When we stepped onto the plush carpet of the seat-car, my jaw dropped. “Nobody’s here,” I whispered.
“Maybe everyone’s asleep,” Sam suggested.
“No,” Drew said. “Earlier, there were at least twenty people spread out in this area. This is where people who can’t afford the suites ride all night.”
We looked around, but something wasn’t right. I narrowed my eyes. “Weren’t the couches blue earlier? And they weren’t velvet.” The seats were dark red now.
As we looked closer, we noticed other things that were off. “These light fixtures are gas, not electric,” Olivia said.
“And the windows are very old fashioned,” Drew pointed out.
“But where is everyone?” I exclaimed. “Let’s go look in the dining car.”
Rushing forward, I didn’t wait for Drew to jump in front of me. But when I opened the door to the dining car, I wished I had. “Whoa,” I whispered.
This car was also empty, but where earlier the walls had been paneled in rich, dark wood, now it was all metal. Metal seats with leather, or maybe pleather, cushions. Vinyl? I didn’t know. The tables were shiny silver. And previously the whole thing had been filled with tables, but now on one side was what looked like a soda counter straight out of the fifties.
And it was also metal.
“Holy crap,” Drew said. “This isn’t right at all.”
“Again, where is everyone?” I threw up my arms and turned in a circle. “What is happening?”
“Okay, Ms. All Powerful,” Sam said. “Use your magic and get us an answer.”
Oh, good idea! I sucked in a deep breath and focused on my powers. Casting out my magic, I blanketed the train and let my senses seek out any sign of life. There was none. So, I started looking for signs of unlife.
And found one right away.
A ghost popped into sight right in front of us. “Hey,” I exclaimed. “Finally!”
The ghost, a boy with neat, short hair, froze. His eyes widened as he looked from me to Drew. Olivia and Sam couldn’t see him, so their gazes floated around in the general direction of the ghost, but really, they were only looking there because Drew and I had.
“Can you see me?” the ghost asked. “Truly?”
Drew and I nodded. “Yes, we can. Is there any chance you could explain why we’re on this strange train?” I smiled consolingly.
“How can you see me?” he asked in a voice that broke as if he’d died while going through puberty.
“I’m a necromancer,” I said. “And Drew here is a witch hunter. And if you touch me, I can make it so the other two can see you, too.”
Olivia waved with a hesitant smile, but she was looking away to the left of the kid.
That didn’t sit right with the little man. He backed up a few steps, shaking his head. “If you’re a necromancer, doesn’t that mean you can control me?”
I shook my head. “No, no. I can only control actual bodies.” Hesitating, I bit back the words I’d been about to say, that I suspected I could make a ghost permanently corporeal. He didn’t need to know that. It would just freak him out.
He nodded, relieved. Hesitantly, the boy stepped forward and held out his hand. I touched it and did the same thing I had done to Clay, making him appear to Sam and Olivia. At the same time, I made my intent to be temporary. It would only last a few minutes.
They rushed forward, which kind of freaked the kid out. He backed away with his hands clasped together.
“No, it’s okay,” Olivia said. “What’s your name?”
He looked around and sniffed before shuffling forward again. Now that he was solid and a little more vibrant, I was able to get a good look at his clothes. They were pretty old. His pants went to just below his knees and he wore a pair of white socks that came up to meet.
“Peter,” he said.
Peter’s jacket was more like a tunic with a wide starched collar and a black silk scarf. “Peter,” I said carefully. “Do you know you’re dead?”
The ghost blinked at me. “Of course,” he said with a note of derision in his voice. “I’ve been dead for over a hundred years. How else would I still be around?”
I held up my hands. “Sorry, I’m new to talking to ghosts. In the human world, it’s widely believed that sometimes ghosts don’t realize they’re ghosts.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I’ve seen movies.”
Drew and I exchanged a glance. “How?” he asked.
“Also,” Sam interjected. “How is a boy who died in the, what, early twentieth century?”
Peter nodded.
“Okay, so how are you on a train that looks to be from the early 1950s?” Sam walked over and touched one of the sterling booths. It was solid to his touch, so he sat down.
“Maybe older because of the gas lamps.” So far nothing on this new version of the train made sense.
“It’s a ghost train,” Peter said simply. “We don’t have electricity in this reality. And the train goes wherever we steer it. If it happens to go through a home with a ghost, the ghost comes along with us.”
A ghost train. Of all the… “So, do you have any idea how we’re on here with you?”
Peter shook his head. “All we know is that we were hit with a massive wave of magic a little while ago and the train we’d been paralleling suddenly went to the right and when we went straight, you came with us.”
“How long ago, exactly?” Drew asked.
Ah...I had a feeling where Drew was going with that question.
Peter furrowed his brow. “It’s hard to keep time now.” He closed his eyes but then looked to the right suddenly, sucking in a surprised breath. He nodded then turned back to us. “About a half-hour. Maybe not that long.”
“Were you just speaking to someone?” Olivia asked, looking around.
“Of course.” Peter looked at us like we were utterly daft. “I’m not alone here.”
Drew leaned over and whispered in my ear, “It was about the time you orgasmed.”
Oh, geez. Now I had to worry about my magic doing insane things if I had an orgasm? Nothing crazy had ever happened when I gave myself one.
Then again, the ones I gave myself were nothing like the one Drew gave me. And I opened up my powers… Crap.
“Okay, Peter, so, we were on a train. I accidentally let some big magic out, and it shoved us onto your train. Does that mean this train is now visible? Can other humans see us?” I walked closer to him. “Are we in danger here?”
Peter cocked his head at someone beside him. “No, he says he doesn’t think so. We’re staying on the tracks just in case, and if we approach another train, we’ll steer off long enough for it to pass.” He nodded a couple of times. “Captain is going to go drive the train himself.” Peter turned his attention back to us.
“Trains have captains?” Olivia asked.
Peter shook his head. “No, he was a captain in the Army.”
“Oh.” Olivia gave me a wide-eyed look. “Okay, then.”
“Peter, dear.” I put my hand on his shoulder. “Would you like us to try to help you move on?”