The rest of the train ride was decently quiet besides Ash and Ryan's continuous bickering and the strange, ambient humming sound that still sounded like what Jupiter supposedly sounded like.

  "You're crazy!" Ryan replied, retaliating to something Ash said.

  They stayed locked in one of the train cars, and Nicolas stared out the window attempting to block out the childish argument. They reminded him of the way siblings might argue, about nothing: Though this wasn't something he cared to share with the class.

  "Would you two be quiet?" he asked, growing annoyed. He wasn't even sure what they were arguing about, and was starting to believe they were arguing simply for the fun of it.

  "Ash started it!" Ryan defended himself ignorantly.

  "I did not. You were the one who's hitchhiking on our train!"

  "Your train?" Ryan laughed. "From what I recall, I was here first."

  Nicolas rolled his eyes, starting to develop a headache.

  If only I brought my headphones.

  Thankfully, they’d be arriving at Bonney Lake any minute now, so Ash and Ryan would have better things to do than argue like children.

  The memories of the past few days played in Nicolas’ head, the way memories often did. He used to try to stop it—especially the painful memories, but Nicolas learned that if his brain didn’t replay them over and over again, then they would feel closer, more recent.

  He remembered that last beach trip with his brother, how the setting sun made the ocean look golden. He remembered the fight with the cold, demonic creature called a kako, that’s apparently been here since before humans existed. He remembered seeing his own gravestone, and the unsettling feeling of staring at his own final resting place.

  A loud, horn sound pulled Nicolas from his thoughts, and as the train began to slow, the inertia forced him against the table in front of him, and a loud screeching sound pierced through the air as the brakes came on.

  "Finally," Ash exclaimed. "About time."

  The train continued to slow as the wheels screamed against the rails, sliding toward the station ahead. Then at last, it stopped.

  “You two come on, we need to hurry,” Ash said, grabbing Nicolas’ arm, pointing at one of the windows on the right side of the train car. “We have company.”

  Kako.

  Ash pulled Nicolas away from the window, leading them toward the end of the train car, unlocked the door, and ran down the next car with Ryan following closely behind them. Nicolas was a bit surprised Ash had said “you two come on,” not, “Nicolas come on.” They seemed so adamant about Ryan not coming with them at first, but that was before the kako attacked them (again, for the third time since Nicolas entered whatever this place was called); maybe they'd changed their mind? Were they starting to trust him?

  They were just about to run through the next door, when Ash stopped so quickly it caused Nicolas to bump into them; which caused Ryan to bump into Nicolas.

  “Go back,” Ash hissed quietly, turning back around. Through the little window on the train door, Nicolas could see what caused Ash to back away. The dark eyes and black tentacles appeared almost like shadows in the sunlit train. He could almost see the strange coldness circling the air around him, creeping in like liquid darkness.

  They're here, Nicolas thought, remembering how little luck he had with running from Zander. They're here for me.

  Nicolas followed Ash as they turned around, running back the way they came. As they ran through the door’s they’d just opened, Ryan closed them, locking them as they passed.

  The plan, which seemed to have hit all of them at once, was to run all the way to the caboose, where they would step out. The only doors Nicolas saw had been the thin, sliding doors that connected the train cars together. Their plan wasn't bad, but the predictability of it meant one problem: They weren't the only ones who had thought of that idea, because up ahead in the tunnel of train cars, Nicolas could see another kako; still distant, but getting closer by the second.

  They were trapped.

  Nicolas froze, his mind first filled with panic; that feeling when you know that you're cornered and there's no escaping it. That feeling of fear, knowing you're either going to get hurt, or fight.

  Nicolas knew that feeling all too well.

  He'd felt it briefly when he was running from Zander, before he busted out the window and—The window!

  The panic faded, like morning fog in the rising sun: Like the stars at dawn, when the sun begins to light the sky with a navy-blue before turning the horizon into a golden halo of light. Now that the panic was gone, Nicolas could think clearly, and their perfect unison plan was replaced by mere coincidence and luck.

  “There!” Nicolas said, pointing at the window he'd broken in his fight against Zander. They were right beside it, which was not the kind of luck Nicolas normally had, but he welcomed the change. “Hurry!” he screamed again, before stepping toward the broken window, climbing through before he could think about the drop below the broken glass.

  The train was tall. Nicolas dropped about ten feet out of the window before landing on the gravel underneath, and even though he landed on his feet, there was a momentary pulse of pain, but it lasted only a second or two, thankfully.

  Ash climbed out right behind him, and immediately afterward, Ryan followed. They were standing in the gravel, and on one side of them was the train. It was huge! The walls looked solid metal, with thin scratches covering the dark, black material, and around each window was a strange, dark yellow paint. The train didn't look like any that Nicolas had ever seen, but he hadn't noticed how unusual it looked until now.

  Alien technology, he thought to himself.

  On the other side of them, was a tall chain link fence. Ivy and vines grew up to the top, suggesting a sort of neglect, reminding Nicolas of the crowhouse.

  “This way,” Ash whispered, before turning, running along the side of the train. Nicolas and Ryan followed behind, and once Ash made it to what looked like an old, forgotten stop sign, they turned right, away from the train and toward the metal fence covered in plants.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  They ducked, seeming to faze right through the fence, but a moment later, Nicolas noticed the medium-sized hole, just big enough for them to get through: Like a small cut in the fence, as if some giant creature had slashed it with one big, unnatural claw.

  Nicolas glanced behind him to make sure Ryan was following, and when he saw that he was, Nicolas climbed through the hole also.

  On the other side, was what looked like a small forest. They continued running through the trees, and after a surprisingly short amount of time, they reached the end of the small patch of wilderness, where a sidewalk and small road crossed their path.

  “Did we lose them?” Ryan asked between exhausted gasps of breath.

  “If we did, then it won’t be long until they find us,” Ash replied. “We need to keep moving.”

  Nicolas’ heart was beating so hard he could feel it pumping blood through his head.

  Once he caught his breath a little bit, Nicolas looked up. Beyond the sidewalk, were houses; and it was then, that the reality dawned on him just how far they'd come.

  He'd been outside of Portland before, but this time, he wasn't with Sam, or his dad, or his mom. It felt like for the first time in his life, he was free from his dad; free from his circle of helplessness that felt like it was drowning him at times.

  They began moving along the sidewalk, not running as fast as they were a moment before, but not exactly walking either.

  Every so often, they would pause for short, split-second moments, only to turn or cross a crosswalk. It almost seemed as if there were some kind of memorized path they were taking, like they knew exactly where they were going.

  One of the main things Nicolas noticed about the city, was that there were a lot more trees than there were in Portland. It was like everywhere he turned there were trees, and combined with the blue and white speckled sky and distant, faded mountain, made Nicolas partially wish this were within walking distance of his own city.

  This would’ve been a perfect escape from home.

  They came to a smaller road that cut off the highway, the pavement a light faded color, as if it had been paved a long time ago.

  Ash turned onto the older looking road, stepping onto the grass beside it where the sidewalk should have been; if it followed them anyways. It was like whoever was responsible for paving or building roads decided that the old, faded asphalt was too ugly to deserve sidewalks.

  Nicolas' feet tapped along the grass behind Ash as they quickly jogged beside the neglected road. It was small, and didn’t have any lines or markings, almost as if it was made of a million rocks glued together and painted silver and black. The trees grew nearer as they continued forward, seeming to almost hug them as the forgotten road slowly began to look more like a driveway.

  And soon, Nicolas realized that it was a driveway.

  It led to a parking lot, and a small, old building appeared through the woods around them, which seemed to be getting thicker by the second.

  “There!” Ash said, pointing toward the building. At least, that was what he'd thought at first; but moments later, he saw what they were actually pointing at.

  As they picked up speed, a noise above made Nicolas turn his eyes to the sky.

  It was a low, humming sound; like a helicopter or fishing boat. But the way it sounded… almost not real… gave Nicolas a bad feeling.

  In the sky above, was a vehicle like none he'd ever seen before. It was dark black, like the train; the clouds around it seeming to swirl as it floated through the sky without wings or propellers: A circle of distortion following the strange, metal box as it hummed through the air with a noise that seemed to never touch Nicolas’ ears, but still somehow echo through his mind.

  The kako.

  He turned his attention back to the building, and the navy-blue pick-up truck parked in the parking lot, with windows tinted so dark it was impossible to see whoever was inside.

  Or whatever was inside.

  Nicolas shook his head slightly, forcing the worry away as he followed Ash.

  As they neared the truck, Nicolas could see scratches all along the sides; little silver lines, like someone with a grudge took a key to the paint.

  As soon as they reached the truck, Ash opened the passenger door, hurrying Nicolas and Ryan inside.

  There were no doors for the back seats, but instead, the passenger seat was leaning forward, making room for them to climb in. Nicolas practically shoved Ryan ahead of him, then he jumped in also, with a suspicious feeling that the unidentified-flying-object in the sky was hunting them.

  The passenger seat clicked back upright, and Ash jumped in, closing the door behind them with a loud thud sound that shook the old, scratched truck.

  The car immediately kicked into drive, the tires screeching as they hissed across the rocky asphalt below; the engine growling a low, but loud roar. Then, the tires caught a grip on the parking lot, before launching forward, throwing Nicolas into his seat as the truck accelerated, almost drifting toward the driveway they had just walked along.

  “Greetings travelers,” the driver exclaimed with a loud friendly voice, adjusting the rearview mirror as the truck turned onto the main road and accelerated until it hit the speed limit, the engine howling. Through the mirror's reflection, Nicolas saw the driver's eyes look directly at him. Behind his circular glasses, his eyes were starting to wrinkle with age, his hair in the early stages of balding.

  The man's expression shifted in seconds, changing from curiosity to something else. His smile faded as he turned his head backwards to face Nicolas: then, he checked the mirror again. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging half open as if he had lost his sanity. At first, Nicolas had no idea what had caused the man's sudden wave of confusion: But then, he remembered.

  My reflection.

  “I'll explain later,” Ash told him, seeming to read the same emotions that Nicolas had.

  “But—” the man looked as if he were about to say more, but didn’t. And when he did, it had nothing to do with Nicolas’ unusual lack of a reflection. “The name’s Kevin, but my friends call me Kevin,” he laughed, speaking with some kind of accent, though Nicolas wasn’t sure what, though it sounded kind of like he’d come from somewhere south.

  “Nice to meet you, sir,” Ryan replied.

  “I respect yer respect kid, but please just call me Kevin,” the driver replied.

  “This is Nicolas,” Ash said, gesturing toward Nicolas.

  “Nicolas!” he exclaimed loudly. “Ash has told me a lot about ya.”

  “Likewise,” Nicolas replied, pressing his right index finger in between his left thumb and index, gently squeezing his pointer finger. Fidgeting with his hands was kind of just one of those things that he did without realizing it; a nervous habit he had developed at some point in his life, though he never remembered when that point was.

  The car turned into a turning lane, before turning right at the traffic lights. Nicolas leaned his head backwards against the car seat and let out a long, drastic sigh, closing his eyes for a few seconds as he listened to the not-so-calming roar the truck gave out.

  When Nicolas opened his eyes, he turned to find Ryan’s almost golden eyes looking at him. “Are you okay?” he asked Nicolas in a soft whisper that Ash and Kevin wouldn’t be able to hear.

  “Y-yeah,” Nicolas replied. “Just, tired I guess.” This wasn’t the truth of course. Ever since Sam died, nothing felt the same. The loneliness he once felt submerged in seemed to finally drown him, and on top of that, everything that has happened the past few days just piled on top of the already existing wounds.

  “It's okay to be emotional sometimes,” Ryan told him calmly, still whispering.

  That’s easy for you to say. You’re not the one who lost Sam just to end up in some nightmare.

  Nicolas wasn't mad at Ryan though. In fact, he was grateful for the comfort, even if Ryan had no idea what he had been through. “Thank you,” Nicolas replied.

  “If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here.” And before Nicolas could respond, Ryan added, loud enough for Ash and Kevin to hear; “So, where are we going?”

  Kevin's answer was both simple and short, but it hit Nicolas with a strange feeling—not homesickness, but rather, a feeling of being very far away from the world. A feeling one might get if they were suddenly teleported to a different planet, far away from their own.

  “Seattle.”