The Ghoul Train

The Ghoul Train

CHAPTER 1

 

Every night I would hear the man scream.  This was accompanied by the creaking tracks of an arriving train. No-one knows where the train comes from, only where it arrives and where the passengers get on. At precisely 12:01 the raspy rusty train would appear magically from the fog, a hundred metres from the train station. For over fourteen years, I’ve heard the train come and go without fail. Strangely, this morning is different. I awake at 12:31 to find the train has failed to arrive.

The sun was too bright. The mornings between Summers Dawn and Winters Hallow, the sun would always arrive bright and sparkly for the next sixteen hours. My tent flap was waving open like an albatross flapping its wings. It had been three years since that fateful night were the train of death never arrived. My family live one kilometre from the train track. We only lived of meagre rations and the few trash bins to be found from the industrial areas.

 Each night I would be pondering what the train would be doing in its mystery world. I would solve the problem a lot faster if I had a pen and paper, but because I was living in poverty and my resources were inadequate, I was unable. I could sometimes wonder there and feel the icy cold tracks, one degree away from frost. The rough rocks, all equally as cold as the decayed tracks. And the sand. Grains of sand so small an ant wouldn’t tread on them.

“Lunch!!” Mum called from the makeshift kitchen. Really, it’s just a miniscule room and a bucket of water supplying the hose which was used as a tap. She sounded sad, especially since dad left when I was five years old. Mum was so worried when he left, almost like there was a greater plot at play. She would always talk about him. How I’d have his eyes, his hair, even his personality.

 I walked into a beige tent with beige clothing and beige food, through another spare room and into the eating area. Bread was sitting in front of me like a heavenly cupcake. This plain piece of food to normal people is no big deal but to us, it was like finding the most precious of diamonds. If bread was found lying around or in a bin, sometimes we would eat it or sometimes, we would even try to save it for later, but it ends up harder than the rocks on the track.

3 years later

 

I walked out on the scorching sand. I had found a half-eaten apple, three stale crackers, a bottle of half-finished soda and a loaf of bread. A whole loaf. Who would chuck out a loaf of bread? All 14 pieces of it. I smelt the warm, soft bread. It was probably warm from being out in the sun for god knows how long, not because it was fresh from the bakery.

I walked back home with my stash, as I always did. I walked on the scorching sand, as I always did, and I walked past the railway tracks, as I always did. I arrived at home when the sun just peaked below the forest. I had tried to venture into the forest once, but it didn’t go well. I ended up going face to face with a Jota, a beast of snowy white teeth and eyes like the devil himself.

One evening, after I collected my stash of food and water, I happened to pass the railway to find a man. I saw a man on the train tracks! Not just anyone, the Goth person. He was the one who always screamed before the train stopped at the station. With a pale face and Jet-black hair so long it’s just past his ears. One could mistake him for a girl.  He has rings in his nose and a necklace with a skull and then another finger ring that, glows.

The man also had a tight tee-shirt on with a sword being stabbed into a Mythycagl, a beast of legend. On top of that he wore a motor-bikers jacket. He wore jeans with a tinge of beige, which really blended with the surroundings. His belt was just like any ordinary belt, only there was a big DC in the middle. His boots were a shade of grey, which I could see matched his feelings as he dropped to the ground… with a gold sword through his skin.

Mum told me in no uncertain terms to not return ever again to the tracks. But clearly, I didn’t listen, because before midnight on a Friday, I was standing at the edge of the rail once again. I could start to see a glowing ring appear in the centre of the smog, like the goth persons ring. Hands sweating, I walked all the way to the smoky area, stood there, and then put my hand in, only to realise, I couldn’t. It stopped at the bottom of my middle finger, exactly where a glowing ring would be.

CHAPTER 2

I stood there in absolute disbelief. I had to study the Goth man a little more. He had a dagger, dipped with blood under his shirt. I saw a tattoo of a tear next to his right ear. Maybe that was to mark a permanent sadness he had. I decided to face my fears. I took of the ring, slid it on my ring finger… nothing happened. It was almost like it was an ordinary ring. But surely it couldn’t have been an ordinary ring. Abruptly, I felt a cold chill down my spine, as if it were broken. My fingers started to heat up incredibly quickly. I decided to take it off, but keep it, for other times.

 I had to play it cool. The next day had to be a normal one, or else mum would find my secret. When mum said lunch was ready, I would wait five minutes before going to eat, like I always do. Then, when mum asked me to have a shower, I complained, like I always do. Then finally when mum asked me to go to bed. I didn’t. As soon as my mother was out of sight, I slid on the ring and crept out into the night. The intimidating night.

I crept on the cold sand, wet from dew. I could barely see, only to be guided by the shining light of the moon. I went to the railway. The man was gone. I endeavoured deeper into the night. I crept further down the railway tracks. And then, I heard it. A sound I had longed to hear. It was the sound of screaming. Pure. Chilling. Screaming. Suddenly, a portal opened.

Poof. It happened like that. The portal opened. I started with my pinkie, then my pointer, then my ring finger and then, my whole hand was through. When I walked through completely, there was fire all around me. I figured this was a magic ring as it protected me from the fire below me. I also knew because I felt no heat and smelt my favourite smell, melted mint chocolate with ice-cream.

“Ah, Mr Gothica. Nice to see you again.” I looked at myself. OH NO I thought. I was in the body of this Mr Gothica, the goth man. Then I saw them with their gleaming golden swords. “They’re the ones who killed the REAL Mr Gothica.” I noticed that I said it allowed because they started walking towards me. Now running. I speed through a door, not realising what it said. I suddenly fell deep into a hole. Abruptly, somehow the Golden Men had gotten fifty stories down in less than five seconds. The only way out was to jump. I noticed fiery flames below me, then a bunch of soft, but putrid wasp nests. I quickly calculated that if I jumped, the ring would protect me from the flames like last time and the wasp nests should break my fall. So… I jumped.

I suddenly realised what the sign said. TORCHER CHAMBERS. I knew this because the wind hit my face so hard, I tried not imagining bricks smashing constantly in my face. Then I hit the wasp nests. All I could hear was the crunching and crackling of the homes being destroyed. BANGGG! I hit the ground. Not fast, just painfully. I suddenly realised that there was a room to the left of me. It said: FOR ALL THE LOST SOULS- WARNING, HIGH SCREAM LEVEL INSIDE BRICKLE-half brick and half nickel- DOOR. I entered and there it was. The noise was deafening. The screaming was overwhelming. I ran to the… oh no. The Brickle door. Then I read the name. ALBUS POMEROY NIKELSON. My father. I wasn’t thinking and left straight for my father’s tomb.

There was only a candle, a spirt of my dad, and me in the tomb. I felt so isolated from the world, I wanted to cry. But I knew I had to keep going if I wanted to get out of here. There was a faint light out of the tomb that I crept towards. It was a door. A big, oakwood polished door. I decided, as anyone would, to enter it. Only to find myself at the very place I started… home.

CHAPTER 3

The desert wind picked up as soon as my foot touched the ground. I walked a few hundred metres to find the real Mr Gothica. I then walked another few hundred metre to find home. It had seemed no time had passed because mum was still cooking her dinner, rice…brown rice. I snuck back to bed without mum noticing. Luckily, the next morning I had an opportunity to go to the tracks again. There it was- the sight was unbearable- the rickety, rackety, rusty train. It had finally returned. After all these years, these long years, the train had returned.

 Though it had a symbol. One which didn’t please me.  Candlelight was the symbols name. I knew because I heard one of the golden guards talk about his leader. Also, because I saw it branded on their forehead, like a tattoo. I raced back home and gathered my equipment. Only this time, I wasn’t going back into the anonymous void.

I raced over next door-which was like five kilometres away because our homes are massive- to see my friend, Aslo. He was an intelligent, un-educated boy of the age around fifteen. I could only count to twenty, so he can only grow so old. After my long and tiring journey, I reached a tiny-smaller tent than mine- brown tent. I walked up to the small, round tent and said “hello??” I soon saw the face of Also. We greeted each other as any friend would do, and then I led him the rail. One without a train.

I wanted to find answers. And by the look on Aslo’s face, so did he. I felt like he was going to explode, and then he said the simplest form of question. “WHAT?” I tried to explain, but he just walked off and left me saying, “Solo mission #two”

 There it was again. The fire, underneath me. I had the ring on, so I looked like Mr Gothica again. I looked around and there were no guards, so that left me to explore the mysterious wonders of this mysterious world under a mysterious cover using only a mysterious thing. A key.

Before I left the other dimension last time, I took a key with an inscription stating: ONE WHO IS LOST HESITATES. I then looked around the room, or more like the corridor. I walked down the corridor to reveal lots of odd names on the doors like, 19th CENTURY HERO’S and SCIENTISTS FROM THE LAST ERA and stuff like ICE-CREAM LOVERS and… GOTHICA AND NIKLESON.  That was my last name, and Gothica was the last name of the goth person. I was starting to sweat. Somehow the water droplets turned to dust. I inserted the key into the brass keyhole and turned it.

The room was quiet and still. But as soon as I entered, the room had almost felt my presence and five torches magically lit. I saw my, and the Gothica’s, family tree. I saw why both names were on the door, because… My Dad had married a Gothica relative. I remembered the name dad told be. Lesly, la prone, Lest Mónica, LANCE!! Lance was the name of the woman dad married. I then, with my finger, followed the line all the way down to me. Arthur Carrie Kelmscott Nickleson. I had my whole heritage in front of me. I needed to find more, so I looked around and found a door.

 

CHAPTER 4

I walked towards the door, heart pounding, blood racing like a red Maserati. My adrenaline started to kick in as I walked through the door. The sight that I saw when I opened the door was unbearable. All I saw was one face. One very familiar face. Chartla. A dead Chartla. I looked around to see if anyone was occupying me and my dead aunt. 

I saw paintings on the wall of graveyards and dead people. My Aunt looked like an oracle. One which had green smoke coming out of its mouth. I started to run. But as soon I life that wasted place, the Candlelight guards were waiting at my door. They had their swords pointing at me indicating I was giving unwanted attention. And clearly for me, unwanted attention was bad. Really bad.

I tried to run away, but the only escape was the deathly room. I couldn’t just jump of a ledge and into wasp nests this time. I had to run through them and back into another room. My search wasn’t complete, so home wasn’t an option. l tried my outrageous plan, but one of the guards caught me. I could only hope for the worst to come.

My only burning question in my sweating mind was how to get out. I was sadly in a bag and obviously couldn’t see. Until I was dumped on a floor of a very posh looking Room. The walls were a colour of glossy gold. I noticed that the rug at the front counter was woven so intricately, I couldn’t even see the different colours of thread. The desk was made of pale oak wood.

There was a man sitting at the desk. His expression showed me he knew everything. One of the golden guards took of my ring. I was me again. “My, haven’t you grown older.” Was his only response to seeing me? IT WAS DAD. MY FATHER.

 He had a blue mohawk and rings in his ears. His face was more tanned, and it had a dark expression. He pointed to a painting suspended in the air by a rope with a red hue. Then I glanced over at his desk and guessed that the red hue was blood. He pulled the rope tight. The painting nor the rope budged. It hung there with no movement. Then he turned his expression to me.

 He looked at me for about a minute, and then he said, “RING!!” the bulky guard handed him the ring and scanned it under a barcode reader. The eyebrow movement on his face showed me that he knew about Mr Gothica and everything I did in the past forty-eight hours. “

You snuck a Death Catcher ring from Orlando Gothica.” That explained the DC on the belt. “You jumped into the TORCHER CHAMBERS!!” he was furious. “AND YOU LOOKED AT OUR FAMILY TREE” He threw the chair he sat on. And the pencil sharpener, and the pencils, and the spare graphite. That one hit a skinny guard. The bulky guard laughed… before the mighty blow struck his face, punched by my dad. He pointed to the door and clearly indicated for me to leave, because the fat guard grabbed me on my shoulder and led me to the door which was also made of oak wood.

 

CHAPTER 5

The fat guard led me all the way out the office, through a door which its sign red offices, then out another slide door that’s sign red DEPARTMENT OF OFFICE SELECTORS, then out into the main hall. The portal that brought me here was only metres away. I would run, the fat guard’s hands were too tight and there was a zero percent change of me slipping and jumping into the portal.

We walked down the corridor for about a minute until we reached a door that said, BLACKSMITHS AND INVENTORS LAB. We walked in and bypassed the INENTORS door but entered the BLACKSMITHS DOOR. Then we embarked through the INTERMEDIATE door rather that the EASY and MEDIUM doors. Finally, we reached the door that brought back the fateful memories on that Friday three years ago. The door sign red TRAINS.

The room was filled with wonder… and smoke. The deathly gas came from the big chimneys ahead of me. Then I realised what we were doing. We were making trains. More than just one. HUNDREDS. I looked around. It must have taken a hundred thousand men to build all the trains in this room. The fat guard handed me clothing. They were beige. Just like home. But there was only one problem. THEY WERE WORKING CLOTHS.  

The fat guard pushed me into the room. I could instantly smell the putrid, smoke filled chamber. My distaste for this room kept on growing until I reached a platform.  The platform stretched for miles and miles. The platform had gates that led to a train. Each gate had a number above it. I looked at my number. It said sixty-eight. GREAT!! It was sixty-seven gates away.

I started walking and almost INSTANTLY the workers gave me a snarl-like look. They stopped what they were doing just to look at the new kid. Then I noticed something. They weren’t wearing rings, like me. Their eyes started to look at something else on me.  Then I noticed what. They all had A Candlelight tattoo embraided on their arm.  But I didn’t.

 As I finally reached platform 1/68, I saw only one boy. Around fifteen – don’t judge – he looked uneducated. It was Aslo. The very boy I knew back home. I looked at him like he was Jesus. He was concentrating on his work on blacksmithing the iron to make the train shell.

“ASLO??” He looked at me confusingly. He started saying how sorry he was and how he said I was right, but I shook my head and went to war. I started to see how Aslo looked like a daemon. His eyes were red from the exhaustion and tiredness of the shards flying in his eye.

As the forty-five hour shift finally ended – time seems to stretch here – we exited to platform. But Aslo seemed to go in to wrong direction. Unbeknown to him, I followed. He went all the way to gate 125 before stopping. He opened a secret door – which was behind a bookshelf, by the way – and he entered. He left it open, which was stupid because I followed.

When I went in, the walls were glossed green and the floorboards were a pint of silvery-grey.  I continued following him until I saw a literal eighteen-inch-high piece of… gold? It didn’t really look like gold, but then Aslo went down steps. Steps to a secret blacksmith. One which was crafting armour.

CHAPTER 6

It was a mixture of glorious and painful. All that goldish stuff being made into Armour. I figured this would be a story waiting to be solved. I had a lead. A big one. I went to get my camera for evidence, but all my hand found was one cold, large, bony hand. It wasn’t my dad’s, but it was another guard. I ran down the steps and into the lobby then past the blacksmiths with the helmets, then the boots, then the body protection and then, I slipped. A piece of that burning gold stuff found a foot to slip, and the only way I fell was down. Down into the belly of the beast.

I woke up with the heat of a thousand suns shining on me. There was also a face in front of me. My eyes followed her cream white coat to a name tag that red, Lazzlon Tonksas, Head of medical advice and surgeon. I had scars all over me. “The ring” I thought. “The fire.” I then was confronted by Aslo, who didn’t look happy. He was fuming. He held up my ring, slid it on my finger and I disappeared. This was not meant to happen. When I looked at myself, I wasn’t Mr Gothica, I was still me. “The ring crafted by me. I made invisible with Oarlock.” Which I later knew was that goldish mineral because I had to sit a lecture about it.

We ended our invisible voyage at the train station, where all the trains were. “TODAYS THE DAY PEOPLE!! TODAY WE FINNISH THE TRAINS, TODAY, WE DECLARE WAR.” The PC systems rust shavings were blown off by the wave frequency sound coming from the loudspeaker. “What invasion?” I thought, and then it got answered.

There was a massive portal about three miles away from the fist gate, which was like three hundred miles from gate sixty-eight. I started to build faster than I ever did. If I finished my shift early, I could enter the portal. But I didn’t because I and Aslo had to build three extra trains. After our super late shift, Aslo when to the blacksmithing obscured compartment, BCC.

Luckily for me, Aslo kept the ring on his desk, so I stole it and put it on. INVISIBILITY TIME. I walked until I was at the BCC. Then I saw it. Thousands of invisible rings. I also noticed something else. Aslo was wearing a ring. He now became… DAD. MY FRIEND WAS MY DAD!!! Then I remembered. When I went over to Aslo’s place, he was crafting a supposed ‘toy’. He was crafting a ring, so HE could get into the portal and out of it as Aslo and dad. And when ‘Aslo and I went to the tracks, he ran away, to get his ring so he could enter as the Candlelight leader.

 

 

CHAPTER  7

I was starting to piece together the puzzle. But the puzzle contained thousands of pieces, so I decided to pay a visit to 19th century heroes, a room which would contain Albert Einstein. I creeped from Blacksmiths and crafts back out into the long passageway. I opened the door to 19th century Heroes, and the first face I saw was President R.F Kennedy. I walked past him to find Nikola Tesla and then Edwin Hubble and THEN Albert Einstein.

He looked at me and somehow knew my name – he is a scientist after all – and said, “Young one, you must venture into the beyond!!” I started to walk away when he grabbed my shoulders and started to say a rhyme.

“When you find the deepest secret, venture to the shallowest ledge,

When all seems lost and can’t find answers at the final edge,

Go to the place we all know well and recruit the one who knows the battle bell

Befriend the lost who doesn’t appeal and have the power to steal the deal.”

I was a little confused, but a sort of got it. Sort of. I walked out the door and found him. A big, bulky, fat guard. His hand was the size of my head. He picked me up by my ears and ear carried me towards Dads Office. He dumped me on the chair and dad walked in. He looked like he had a great day, so that was good for me. “You found it out using MY EQUIPMENT!!!” he was still laughing when he was speaking so all I really heard was my equipment.

He waved his hand again and the big, bulky, fat guard through me into a portal. Dammit!! I thought I would have to the portal some other way. I walked and paced and walked and paced until I thought of the most workable but idiotic plan I knew. I would use ‘Aslo’s’ tent.

I walked the five kilometres until, there was nothing. Absolutely nothing. The place was deserted. Remote, even. All I could see was the hibdden Forest. That was the border into Lord Bishops land. If I dared to go in there, I would be slit to pieces the imperial guards.

I was about to walk off, but I found a pillow. I soft, white, plush, posh pillow. HOW INNOCENT. I immediately – without thought – ripped the pillow open fiercer than a dingo and more focused than a fox, about to eat a chicken.

There it was. The ring beholder transporter – RBT – was in my possession. My owner ships. MY CONTROL. I had the power to transport anywhere in the realm. There was only one problem… Mr Gothica’s ring only had level one clearance because he was the train conductor. I still put it under the scanner and somehow… I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RING BLACKSMITHS. I grabbed one and ran. Put it on and slide through the door. I made myself invisible and sprinted for the door. The other one.

I tried to outrun the other invisible golden guard – if your invisible you can see other invisible people – but he was just too fast… until I hit him with a spare brickle brick. That must have hurt since its ad nickel in it. I scrambled out into the corridor and into another door – for about the thirteenth hundred time – and hid. I was in a large empty room with no sound, noise or any other type of clamour. As my eyesight appealed to the darkness, a saw a man. A very, very familiar man.

CHAPTER 8

“LAZZLON TONKSAS!!” I said at the top of my lungs. Only that I realised that there was no sound. I crawled over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. She was dead. Her shoulder just fell off. Same with her head and her hand. The only thing lively about her is that her eyes were open.

I wanted to scream, but I knew it would just be a waste of breath. I looked around for what had killed her, assuming she came in here alive and well. Sconce nothing could get in this lockup, I looked and searched for the killer, but there was none to be found. I was about to give up all hope when I saw a scrunched-up piece of parchment. I opened her fallen off hand and unfastened the parchment. What I saw amazed me.

It was blue-prints and diagrams and papers full of blacksmithing instructions and words I didn’t understand. Since I was going to be in here for a LONG time. I decided to look and read them. The first page was a manual to the invisibility ring, to the armour… and to the trains. AND TO THE MYSTERIOUS VOID. Warson Odious was the name of this mysterious void. Lax-Pax was the architect of this place. I searched the papers until I found out every detail this place could hide.

The other pages were how to build the ring. It had something called Methane in it. It also had Nitrogen, Carbon, Fluoride, Neon, Magnesium, Aluminium, Phosphorus, Argon and about fifteen others. The rest of the pages were the diagrams and blueprints for the trains. I studied them until I found out the final pieces of the puzzle. The trains were an army carrier. It must have been a big army because there were thousands of trains. I was lucky that I missed this big invasion. But as I read on. I saw the date of the attack. It was the first of the second of the nineteenth – 1/2/19 – that was tomorrow!!!

I had less that twenty-four hours to complete my mission and stop the assault. I started banging on the door. My hand was on FIRE!!! I couldn’t do it anymore. I was going to die in here. That was until I heard this, MISSION POSTPONED UNTIL THE FIRST OF THE EIGHTH OF THE NINETEENTH DUE TO A TRAIN MALFUNCTION AND DELAY!! I was shocked about the delay. I then noticed that the door opened. I ran outside but landed at home. I had failed my mission. But I wasn’t home. I WAS AT A MOUNTAIN RANGE. AND I WAS IN THE ROCKIES. THAT WAS IN A DIFFERENT CONTINENT!! I was really stressing out. And then I heard Einstein in my head. “When you find the deepest secret, venture to the shallowest ledge.” I knew what I had to do.

Three hours later, I reached the shallowest ledge of Mt Columbia. I then looked down and saw one symbol. One symbol that gave me nothing but trouble in my life. One symbol that was so familiar, it was almost like we were one. A symbol I vowed never to see again. It was the Candlelight.

I was stunned. What was that symbol doing at the bottom of the mountain Columbia? It was so detailed; it was almost like god himself created it from pure darkness. I was starting to shiver. Then I thought of Einstein. Again. “When all seems lost and can’t find answers at the final edge.” That explained me very well. I tried to remember the third line, but I couldn’t. It was just me and my instincts. And then I was back in the dark room. It was all a vision. The door opened, for real, this time. I saw another thin guard chuck in a dead man. He was a train worker I saw at the Train Yard.

I managed to sneak out.  The light was blinding. I only saw a big, purpleish colour. It was the portal home. I crawled in and I was back home. With my mum hovering over me. And then, I blacked out. There was a golden sword pierced through my back.

 

CHAPTER 9

 

I awoke with a hot, steaming breath over my face. I looked. I was mum. A very concerned mum. She looked as anxious and worried as a scared little lioness. I looked around the, brick walls. Mum never installed brick walls. The first word I said to mum was, “What date is it.” And the response wasn’t virtuous. It was the thirty-first of the seventh of the nineteenth (31st/7th/19th). I got up. I couldn’t. I tried to grab something. I still, couldn’t. I was in pain, shock and a bed.

It was night-time. I was back home. A had a needle in my arm which said, sleep. I had been transported from the hospital to home. I could walk. I waddled to the portal, in hospital cloths, and walked right in.

I found a lonely ring laying in the fire. I put it on and became Jet Sailmeand. I sauntered, in boots, and went to the corridor, only it was a room with no door and only a big training camp. The door on the other side of the death camp red RINGS, ARMOUR AND TRAINS. I walked in and sword, arrow and three spears just missed me. I thought I could never make it though. Until Mr Dummy came around.

I had the dumbest idea; I would use the dummy to get across the battlefield. I grabbed the dummy and across I went. If the dummy was alive, it would be dead to a crisp. There were spears jabbed into its eye, a bunch of arrows in its head and a load of swords and bullet holes in its leg. Five hundred kilometres felt like a mile. I finally reached the… GOLDEN DOOR – there are never golden doors in Warson Odious.

I opened it to find, more than one million invisibility rings. I walked. Strength rings – I found out because I tried one on – and then the armour section. I walked to a brass… wait… ANOTHER GOLDEN DOOR. I walked to find a non-golden glass windowpane. On the other side was the train yard. A bunch of steel and metal clumped together. The trains all aligned on a rail made of death itself.

I pressed my face against the glass, and I saw him. Dad. He had a black mohawk instead of a blue one. He had very heavy armour on coloured black red and gold. His boots had a thin grey line going across the side. He also had two very sharp daggers placed in a socket in the side of his boot. His helmet was the same colour as his armour, only there was a big blue strip where his eye holes are. I noticed a girl behind him.

A thin, skinny girl whose eyes were the colour of a salty sea with wisps of the ocean spraying in them. She also had a long sword. It looked like the sword from THOR. And it was. How did I know? She inserted the sword into a mechanical technical socket and turned it. The out of the blue came a portal. Just like the one at the train station.

 

 

 

CHAPTER 10

 

I saw a million men march, run and scramble into the trains like a herd of wild bulls, trapped in a room with red silk everywhere to be seen. In almost a matter of ten minutes, all the men were in the trains. As dad raised his celestial bronze and silver rapier, which shined in the inadequate light coming into the station, the trains started to move.

One after the other, the trains disappeared into the portal. I needed to stop this at once. So, I smashed the glass and jumped out into the train line. I managed to grip a ring on the way out, so I was invisible.

I knew it would only be a matter of time before the other guards put on their invisibility ring, and then they would be able to see me, just like before. As the train sped towards the portal, I braced myself for the impact. I had always entered a portal by walking, not by going a one hundred kilometres an hour. I watched as all the other trains disappeared into the portal. And then. I was in.

I wasn’t at home. I wasn’t in the Rockies. I was literally nowhere. All I could see was endless white and a thousand trains, all positioned in front of another portal.  The places above the portal where places I’d never heard of. What on earth was Australia. Where was Asia and what in the name of New York is Europe. I looked around six evenly spaced portals. All so deathly and glum. But suddenly, the skinny girl walked in. She tapped her chest and a whole lot of armour came onto her. I could only see her eyes, which were now red and black. She raised her sword, like dad did, and a seventh, dark black and greyish portal opened. It looked like hell was through those doors. I looked to see inside the gate. I could only see death and darkness.  I could almost feel the presence of an evil spirit lurking in the shadows

The trains started moving again. My train went to… Ammericcaia??? I looked at the white space one more time and then… I was at the dusty railway line. The one close to home. The one with mum standing on the edge.

I jumped off, took of my ring and grabbed mum, pulled her to the closest tent and informed her on the past week. And then the Einsteinian voice was in my head again. “Go to the place we all know well and recruit the one who knows the battle bell” I suddenly realised what I had to do. “Mum.” I said. “Will you join me in my quest and stop the army front destroying the world!!” And she said yes.

I was so excited; I didn’t realise that there was a huge fire going on outside my room. I ran outside to see the massive destruction that had been don All I could see was a bright light – the fire – a massive invisible army – I had my ring on – and a load of trains.

I took a minute to take all this in. I suddenly realised that this was it. This was the last time I would ever see my home. This wasn’t just fire and blood. This was the beginning. This was the invasion.

CHAPTER 11

I grabbed mum and left for Warson Odious. Since I only had one ring of invisibility, we had a dilemma. I figured it would be easier if mum had the ring and I hid behind dead bushes and frail trees. Eventually, we found a ruined tent. Aslo’s. I tried to find the pillow with the ring barcoded inside. I didn’t. I looked everywhere for it. It was gone.

The only other option was the train line. I tried to get there, but all I could see was fire, blocking the view. The smoke, hindering to suns heat, but was made up for by the fires. I could only see the destructiveness of the golden guards.

It had come to my unwillingly attention that I had to steal a ring if I and mum wanted to get to the track in one piece. I crept up to a golden guard he wasn’t invisible, but he was putting on the ring. I grabbed his hand and stole the ring. I put it on and ran with mum as fast as I could until, I reached a dormant portal. I warned mum. I knew that this portal to Warson Odious could trick the mind. Tempt you to do the unforgiving.

I jumped into the portal. I could see all the horrors of the other dimension. The destruction of my home turned to luxurious, golden walls and a high ceiling and…mum. She lay restless on the floor, nearly dead. I started to worry. Since there was no-one hear, I was REALLY STARTING TO WORRY. I called for help. Obviously, there was no answer. But there was. A small voice. One that sounded like it was through the OFFICE door, past the other lengthy corridor, in the MANAGERS door and inside a room that red SIR GOTHICA ASLON NIKELSON. My dad was still in the building. He ran as fast as he could and saw me and… MUM. She was bleeding. A pool of purple-blue blood flowed from her head like a babbling brook.

Dad looked at me unforgivingly, then at mum, forgivingly, then back at me. Understandingly. I saw dads sympathetic and empathetic face turn into a petrified and apprehensive face. He only said one word. “Self-Destruct.” His face ran emotionless, his eyes turned blank, his body fell to the ground. Lifeless. I ran over to him. I tried to think of Einstein’s scary help.

“Befriend the lost who doesn’t appeal,” That was obviously talking about mum. “And have the power to steal the deal.” The deal, I thought. What deal. I started to wonder what deal. I looked at mum. Thank god she was still faintly breathing. I Thought of something she would do in this situation. I looked back over at dad and saw a piece of paper. The end corner looked like it had been burnt off. I knew this because of a black charcoal line that ran across the broken piece. I opened it and… didn’t really understand the language, but all in saw was a seal. Lord Bishops Seal.

I wondered why dad would have his seal, but of course. “HAVE THE POWER TO STEAL THE DEAL.” The golden guards are going to invade Lord Bishops monarchy, but make it look like an invitation. I knew what I had to do. I had to seek information from the inside. I had to go into the Forrest of no Forgiveness, pass into the Realm of Lord Bishop, and coax him to stop the guards from penetrating the Castle. I had to do the impossible. I had to steal the deal and get out of there alive. I needed a hoax. One that would get me inside the Kingdom. Then, I would plan from there, hoping my soul is still with me.

CHAPTER 12

The forest Lay dormant. I knew they were there. The Imperial Guards. I could see that the ambush had not yet started. I crawled, and tip toed past the sleeping Guards, until I reached the end of The Industrial. I needed that hoax. That trick, that ruse. I needed the mask that would guide me safely into the forest and out the other side. Then I saw it.

There, the last piece. I had fitted into a Golden Guards suit. I still managed to have the deal paper from dad. I started my long journey by treading softly into the premises. I knew a hundred eyes would be watching my every move. As I came closer to the meadows of Camargo, Lord Bishops Realm, I saw them. The imperial Guards. I don’t think they saw me, but they would have heard me, because I let out the most loud and flamboyant sneeze and all the guards turned to me. I tried to look presentable and… WHY WOULD I BE CALM!! I tried to walk proudly – that’s how guards walked – to the line of guards, and they let me through! I sort of ran out of the forest – it’s called the forest of no forgiveness for a reason – and out to the meadow.

 There I saw crops of wheat and grain. I saw cows grazing at the speed of snails. I even saw… wait… could it be… they said it wouldn’t happen until tomorrow… IT WAS. About 300 metres to the left of me, at the far end of the forest, I saw an army, led by… MR GOTHICA?? But he was dead. I got out my binoculars – I can’t believe the armour has pockets – and looked closer. It was unquestionably him. Same black leather jacket. Same boots. Even the same pale face. The army was walking closer by the second. I looked in front of me and saw the castle of Camargo. I calculated that I could get there first and have enough time to convince the king to not sign the deal AND escape. I started running. Wait. I could run a thousand times faster without the suit… I started to take of the suit – now I looked like a farmer – and started my long trip to the Castle.

The gate lay in front of me. And a large barbed wired fence. I wondered how on Earth I would climb over there. I had faced so many challenges, but this seemed to be the tallest. By far. I looked around me, wondering if I could somehow build by way across. I saw a cart filled with fresh apples and wheat from the crop nearby. I wondered; the crops would get sent to the castle through a vent. I decided to go to the fields and make my way through a vent.

The night was cold. I was cold. My thoughts… were cold. I wondered how I could get in through a vent. Could I crawl through, would I have to go under water?? But the thought that intimidated me the most was my mother. She and a couple other from our area had fled to a nearby community, no more than 100 residents. She would be scared to death. She had no idea what was going on, or where I was for that matter. I tried to get some sleep before going on yet another journey.

I was woken by the sound of bushes rumbling. The Golden Guards were coming. I ran through the darkness. I found my way to the cherry field, then wheat, then apple and finally, the factory. No bigger than a lumbermill, but still presented challenges far beyond my comprehension. I tried to work out a way to get in there and go through the vent. I decided it was now or never. But as I hammered the lock of, a cold frail hand touched my shoulders. It was the King. King Bishop.

Chapter 13

I was shocked. Not only was I cold, freezing to death, I had the most powerful ruler of Parax behind me. I was too afraid to turn around. He began to talk, but it wasn’t the voice of a king. It was the voice of a weak man, one who was afraid to death of an army of 10 000 000 men marching into his territory.

I decided to turn around. I saw a pale man, in farmers clothes. It was not a King. It was not a man of power, for it was the opposite. He was very scared, almost… dead. His arms and legs were thinner that the bales of wheat blowing in the cold wind behind us. His eyes were full of pain and sorrow… and regret.

He told me it was done. It had been complete. I asked him what he meant, and he pulled out a stamp. It was the royal seal. I finally remembered Albert Einstein’s riddle. But I failed. The deal was sealed with the royal stamp. He suddenly started to cough. Very hard. He feels to the floor. He was breathing in heavily, trying to take in every breath before he passed on.

He rolled over in his final movements. I saw a dagger stabbed into his back. Multiple times by the wounds I could see. Blood was pouring out of them like a volcano about to erupt. He muttered words that turned out to be… kill him, avenge me, save us.

I stood there in shock. The king of Parax was dead. I my sight!! I tried to remain calm, but that didn’t seem possible as the sun was still rising, and the day was still coming. I decided it was now, and I broke the buckle latching on to the door, and it finally opened.

I ran inside and opened the latch to the chute. I squirmed in, and… a block. The tunnel was cut off, witch a candlelight symbol on the roadblock. I climbed back out… to find the golden guards at my face. I started running. Not sure where, but I ran. I ran away.

It was sunset by the time I reached the bay. The ocean was like a vast sea of monsters. Waiting for its prey to stumble upon its trap. It was beautiful, but I knew the stories. When I was young, my mother would tell me never to venture near the sea. She told me I should never go near its waters. Yet here I am. Feet in the water, eyes true… and fear alive.

I stepped back onto the shore. All there was, a wall of trees, sand and my thoughts. I heard the waves and nothing else. I smelt the see, and nothing else. I felt the sand, and nothing else. While I was walking in no certain direction, I stumbled across something. Metal maybe. Maybe even rubber. It was iron. Cold smooth iron. I picked it up from the sand and… it was a key. I washed the sand of with water, and an inscription was found. It red, FOR THE ONE WHO USES THIS KEY, YOU OPEN A LAND OF MYSTERY. VENTURE INSIDE TO REVEAL WHAT IS LOST AND RESEND WHAT YOU NEED AT A UNPLEASENT COST.

Chapter 14

I had to understand it before moving forward. I decided to move towards a pile of smoke coming to the right of me. I moved forward, just like my adventure. I stumbled across some interesting items, like a cloth bag, some glass jars, a rotten apple and banana; it tasted fine; some coconuts and a poster of Lord Alderbrian, he was the king when my parents were young. It must have been an old poster because he died years ago…

 

The hut was small. Cute. Warm. I walked inside to find a man. He looked ancient. Older than time itself. Little did I know how accurate that statement would be… I said hello. No movement. I knocked him on the head. Still no movement. Bam. He woke up… I think. He told me his name was Alderbrian. Alderbrian Karson. I stood there in shock. The king… who died… years ago. He told me he didn’t die; he just faked his death so he could be out of power. I told him Lord Bishop was the king. He said Lord Bishop was his first gentleman, Jonas’, son. 

I sat down and had a nice soup… I think. It was warm and… enraging?? He told me the soup was a special recipe, and a magic from the Caspian forest was required. I fell asleep straight after diner.

I awoke to the sound of… I don’t know what. It was like the sound of power. I opened my eyes to see a blinding light. It was a subtle blue. It was Alderbrian, a frail old man… now a power enraged God. He was floating too. He sat back down and talked to me with a godly voice. He said he was an enchanter for the land beyond the ocean blue, and he came to save the kingdom from a path full of deceit, anger, mercy and death. He said his role started as a king of the lands but failed when Jonas ventured on a train called the Ghoul Train.

The Ghoul Train took people into and out of the lands of Warson Odious. It was said one train, made from gold and iron held the key to eternal life, eternal knowledge and the answers to the universe, but it also held a dark secret. Once Jonas returned, word broke out in Warson that the secret was out. They killed Jonas and made his shriek the sound of the train coming in and out of the dimension.

I thought for a while. That shriek I heard for so many years was Jonas. The very man who tormented me for three years. The Ghoul Train was the one train I was so afraid of every living second of my existence. The Ghoul train was essentially, the pain of my reality. Alderbrian also mentioned the reason the shrieking stopped was because Warson Odious was under lockdown as a woman called Anastasia stole a key to the train.

The key, I thought! It is the key to the train. Anastasia was my mother. Mother. She was still in Warson Odious. I said my thanks and was on my way. I took some magical herbs from Alderbrian’s kitchen and left.

I wondered down to my tent. Grabbed a couple of things and left for The Ghoul Train. I was quiet. But not too quiet. I put on the ring and went on my way. Warson Odious was a different place. The corridors were on fire, dad was missing and… mum. I ran everywhere. Half the places I went I never went before. Most places I recognized. The trains, the blacksmith, the rooms and… mum. I found her body in fire. Green fire. I saw another body, floating around the end of this corridor. I followed it. Only seeing its back. I finally found it in a room that says MAGICAL ITEMS AND BEINGS.

 I saw the white actuality stealing what seemed to be eggs. “STOP!!” I said. It turned around. It was my mum. Anastasia. But… Alderbrian. Anastasia… Godly… Gods. They were Enchanters!! She said she was sorry, that she was the Enchantress and caused all this mess. She also said it was open. What was open.

Then, a flash of light came from the portal where I jumped in. I recognized the face from a painting in Dads office. It was Warson Odious. The namesake for this wretched place. It was the leader of the place, this filthy place. He was the enchanter of the seven seas. He was the reason mum and Alderbrian came here. He was the End.

 

 

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Tag der Veröffentlichung: 25.08.2020

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Every night a mysterious train would arrive on the dusty rails of the Paraxial Desert. One day, a boy discovers this secret and travels into a world unlike any other before. He travels to distant lands, hight mountains and fateful deserts. He discovers secrets hidden from the prying eyes of humanity. Will he find out the truth, the secrets behind his everlasting nightmare, or will he fail and fall into a troublesome end?