DARK PARADISE ⎯⎯⎯⎯ ETHAN LANDRY

xii. missed the train

     IT WAS THE NEXT NIGHT and our plan was currently begin set into motion. The regular group, plus Danny, all walked down the stairs and onto the train platform. I walked beside Tara at the front of group, both of us in discussing the ultimate game plan again.

     "Is this even a good idea?" Ethan asked from the back of the group, gripping a strap of his backpack. I shook my head at his nervousness before I sent him a reassuring smile.

     "You don't have to come if you don't want to," Tara responded.

     "So we just peel off and the killer picks us off one by one? No, thank you." Mindy sent Ethan an annoyed look.

     "Let's just get to the theater. Come on, i'm here!" Sam said as she spotted an open train door. The platform was filled with people dressed in Halloween costumes, making it hard for all of us to navigate to the train together.

     "Yes, because it'll be much less scary in a serial killer movie theater!" Chad muttered sarcastically.

     "Can you try to be positive, please?" I asked him. He rolled his eyes and took ahold of my hand so we wouldn't get split up. We made it onto the train along with Tara, Sam, and Danny after bumping into at least 20 strangers.

     My eyes searched the platform for Ethan, finally spotting him with Mindy. They were struggling to get past all the people and Ethan grimaced every time someone would touch him. "Tara! Chad!" Mindy called out helplessly, running straight into another persons body.

     "Ethan, hurry up!" I yelled out to him, anxious that the doors would close and we would be split up.

     He threw me a worried look, "Yeah, I'm trying." Ethan softly shoved a guy out of his way, whispering an apology to him afterwards.

     Unfortunately, the door began to slide closed without Mindy and Ethan on the train. "Fuck." I attempted to try and get out of the doors before they fully closed so I could be with Ethan, but Tara grabbed me before I could and pulled me back into her.

     "He'll be fine. They'll stick together and meet us there." She told me and I stopped my attempts to get back onto the platform. Ethan and I made eye contact, both of us sporting a disappointed look. He sent me a thumbs up as a promise that he would be okay. The train began to move and I could no longer see him anymore.

     I grabbed onto a metal pole, alongside Tara, to keep from falling. She shot me a confident look and gripped my hand.

     "Where's Mindy?" Sam asked after she looked around on the train for her but couldn't find her.

     "She missed the train," Chad answered. "I was gonna wait for her, but cute boy here dragged me on." He nodded towards Danny.

     "I was trying to keep us together!" He defended himself.

     "By pulling us apart," Tara said, raising her eyebrows, very skeptical of Danny. He gave her an exhausted look, tired of being accused and having to explain himself.

     "Blaming one another isn't going to do anything!" I reminded them, throwing Danny a reassuring look. "Let's just focus on what needs to be done." Sam nodded her head in agreement.

     "It's okay, it's okay. She's with Ethan," Chad said as he looked down at his phone to read Mindy's text messages. "They'll meet us there." I licked my lips nervously, thinking the worst about what could happen to them.

     We all looked around the train, our faces going white at how many Ghostface costumes there was on the train. What are the odds that one of them could be the actual Ghostface? I shook my head, forcing myself to turn away from all of the commotion and instead pulled my phone out to text Ethan.