Ghost Train

Haxville

-unedited-

Cassandra watched as the forest whizzed by, making way into prairie lands and farmhouses. Her younger brother Zephyr sang along with the old country songs that were currently blasting in the car. Bags and boxes were piled in the back and their German Shepherd Lady sat between Cassandra and Zephyr in the back seat. Cassandra glanced at her younger red-headed brother. She knew that her brother always felt cursed by the name, Zephyr wasn't a typical name, and the students at his old middle school didn't let him forget how weird it was.

"Here we are!" Cassandra looked back out the window as a 'Welcome to Haxville' sign passed. Soon they were driving down the main road through the old-looking town. Cassandra could make out a library, general store, hardware store, second-hand store, and an old arcade at the corner where the beach of a lake beside the town started.

"Is that it?" Cassandra frowned at the small town as they made their way into the farmland surrounding the town. Sure there were some houses beyond the main street, and a couple factories just in the distance, but there wasn't much else to it. She had seen a few unnamed shops on the main street, but nothing exciting.

"Haxville is an old village Cass, besides we got a hardware store, grocery store, general store, it's really all we need." Cassandra's father looked in the rearview mirror at his disapproving daughter's face.

"I still think it's too small. What are Zeph and I supposed to do?"

"Well for one, you are 16 now, a job sounds like a great idea. Maybe the general store is hiring. I also saw an old diner-"

"Ok, yeah thanks for the idea Mom." Cassandra cut off her mother, grumbling.

"Alright, here we are." Her father smiled at the sight of the house atop the hill. Cassandra smiled. The scene of a lonely house on a hill would make the perfect painting if someone were to have the time. There was an oak near the house, but besides that there wasn't much else. The rest of the property was simply grassland.

"Dad, why hasn't anyone used this for farmland yet? There's no barn or pastures." Zephyr looked around at the other properties, cows being in most of them.

"There used to be a train that came through here. Cass, you asked what you could do around here, well go look on the other side of the house." Her father smiled as Cassandra began going around the white paint-chipped house. Zephyr ran passed her and saw the rickety old train station building below the hill before her. The roof had collapsed along with one side wall and the windows were smashed in.

"Is that an old train station?" Zephyr smiled at the sight. It wasn't big, it was probably smaller than the house on the hill, "Can we go check it out?"

"After you help move the boxes in." Their mother called from the porch of the house. Zephyr turned around heading back for the porch, but Cassandra had caught the eye of a boy. Not younger than her, standing at the train station, but with a blink he was gone and she assumed a figure of her imagination. Turning back to the house she finally got a good look at it. Most of it was wood that used to be painted white but it had chipped away with time and weather. A porch wrapped around the house, which was just as old as the rest of the house. Some of the boards of the house had been rotting, but to Cassandra's parents, it was just another project. She headed into the house through the back door, which lead into the kitchen. A kitchen of wood cabinets and tile top counters.

"Wow this place is old," Cassandra muttered as she walked past the dining room, with its oak table and matching chairs. She walked into the living room, where the furniture was already set. The movers had come the day before, and the place didn't have locks yet so they simply left everything inside. Cassandra looked at the mantle where some old photos hung of some old guys with mustaches.

"They came with the house. Don't know who they are. We'll probably take them down later." Her father walked up behind her looking at each one.

"What was with guys in the 1800s and mustaches? There are five different guys on the wall and they all have mustaches." She smiled shaking her head.

"The ladies back then liked the mustaches, they thought it was manly." Her Father chuckled. Cassandra rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"Well I would never marry a guy with a mustache." she turned away from the photos and headed to the car to grab some boxes. Her father shook his head with a chuckle before following after his daughter. It only took a few hours for them to finish taking in boxes and soon Cassandra found herself walking down towards the train station with Zephyr running ahead. There were small blue forget-me-nots around the platform of the station, the sun shone in through the collapsed roof, and when Cassandra stepped into the half-destroyed building the sun shone onto a patch of White rose bushes. Zephyr let out a slight hiss and pulled his hand back from the rose bushes, His fingers bleeding from the thorns in the bush. Cassandra walked over and looked at his hand.

"They aren't deep, run up to the house for some bandages," She let go of his hand and smiled at him.

"But I wanted to look for hidden compartments with you!" Zephyr complained.

"I'll wait here till you get back, then we can continue looking around, deal?" Zephyr nodded rapidly before running off back to the house. Cassandra walked around the bushes, looking at the old posters on the wall with the train times, though most of the numbers and letters were unreadable now. Cassandra walked into the old ticket booth where there was a stool for the person to sit, and even some old tickets, as if everyone had left the train station in a hurry. Cassandra sat down on the stool in the ticket booth. Looking out the smashed window towards the railing. She could imagine people dressed in fancy suits and long elegant dresses buzzing around the platform. A conductor gives the last call for all getting on the train, and the train hisses, steam filling the small platform as the train begins to pull away. A hand slams two coins down on the counter in front of Cassandra, shocking her out of her thoughts. 

__A/N___

The first chapter is up! this story will probably only be a few parts and I'll try to update every Wednesday and Friday! lmk if you like it! 

I love feedback :)