Off Track

Part 9: Death

I stepped off the platform and entered the train. The claustrophobia was real. I situated myself so that I leaned on the entryway of the train car. It was the only spot that wasn't immediately taken by any inferiors (humans), plus I could keep an eye on Mr. Frank Busch, who looked sketchier and wrinklier than ever in the car next to mine.

"Ticket?" a distracted conductor asked me.

"No," I said.

The conductor looked up at me and frowned.

"No?" he asked. "What do you mean, no?"

"No, I don't need a ticket," I said slowly, compelling him, drilling into his dark brown eyes.

I watched his features slowly relax. He was too easy to manipulate and moved on to the next passenger.

I looked back into the train car next to mine. Frank the Master Criminal kept adjusting his jacket to check on his weapon, which I knew was tucked neatly into the back of his jeans. If the safety weren't on that gun and it went off on his ass, I seriously think I would have pissed myself with laughter. I really hoped it was off...

Reading Frank's mind was out of the question at that point. I was so hungry for a nice juicy soul that I didn't have the energy to pry. Killing someone on the train was out of the question. Too many minds to wipe. Plus, my current case of claustrophobia, (and perhaps most embarrassingly, my immediate motion sickness) would make the meal far less enjoyable than usual.

But, if Frank were to kill someone on that train as I expected he would, would I turn down a quick snack of whomever he annihilated? Please, of course I wouldn't turn it down! There were people starving in Africa, for heaven's sake.

Really, I thought to myself, staring at the poor, pathetic, inexperienced, wannabe criminal, Frank Busch. Could he at least try to be less obvious, if he's planning on murdering someone? I've seen the butt of his gun twice already and he keeps staring that one kid down. Should I give him some tips? Tip #1, quit wasting time and kill someone already.

I tore my attention away from Frank and inspected the space around me. As soon as I claimed my spot at the entryway, the other passengers on the train must have shied away from my large frame and scurried to far edges of the cart or the next cart over. Smart move on their part. I was the wolf and they were the cute little snow rabbits. I just wanted to eat them all...

"Do I offend?" I asked the elderly woman in the seat to my left, mostly to distract my growing hunger. She looked up at me and her heavy granny eyelids peeled back away from her milky eyes like blinds yanked open abruptly. She didn't say anything but stared, then she pulled her old leather purse to her chest. I wondered if she knew who I was. Was I too obvious this morning? It's not like I was carrying any noticeable weapons on me today....

I quickly patted the sides of my cloak and lots of metal clunked against each other. My fingers gripped something specific, strapped to the inner left lapel of my cloak.

"Phew," I laughed out and then leaned down to elbow the older lady. She nearly had a heart attack right then and there. "For a second, I thought I'd forgotten my machete at home."

The train stopped at a station. The old lady got up with a lot more athleticism than I expected and ran off the train.

Sighing, I looked back at Frank. Oh geez, now he was sweating like a pig over an open fire. Do something, idiot.

Someone bumped into me. It was that Keeley girl again. She had her phone gripped tightly in her hand and looked a little teary-eyed.

"Um..." She was visibly nervous, too. She gave me a weak smile and motioned to the car behind me. She wanted to move to another free seat in the other cart adjacent to ours.