The Night Train by Lorelei Savaryn

Author:Lorelei Savaryn [Savaryn, Lorelei]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2024-08-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Two nights left.

I try to stay awake tonight. I don’t want train whistles or trains seeping into my subconscious. I just want to stay in my room, in my bed, where I’m safe. Where there isn’t the cold, clammy grip of death pressing on me from all angles.

But as much as I fight to keep my eyes open, to read, to look out the window, to do anything at all but fall asleep, somewhere after midnight my eyelids grow heavy. My thoughts slow.

I close my eyes and wake up on the Night Train again.

This time, I begin already in the car with the dead children. I look at each of their faces. The ride is so much worse now because I know them all by name. There’s Tyler, and Shawn, and Sharlie.

I know their names, and the years they were trapped here, which means I know how long they’ve ridden this train over and over and over around this dark, dead town.

We pass by the station.

We pass behind the town hall with the clock stuck at 10:42.

Laughter sounds from the party up ahead.

I try all the doors. All the windows.

“I told you,” Tyler says. “He’s the only one who can open things.”

“Can’t blame her for trying,” Cora says. “We all tried.”

“Is there any way to stop it?” I ask, hoping they’ll know more than I do.

The dead children all shake their heads at the same time.

“One minute you’re there, and everyone’s excited to reenact a train crash,” Tyler says, looking out the window, his gray eyes sunken into his dead gray face. “It’s so strange to me now, to think that the whole town wanted to reenact the night a bunch of people died.” He shrugs. “Anyway, one minute you’re there, and everyone’s excited, and it’s one of the funnest nights of the year, and the next, you’re here.”

“You were all at the reenactment,” I say, even though I already know the answer.

All the dead children nod.

Tendrils of icy air prick at my feet, then snake up my legs, higher and higher until all of me feels like I’ve just stepped inside a freezer.

I slide into an empty seat and look out the window as we pass the Signalman’s Cottage, still the only thing lit up in this place besides the Night Train. This time, I focus my eyes through the window, instead of on it, so I don’t see my reflection. I don’t need to see my face like that twice.

Daisy is there, her dead father on the grass a few feet behind her, just like in Mr. Shanek’s story. Just like in the model in the cellar.

She’s standing next to the tracks, holding out a lantern and moving it side to side in front of her chest. Over and over and over again, fast, and frantic. The look on her face, a mix of terror and helplessness all at once.

Daisy’s ghost must live here, in this dead town, most of the time. But she must also be able to slip into the present through the cottage sometimes too.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.