Shouldn't Be This Way

Chapter 12: All that matters

" Burp " Jafri burped as he had just completed filling his belly, "That 'roti canai' was fantastic." He wrapped his arms around Putera's neck and walked back to their compartment with his buddy.

" Thank god it was just me, if it had been someone else, they would have kicked you in the face " Putera shaking his head fed up with his friend's demeanour.

It has been 15 hours since they aboard the train. At this point the sounds of raging engine started to whistle like an invisible bird as it became ingrained inside their eardrum. The train become buzzing again, passengers began to awaken from their slumber. 2 hours left till they touchdown in city of angels in Southeast Asia.

" Aaaaaaaah " Scream of scared soul break the peaceful morning in their compartment.

"What's wrong?" Jafri shrieked with panic rapidly left his bunker to encounter Jasmine yelling hysterically in front of the Sarah's bunker.

" Sarah... Sarah... not in her room, and... there's a blood on her bed... " Melur able to finish her sentence weeping with a squeaky voice.

" What!? " He exclaims " Oh shittt!!! " The scene unfolded in front of him astounds him greatly. Speechless might be an understatement for his current state. Sarah's bad is covered in splatters of unknown blood and a sprinkling of flowers.

" What's the matter!? " After being disturbed by the bustle outside his room, Putera went outdoors as well.

While still unsettled by the situation Jafri replied, " Sarah somehow went missing and take a look at that... " He pointed to the bed.

" Damn... " Putera grasp in shock.

" Do you know where Adam and Melur is? " He looked at Jasmine.

" They went to cafeteria together for breakfast " In her crying state she stuttered the words.

" Okay, Jasmine, first calm down, and then we'll figure out what we're going to do." Jafri makes an attempt to calm Jasmine. " Let me call them " He took the phone out of his pocket.

He then pulled over to the side and hurriedly called them. After finishing the call, Jafri entered the room to inspect the scene.

" What flower is this? " He wrinkled as he squat down to see the flower closely

" This is Cambodian flower " Putera sneaked his head into the room.

"What was the purpose of sprinkling this flower over her bad? " Jafri questioned, intrigued.

" Hate to be that guy, but this flower known as graveyard flower of Malaysian " He twitched his lip feeling uncomfortable " And...people usually sprinkled this flower on the grave of the people who just died "

" Watch your mouth Put! Don't say that kind of words " He turned around and glared intensely.

" I'm sorry... just merely answering your question " Putera scratched his temples, apologising for his statement.

" She must be on this train somewhere, " Jafri murmured slowly.

After a moment Adam and Melur return to their compartment. The sight on Adam and Melur's faces was pale shock with the news when they returned from breakfast like dashing from the storm.

" What really going here, I though it was a prank at first " Adam's ask with his deep voice.

" Sarah went missing, I texted her to come breakfast with me, but she didn't respond even after 30 minutes, so I went to her room and discovered she wasn't there " Jasmine said as she gets her composure back.

They decided to wait for a while as they thought this might be a prank from Sarah. 30 minutes passed and they still no sign of Sarah return and the suffocating effect added the flavour in the overthinking process.

Jafri tightens his grip on his right arm. The tension in his muscles hurt his neck. From time to time, Jafri had to think of what they should do now. He then called all of them after finished sorting out his mind. " We cannot just waiting here, my gut telling me there is something wrong, we must find her "

" This train has total of 20 compartments including the 18 Passenger compartments, one monitor room compartment and the cab section " He took a long sigh before he continued,          " Jasmine and Putera you start from tail compartment to our compartment, Melur and Adam you start from this compartment and go straight till you reach the cafeteria " He delivered the plan.

" What about you Jaf? " Putera asked while he tying his shoelaces.

" I will take from the cafeteria till the first compartment near the cab compartment " Jafri scratch his neck, " I will meet the Train Superintendent as well to inform this matter "

" Lets hope we can find Sarah " In a hopeful gesture, he clutched his hand.

Sarah's search has begun. They search every nook and cranny of the train, from the last section to the cab compartment, but Sarah is nowhere to be found. Everyone on the train was shown a picture of Sarah in case they happened to see her. Nonetheless, they've ground to a stop, as if looking for a needle in a haystack.

" Are you guys able to locate her?" As they reunited in their compartment, Adam reaches to Jasmine and Putera.

"No, we searched three times in case she passed out somewhere, but there was no sign of her there," Putera said.

Melur let go of her hair and then said, "Unfortunately, same here."

"Let's just hope Jafri comes back with some positive news," Jasmine squeezing her hand tightly.

After 5 minutes, Jafri emerges from the opposite compartment, quickly dashing towards the gateway connector. As he approaches them, he pauses to recover his breath.

" Did you find her? " Jasmine anxiously asked.

Putera gathers his energies and with a solemn and frail expression he stammered,

" Guys... Sarah... Sarah... " " She is not on this train anymore... "