I don't want to wake up. I don't want to wake up. I don't want to wake up.
The covers are snatched from my body and I instantly become cold. I curl up into a ball and lower my face to my chest.
"Wake up Juliet, we're almost there." Colton announces and I abide, slowly sitting up.
"How much longer?" I ask, putting on the sweatshirt he lended me to warm me up.
"About an hour. Maybe less." He begins stuffing items into his bag and zips it shut, then sits back down onto the bench. "Breakfast?" He has a few bananas in his hands and I grab two. I'm starving.
"So how long will it take to get to Pluto's gate once we get to our stop?" I ask as I take a bite.
"It's about a four hour walk once we get off the train, but I know of a pitstop that we can go to." He responds. "Once we get close, it's still going to be a couple of days until we actually reach the gate."
"Does that give us enough time to get Nick and come back?"
"Yes it does, relax. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't be on this train right now, we'd be back in the Afterworld." He scoffs.
"I was just asking. Are we really going to walk for four hours straight?" I sigh, thinking about the pain. That's twice the time we walked yesterday and my legs are killing me. I bet it would really only be a three hour walk because Colton walks so fucking fast.
"Yes. Is there a problem?" He raises his eyebrow.
"Yes, I don't want to walk that long after just remembering what it's like to feel pain for the first time in a month." I thought I was being rational here but he clearly didn't.
"Fine. Let's waste time taking useless breaks that could be spent looking for your brother in the Underworld. That makes total sense." He retorts.
I guess he's right. I hate when he's right.
I really don't feel like keeping that conversation going, so I change the subject. "What's the Underworld like?"
He laughs in amusement and tilts his body towards me, inching his face closer to mine. "If I tell you, you won't want to go."
"What? What's that supposed to mean?" He stands up without giving me an answer, pulling the straps of the backpack over his shoulders. "So you're not going to give me a warning or anything?"
"Alright there is one thing you should know." He admits. Before he is able to speak a pounding noise comes from the door. I freeze in place and my heart sinks. Someone yells something in Turkish and Colton curses under his breath.
Something is fidgeting with the door handle, it sounds like a key being inserted. Colton grabs his cup of water that is still full from last night and turns to me. "Be ready to run."
The door bursts open and two attendants enter the room, then yell a bunch of gibberish at him. Colton remains calm, holding his hands up in the air in defeat. He argues calmly with them while slowly grabbing the remains of the food from the bed right behind him.
I don't know what he was saying, but whatever it is seems to make the woman even more angry. As she yells at him, he keeps nodding and letting her voice reflect off of the walls of the small room. She shakes her head in disgust and leaves the room.
"What just happened?" I ask nervously, my body set in a position that allows me to be ready to bolt at any given moment.
"She's getting security." Colton answers, leaning against the wall by the door.
I take a moment to respond, just to make sure that is actually what he said. "So we're just going to sit here and let them take us?"
He nods. "She asked for my ticket and I said no."
"So what's the plan, then? Don't you have a plan?" I inquire, panic infused in my voice.
"Do I have a plan?" He repeats and laughs. "I always have a plan, blondie. You'll see." I expect him to do something, but he just waits by the door, continuously peeking his head out.
He looks back at me and tilts his head towards the hallway outside, signaling me to follow him. Slowly and silently we walk outside, but he steps towards the direction the lady went, which doesn't feel like the most logical route. We should be going as far away from any attendants as possible.
He actually leads me out of the first class section, sliding the door as quietly as possible. When everyone glares at us while we enter, I know we're in trouble. They know we're foreigners, that we don't belong on this train. We don't even belong on this planet.
Colton grasps my arm firmly and moves my hand onto a pole that lines the wall of the train. "You're going to want to hold onto something." He warns before turning and facing the sliding door. When I see what is next to it my heart drops.
"Colton, don't." I say sternly, my eyes steady on his. Right next to the door is an emergency break. "We're going incredibly fast, anyone who is standing up is going to fly across the train." A few people next to us appear alarmed.
He lifts his glance up at the ceiling, acting as if he's thinking. Then he shakes his head. "I'd rather not get arrested."
I grip the pole as tightly as possible and widen my stance, bracing for impact. Colton pulls the lever down and a loud screeching sound fills my ears.
My body is jerked backwards and I hold on as much as possible. My knuckles turn white, my legs pushing against the floor as hard as possible. My shoes slip slightly and my body falls forward.
Colton grabs my arm to prevent me from sliding across the floor. He pulls me to my feet while simultaneously preventing himself from falling. He lets my hand go once the train isn't slowing down so quickly.
"Go." He instructs, "the door is a little farther that way. We need to get off."
My eyes widen with fear. "We're just going to get off in the middle of nowhere?"
Ignoring my question, Colton pushes past me with frustration. He trots towards the train door. When he tries to open it, it won't budge. "You've got to be kidding me." He groans.
"Here." I say, pulling his arm away from the door. "Let me see." I lift my leg and kick the handle with all of my strength. It doesn't move. I hit it again. And again. And again.
"If I can't open that door then you sure as hell can't-"
Just like that the handle bent down and the train door cracks open. A satisfied smile spreads across my lips at his astonished face.
I descend the stairs with speed when I hear shouting coming from the train. I don't even risk looking back, I keep my head high and jump down onto the hard ground. We've been passing through a mountainous environment, which is quite literally in the middle of nowhere.
I can't believe Colton just stopped a train.
He walks past me, right towards a small hill next to us. I follow him only out of curiosity. "Shouldn't we follow the train tracks if we want to get to wherever we were planning on going?"
He shakes his head. "Walking to Denizli would be a waste, we're better off walking west, straight to Hierapolis if we are where I think we are."
"Where do you think we are?" I ask, and just as I do so, the train starts moving with a loud whirring sound. I sigh with relief, for I was nervous they would follow us out of the train.
Colton stops when he reaches the top of the hill and crouches down, placing his head in his hands. I can see the heat wave ahead of me, it has to be above a hundred degrees.
"What is it? What do you see?" I question, to which he only shakes his head in response. "What's wrong?"
He stands up finally and walks towards me. "I see nothing, that's the problem. No landmarks, lakes, noticeable cities, nothing. Nobody really lives around here." He sighs sharply and walks past me, going in a different direction of the train tracks. I watch our only form of transportation get smaller and smaller until it is a tiny dot in the distance.
All of my hope left with that train.
"So what does that mean, then?" I call out to Colton.
He stops and turns around, blocking the sun from hitting his eyes with his hand. "It means we have to walk at least eight hours to get to Pluto's gate."
"Eight hours?!" I exclaim. This could not get any worse. "Please tell me we're going to take a break somewhere in there."
He nods, taking a sip of water from his water bottle. "We will, but not for a while. It'll be a tough journey there."
I sigh, gathering my hair into a ponytail. I can't stand sweating when my hair is down, and I feel gross. My entire body is sweating, I haven't showered in a few days and I have hardly eaten anything this whole trip.
Colton hands me his water bottle. "You're gonna need to drink lots of this." He says. I take it and let the cold water slide down my throat. It feels so good. "It's only going to get hotter."
okay so I finished editing this entire book so every single chapter is in my drafts so this book will be finished very soon :)
That actually makes me sad cause I love it so much and I don't wanna be done with it but oh well.