Heads or Tails

Chapter 9

Kerra's P.O.V.

"Two tickets for New Orleans, please," Lunea says to the man in the booth. We left the hotel a little more than an hour ago, and now we're going on a train ride to New Orleans, so that I can see my sister. I gotta admit, Lunea is pretty good at guilt tripping. I still can't believe she used the family card, I chuckle. But it sounds like she had a pretty good family growing up.

My family wasn't the worst, but they weren't the best either. I was physically abused by my sister, and emotionally abused by my parents. My little brothers never did anything, but they both died of cancer when I was 4. So, yeah, my childhood wasn't the greatest. And I'm still kind of unsure if I actually want to visit my sister. But I guess since I'm buying train tickets, that kind of solidifies it.

"Kerra? You have the money?" I'm snapped out of my thoughts and see the ticket man waiting with his hand out. "Oh! Sorry," I mumble, embarrassed. I quickly press some money into his hand and grab the tickets. "Thank you," I tell him, but he's already started to help the next person in line.

"Have you ever been on a train?" I shake my head no, and Lunea's eyes widen in excitement. "It's super fun! Come on, come on!" She grabs my hand and leads me into the train, where we sit down in our seats and watch the scenery pass by.

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I wake up to the sound of screams, crying, and a lot of shoving. I open my eyes fully and they dart around the train in search of Lunea. 

"Lunea? Lunea!" I get up from my seat, and try to shove myself past the crowd. What is happening? "Lunea!" I finally see her; she's on the ground with blood seeping out of her head. Half of her arm is burned off. And that's when I smell it; smoke. There's a large fire all around me, and finally all the pieces click into place. I grab Lunea's arm and try to drag her out the door, but the crowd has thickened. 

The back of the train bursts into flames and everyone screams louder. The smoke wraps me into its thick blanket, and suddenly I see him. The Grim Reaper. He grabs onto Lunea and begins to take her to the underworld. "NO! STOP!" I look at the reaper and grab onto Lunea. "Please no," I cry. He just shakes his head. "She wasn't supposed to live twice; I can't let her live for a third time," he whispers.

And that's when I realize why I'm crying, why I'm screaming; I love Lunea. I love her with all my heart, and now she's gone. She's fucking dead and I wasted her time. Grabbing onto a piece of glass, I stab myself in the chest. "Take me too," I whisper.