The Silver King

King On the Bus 5

"Can't I just leave?" I asked shaking staring forwards into the empty and dark road.

"No. You'll be unable to open the doors or windows. Until this bus finishes its route, you cannot leave."

That was not at all good new. I had no choice but to learn how to drive a bus.

After a crash course of how to start up the bus, and how to drive one we were off. Very, very slowly off. There were no cars around so we should be fine at a snail's pace until I got use to the hulking thing. Elly was true to his word about knowing how to drive a city bus. With him beside me, I thought I was going to make it out alive. Only for a few minutes.

Soon it started to get cold. Elly didn't look like he noticed. With his stone face it was hard to tell if anything that was happening bothered him in the slightest. In a few seconds the temperature dropped so low I could see puffs of my breath. With one arm I pulled my work clothing from my bag and placed them over my lap trying to use them as a makeshift blanket. We slowly followed the route back to the bus depo. I had taken this route enough over the week I knew the way. I wanted to drive faster but I was still not confident enough.

My hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly my knuckles turned white. I shook in fear and from the cold. I almost couldn't take the cold. I wanted to give up even before the whispers came. Horrible whispers floating around accusing me of being jealous of my sister. Of wishing she had died. Whispers telling me to just look behind me. Saying everything would be easier if I did. Tears started to flow down my face. If I wasn't going so slow and steady, I might have put us at risk of serving and crashing. I jerked a little but corrected it before hitting the curb. I was so glad for the road being empty. But after a few minutes I couldn't take it and almost just stopped when Elly's voice came from beside me.

"What are they saying?"

His voice was still as neutral as ever. Instead of sounding he was asking about ghostly whispers tormenting me, he sounded like he was asking for the weather report.

"They're saying I'm jealous of my sister."

My teeth were chattering from the cold I couldn't say much more.

"So? You can be jealous of her. And you can still love her, right? Say it back to the voices. That you can have both emotions. That you are only human. Weak, and yet very strong."

His words held some truth in them. A warmth came back to me. It was still cold but I could bear it. I found I could suddenly push through the voices around me. I could focus on the road and follow the route. We were so close to the depo. If I just pushed through for a few more minutes, I would be fine. I could go home.

I repeated those words in my head. I would be fine. I could go home. I would be fine. I still loved my sister. I would be fine.

Even though I was driving faster, those last few minutes felt like an eternity. But we finally arrived to the depo. I panicked for a few seconds but Elly's told me where to go. Oddly enough everything was unlocked. The large garage door for the buses was open and dark. No one was around. I wondered if Elly had anything to do with this. He was so clearly not human at that point. Child or not, he had to have something to do with the fact no one being ready to receive the last late bus.

The moment I parked and shut the bus off I let out the biggest sight of relief. I was ready to leave. Beyond ready.

"Don't move yet. Let me look first."

I was a little annoyed at Elly. But he was right. He had said that the dark figure would leave after the bus was in the depo but It's best not to take risks. I looked sideways at him as he turned his head to look behind us. He stared and I couldn't read the expression on his face. He was about to look back at me to give the all clear, but those long dark claws came shooting out.

In utter horror I watched the claws rip through his shirt and into his stomach so hard they slammed his small body against the toll collector so hard it bent the metal. Elly had a look of confusion. He didn't shout or cry out in pain. I reached out my hand to grab him, but was too slow. He was dragged out at sight and to the back of the bus.

And I wasn't having any of it. I had seen a photo the driver had put up of his family. This man had people waiting for him and that creature took him away. And now it broke the rules and snatched Elly. In my rage all my fear disappeared and I closed my eyes and stumbled off of the driver seat. I fumbled around and found one of the mirrors that had been ripped off. I gripped it by the pole it had been attached to the bus. I was surprised by its weight but I still lifted it off the ground and made my way to the back of the bus, eyes still closed.

I bumped into a lot of the seats and tripped over the two steps that lead to the upper part of the bus. I honestly had no idea what I was going to do with a broken mirror. The driver had been killed seconds after he was grabbed. I had wasted so much time and feared Elly was already gone. If that was the case, I would beat the dark figure with the heft mirror I picked up. It was a dumb idea, but I was so pissed off I wasn't thinking clearly.

"Leave him alone you piece of-"

I was screaming but stopped short when I heard a calm voice.

"What are you doing?"

It was Elly's voice but I still didn't dare open my eyes. It could be a trick. I debated on if I should just start swinging away but my brave assault was stopped before it even started when the mirror was ripped from my hand.

"You can open your eyes now. It's fine."

I shouldn't have trusted it. But I had to see if Elly was alright. Slowly I cracked open my eyes just enough to see the boy sitting on the back seat with an empty black trench-coated beside him. His sweater had been torn but I saw no blood. None of him, or even the drivers blood I had smelled before.

"What the hell?!"