Magic Spawn Origins

Magic Spawn: Chapter 39

by Meredith Skye

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The train hadn't run in decades, so weeds had grown over the train tracks, in places. The train had been diverted to Riverdale, a bigger city up the road. Every now and then the town talked about opening up the old train depot and arranging for a train back down to Millersfield but there wasn't much call for it.

Haley and Anya hurried down the access road to the south of the old train track. Once they had gotten far enough away from the Old Mill, they got out their flashlight to illuminate the road.

"Where are we?" whispered Anya.

"Near the old train depot," said Haley. Up ahead to the south, she could see Hensley's Used Cars. They'd made it back to town. She felt immediate relief. It had been like she'd been holding her breath ever since they left the Old Mill after watching Molan revive zombies and bring them out of the pond. "We have to tell someone!"

"No one's going to believe us," said Anya.

Haley pulled out her cell phone. Still no signal. Something was wrong with the cell towers. The power must still be out. Silently, she put it away.

It had to be getting late now, maybe 10:00 P.M. by now or 11:00. She thought about heading north, back to the campsite, but that was too close to the graveyard. Surely, it wasn't safe.

Haley thought furiously. The cable might be working. If she could tap into some wifi somewhere. She'd brought a small notebook that she could use to upload her video to the internet—if she could find anyone with power.

She stared through the fog at the town. She thought she saw the haze of some lights ahead, a little to the south. So, maybe there was some power.

"Let's go," said Haley. She headed west across the main train tracks. At least now they were in town, just across from city hall. That building was dark as were the police and court buildings to the north. Ahead a block, the Meadowlark Hotel had a few lights on. Bingo! "There!"

"You want to go to the hotel?" asked Anya, as though she were nuts.

"Electricity! Wifi! I need to upload this video."

"Why?"

"People need to be warned."

"Then why don't we go to the police?"

"We will. First, I have to put my video up on the blog." Obviously, Anya didn't understand. Haley marched towards the hotel, with Anya trailing behind her.

"No one watches your stupid blog," argued Anya.

"They will after this," said Haley. "If you don't like it, don't follow me."

"Maybe I won't," frowned Anya, with her petulant, goth-black lips.

They hurried down the dark, deserted street. Some of the unnatural fog clung to the ground. "It's a waste of our time!" continued Anya. "You are an idiot!" hissed Anya, keeping her voice quiet, as though she might wake some monster nearby.

"Who asked you?" said Haley. "At least I have friends!" She stopped and turned to Anya. "Even your parent's didn't want you." Mentally, Haley winced. Maybe that last bit was a bit too cruel.

Anya froze and her eyes narrowed, reminding Haley of a dog who'd been kicked. "That's it, I'm done!" Anya yelled she threw the camera bag on the ground then turned her back on Haley, stalking back the opposite way.

"Hey, watch it!" yelled Haley, running to pick up the bag. What a pest! "Who needs you?" she shouted at the little goth-vampire girl as she left.

Haley turned and her heart skipped a beat. Up ahead, she saw a lone figure, not half a block away. She drew closer. The man looked familiar.