Chapter #1.4: He wouldn't kick her out of bed.

                     
Over slices of pie, Don talked about the minor stresses of working the back room of a drug store and Amanda complained about the stresses of geriatric patients. It was clear by her venting about technical medical subjects that she spent a few years in school and most of the things she said went over his head.

In the restaurant light, he was able to see Mandy clearer. She didn't look like a Mandy, but he didn't care because she looked good none the less. She wasn't magazine “hot” or anything like that, but he most defiantly wouldn't kick her out of a bed. She was a little shorter than he who stood at 5’7 with shoulder-length dark brown hair. He decided that she was… pretty, but still rough around the edges.

He thought she was fit by the way she carried herself; possibly from walking throughout a large hospital all day, but it was hard to tell under her baggy clothes. Baggy like a skater, or a snowboarder. Maybe she liked hitting the mountain, he thought. Maybe both of them could head up sometime. Maybe he could get her out of those baggy clothes afterward. And maybe he should stop daydreaming about a girl he just met and finish his slice.

He also notices a small scar on the tip of her nose that looked old but permanent, though he refrained from asking about despite the fact that she made no effort to hide it. All and all, he wasn’t sure if she was really his type, not like Don had a type, but he decided to play this one cool, not come on too strong and see where it led. 

He asked her questions about herself. Normal bullshit stuff he knew girls liked, but most of her answers fell short of his expectations: she didn’t have time for T.V. or movies and preferred books he’s never heard of. She listened to music he wasn’t interested in. She wouldn’t touch politics and refrained from religion. It’s like he was shooting in the dark to get to know this girl.

She abruptly opened up when he circled back around about her work and led Mandy to the fact that she was taking time off to deal with some issues “so what is it like, family problems?” Everyone had family problems. Take Don for example; he had an uncle that worked in the adult industry that was killed by a crazed fan of a co-star he used to bang in movies earlier that year. You can’t even make that shit up! No one could possibly know what it’s like to be the nephew of Tony Cannon. It even made news in L.A. No reason for people in P-town to give a shit about a dead porn star though, so he kept that gem to himself.

Amanda kind of glared at him and nodded “yeah, family problems.” She took a bite of pizza and then a weird expression came across her face “Don, have you ever heard of a misanthropic rhizome?”

“No sounds alien though,” and what if it was. Or better yet, what if it was some kind of biological weapon. He saw this shit on the Discovery Channel about biological warfare and these gasses they have that can melt your flesh. 

“It’s a parasite that infects your nasal septum. It causes you to bleed profusely through your nose and prevents the blood from clotting, kind of like hemophilia. It basically can cause you to bleed to death from a bloody nose without the nasal septum even being agitated,” she took a deep breath and let it out “my grandfather had a nose bleed a few nights ago and went to the hospital by his home in Seattle. It turns out he has this condition and may not have long to live."

Don decided it must be something rare and he didn't follow everything she was saying, but being a nurse and all, she must have known what she was talking about “man! Whoa! That’s crazy, right? So… like what are they going… or how are they…?”

“Treating him? Well, it’s a rare case, so the only thing they can do is release him back home and tell him to keep his nose plugged with something super absorbent. That’s why I came to your store tonight Don: to get some tampons for my grandfather’s nose.”

All Don could do was stare wide-eyed at Mandy with his mouth open which he quickly closed once he realized he was in mid-chew “so, do you think he’ll be ok?”

“I don’t know, only time will tell,” Amanda said and finished her slice “well Don, thanks for the grub, it really hit the spot, but I have to get going. I've got chores to finish up before my trip and I still have to pack.”

"Oh, ok, yeah I guess you have a lot to get done, but Seattle; should be a short flight right?"

"Probably, except I'm taking am Amtrak," Mandy stood up and grabbed her jacket "it was nice meeting you Don, take care," she gave him a smile that shook his core. It was like being smiled at for the first time. It made his heartache. Then she turned and headed to the door.

Don decided he couldn't let it end there. He met a lot of ladies but this one was different. He felt that this one was his destiny. Granted he's told several women that they’re his destiny, but rarely felt it. Plus, he figured that even though they just met, there was something more going on behind those eyes and he had to figure out what it was "hey nurse Mandy... uh, so can I get your number and give you a call when you're back from your trip?"

She smiled again but shot him down "I don't think so Don. I've got too much going on to involve someone else in my crazy life right now, sorry. You were sweet to take me out to dinner though. Maybe I'll see you at the store sometime."

"Wow, it usually takes a lady like... two weeks to tell me that," he meant it as a joke but she didn't laugh “but I understand, with your grandfather and his… nose. Have a safe I guess,” he went in for a hug but she withdrew and extended her right hand which he shook with his own.

“Thanks Don. Get home safe,” Mandy walked outside, got in her car, and drove away. Don sat back down and had another slice of pizza and wondered if he would ever see her again. Those eyes, that smile. He pulled out his phone and looked up Amtrak departure times for the following day and some author Mandy mentioned named Douglas Coupland.

Suggested listening: "Beautiful" by Aerosmith
                                      "Pull It" by Asher Roth

             
                   

Chapter #1.3 Luring of something Massive

From the dark recesses of a long underground arched cavern running beneath the northern reaches of a cynical metropolis, an icy calm was slowly disturbed. A throng of rocks, pebbles, twigs and dead leaves stirred with the faint hum of the earth. Somewhere deep in the tunnel, the world was torn asunder and the faint flicker of a flame appeared in the abyss. As it glowed brighter, the steel spine of track laid out from it came alive and vibrated with the same hum, which had grown into a low rumbling that reverberated through the air.

As the glow became brighter, so too did the quake grow louder. It was the sound of 1,000 stampeding buffalo, 100 speeding tanks, 10 burning hearts or one furious fist. Something unstoppable and unchallenged, like a force of nature shaking the foundation of the land.

Soon the silhouette of the thing took form as a glow also appears from behind the approaching object. But whereas the first glow was from a running light, this new illumination filled up the entire tunnel. It was the light of billowing flames gaining on the already accelerated object, ultimately surpassing it, reaching the edge of the cavern and blew forth out into the open air in an amazing wave of inferno lighting up the dark autumn night.

Smoke rolled up into the sky and the flames faded. Then nothing for a few short moments, as the tunnel returned to complete darkness.

Then slowly, but deliberately, a figure emerged from the pitch-black arch, but it was no locomotive machination. It was what appeared to be a person, or at least the shape of one. And they were floating, at least two meters off the ground, feet dangling as if imitating a hung body sentenced to death for some abominable crime, though their head was facing forward, features hidden.

The other details of the apparition we’re also few in the dark of night; they wore dark formal clothing from a much earlier age and atop their head was a remarkably pristine stovetop hat. The arms were abducted slightly from the sides of its body with hands bend back at a ninety-degree angle to the ground in a weak claw shape as if tracing fingers across the surface of water whilst standing knee-deep. But nothing so droll was becoming of this gesture. Instead, it was an act of summation, a luring of something massive, grand and ominous from the same shadow whence the dark figure appeared. It was something expected yet unexpected at the same time.

With a chuff and ten yards separated from the dark figure, the mammoth design of the steam freight train engine emerged. The front of which was shaped into a human skull with the smoke stack coming out of the top. Several intricate details covered the exterior, some parts made of copper and nickel, but the bulk was made of steel and volcanic obsidian. 

 Strange markings and writing were blistered across the boiler housing along with a line of life-sized depictions of grotesque bodies along the sides. Trailing behind the coal car were numerous unmarked obsidian black cars which from an aerial view must have looked like a seething snake.

 Below, the turning driving and front truck wheels glowed red hot with flames flickering as if just forged causing the steel beneath it to creak and strain against the spikes and ties which held each foot of track it covered as they too glow through convection.

  Just then, rain started to fall from the heavens causing clouds of steam to roll up from the wheel-sets as they started to cool, forming into a hardened state, becoming a tangible thing in a fantastic setting.

Not a soul witnessed this event save for one hooded sweatshirt figure standing at the top of N Willamette Blvd overlooking the track that was laid a little more than a century prior. A look of great concern and expected grief drew across their face. As if they knew this occurrence would happen. As if they knew that the geological basin below would be the epicenter of a grand design and an epic catastrophe.

A stage was being set with which the hooded figure would only play spectator to and observe the eventual outcome of.

Suggested listening: Elegia by New Order

Chaper #1.2: Employee of the month

Rain was a predictable forecast in the City of Roses, especially in October. Inches a day it fell, like Zeus himself was pissed. Portland was a smaller city. It had skyscrapers, an international airport and a mass transit system, but you could drive through it in less than 30 minutes depending on traffic. It was often thought of as a city in the forest; the home of the great northwest. To Amanda, it was nothing special, just a place to live and work.

Downtown was a web of alternating one-ways. A quarter of which were always being worked on or closed for some reason or another, but traffic was dying down so her drive to the drug store to pick up some provisions was pretty straight forward.

Standing in line at the checkout stand, Amanda’s eyes darted around for something more entertaining than the crap the person in front of her was buying. Next to her in the checkout stand was a menagerie of impulse items: tabloids, bubblegum, breathe mints, batteries, condoms, small rolled up horoscopes and Pez. Cherry flavored Pez, with a Darth Vader dispenser. The taste of Pez had become foreign to Amanda since her childhood. She grabbed it and tossed in on the conveyor belt with her other items.

Past the checkout counter was the customer service desk and above that was the stores prestigious employee of the month wall. The current winner was a curious young man named Don. He had shaggy shoulder length brown hair that covered his forehead all the way down to his eyebrows. Amanda thought to herself that he either wasn't photogenic or was just having a shitty day. The sign below the picture said that he had been a valued employee for three years. She couldn't imagine working for that long under harsh florescent lights that filled the store with more illumination at 7 P.M. at night than the sun did in the middle of the day. 

Amanda paid for her things and left. On her way back to her car she saw someone sitting on the curb and realized it was drugstore Don himself smoking a cigarette.

"You’re mister employee of the month, right?" 

"What?" Don said back with questioning eye.

"I was... I was just looking at your picture on the wall inside," she replied with a smile.

"Oh yeah," he responded "the one where I look like a tool right?" She wasn't quite sure how to respond. He raised his head and she could see that his photo didn't due him justice. He was a sharp looking guy with a nice smile and a stainless steel lip ring that he probably had to remove for his photo. Her ex had a lip ring, and in the same place too "yeah how proud am I, right? I'm pretty sure I only got it because I've worked there so long without receiving it."

"They give you a watch and a raise?"

"More like a pat on the back and a gift card." He said as he put out his cigarette and reached for another. He tried to light a new one but the lighter would only spark and not ignite. He tried several times but to no avail. "Shit. You have a lighter by chance?"

Amanda had no reason to carry a lighter since she stopped smoking a year back. Lately it was getting harder to fight "no but there's a burner in the dash of my car," she thought about asking for one herself but she bit her tongue. Apparently she still had some will power.

She opened her car, threw in her bag inside, turned the key and hit the burner "it'll just be a sec. So do you like working in a drug store, Don?" He just kind of stared at her first. She was trying to make conversation, and maybe that wasn't his sense of humor. But he smiled and tilted his head downward as he put the cigarette in his mouth.

"It's a job right? Pays the bills, keeps me humble. What about you?"

"My bills get paid too. I don't know if I could stand working here though."

"Yeah? Well, have you ever made employee of the month?" She knew he was trying to be a smart ass and smiled.

The burner popped and she handed it to him "doesn't really work that way at my job." Don lit up "what are you, a dancer or something? Or a bartender? You're a bartender aren't you?"

'What a presumptuous dick' she thought to herself; flattered that he thought she has a body to dance, but still obnoxious to ask. Especially for a girl he just met. She figured she'd let it slide since calling him out about his crappy job "no, I'm a nurse.”

Don took a long draw and let it out slow as he nodded his head "that's cool."

"Yeah," she was now staring at his cigarette with great interest "mind if I take a drag?" Don stared at her with narrow eyes and handed her the cig. She inhaled deep and handed it back.

"A nurse that smokes, that's some irony, right?"

"I don't smoke, I quite a while ago."

"Whatever Nurse..."

"Mandy," she never went by Mandy outside of work. It just worked better over a hospital intercom speaker.

"Well Nurse Mandy. I know we just met but do you think I can bum a ride?" Red flags went off all throughout her head. She started searching for and excuse in her head.

"My car is pretty shitty on the inside and hasn't been cleaned in months."

"I don't care. Anything’s better than the bus. I got these hunger pains that just won't quit and there's this pizza place that's only open for another hour," he started rubbing his belly "their crust has garlic baked in, right?" She was a little irritated at how he was ending his prepositions as a question "come on Nurse Mandy, I'll buy you a slice," he said trying to sweeten the deal and held up his before-mentioned employee of the month earn gift card. She didn't care much for having a meal with a stranger, but he reminded her of the slack-off skaters she knew in high school and decided he wasn't that big of a threat. With great reluctance, she chewed her lip and told herself 'what the hell.'

"Alright, I guess. But don't try anything inappropriate, I spit mace," Don ran over and jumped in the car.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," he said smiling at her.
He faced forward but notice out of the corner of her eye that he was staring at her chest. At least he kept his eyes on hers up to that point. 'Just another guy' she thought to herself and she was off to dinner with Don; the employee of the month that she just met. At least she would get a free meal.

Suggested listening: Minimum Wage by Fenix TX

Chapter #1.1: Her safety was never his concern.

Amanda didn't particularly like talk radio, but there was nothing else on and most would agree that songs on mainstream radio get old really fast. Even the songs you loved and turned up when they come on the radio a week ago now make you want to change the station on the first note. So little change made the radio stagnant and irritating and made an annoying metaphor for her life lately.

Out of spite, she changed the station again to another talk show. The last show was talking about the current situation of a middle-eastern country that we were currently occupying. An important subject, but she wasn't in the mood. The new station was a religious show talking about the love you can only find through Jesus; the next station was about kids who live in the street; next was a commercial about buying a new Volvo. After that, was NPR having a discussion about the tragedy at Virginia Tech in the Spring of '07. Once again, an important subject, but still not in the mood. She finally resigned to turn off the radio and listen to the world outside her car door window. All the C.D.s in her car were scratched up beyond use. She didn't have to listen to anything coming out of the speakers, but what she did need is some sort of distraction from things going on in her head. Things she didn't want to think about and people she didn't want to deal with.

                 

Mostly about her ex whose car she was driving. He agreed to let her borrow it while she was looking for a new one to get to and from work. He had an extra car and didn't mind letting her use it since it was a piece of shit anyway. It wasn't the safest car on the road, but she knew her safety was no longer a concern of his and she wondered if it ever was.

The car was a mess. Half hers and half his. They had yet to clean it out and separate each-others stuff since they ended their relationship a month before. She was reminded, in the rearview mirror, of a pair of panties that were by the back window, that was hers but had started an argument a few weeks ago because she thought they were someone else. On the gear shift was a bracelet he gave Amanda long ago, but she ended up throwing back at his chest during another argument. She smirked at the fact that it ended up in the car she was borrowing and that she could probably take it now and he would be none the wiser.

And on the sun visor, she saw a picture of them together at the beach from the previous summer, back when they both cared about each other and ski-ball stuffed animal prizes were treasured. She ripped the picture off and tossed it out of the window, but couldn't help watching it drift in the air behind the car in the side view mirror until it flew over the edge of the bridge she began to cross. She knew it would slowly fall to the river below where it would be forgotten. Another memory that fell casualty due to their failed relationship.

Distracted by this though, she ran into the right curb of the Hawthorne bridge causing her to over compensate and hit the left curb and shave a milometer of rubber off her already bald tires. Wide eyed, she slammed on her breaks causing traffic behind her to slam on theirs and drew a single accusatory honk. The last thing she needed to deal with was two car accidents in the same month. Thankfully, this wasn't the case. And as if catching its cue, the rain started falling. Amanda hit the wipers that screeched with each wipe and rolled up her window which screeched with each turn of the window nob. Rain was a predictable forecast in the City of Roses, she knew it better as the City of Thorns. 

Suggested listening:  Portland Rain by Everclear

Welcome to the Ghost Train

Click Home below to start the journey 

"One-way ticket to oblivion"

Amanda tended to run from her problems. Now her problems are running after her. Forced to confront love, loss, regret, and fears onboard a mysterious runaway train she will come to find that the reasons for her wayward detour may lead to her salvation or her demise. Horror takes a new twist on a one-way track to hell. All aboard the Ghost Train.