5 Years Later
Dear Diary
I kind of hate that phrase. It sounds cliche, like something a protagonist in one of those god awful Disney Channel originals would say. But I can't really think of anything else to use instead, so...
Things have been weird recently. Like... weird. I've only begun my job a few months ago, so I'm not sure if this is normal behavior from Snowpiercer's citizens, and I'm just now experiencing it since I'm a new member of the working class, but still. It doesn't feel right.
It's hard to exactly pinpoint where all of this weirdness began, but I'd say it was around the time that Sean Wise was murdered.
It was no secret that violence was somewhat common on this train. Even as a little kid, I knew about it. No matter how hard the train tried to hide it from our innocent minds, the kids found out. But this murder was different.
It was the first to happen since I began my career, for one. But the real kicker is that it happened in Ag-Sec. Where I work.
I didn't see the body, thank god. Some tunnelman found it. But the guy worked in my department and the murder happened here. That knowledge sent all of Ag-Sec into a panic.
But oddly enough, Mel was probably more freaked out than any of us. She seemed just as frenzied as she did when the first murder happened two years ago. Not even an hour after, she gave an announcement over the speakers claiming that Mr. Wilford had ordered all of us in Ag-Sec to leave work early and stay in our rooms for the day. He was afraid of any more of us getting hurt, I guess.
When I was back at work the next day, I saw her walking in with some guy I've never seen before. He looked like a tailie, and apparently, he was one. His name was Andre Layton; the train detective. Melanie told me that Mr. Wilford called for his release from the Tail since he was the only homicide detective they had.
Speaking of Mel... she's been weird lately too. Even before the murder. I don't really know how to explain what's wrong... she just seems... colder. She doesn't smile as much. There's been a bad vibe around her.
...I hear people talking about her sometimes.
I've heard a lot of things specifically from Julia when we were back at school. She told me that Melanie would do terrible things to the citizens of the Tail. She said that sometimes, Melanie would go in there with a bunch of Jackboots and freeze the arms off of innocent people. I've heard from others that she often resorted to violence and was an "uncaring psychopathic monster" behind the Hospitality facade.
But I never believed them. I just figured they were messing with me. Melanie was just far too kind to do any of those things.
Now, though... I'm not so sure.
It's been a few weeks since we've truly spoken.
There's another big thing I've heard whispers and murmurs about.
It started with the trial for the accused murderer of Sean Wise. Mr. Wilford allowed for a member of the third class to attend the jury, unlike the past. While this was great for us, it sparked conversation about some apparent big revolution that might happen soon. It's only been growing recently as the Tail and third want more rights, while first and second class detest this idea. There's been a lot of protests in third and I worry that something big might happen soon. These guys just can't seem to take it any longer.
Long story short, a lot has been going on, and a lot has changed. It's scary. I don't know what's going to come next.
- Grace
The journal was gently shut.
With a heavy sigh, Grace looked out the window. Her shift was already over today, but she wasn't really sure what to do for the rest of her time. Besides writing in her journal, she didn't really have any other plans.
There wasn't really much to see outside right now. The small window was frosted over and blurry, nowhere near as clear as the windows in the first class parlors. Then again, that's just how things were for third class. Shittier versions of things from uptrain. Maybe that's why there was a whole revolt going on right now, everyone had come to grow tired of their lesser treatment.
Looking out the window got boring quickly. Grace really needed something to do. When first boarding the train, she had brought with her a backpack of important items, such as her phone, her Nintendo Switch, some chargers, one of her favorite stuffed animals, and clothes, but her Switch was dead right now, so that was out of the question. Maybe she'd take a trip to the library car instead and do some reading.
Yes, she eventually decided. I'll do that. With a little bit of motivation, Grace got herself up out of bed and out the door.
The narrow hallway was crowded, as usual. But this time it was crowded by angry people walking as if they had somewhere to go. It's been like this for a little while now, people constantly seeming suspicious, whispering to one another, meeting in strange places. No one had really spoken to Grace about it for some reason, though. She wasn't even too sure what they were whispering about. Every time she asked or tried to listen in on anyone, they just stared at her, flicking their eyes between her and then each other, some even with sorrowful or suspicious expressions, and then after a moment they got up and went elsewhere. That specific behavior was probably what concerned the girl the most.
Either way, she tried to shake away those thoughts for now and focus on the task at hand. The library car was far uptrain so Grace would need to take the sub-train. This was exactly as it sounded, a small series of carts beneath Snowpiercer that acted as a means of transportation. Since Snowpiercer was so long, the sub-train was like a trolley that could get you to farther locations faster than you could if you walked. The only issue is sometimes you had to wait for it if another passenger was using it already.
Just at the end of the hallway was one of the several trapdoors that lead to this location. When Grace reached it, she struggled to lift the heavy hatch and then awkwardly slid inside the square hole, completely sliding down the small staircase and making a complete fool out of herself along the way.
Oh well. At least no one else was here to see that.
"Grace?"
...Or not.
The awkward 16 year old teenager frantically struggled to get herself back together, scrambling off the ground and nearly falling back over a couple of times before she actually was able to stand upright. Her hair and clothes were a bit messed up, but she made no effort to fix them, instead just smiling uncomfortably at the person who called her name.
She was twice as embarrassed once she noticed that person was Bess Till, one of the brakemen. Grace had first met her when she was younger, and nowadays they met often at the mess hall where they ate lunch together, and over time Bess had become a figure similar to that gay aunt that you want to seem cool around so they like you.
And this behavior from Grace was anything but cool.
"UHHH- HI BESS," Grace blurted, her embarrassment making her voice much louder than she had anticipated. The echo of the tunnel didn't make things any better.
Till blinked. "Uh... hi," she greeted, an unreadable expression on her face as she tried to process everything that just happened. "We were actually just coming to find you."
Grace tilted her head. "We...?" She asked, afraid. To her dismay, two other people were getting off of the sub-train cart Bess had just arrived on. Great. They had seen Grace's awkward stumble too.
"There's something we really need to talk to you about. It might be hard for you to hear, but... it's important."
The two other people came up behind her, almost like they were cornering Grace. Her anxiety increased as she felt them all staring down at her.
One of the people she recognized was Andre Layton, that detective from earlier. The other was harder for her to place, but eventually she realized that it was Miss Audrey, the singer from the night car. Grace hadn't gone there too much considering it was more of an adult scene, but Audrey was famous enough around the train for Grace to recognize her.
"Aunt Bess? What's going on?" Grace asked warily, fearfully backing off. When she was younger, Till said she could call her that, and it eventually stuck over the years.
However, Layton was the one to reply. "It's about Melanie Cavill."
Grace froze. Melanie? Did something happen to her?
"I know you two are close to each other. But you've gotta listen. Melanie is not someone that you can trust, that we can trust."
"What are you talking about...?"
"She's been deceiving us all this time. Look, I know it's hard to hear, and you aren't going to believe me, but just listen. You know the train's beloved Mr. Wilford? He ain't real, man. Melanie's been impersonating him and running this train and had all of us fooled for years."
Grace paused for a minute, blinking slowly up at Layton, until she inevitably cracked a smile and snorted. "That's real funny," she laughed, pointing her hand between the three people. "You almost got me for a second there."
The girl tried setting off to get in the cart, but then Bess grabbed her wrist to stop her. The look in her eyes was saddened and sincere. "Grace..."
"It's Melanie that's been screwing over all of us in third and the Tail. It's her that's been refusing to help us, her that's been letting us die from things that can be treated. Her that let LJ get away with murder! She can blame it all on Mr. Wilford, blame the system on him, blame the accidents on him, but Grace, she is him. And we can't let her hold this power over us any longer," Layton said angrily.
"But-but Melanie wouldn't, she wouldn't do that, she's not... she's not like that," Grace stammered, tears starting to form in her eyes once this all sank in and she realized it wasn't a joke after all.
This time, Audrey came over to put her hands over Grace's shoulders, trying to calm her down. "I know it's hard," she said softly, her voice quiet and gentle. "I know it's hard to discover that someone you trust isn't who you think they may be. But please, for the sake of all of Snowpiercer, we need you to understand and we need your help. Is there anything she's told you over the years? Anything she's given you or shown you that might've hinted at this? We need to find a way to prove to everyone that—"
"And why should I even do that? I wouldn't just betray her like that! I've known her for years, she's the closest... she's the closest thing I have to a mom, she's the only one who's really been there for me, I wouldn't just give all of that up because a couple of people heard a rumor!" Grace shouted, hot tears freely flowing down her face. She pushed away from Audrey and backed off from everyone else.
"It's not just a rumor! Wonder where I've been since I solved that murder? She locked me in the Drawers because she knew I found out the truth! She was going to let me die in there so she could keep her little secret away from everyone else and continue lying and deceiving and toying with all of us!" Andre yelled.
Bess spoke next. "Grace. She killed someone."
Everyone else shut up.
"I didn't want to have to say that, but it's true. A woman named Josie from the Tail. I was supposed to conduct her interrogation that day, but Melanie locked us brakemen out and insisted on doing it herself. And in that room she murdered that woman, Grace. She murdered Josie because she refused to tell her where Layton was. She's hunting down the people that know, she's doing everything she can to keep her secret hidden, and we can't do that anymore, Grace, we can't let her continue anymore. You have to understand."
Everyone went deathly quiet. Partially because they were awaiting an answer, maybe also because they were overcome with grief at the mention of Josie. For Grace, it was because she couldn't even begin to process what she had just heard. Disbelief. Shock. Betrayal. Sadness. So many emotions swirled inside of her at once, too many to pick apart and process, too many to deal with right now.
Grace swallowed back a sob. "I... I have to go."
She didn't look back. No one really tried to chase her, either. She just climbed back up the same trapdoor she came through, but nowhere near as extravagantly as she did the first time around. This time her movements were sad, sluggish, lifeless.
Walking through the hallway she now understood why all those fellow thirdies would stare at her the way they did. This revolution that was spoken so much of involved overthrowing Melanie. They stared at her with that sadness because they knew, they knew the truth, and they knew how it would inevitably affect the girl closest to her. And those that stared at her with suspicious glints in their eyes and lowered their voices when she came near did so because they feared Grace would rat them out to the Head of Hospitality herself.
But perhaps what finally broke her was when she stepped back into her cabin, and up on her board she used for hanging up photos and papers, she saw that same piece of paper that had been slightly tattered from its age pinned right in the center:
Need anything?
Come down to Hospitality any time you'd like!
(Ask anyone wearing a teal uniform if you need help finding it)
☺
- Melanie
That was what made Grace finally break down sobbing.