He made one quick turn into the bathroom, causing me to laugh.
"Give it up, kid," I said, walking through the door. "His wallet isn't worth going to jail for."
"Screw you, man," he said, slamming the handicapped stall.
"Here's the deal. Give me the stuff and I walk away, acting like nothing happened. I take him back his wallet and we both walk away."
"Doesn't sound like a good deal," he said, leaning up against the door."
"Then you'll love option B."
I used some of my essence to give me a boost of strength. It wasn't enough to hurt the kid, just enough to knock him on his butt. Without notice I pushed the door forward, the metal bending around my fist from the force of the blow. The kid crashed hard against the wall, yelling out when his body slams onto the floor.
"You should've taken the easy way," I said, grabbing the wallet and ticket.
"You taking me to the cops now?" he said, rubbing his head.
"Not unless you want to push the issue."
He shook his head.
"Do yourself a favor," I said, pulling a twenty out of the stolen wallet. "Go catch a cab and find another line of work. One of these days you are going to run into someone who isn't as nice."
He thanked me, grabbed the money, and rushed out of the bathroom. I had a feeling the man was going to be upset when I saw his wallet was light, but at least he got the rest back. Besides, he was going to be a lot more upset over the ticket I slipped into my jacket pocket.
I left the bathroom to flag down the man, finding him walking my way.
"Hey!" I shouted, flagging the man down. "I got your wallet back, but the kid took off."
"Did you get my ticket back?" he asked, searching his wallet.
"I didn't see him get that."
He frowned. "I guess I should be happy to get this back." He put the wallet back in his back pocket. "Thanks."
I nodded and watched him walk away before rushing up to blend in with the crowd. With my ticket onto the train secured, there was only one thing left to do. I followed the crowd to the boarding platform when they announced the train's arrival over the PA. The line moved fast, thankfully. I needed to get through before the man had a chance to cancel this ticket.
I showed the attendant my ticket before taking my seat, thankful the man paid extra for an aisle seat. It wouldn't matter here soon, but I'd rather not have to wake someone up just to walk around. It just so happened that the ticket was for a seat on the last car, leaving me only one direction to check. It was going to be a long walk either way. I'd put good money on Brad splurging on a private room. I know I would if I had the dough.
The attendant made one last pass, offering drinks before the train departed. I looked down at my watch, eager to the this show on the road.
"Where you headed?" the woman next to me asked. An elderly woman, in her seventies judging by her pearly white hair and perfectly cleaned dentures.
"Boston," I said, looking at my ticket. "Big baseball fan. Always wanted to catch a game at Fenway."
"That's nice," she said. "I'm going there too. To visit my grandson."
Before I said another word, the train lurched forward, shaking me around in my seat. I look out the woman's window to see a pair of police cars sitting in the parking lot with their lights on.
Looked like I missed all the fun, I thought.
"Please excuse me," I said with a smile. "I have to hit the little boys room."
She nodded, grabbing a book from a stack in her purse. I always admire people who came prepared.
Nobody stopped to look while I strolled to the front, even after I bumped into the attendant when the train jerked around a turn. "Pardon me," I said, as I passed by.
It took a few minutes, but I came up to a car decorated with tables on each side, which surprises me. I'm not sure why, when I thought about it. It takes a lot more time to travel by train than it does by the air. After a certain point, you would need to eat. Especially with a cross country trip like this. I motioned to the waitress as I passed by. "Just looking around."
"There isn't much to see past here," she said. "All private rooms past this point."
"All the same," I said. "I can use the exercise."
She smiled and allowed me to walk past.
I walked to the back of the dining car, opening up the doors to reveal a platform built over the knuckles between rail cars. I walked over a few to get to this point, but they were all different. The cars in the back of the train were all open, the only visible sign of the knuckles being an accordion style wall between them, with no seats nearby. This one must be different because it leads into the private cars, I thought as I crossed over the knuckle.
Through the next door, the hallway shifted. Instead of being in the middle of the car, it now shifts right, following alongside the wall of the train, putting the rooms to my left. From this point I had to be on my guard, I knew Brad could be anywhere.
After two more cars I finally saw the person I was looking for. Brad was standing in the hall surrounded by three other people standing right outside one of the deluxe sleeper rooms. Judging by the tattoos visible above their collars, I could tell they weren't business travelers. Even though their expensive Armani suits tried to say otherwise.
"That's far enough, old man," the one in the back said, walking towards me. "The rest of the train is reserved." He was tall, wearing a blue suit, like the others, with a white handkerchief poking out of his left front pocket. His head was bald, accentuating his bearded face.
"I didn't know you could rent the hallways," I said, scowling. "I'll have to remember that next time."
The man looked over his shoulder to get his signal. Brad nodded before leading the other two into the last room on the train. The man in front of me grabbed my jacket and spun me around before pushing me down the hallway.
"You going to walk on your own, or are you going to make me push you the whole way?"
"I'll take the free ride," I said, smiling. "If you're offering."
We rounded the corner, nearing the last nearing the last knuckle when he slammed me against the men's room door. "Don't come back this way again," he said, turning around.
"Or what?"
He turned around, swinging his right arm in a punch directed at my head. I don't flinch, even as it hits the door next to my ear.
"How about this?" I asked, grabbing his arm with one hand while pushing down the handle with another. With one fluid movement, I tossed him head-first into the toilet bowl. Before he can stand up, I hit him in the gut with a gust of air, causing him to gasp for air. I took a few steps back and allowed him to stand up, his expression turns from anger to surprise when I let my veil fade.
"How did you do that?" he asked, pushing himself against the bathroom wall.
"Don't worry about that," I said. "Just take a nap."
I enhanced my fist with earth before cracking him in the jaw, sending him flopping onto the toilet bowl, down for the count. I took a good look at him, changing my veil to match him before shutting the door behind me.
Never look a gift horse in the mouth, I always said. Now it was time to have a little fun.
- 24 -
"Thanks for that, Jim. I hate people who wander around like that," Brad said when I walked up to his suite. "One of these days Amtrak will actually let me buy the whole train."
I faked a laugh, trying not to slap him for suggesting it. "Why won't they?"
"They already sold tickets ahead of time," he said. "I even offered triple the fare to move them to another trip, but they wouldn't budge."
I shook my head as I listened to the problems of the rich and evil. Just those two lines told you the difference between our social classes.
"Let's take this into the room," Brad said when an attendant entered the hall. "Doesn't look like anyone is going to give us any privacy today." He opened the door into his room. It was a small sleeper unit with a bunk bed and a small chair. Hardly a luxury suite, but it w
as a lot nicer than the open seating of business class.
Brad took a seat on the chair, leaving the rest of us to sit on the bottom bed. I ended up sitting in the middle, between a guy with eight too many piercings on his face and another one that smelled like raw sewage. For a rich guy, Brad had poor taste in company.
"When we get to Boston, I want you three on the streets trying to find every dealer you can." He pulled a map of the city out of his briefcase and handed it to me. "I have some of the well known spots already."
"Do you want us to kill them?" the smelly guy to my right asked.
"I didn't bring you for your company," Brad said, waving his hand in front of his nose.
"That's for sure," the pierced guy said, laughing.
"I'll be meeting the mayor and a few state representatives about my plans for the new plant. The last thing I want is competition when the law changes."
The two men nodded in agreement, so I followed suit.
"Good. Now get out," he said, standing up. "And please take a shower."
They both laugh as they walked to the door.
"Jim," Brad said when I reached the door. "Take a seat. I have something special in mind for you."
I smiled at my opportunity to get some alone time with him. "What's up boss?" I said, hoping it was the reaction he was looking for.
"I may have a tail here," he said, pulling out a picture. "If you see this guy, make him disappear."
I tried not to laugh when he handed me a me a picture of my trip to the Sticky Hemp Shop the other day.
"I didn't see him get on board," I said, smiling. "For good reasons."
I relaxed my grip on the essence, allowing my true form to take shape. Brad's eyes widen followed by the lowering of his jaw when I'm finally in my true form.
"Smart," he said.
"I try," I said, pulling the blade out from the staff. "You going to give up, or are we going to do this the hard way?"
I got my answer when I felt the electric shock from a dozen different nanobots as they fall on top of me from the top bunk.
"That all you got?" I asked, wincing in pain.
"Nope. I have plenty more where that came from." He walked to the nearby doorway, opening it to reveal a life-sized robot that looks like C3PO from episode one. I gave him an A for effort, but a firm F for originality. The robot sprung to life with a snap of Brad's fingers, walking up and grabbing my wrists before sending more electricity coursing through my body.
"It's a shame," he said, pulling the chair close. "I could've used a wizard like you on my team."
"Not a fan of pot," I said, clinching my jaw.
He smiled. "Any last words before you die?"
"Not this time."
He stood up, arms outstretched. On his body, I made out no less than a dozen electronic devices attached. Two watches, three phones, six pagers, all topped off with his fancy glasses. The last thing I remembered hearing was his laughter as he sent bolts of electricity into me through them all.
I closed my mind, attempting to grasp my supply of essence. "That all you got?" I said, trying to goad him into doing more than he could control.
He laughed, causing the flow the ripple, giving me enough time to fortify my body with earth. I still felt the flow of electricity through my body, but the pain had let up considerably.
"You know what your problem is?" I asked, looking him in the eyes. "You rely far too much on your toys."
I may have had a problem creating a spark to do my EMP blast, but with so much flowing through me, I decided to use what he was willingly giving me. With my earth already active, I called on the wind, which sent a visible wave of power through the room. Immediately after the blast, the robot collapses, the nanobots fall to the floor, all followed by the lights going dark in the room. I created a small ball of fire on his pillow to illuminate the room to look him in the eyes.
"Told ya. Not so powerful without your toys." I stuck the pointy end of my sword through the middle of his chest. The blood blossomed in the middle of his shirt, quickly making its way down his chest and onto his pants. He collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest, allowing me to pull the blade free without issue. He pulled his hand away to look at his blood before collapsing on the ground, letting his final breath out seconds later.
"Don't worry. I'll phone the mayor and tell him you won't be making his meeting."
With Bradley Tucker dead, I walked out of the room to return to my seat. Once in the hallway, I heard the frantic screams from the rear of the train echoing in the darkness. Not seeing where I was going, I took a dozen steps before crashing into a stewardess.
"You need to return to your room, sir."
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Something caused the train to lose power," she said. "The engineer is having trouble slowing it down."
It figures the one time I'm actually able to do an EMP blast, I end up making a mess like this. Of course, my safety was assured, thanks to my magic, but I knew I couldn't leave these people to die. Not when I might be able to save them yet.
"How close is the engine?" I asked.
"Next unit up."
"Go strap yourself in," I said. "I'm going to go help the engineer stop this damn thing."
With that said, she rushed down the hallway and around the corner, leaving me alone in the darkness. I turned around and rushed to the door at the front of the car, pulling the handle when I got there only for it not to budge an inch. I tried two more times before giving up.
"They would put an electronic lock here," I said, slamming my fist into the window.
Without another option, I enhanced my strength to allow me to kick the door open. It took two well placed blows before the door budged enough for me to squeeze through.
Once outside, the air rushed around me, turning my trench coat into a makeshift cape. After watching the Incredibles, I came to the conclusion that capes may not be the best accessory, even though they look cool. I've seen enough dead people in my time to know none of them really look cool in the end, so I pulled off my coat and allowed it to fly off in the breeze. Once that was out of the way, I ran to the front as fast as my legs would take me.
The engineer opened the door for me as I got closer. "Who are you?" he asked as he shut the door behind me.
"I'm here to help," I said, looking around. "Where are the brakes?"
He pointed to a lever sticking a few feet out of the floor. "The automatic brakes are down, that's all we have left."
I reached down the pull the lever, but it didn't budge.
"Power assist," he said. "Without electricity, you'll never budge it."
"I have something for that," I said, cracking my knuckles. "Just do what you can to get the power back on-line."
He nodded, running around the room pushing buttons seemingly at random.
I closed my eyes, drawing in as much essence as my body would allow, which wasn't much thanks to the shock therapy I got earlier. I enhanced my strength one more time before grabbing the lever and pulling it back, the metallic screech causing my ears to ring.
"You're doing it!" the engineer said, clapping.
"How hard do I need to pull this thing?" I asked. Sweat poured from my body and my muscles ached. I may have been gaining ground, but there was no way I was going to stop this thing anytime soon.
If at all.
"Couldn't tell you. Never had to do it like that."
The train was slowing down, which was the only thing I had going for me. We were still going at a high rate of speed, slowing down every second.
"You may want to hurry," he said as we passed a red light.
"What does that mean?"
"It means we were supposed to get off the track two miles ago. There's another train heading this way."
"What's our options?" I asked.
He pulled up a map showing the switches on our route. "About four miles up there's a switch that should take us on a set of tracks long enough to get out of the way."
"Maybe. It would be better if you could slow it down more."
I sighed. Just my luck. I drew in more essence, causing my head to pound. I bore down on the brake, ignoring the pain in my head. There wasn't another choice. If I couldn't stop the train, the last thing I had to worry about was using magic again.
As I held the brake lever back, the smell of brake pads pushed well beyond their limits seeped into the room. I knew I had to stop soon, or the brakes would melt beyond use. It was bad enough I had to take them this far.
"That should be good," he said, tapping me on my shoulder. "But you better run. The switch is close."
"You mean we have to hit it manually?"
I shook my head when he nodded, before rushing out front, the engineer followed close behind.
"There's a little arm on the backside of the switch. All you have to do is pull it out and it will send us on the other set of tracks."
"Sounds easy enough," I said sarcastically, as I wiped by brow.
Up ahead, I saw the switch as it passed over the horizon. I saw the engine of the approaching train shortly after. I drew in all the essence my body could handle, knowing I only had one shot at this. Waiting until the switch was about a hundred yards out, I constructed a weave primarily out of wind, throwing the gust ahead to hit the switch.
"You almost have it!" the engineer shouted, disrupting my spell. "Shoot!"
I wanted to slap the man for doing that, but it would have to wait. There was only enough time for one more shot, and I wasn't about to waste it on an air spell again, so I focused my magic on the earth under the switch. I watched closely as the ground underneath the lever started to move, waiting until we were a dozen yards from the switch before throwing my hands in the air.
A pillar of earth juts out of the ground, knocking the lever free. The tracks switched right before we got to them, the sudden shift nearly sent me flying over the guardrail.
"I gotcha!" the engineer yelled as he grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled me back to safety. "I don't know how you pulled that off, but it was amazing. You..." The rest of his words were drowned out to the blaring horn of the other train. The last thing I could remember was seeing the engineer's smile before the world faded into darkness.
Sparked: The Nephalem Files (Book 1) Page 14