared grabbed the seats.
“Like…a train derailment?” Celeste asked, hurrying to pull on her jacket, gloves, and hat.
Everyone followed her lead. If they were thrown from the train, they needed to be bundled up, and it could offer them a little protection from the cold and the impact.
A huge crashing sound ahead of them reached them, grinding, metal screeching, crunching, train cars buckling, and flying off the tracks.
12
Everything was dark as Alana tried to figure out where she was. She’d lost hold of Hunter in the crash, but she was still in the train car. It was on its side now, and her left arm was throbbing with pain. She thought she might have broken it. She heard screaming and shrieks all up and down the tracks, people calling for their loved ones. She called out her friends’ names, but no one responded.
The windows were gone and snow was filling them, which were now on the bottom of the stateroom. Looking up, she saw the aisle windows and door to their room where Hunter had closed the shades still shut. She pulled them open to see the room above theirs, but they had the shades pulled on their glass windows. She couldn’t see any light up above.
She felt around in the room she was in, searching for any of her friends and found a body, warm, lying in the snow, but not stirring and smelled Jared’s scent. “Jared?”
Her head was pounding, and she wasn’t thinking clearly. She used her magic to create light and saw that only Jared was with her. The others must have been thrown through the windows. “Jared, wake up.”
She turned him over so his back was against the snow, and found a gash to his head. She ran her hand over the wound, summoning her skills as a healer to heal him, but she was in so much pain, she was having a time concentrating.
Their demon healing would start to heal them much faster than humans, but she was sure her arm was broken, and she’d need to set it before she could use her magic on it to heal it.
“Jared.” She shook his shoulder. She was afraid the others would end up with hypothermia if they’d survived the train wreck, had been injured, and were out in the snow and cold.
People were still shouting and crying, but she didn’t hear any of her friends’ voices.
“Jared, you’re safe here for the moment. I’ve got to look for the others.” Alana hated to leave him without letting him know she was all right and would come back here for him. But she had to search for everyone else and bring them back here, if she could. Heal them, if she could.
Working with only one good arm was going to be a trial though. She yanked open the door. Now she had to climb up into the room above her. But what if their windows hadn’t shattered? What if she couldn’t get out that way? She might have to crawl through the hall until she found the exit. She thought that would be easier than trying to climb above her head with only one good arm. Crawling with only one good arm was a feat too though. She kept blacking out and waking to find she’d made it a little further from their room. She hoped it wouldn’t be long before she reached the end. It was amazing how long the cars where when she was so injured. When she first climbed aboard, it didn’t seem like it was any distance at all.
Someone was crying in a room above her, and she called out, “Can I help you?”
“Mommy hurt,” a small girl said.
“Okay, I’m going to pull your door open. The train is resting on its side, so you need to stay away from the door or you’ll fall through.”
“Mommy on the door.”
Alana hesitated. She knew if she opened the door, she’d have to catch the injured, or dead woman, and with only one good arm, that was going to be impossible. But if she was alive and she could help to heal her, she had to do it.
“All right. I’m injured too, so I’m going to open the door and try to catch your mommy. But you stay away from the door. I can’t catch both of you at the same time. I’ll try to heal her.” It was too short a distant, so she knew she wouldn’t have time to levitate her.
Alana took a deep breath, let it out, then pulled the door open. A female Elantus demon fell out, and Alana had to use both arms to catch her. Shrieking pain shot through Alana’s broken arm, and she passed out.
“Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” a little girl said, peering through the open doorway as Alana opened her eyes and could focus. The girl’s mother was lying across her, but she was warm and breathing. Alana worked hard to move her off her so she could check for injuries. She had a bad gash on her forehead too.
The little girl appeared uninjured.
“I’m going to try and heal her first. You stay there while I do that. Then I’ll bring you down.” She hoped the woman would be feeling well enough to bring her daughter down on
her own, given Alana’s own injuries.
Alana worked on the woman for about ten minutes, and then she stirred. Her blue eyes stared up at Alana. “Kubiteron, healer. My daughter!”
“She’s up there. I’ve broken my arm and it needs to be set before I can heal it. Can you get her?”
The woman stood unsteadily and reached up for her daughter. She took her in her arms and hugged her tight.
“Is it just the two of you?” Alana asked, hoping they hadn’t lost anyone.
“Yes.”
“I’m leaving the train to look for my friends. I think they were thrown from the train. The windows were broken. My friend Jared, an Elantus demon also, is in the room on the bottom of the train, three rooms back. I didn’t want to leave him alone, but, though I tried to heal him, he’s still unconscious.”
“Yes, yes, of course. I’m Emma.”
“Alana.”
“Thank you and good luck.”
“Thank you.” Alana continued on her way, while the woman and her daughter headed back to see to Jared. She heard more commotion in some of the rooms, but she couldn’t stop now. She had to find her friends, take care of them, and then she’d see to any others who needed her healing abilities.
When she finally reached the steps, she realized she’d have to climb up them to get out of the train. At this moment, she wished she could fly. Levitation!
* * *
Hunter had hurried to dig through the snow for everyone he could find, sure his friends had to be somewhere near where he’d been thrown. Demons of all types were searching for their family or friends in the wreckage, some sporting injuries, cuts and abrasions and worse. He’d sprained his wrist and injured his shoulder. But nothing was keeping him from looking for Alana and the rest of his friends.
Then he saw Wendell trying to dig himself out of the soft snow. That was the only good thing about all the snowfall they’d had. It was soft and powdery, or he was sure their injuries would have been much worse.
“Wendell,” Hunter said, hurrying to join him, and pull him out of the piled-up snow. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Where is everybody?” Wendell asked, looking around.
“You’re the first I’ve found.”
“Alana?”
Hunter shook his head. It was killing him not knowing where she was, or if she was badly injured. He refused to believe she could be dead.
Someone grunted nearby, cursing.
“Samson?” Hunter hurried a few feet away to reach the Samuria.
“Where’s Alana?” Samson sputtered, wiping the snow from his eyes.
“We haven’t located her or the others yet. Are you all right?”
“Bruised, but nothing to write home about.”
Wendell and Hunter gave him a hand up.
Wendell frowned at Hunter. “You’re favoring your left arm.”
“Sprained wrist. No big deal.”
“Alana can heal it when we find her,” Samson said, but they were already digging around in the snow for anyone else.
They moved closer to the wreckage when they couldn’t find anyone who might have been thrown from the train. “In her vision, Celeste said she’d been pinned under the wreckage,” Hunter said, and they tried to find where their own room had been and checked the area around it. He prayed she wasn’t completely covered by the wreckage or they’d never find her.
Then Hunter saw a gloved hand sticking out of the snow. “Over here!”
Everyone hurried to join him and started pulling the snow away from the buried figure. It was Celeste, and she was unconscious.
“Celeste,” Hunter said, reaching down to listen to see if she had a heartbeat. It was faint, but she had one. “We have to lift the train off her.”
“No way. It’s too heavy,” Wendell said.
Samson said, “Alana, she can use her power of levitation.”
“I’m not sure she could lift anything this heavy. We have to find her and Jared though,” Hunter said, sick with worry. “Samson, stay with Celeste. If she comes to, let her know we’re getting her out of there soon. We haven’t found Alana and Jared yet. And, Samson, if you start to lose her, give her CPR, okay?”
Samson nodded. He was so studious and loved learning everything he could, Hunter figured he had read up on it while he’d stayed in their world.
Wendell hurried off with Hunter, both of them seeing other demons in need. But he had to find Alana and Jared first.
Hunter grabbed ahold of a couple of railings on the top of the train, that were now on the side, and lifted himself up until he was on top where the opening was. And saw Alana sprawled out on the floor, dead to the world down below.
“Alana!” Hunter’s heart was practically jumping of his chest as he hurried to climb into the train to reach her.
Looking worried, Wendell was peering down at them. “Is she okay?”
“Oh.” Alana’s eyes fluttered opened as Hunter gathered her in his arms.
“Alana.”
“Ow, ow, watch the arm. It’s broken.”
“Sorry. Jared?”
“He’s unconscious in the room we were in. A woman with her little girl is with him. I healed him the best I could.” She looked up to see Wendell. “Celeste? Samson?”
“Samson’s with Celeste. She’s pinned beneath the train, like she foretold. Do you think you could levitate it?”
“And heal Hunter’s wrist,” Wendell said.
“I’m not sure I can levitate anything that heavy. I can heal your wrist, and maybe the three of you guys can lift the train?”
“Yeah.” Hunter pulled off his glove, wincing, then frowned. “You sure you can do it? It won’t take too much out of you.”
She gave him a scowly look. “If I had to beat on your chest, that might do it.”
He smiled at her, loving her. “Nothing quite that drastic this time.”
She ran her hand over his wrist, silently chanting a spell, and within seconds, his wrist felt back to normal. He rubbed it, glad she was able to heal it. She was a godsend to him.
“Did she fix it?” Wendell asked.
“Yeah.” Hunter pulled his glove back on, then helped her to stand. “Okay, so you can’t heal your arm?”
“No. It’s broken and it needs to be set first. Are you sure you don’t have any other injuries? You’re still wincing.”
“My shoulder, but—”
“Which one?”
“Right.”
She healed it for him and shook her head. “Anywhere else?”
“That’s it. Thanks, Alana. We need to mobilize Your arm first. Stay here.” Hunter opened one of the doors to a room and found a semi-conscious male Camaran demon inside, but he had a bag, and Hunter thought he could make a brace with that. “Hey, how badly are you injured?” he asked the man.
“Just…just came to. What…what happened?”
“Train derailment. A Kubiteron is with me. She can try to heal you, but she has a broken arm. I need to brace it so she doesn’t move it. Can I use your bag?”
He smiled.
Hunter thought he was delirious. “Sir, she can heal people. We have a friend trapped under the train. She can help her. But before that, I need to immobilize Alana’s broken arm.”
“I’m…a physician.”
“Oh. Here, let me help you out of there, and we can crawl up to the exit where she’s waiting for me.”
“Crawl?”
“The car is on its side.”
The physician nodded. He was still really out of it.
Hunter climbed into the room, then tossed the doctor’s bag out of the room. He helped lift the doctor out, then climbed out after him. “To your left, that way.”
The doctor was in front of him and moved so slowly, Hunter wished he’d been ahead of him so he could have reached Alana sooner.
“Why aren’t rescue workers out here helping everyone?” Hunter asked.
“Holiday, and the sudden winter storm will make it difficult to reach us. I
f I had to guess, I’d say we are in the mountains.”
Oh, great, so even after they saved themselves, those that they could, they might have to wait hours to be rescued from here? And then what? Taken back to where they’d been? Or go forward to where they were going?
When the doctor finally reached Alana, he told her he was a physician and took a look at her arm. “I’m going to straighten it, but it’s bound to hurt.”
She nodded.
Then he straightened it and the color drained from her already pale cheeks.
Together the doctor and Hunter created a brace and sling out of his bag for her.
“Thanks, Doctor,” she said, “and Hunter.”
“Hey, Doc Clyne!” Wendell shouted from up above.
The doctor looked up, then smiled broadly. “You’re back!”
“Yeah, because of them, and some of their other friends.”
The doctor eyed Hunter and Alana with suspicion.
“Half human,” Hunter explained.
“Gate guardian,” Alana added.
“Thanks to both of you,” the doctor said. “Wendell’s my favorite nephew.”
Alana ran her hand over her arm to help heal it. “It’ll take longer to mend because torn ligaments and broken bones always do, but it feels much better. Thanks.”
Then the doctor made his way out of the train with Wendell’s help, carrying the contents of his medical bag with him.
Hunter helped Alana out of the train, and though he thought the doctor would take a look at other demons who needed his assistance, he trudged through the snow to see to Celeste too.
“What had you hoped to do?” the doctor asked, looking as though he thought she was a lost cause.
“Levitate the car. I might not be able to manage, but I’ll try. I passed out when I tried to levitate myself out of the train, but that was because my arm was hurting so badly. And someone needs to pull Celeste out. If that doesn’t work, maybe some of you can lift the car while I try levitating it and someone pulls her out.”
