Destined

Chapter Three: Answers for the Lost

"Nevermind." I reply hastily wander into the crowd.

A large clock sits overhead, the second hand counting away the seconds.

11:45.

I have to get onto the platform.

There's no way to get past the gates without a ticket, and there is no way to get a ticket without money. My eyes dart around the train station as I begin to panic. What if I don't make it? What if I have to go back and live with them, forever?

A cool breeze blows through the station, sending a chill down my spine. I see something moving on the ground below me. At first, it looks like a piece of trash that's been tossed to the ground, but when I look again I see I'm mistaken. I bend down and pick it up the small object, turning it over in my hand. It's square, the color the same as the wax on the back of the mysterious letter. Now the wind is upgrading to giving me train tickets? What the hell?

I make my way over to the gate and scan the ticket. I make it through to the other side with no problem. Now I only have to find the train, which shouldn't be hard.

I walk around the platform, empty railroads on each side of me. The clock reads 11:50. I sit down at an empty bench in the middle of the cluster of people, on the verge of giving up. No, demand my doubtful conscious, you've made it this far, you can't give up now. I observe all the unfamiliar faces that pass by me as the clock nears noon. I start to tap my foot impatiently when the clock reads 11:59. I count every second that isn't passing by fast enough. 55, 56, 57, 58, 59...

...12:00.

I stand, looking to each side of the platform, but there is no train to be seen. What if it's just late? Please let it just be late. I spun in a circle, looking at both sides to see if there was a train. I stop and glare at the empty spot in front of me, as if that would make it appear out of thin air. Don't give up. Don't give up.

There's suddenly a huge gust of wind that nearly knocks me over. I spin around to the other side of the platform to see a giant, black steam train, a blue sign reading Elementum Academy on the front. I stare at it in utter shock. Where did it come from? I don't linger on the question. I race over to the other side, and throw open one of the small black doors. I make my way up a set of three steps, the door slamming shut behind me. I look out the small window on the door, watching the platform, where people are walking by the train as if it doesn't even exist. All of a sudden, the people are gone. The train doesn't slowly move forward like a normal one, but instead it moves fast enough for the outside world to become nothing but a mixture of colors, making it impossible to see anything.

At least, I think that's what I'm seeing. I'm not to sure of anything at the moment.I move away from the door, the act slow, and look down a blue carpeted aisle, glass compartment doors set on each side. I start off, walking down the aisle in search of an empty compartment. In most are groups of kids, older than me, laughing and talking together, as if the train isn't moving faster than an airplane. In a few sit at least two people, some talking, some in silence. Towards the end of the train I finally find an empty compartment. I slid open the transparent door and shut it behind me, taking a seat in the cobalt bench and placing my bag on the floor next to me.

I look from the carpet then to the seats. Why is everything so blue?

I watch as the world speeds by in nothing but a blur of colors. A few minutes later the train comes to a sudden halt. With the speed the train is moving, I expected to go flying into the seat in front of me, but instead, there is not jolt, just the outside world speeding by one second then frozen the next. Another platform comes into view with more people walking by, completely oblivious that there's a train only feet from them.

Three people, a girl with dark hair and two older boys, all bearing similar features, do take notice of the train and make their way aboard. The train starts to move again, throwing everything back into a blur. I watch as the colors pass by, thinking of all the different possibilities that lay ahead and what this could all mean.A knock at the door interrupts my thoughts and I turn to see one of the new arrivals on the train. It's the girl with long, wavy, chestnut brown hair.