Train Hunters

Conclusion

Grace had no idea where she was driving. She'd started driving and at this point she was hoping she would figure it out along the way. As she drove she took stock of everything that had occurred. First, her and Simon had kissed, which was amazing. Then they'd found the train and captured it on video, also amazing. And then a little girl had fallen out of it and was now sleeping in her backseat. Grace turned her head to look at the girl, named Hazel, who was still fast asleep. She took another look, this time at Simon in the passenger seat.

"What are we going to do?" he asked and Grace looked at him with a goofy face.

"There are quite a few things going on, you'll have to be more specific." she said and Simon clarified.

"About the little girl that we've kidnaped." he said and Grace rolled her eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about, we haven't kidnapped anyone." she responded and Simon nodded.

"I know that, and you know that, but when the police pull us over I don't think they'll know that." he explained and Grace waved him off.

"When she wakes up we'll ask her about her parents and then we'll take her home." she asserted and Simon looked at her wearily.

"I mean, do you think she even knows that stuff? Kids forget details like that all of the time." Simon said nervously. Grace parked the car on some random side road and put her hand on Simon's shoulder.

"Listen, we'll figure this out." she said calmly. "We caught the train, we can do anything." she added and at this Simon softened.

"You know, you're really pretty when you're inspired like that." he teased and Grace looked away embarrassed.

"Are you two going to start kissing again?" a voice from the backseat asked and both turned around to see Hazel wide awake. She was still wrapped in the blanket that Grace had given her and she looked more annoyed than anything which Grace supposed was an improvement from earlier.

"No, we won't." she promised before moving the conversation along. "Hazel, can you tell us where your parents are?" she asked. Hazel looked at her curiously before giving an answer.

"Tuba is on the train." she said and Simon looked confused.

"Who's Tuba?" he questioned and Hazel answered.

"She's the one that takes care of me, isn't that what a parent is?" she questioned and Grace whispered something to Simon.

"I think she's talking about her denizen." she said and Simon nodded in agreeance. Grace posed another question to Hazel to try and find out who her parents were off of the train. "Who took care of you before Tuba?" Grace asked and Hazel raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked and Simon attempted to clarify.

"Was the person who took care of you before you got on the train?" he said and Hazel looked even more confused.

"I don't know, all of my memories are on the train." she said and at that point both Grace and Simon felt that something was wrong.

"Hazel, how did you get off the train?" she questioned and Hazel looked nervous before answering.

"A lady came and took me from Tuba. She took me to a weird place with a talking ball. The ball told me that I was an anomaly so they kicked me off of the train." she said tiredly. Her face fell as she shared the story, it was clear that it had been frightening for the little girl. Quietly, she began to cry. That crying was quickly replaced with violent shaking and the two watched as Hazel transformed into a humanoid turtle creature. Grace was sure that if she'd been driving she would have crashed.