Cara Evelyn

Chapter-1

~She's mad but she's magic. There's no lie in her fire.~
-Charles Bukowski-

"She laughed. 'God, that's awful. I shouldn't laugh. But I will,' and then she laughed again......" My voice trailed off as I struggled to keep my eyes open and read this book. What was its name? Lazily, I closed the book to check it for the fifth and a half time. My sleep drunken eyes beheld a train of smoke rising up over a black background. Looking for Alaska by John Green. I closed my eyes. I wanted to smile as I thought about my weird habit of reading a book out loud when I wanted to stay awake but I was too tired to do it. I had always failed to stay awake this way, of course, but it was just a habit. Habits are weird things; illogical and addictive.

Putting the book back in the carton along with the other books, I rested my head back against the headrest and tried to make myself comfortable. I knew it was a long time before I reached home and maybe, I could use some sleep till then. My mind calculated that I had approximately two hours. I struggled to open my eyes enough to look at the old man sitting in front of me before I closed them and decided to forget everything. Once I would fall asleep, I won't even care that I had a unique tongue print or 350 bones when I was born or I could remember 50,000 different scents......

***

I woke up to the grunts of the old man struggling with his suitcase. I squinted at my watch. 00:46. I had slept for 17 whole minutes. Great.

I looked at him to find out the cause of his distress. Coming to know that he couldn't handle his suitcase, I got up from my seat and picked it up. He smiled exhaustively at me. I returned the smile and carried the suitcase after him. For a moment, I was worried about leaving my stuff unarmed behind me at this hour of night but that's life; unpredictable.

Leaving the suitcase by the bench he occupied, I grabbed a bottle of water from the station's cafe and ran back to my cabin. Reaching back, I opened my bag and looked up for some missing things. None. Then I opened the carton and saw that all the books were at their place. I thought I was being hysterical in a cabin all to myself. There was no chance of robbery, unless another passenger from some other cabin thought of going on a midnight adventure. I relaxed into my seat and put the bottle to my mouth. Gulping down half of the bottle in one large sip, I placed it on the table in front of me and looked outside.

My eyes could make out nothing in this moonlit night as the train rushed past the world outside. It oddly reminded me of The Polar Express although it had nothing in common with that. Maybe, I was too drowsy or I wasn't interested in the world outside. Cool air was rushing through the windows and I could hear the grumbling of the engine as the train covered its journey towards my home. I wondered that Robert would be worried if I got late. He never slept until I reached back safely within the confinements of my home. He had worked with me for three years now and every time I went to town to buy new books, he maintained his routine of waiting up on me. I hate when people wait on me but he is like that. Habits; weird things.

I knew that I couldn't sleep anymore so I bent down to draw that book from the carton. What was its name? I pressed on my mind to search out its name from my subconscious but failed to do so. Sleep was getting on my nerves. I had a bad habit of forgetting everything when I felt like sleeping. Habits; never mind.

I was bent down when the train halted suddenly. Another station. I took out the required book with the smoke on its cover. Looking for Alaska by John Green. I'd better memorize it now. Straightening up, I looked ahead and...failed to realize at the moment that the greatest catastrophe of my life had just arrived at its doorstep.

She was a girl of 5'2 with a wild streak dissolving in all of her attire. Pulling off the grunge look in a very graceful manner, she wore a loose black shirt over ripped black jeans and long boots. A black bag was slung across her chest from her left shoulder to the right hip. She had another bag pack and God knows what behind her. I couldn't make out the color of her eyes but what caught my sight of all was her unusually short and messy hair which were the color of moonlight; silver. The way her eyes strayed and never settled, I could sense that she was trouble. By then, I was pretty sure that wild was her favorite color for eternity.

She placed her stuff on the seat in front of me and instead of taking her seat she walked up to me and sat by my side. I grasped that book tighter in my hands. What was its name?? Ugh. I seriously needed to come out of my sleep. By my side view, I could sense that she was turned towards me.

"I'll give you hundred bucks if you shoot me." She spoke over the roar of the engine as the train continued its journey towards home.

"Are you mad??" I turned around and looked towards her in bewilderment. Her short silver hair shone brightly in the night light. I realized we were alone in the cabin.

"That's an understatement."

The right corner of her lip turned upwards into a heart stopping smile as her mysterious voice floated towards me in a light whisper. Holding my unsteady gaze with supreme calm, she bent down and produced a small pistol from her long boots and placed it on the little table in front of us.

"Deal?" She raised an eyebrow.

By that time, I had accepted that she was the most irresistible girl that ever crossed my paths.

But I had a better offer.

I leaned forward and picked up the entirely silver pistol which was small in size but very stylish. My eyes spotted an italicized inscription at its butt so I took a closer look at it.

Taurus.

"That's me." She replied as if reading my mind.

"Your name is Taurus?" I passed her a confused look. A wild girl like her had every probability of having a crazy name like that.

"No. My zodiac sign is Taurus." She sighed as if exasperated by my dumbness. Of course. Sleep does this to me.

"So, what's your name?" I asked her further while hiding my embarrassment.

She pressed her thin lips as if weighing her options to answer me or not.

"I would like to know, at least, the name of the girl I'm going to shoot on a rushing train at this Godly hour of night." I pressed softly.

She turned her face away. Her silver messy hair set out a spark in the moonlight shading in from the window as her head moved. The contrast of her sparkling hair with her black dress was beautiful. It was a sight so alluring that I felt myself falling deeply in its charm.

"I'm going to tell you a name which you're not going to forget for a long long time." Her voice reached me with difficulty provided the noise of the engine. I felt as if she was beginning the narration of a fairy tale to a little child. I could see that she was stretching this aura of mystery further around her. I was baffled by the amount of mystery a girl of her size could hold. I held my breath in anticipation and tried to back her off.

"That's an overstatement." I tried to pour confidence in my voice but deep inside I had an intuition that I was wrong.

Slowly, she turned her face towards me and for the first time, I saw the color of her eyes; midnight blue. My breath stopped. Her features molded into an impossibly bright smile as the ocean in her eyes came to life.

"Cara Evelyn." She whispered and I still don't understand how, but her whisper multiplied into several echoes as it entered my ears.

I didn't know it back then, when she mentioned the thing about not forgetting her name, that it was not an overstatement. In fact, it was the most haunting understatement of my life.

Author's note

Hi everyone. :) I hope you like this update. It's the first and I don't have any idea how it is. Feed backs would be much appreciated. *-*
Don't forget to vote and comment. ♥

Dedication goes to serendiptically because of the beautiful covers she made for this book. Do check out the first chapter of her Graphics book which is known as "Angels Graphics"! :)♡

The current cover, however, has been made by myself. :D

Much Love. ^-^
Hazel ♥♡