Vessels

Chapter 5: change of plan

Max had sat in his seat for about an hour, just taking in the wilderness outside his window. He had grown up in an industrialised San Francisco, so he was a stranger to such large forests. Despite being hunted by the law in what could possibly a country-wide manhunt, he couldn't help but feel exhilarated. He had someone learned how to do so many things he wouldn't even dream of doing before that, so how did he suddenly figure it out? Is that what adrenaline felt like?

Hmm, what should I do when I arrive? Max thought, trying to figure out a plan for when he arrived in Idaho. I'll find a motel to rent and get some money from mom. I'll figure something out from there. He started to feel more sure of his runaway, combatting the anxious side of him trying to take over as he really comprehended the situation he was in.

Eventually the anxious side did manage to take over as he realised the ticket inspector was getting closer. If he was caught, his plan would fall apart since he wouldn't even make it to Idaho. He'd be thrown off the train for being a stowaway, not to mention he would be arrested since he is still a suspect in the kidnapping of Suzume. He decided to get up and immediately run to the furthest cart in the train he could. When he reached it after a tense and lengthy panic jog, the last cart seemed to be empty, excluding the one man sitting and reading a newspaper. The newspaper was held in a way that concealed the man's face. Despite the barren cart, Max naively decides to sit opposite the man as he pulls out his phone to text his mom, letting her know that he was safe and on his way to Idaho. Funnily enough, his mom plainly replied with "👍" despite the fact her frail and anxious son managed to run away from the police and leave the city without getting caught; it was clear that she was still probably shaken up. Max, despite walking into the situation, was shocked when the man across from him begins to speak to him.

"Nice weather, Hm?" The man said. He had a low and gravelly voice with a strong Cockney accent.

"Yeah, it's nice." Max mumbles nearly inaudibly; this interaction wasn't in his plan, and that made him panic again. He continues to stare down at his phone despite it being turned off, simply because he was too nervous to look at the man in fear he would be recognised.

"So, are you a stowaway too?" The man chuckled, seeming much more approachable and friendly as he adjusts in the seat; he was clearly trying to ease Max's nerves, and you could almost hear a grin in his voice.

Max immediately feels much more comfortable and sits up, chuckling slightly. "Heh, what made it so obvious?" Max asked, still chuckling to himself.

"No one willingly sits in the front cart of a train; not unless the rest of the carts are packed, or they're stowaways trying to hide from a ticket inspector. So, what're you getting the train for?" The man explained, seeming very experienced in this type of situation. Although, his last question panicked Max again and he had to try and think of an excuse.

"Oh- well, um..." Max trailed off, his panic overtaking his logical thinking. Eventually his stomach churned again, seemingly warning him of an invisible danger he was yet to comprehend. That changed when the man spoke once more in a more sinister tone, made more apparent with his already threatening voice.

"Let me start then; I'm on this train because I needed to find you, Max." The man muttered threateningly, as he dropped his newspaper to the ground, revealing his face... or rather, his mask. The man seemed to be the exact same man he saw in the school hallway earlier that day, with the bronze and silver eclipse mask; the only difference was that the mask seemed to be upside down... in fact, his entire body seemed to be upside down, causing Max to look up and allowing him to have the realisation of the fact that the man was sitting on the ceiling.

How in the... his train of thought was cut off as the man grabbed him by the collar of his jacket and threw him out of the window suddenly, with the glass cutting his skin as he fell through and got closer to the ground. He felt as if he was separate from the universe he was in currently, as if he was wearing a virtual reality headset. This emotion was probably caused by the fact that he was falling away from the ground, rather than falling toward it; he was... falling upward?