Who Let The Ghosts Out?

Chapter 5 - Next Stop Disaster

"No way. I'm not going to board that train," said Amelie and Candice in unison. Their voices had gone so shrill they pierced the heavy silence brooding in the abandoned station.

"Sandra, you've been a good girl and read the union reports. They didn't say anything about trains by any chance?" Amelie asked.

"Nope. They only keep harping on about disappearing ghost hunters, and warning everybody to be vigilant."

"Well, that's what I am. Vigilant," she said. "I'm not going in there, and that's that."

"I wasn't asking you to. I was simply telling you what I thought of this setting. Set-up more likely."

My gaze flitted across the dark hulk of the train, stationary, quiet.

Hang on, what's that?

On a level with the rear end of the train lay a heap of objects. It was hard to work out what they might be. Unlike the rest of the stuff in this subterranean platform, the stuff wasn't furry with dust. Which must have been the reason why they tripped my gaze.

I took a step towards the bundle. Stopped. Every single nerve end in my body screamed about traps.

Synapses sparked in my mind, put names to the objects. A cold ball formed in my stomach.

"Where do you think you're going?" Candice asked. "I meant it when I said I'm not boarding that train. We tell Borgia he's got migrating ghosts, we conduct an exorcism, set up a shield and that's that."

"Won't wash. The ghosts will come back," I said. "That too has been happening a lot recently. Shields don't hold them and you can exorcise them until the cows come home. You really should read those reports once in a while. To change topics, do you see the same thing as I do?" I pointed at the equipment dumped on the ground. Darkish backpacks, violin cases, torches—the works.

"I spy with my little eye something that appears to be ghost hunting equipment, yes," Candice said. "Another good reason not to get anywhere near that bloody carriage."

I pulled the remote magnifier from my pocket and aimed it at the bundle until I found what I had been looking for: a little white logo on the backpacks. Magnifying that further turned the writing into a blur, but I could still read it.

The Four Ghoulies - Ghost Hunting at a discount.

I pointed at my find and found my finger was trembling. "Here we go. The leftovers of our missing friends."

Candice and Amelie bounced me dark looks.

"Well, not their leftovers, obviously. But no ghost hunter worth their salt would voluntarily leave their gear behind, least of all in a place like this. Agreed?"

"Amen to that," Amelie said.

"This mission is screwed. Ladies, let's cut our losses, and run," Candice said.

"As much as I hate to say it, you have a point there," I said.

Something inside of me inflated. Shit, this had been an expensive mistake. But how could we know? "Well, at least we have something to report back to base."

"To the union? Like what?" Candice asked.

"Like, don't follow trails if they lead underground. And we know where the Four Ghoulies might have ended up."

We all regarded the train where nothing moved, neither inside nor outside.

"Okay, we tell the Union what we found. It's up to them to send out the rescue squad," Candice said.