Spellbound: Spawn of the Gods

Chapter Three: A Trip to the Capitol

It came out of nowhere. They never even heard it. The tracks had been abandoned long ago and were rusty and overgrown with weeds, but the train was new. In fact, it wasn't even really running on the tracks, more like hovering over the tracks. This was odd enough in itself, but the most unusual thing about the whole business was that the train was going to change Zoe and Faith's lives forever. In fact, the train was destined to change the fate of the entire world. If the girls had ever been told that before the train had entered their lives, Faith would have died of laughter. Zoe, as a writer, would have appreciated the idea as a rather interesting plot for an adventure novel, but would have found it quite amusing as a suggestion for real life.

Zoe and Faith had been walking home from school on a ridiculously hot October afternoon, talking about a Geometry postulate. They had always loved walking on the old railway tracks and the fact that it took them about half a mile or so out of their way didn't bother them in the least. Both girls were enthusiastic walkers, and neither minded the prospect of an extra hour of gabbing. 

"Some of these postulates sound simple, but then if you think about them too hard, your brain starts to hurt," Zoe was complaining. "And then there's all those theorems! Do the teachers actually expect us to remember all that stuff?"

"I know! It's like I can get the answer, but then when they ask me to prove it, I'm just kinda like I don't know...because that's the answer, that's why!" Faith seconded. Gesticulating wildly, her hand flung out and hit Zoe in the face. 

"Ow!" Zoe yelped as she quickly reached up to touch her injured eye. "I can see that you feel very strongly about it."

"Oh, I am so sorry," Faith apologised. "It's almost like I can't talk unless I use my hands! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah don't worry about it. I'm fine."

Faith frowned. Zoe was busy gritting her teeth with her hand cupped over her sore eye. In that light, what she had just said was not exactly convincing.

"Are you sure it's fine?" Faith spoke very slowly and deliberately.She always hated it when people said they were fine when they weren't. Her mother always said that she was fine when it was completely obvious that she wasn't. She shook her head as Zoe's voice brought her back to reality.

"Yes, I'm sure it's fine! Jeez, why the heck are you giving me the third degree over this?" Zoe gave an exaggerated sigh. Faith could make such a big deal out of nothing.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Faith smiled weakly. "I can really get under your skin, huh?" 

Zoe frowned and crossed her arms. This was not the confident, cheerful Faith she knew so well. "Faith, what's the matter?"

Faith shifted from one foot to the other. "Well, I was just making sure you were actually okay, because some people fake it and I hate that!"

 "You mean like your mom?"

"Yeah, my mom always says that it's fine, but she's a really horrible liar. She smiles and everything, but sometimes she actually cries herself to sleep. I know it's because of my dad, and that just makes everything worse!"

Zoe started to reply, but she realized that she had absolutely no idea what to say. Some stupid 'sorry' wasn't going to fix Faith's life. 

Faith suddenly smiled. "I think she is actually getting over him. She's been on a couple dates recently, you know."

Zoe gaped at her friend. "Do you mean...that your mom...is actually...dating?! Who? When?"

 "You remember Jake, right?"

"Oh yeah, I remember Jake! He's one of your mom's coworkers, right?" Faith nodded slowly. Suddenly Zoe remembered something else about Jake. "Wait, isn't he the jerk who called you a couple of four letter words last summer because you were 'taking up too much of your mom's time'?"

"Oh, yeah I remember that..." Faith had obviously never forgotten it. 

"He's a creep to end all creeps! Why don't you tell your mom?"

"She wouldn't believe it. She seems to think that he's an absolute dream."

Zoe gagged. "He's more like a nightmare from what I can tell!"

"Whatever. If they get married I could just live with you or something. All that matters is that my mom's happy. Of course, Jake won't want me around so..." Suddenly she stopped. "Do you feel a breeze?"

"Yeah," answered Zoe, still blinking rapidly, "so?" It was so stiflingly hot out that she welcomed the prospect of a breeze with open arms.

Faith held up her hand and the two girls stopped and listened. "That's odd. Nothing on the other side of the tracks is moving." she whispered.

"Hey, what's that?" Zoe pointed to the tracks ahead of them.

Faith turned. Taking shape from the simmering heat waves in the distance, something sleek and silver was making its way up the old tracks on which they were walking, at an alarming rate. The two girls jumped down to the small gravel embankment ,off the tracks and out of the way. Within seconds they could see clearly what it was. It was a train. It looked more like a streamlined bus with tinted windows, and they couldn't see if it had a driver or if it was automated. Either way, they knew it couldn't be anything normal. Pyte barely had computers, let alone trains that hovered. Besides, everyone within a fifty mile radius of the area knew those tracks had long been out of use. Although they both were pretty sure it wasn't exactly the brightest idea, they stood there staring as the train approached, expecting to feel the powerful breeze as it sailed past them. They wondered where it had come from and where it was going. Nothing about the situation made the least bit of sense!

But much to their surprise, as it neared them, the train slowed down. It didn't squeak or make a high-pitched squealing noise as it braked, only an increased thrumming. The girls jumped as a door they hadn't noticed opened with a hiss. They stared uneasily into the black interior.

"We should run." Faith suggested nervously, but she seemed rooted to the spot. Zoe, too, was unsure and rather frightened of the gaping entrance. It was so quiet inside the train and incredibly dark. She wanted to run, run far away. Only she too seemed rooted, mesmerised by the blackness. Zoe took a deep breath.

"No. I think we should stay. In fact, I think we should go in."

"What?" Faith looked at her incredulously. "You're joking, right?"

"No." Zoe repeated. "I don't know what this train is doing here, what it wants, or even what it is, but I don't think it's an accident that it stopped in front of us. Maybe there's something we need to do, something we need to see."

"Sure there is!" Faith nodded sarcastically. "You know, the only time I heard of a train like this... well, let's just say it wasn't exactly a very pleasant experience for the people riding on it!"

"Wait, where have you heard of a train like this?"

"In the Hunger Games Trilogy, duh!"

Zoe rolled her eyes "Really, Faith? You're thinking this train will take us to the evil 'Capitol of Panem' or something?"

"I didn't say that. I just meant this could be dangerous!"

 Suddenly the train revved twice and the doors hissed. It was almost as if the mass of metal was growing impatient. 

"You actually might be right though, Zoe. It's almost as if it knows us..." mused Faith. "A train, moving that fast and then stopping right in front of us, the doors opening and everything..."  Faith paused, shaking her head in amazement. No Geometry postulate or theorem could ever be as hard as the problem she faced right then. Even Jake was easier to figure out!  "What if it's from our parents, the ones we never had?" It was a crazy, hysterical idea, but for some reason that thought had come into her mind. It was as if the idea had been implanted in her brain by some powerful unseen force. Faith felt something drawing her to the train, commanding her to get on, and she had no idea what to think! 

Zoe looked at Faith and nodded. She had the same strange feeling as her friend; she could her the same voice in her head, urging her on. There was nothing to do but submit to it.  "Let's go!" 

 They simultaneously grabbed hands and as each said a silent prayer that they weren't making the fatal mistake of a lifetime, they took a deep breath and stepped onto the train. The doors closed behind them with a click, and the found themselves in a cool, quiet blackness.

"Panem, here we come," Zoe muttered quietly.