Witch Me?(Witch or Shadowhunter?Book 2)

Train-Riding Demon?

  "NAILA HURRY UP, YOU'RE GOING TO MISS THE TRAIN!" Dad calls up the stairs. Slamming my truck closed and grabbing Nightmere off my pillow, I walk out of my room. "Coming!" I yell, pulling my 12 pound trunk effortlessly behind me. Nightmere stretches in my arms and blinks his green eyes at me, obviously upset I disturbed his slumber. Smiling, I hop down the stairs, three at a time, with my short sword, Tinea, strapped to my back. I remember how Momma said it got its name, and giggle as I reach the bottom of the stairs. Heading straight for the front door, I just hope its not Pater making the portal to Kings Cross. I open the door and stop in my tracks, making Nightmere scratch my leather jacket. Of course its Pater, he's the High Warlock of London. That's the reason my parents, and everyone else, didn't try to get him to stop stalking me. Mentally smacking my head, I walk over and stand next to Nick, who'll be going to the station to make sure I catch the train all right. Giving his fingers a final snap, Pater winks at me and sinks into the shadow of the tree. MY tree. Ignoring his red warlock eyes, I hand the cat, still clawing my jacket, to Nick. He doesn't say anything, but his fingers trail across my wrist and I roll my eyes. He still hasn't given up on me, saying as I was still only 12, but at least he left me alone about it. I clutch my trunk and step through the portal, Nick at my side.

  The feeling's familiar, and its over quickly. Seeing all the mundanes swarming the station, I wish we'd thought to use glamours. We're lucky they're too busy to notice us appear out of nowhere, though. "What platform do you need, again?" Nick asks, glancing at the numbers. "9 3/4," I reply, having memorized it. "Well, I see 9, and I see 10, but not," he starts, but stops. And I know exactly why. We both stare at the barrier between the two platforms. There's quite a large family of redheads standing together in front of it(with a black haired kid among them), but that's not what we're looking at. Instead, we're looking through the barrier. The mundanes walk right past it, except the redheaded family, but even they don't seem to see through it. "I believe we found where you're supposed to go," Nick states, turning to me. I smile at him. "Yeah, thanks Nick," I answer, taking Nightmare. "I'll see you at Christmas," he calls to me as I walk towards the family, who are pairing up.

  "Is this the way to platform 9 3/4?" I ask, setting my trunk down for a moment. The older woman, I'm guessing the mother, pauses mid sentence and turns to me. "Why, yes. Are you starting Hogwarts this year?" she answers me, adding a question of her own. "Um, yeah, I was supposed to start last year," I say, petting Nightmere gently. "Well, I'm Mrs. Weasley. Where, may I ask, are your parents?" the lady questions, glancing around as if expecting to appear out of nowhere. I shake my head, "they couldn't make it, thanks for the help Mrs. Weasley." More like Mrs. Ubermun, I add silently, grabbing my trunk again. She says something more, but I don't pay attention as I walk towards the doorway in the barrier. I step through right as a pair of the redheads run at it. Shaking my head, I walk towards the gleaming scarlet train. I climb onto the train just as the whistle blows. I'm not even out of breathe from lugging my heavy(ish) trunk with me. I stroll down the aisle, glancing into each compartment. After going down almost the entire length of the train car, I find a compartment with only one person in it. She's a blonde, around a year younger than me, and reading some magazine. "Mind if I sit here?" I ask, nudging Nightmere off my face. The girl nods, not looking up. Easily lifting my trunk onto the shelf, I pull out my copy of the Shadowhunter Codex, glamoured of course.

  Some time later, my censor vibrates psoftly in my jacket pocket. I look up and close my book, shoving my kitten off my lap and standing up. With a glance at the mundane girl I'm sharing the compartment with, I slip out into the aisle. One hand on my censor and the other gripped on the handle of a seraph blade, I make my way slowly down the train. I glance into each compartment I pass, but only long enough to decide the demon isn't in it. The censor buzzes more violently and I know I'm approaching the demon. I reach a compartment with three mundanes, two clearly asleep, and spot the demon hiding in the corner. I stand stock still for just a moment, but that's long enough for the demon to leap at the third mundane. Instinct takes over and I thrust the door open, pulling out my seraph blade and saying calmly, "Raphael." I swing Raphael at the demon, slashing it in two, but I'm too late. The mundane, who I now recognize as Hermione, is staring at the spot where the demon was just a moment before. I turn to leave, but pause to make sure she's alright. "Hermione? You ok?" I ask, looking back over my shoulder. She stutters, "I...I... What was that?" While she is still looking between the window and where the demon vanished. I shrug, "something that would've killed you had I not come by." I turn and walk out of the compartment. "Wait! What do you mean? I have seen many things like that and that was the first one to do anything like..." Her voice fades. I freeze at her words and turn slowly around. "You've seen many of them?" I demand, my voice shaking just the slightest. She nods hesitatantly, "ever since I was nine I have been seeing them all kinds of places." Uh, oh, I think. "W..what do you mean?" I ask, already knowing. A mundie with the Sight, just what I need. "It's kind of like they follow me, but when I try to point them out to anyone they think I'm crazy, so I finally just accepted I was seeing things. It's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only able to see them." She stops to think, "like last year, while Harry, Ron, and I were trying to get, um, something, I saw one in the corner while we were playing wizard chess." By the Angel, I've got to tell the Clave. "Don't worry, you're not seeing things. There're hundreds of people who see them. I'll keep them off you for now. And, what's wizard chess?" I say, finger Tinea's hilt. "Oh it's basically just a magic version of chess where the pieces move by themselves. You'll find out as soon as Ron or Harry breaks out Ron's board." She chuckles as if at a memory. I scrunch my eyebrows together, "chess?" She looks confused, "you don't know what chess is?" I shrug again, "never heard of it." She gasps, "um, it's, um, a board game. There really isn't a better way to explain it without a board." I shake my head in confusion and mutter, "mundanes make no sense," before leaving the apartment, hoping she doesn't follow. Unfortunately, she does. "What is a mundane?" I groan and reply without stopping, "people like you." She stops to contemplate before calling "wouldn't that apply to you as well then?" My hand slips to one of my daggers as I reply, "no, it applies to anyone who can't, or shouldn't be able to, see demons." With that, I slip into my compartment. She mutters, "does that mean that thing was a demon?" before heading back to her compartment.

  It takes me a moment to see Blondie's gone, and when I do I lower the curtains on the door. I grab my robes and change quickly. Sitting down by Nightmere again, I open one of my school books, all of which I've already read. I don't feel hungry, nor do I notice as it gets darker. When the mundie returns, I glance up from my book. "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Luna," she says, sitting down opposite me. "Naila," I respond, returning to my book. "That's a pretty name," I hear her murmer, but pay her no heed. A few minutes later, however, she gasps, disrupting my reading. I look up for the second time to see her by the window, eyes wide. Sighing, I close my book and join her. I'm impressed by what I see. A huge castle looms ahead of us, seeming to glow in the night. Its probably the single most fascinating mundane thing I've seen. That is, until I look up to see a flying, or more like crashing, blue Ford Anglia.