The Train of the Dead

Chapter Fifteen

Michael shuddered as he stared down the stairs that led to the train station. He kept imagining all of those legs crawling up, their sickly, bloodied flesh stumbling over each step...

Snap out of it! he scolded himself while heading into the store his father had told him to wait in. Dad said he'd be back in less than five minutes.

No amount of soda or pastries on display could lift his spirits. He kept imagining terrible things happening to his father instead of him – Teke Teke chasing after him and slicing him in half, or being hit by the shinkansen and joining the grave of victims.

He forced himself to stop thinking like that. There was no way that would happen. Maybe he should've warned his father – tried to get him to stay away. But what could he say? That a murderous, disembodied ghost haunted the tracks? As if he would really listen to that.

He reached into the bills in his pocket that his father had provided for him, trying to take his mind off it. But he felt strange dealing with unfamiliar currency – and he was nervous about talking to the cashier. He eyed the pastries and chocolate bars, but didn't buy any. He couldn't take his eyes off the stairs outside. He kept expecting something to come creeping up them.

He heard the doorbell of the shop ringing as somebody burst in. He didn't pay much attention, until he realized who it was. He raised his head and gasped in surprise as he spotted Riku, scanning the aisle of chocolate bars. No doubt about it. The same tall build, short, messy hair, and playful grin.

Michael had been planning on confronting him, but now that he was actually here, he wasn't sure what to do. Part of him was tempted to just ignore him and hope he didn't notice him.

But then, he caught a glimpse out the window – and had another vision of the Teke Teke crawling up the stairs. At least Riku was someone to share his terror with.

He walked up to the other boy, who turned to him. He looked completely normal, as if he hadn't also been terrified of the creature in the station they were near. "Oh, hey, Mike! I wasn't expecting to see you here."

"Neither was I," Michael replied dryly. "I wasn't expecting you to push me onto the tracks, either."

"Oh, come on. I'm sorry about that," Riku apologized. "I guess I shouldn't have—"

"You guess?" Michael repeated in disbelief. "And you uncovered all of those... those things." He shuddered at the memory. "Why would you do that? Just seeing one of them was terrifying—"

"I don't know why I did, either," Riku admitted, shuddering as well. Michael was relieved to see the fear on his face. He wasn't completely fearless like he pretended to be. "I guess I just thought there would be some kind of explanation if I looked harder. I didn't want to believe what I was seeing. I didn't believe I really found somebody's leg, ripped away from their body..."

Michael groaned, the memories resurfacing. Riku stared at him apologetically. "Sorry. That freaked me out a little too."

A little? Michael thought in disbelief. He's totally lying. He's as terrified as I was. But at the same time, he was glad to have somebody to share his shock and terror with. Somebody to prove he hadn't imagined it all.

"What was that?" Riku demanded. "Why would there be a bunch of limbs buried there? Why would they just put that there? It's... it's so weird and creepy."

Michael glanced around the store, relieved that it was empty aside from the workers, before lowering his voice. He should've done that sooner, but if anyone overheard, they'd just think it was two kids with a wild imagination. "Don't you see? It's the Teke Teke."

"The... what?" Riku repeated, staring at him in disbelief.

"You know!" Michael hissed. He wasn't sure he should've been telling him, but he might be willing to believe him after witnessing the horrific sight. "The legend of the ghost who got killed by the train... it's exactly like her."