Ghost Train

New Friends

 A hand suddenly slammed two coins down on the counter in front of Cassandra, shocking her out of her thoughts.

"Ticket for one to Gildrand," Cassandra looked up at the boy asking for the ticket. He had a longer face with a strong jawline. He wore black suit pants, with a tucked-in white button-up shirt and a simple necktie, though the tie was pulled loose. His piercing blue eyes had hints of panic in them and his slicked-back hair had a few strands out of place and hung in his face. To Cassandra, he looked like a 16-year-old businessman.

"S-sorry, what?" Cassandra blinked away the thoughts about the boy's looks and glances around wondering where he came from.

"A ticket. To Gilrand. On the soonest train please." He tapped his finger on the counter rapidly in a panicked manner. Cassandra chuckled.

"Your kidding right?" Her chuckle died down when the boy's expression turned to anger, "This train station- the train. It doesn't run anymore."

"What do you mean it doesn't run? It comes through every night," The boy frowned, "Listen, I don't have time for this. Can I just get my ticket?"

"I- I don't have any tickets to give you. I told you the train doesn't run here anymore." Cassandra felt annoyance bubble up at the guy's attitude. Who was he? Where did he come from? The guy scoffed and grabbed his coins back before walking over and sitting on a bench on the platform of the station. Cassandra poked her head out of the window looking at the peeved boy. Cassandra wondered again where he came from and so she walked over to the bench and sat beside the boy, "I'm sorry I don't have any tickets-" Cassandra thought of an excuse that would make sense to the boy, "The train to Gidrand was sold out. Do you mind telling me where you came from?" The boy glanced at Cassandra and sat up straighter as he let out a sigh.

"The place is Gildrand, and I come from right here in Haxville." He smiled slightly, though the hint of anger was still evident in his voice.

"Right. Right. But are you like, a neighbour? Why are you on our property?" Cassandra kept pressing.

"Property? This is public land. It's a train station, I'm allowed to be here." The boy frowned and Cassandra just looked at him confused. Sighing in frustration she decides not to press on the subject and folds her arms leaning on the back of the bench. She felt a set of eyes gazing at her. The boy seemed to be looking her over, confusion and bewilderment showing on his face.

"What now?" She frowned.

"The outfit your wearing. . . I've never seen something like it."

"Alright. That's it. Did you just drop out of the 1900s or something? You've never seen a girl in jeans and a shirt before?" She stood up from the bench and folded her arms now standing in front of the guy. 

"I can't say I have," the boy stood up. When he did Cassandra realized he was at least a foot taller than her so she had to strain her neck to look up at him, "It's not usual for girls not to be in skirts or dresses," He folded his arms copying Cassandra's stance.

"Well get used to it, cause I'm not changing," Cassandra huffed and turned towards the train track, "What time does the train usually come through?"

"Every night. 12 am on the dot. But it won't seem to stop. I know I'm the only one at this platform, but shouldn't it stop at all stations?" Cassandra was about to tell him how ridiculous that sounded. A train wouldn't stop at midnight, and the tracks broke into nothing 3 properties down, so no train would ever come down. The thought of the boy being insane crossed Cassandra's mind, but before she could say anything she heard Zephyr call out her name from inside the station. She turned to look through the broken window and when she looked back in front of her the taller boy was gone. She got angry that she never got to ask about the train some more, and annoyed that the boy got so scared of a child that he ran off.