Sixteen and Dead

ix. Xavier

I woke up on the second to last stop, when the train jerked to halt and the automatic voice barely sputtered out the name of the station. It took me a moment to get my bearings, rubbing my face with my hand and a yawn slipping out. I stood, hoping to get off at this stop but that was when the doors closed automatically and the train let off on the brake, and we slowly pulled away from the platform. I groaned in frustration nearly falling into the wall when the train jerked forward. I'd have to walk six blocks back to get home. Yippee.

As the train slowly pulled away, I saw a woman dressed in black starring back at me. At first, her eyes were an ice blue and her hair a radiant brown color. It cascaded down her back in waves; she was stunningly breath taking. Her arms were making an 'X' on her chest. She smiled at me and all of a sudden her teeth were yellow and rotten and her eyes turned as black as dusk. I stumbled backward into the opposite doors of the train. The band of carts started to speed up then, fully leaving the platform and going a blasting speed around the corners which only created lightning to spark on the sides of the cart.

I was the only one left on the train and all my thoughts kept showing me the image of the black-eyed, rotten toothed woman. I knew immediately when I saw her that she was dead. But I also knew that she knew what I was; she knew of my gift.

I swallowed hard, getting to my feet and sitting down onto the plastic seat. I was so incredibly nervous I was sweating. My hands had curled into tight fists and my nails were pushing half moons into my palms. I would see the horrid image in every window when the light of the tunnel would pass and the darkness would fall before the next light appeared. The lights in the train were flickering before all together turning off completely. It felt as if the cart was going back and forth against the walls of the underground tracks.

The lady in the window cocked her head to the side and grinned her rotten smile at me. "Xavier..." She whispered out, haunting the air around me. It's like her voice lingered long enough to settle into my bones. Then all of a sudden the train pulled to a stop at the next platform. I hopped up from my seat like it was on fire and rushed to the open doors. I shivered against the bone chilling air and sunk deeper into my pathetic coat. It didn't help me much with the chill but the cold sweat that broke out on my forehead might. I walked fast to the escalators and every poster-ad I passed I saw her. But it wasnt the distorted image I saw on the train, it was the beautiful one-the breathtakingly beautiful one. She looked so familiar...

Then she appeared in front of me, stepping out of one of the poster ads ahead of me. She took her crossed arms off of her shoulders and letting them hang by her sides. She grinned happily, sighing in relief it seemed. "Xavier," she says, opening her eyes in my direction. I swallowed hard, unsure if I should be crapping my pants right now or if I should be running in the opposite direction. I probably looked as pale as her. She walked up to me, her clean hand trailing over my shoulders as she circled me. Her head would tilt to the side as she stared me up and down. I shivered under her cold touch. So much for my jacket protecting me.

"You have a gift," she stated the obvious, "a very, very different gift."

My nostrils flared and my heart started to beat faster, "Who are you?" I managed to croak out in a small, small voice.

She grinned from ear to ear, "It's funny," she said, a frown puncturing her brown brow, "what the afterlife does to a dead soul."

I took a shaky breath, "Who are you?" I repeated, not daring to step forward; to be any closer to her than I already am.

"My, my," she said, looking at me with wide eyes and a smirk on her face, "someone is certainly impatient." She made a 'tsking' sound with her tongue as she shook her head. She paced the width of the hallway, her hands clasped behind her back.