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Ever since the sheriff's disappearance, oddities had been occurring on the train. It started with small things, like objects moving on their own, but it’s gotten worse. Residents had been reporting hearing voices and having sudden hot flashes in the night. The conductor was believing none of it. He had never and will never believe in paranormal spirits. He always excused the occurrences as coincidences, but he was getting to the point in which he couldn’t make up reasons anymore. The “spirit” had started messing with the conductor now.
Andrew had never been the type to act irrationally, unless something was affecting his spirituality. And whatever this was was doing exactly that. He’d been hearing someone calling his name at ungodly hours of the night. The voice was familiar, but too faint for recognition. Lately, he’d been experiencing the hot flashes too, which was strange as it was so cold out. He thought about the possibility that it might be connected to the sheriff, but quickly decided that something so farfetched was out of the question.
“Kreiss, it’s happening again. Miss. Nair isn’t feeling well.” The Compartment Maid, Martha rushed up to the conductor, with the Lady’s Companion, Vera, behind her. Andrew sighed. “I’m sorry ma’am, but there isn’t much we can do about this. We’re all out of medicine, and we’re working on getting some more. Just try to get some rest.” Martha and Vera nodded, walking back to the rooms. Andrew could swear he heard a faint “sorry,” but that could be the tiredness getting to him. He hadn’t slept in a few days, as he’d have to keep the train running, even at night. There were a few days where the Compartment Maid took over the night shifts, and the Sheriff would sometimes stand in, but he didn’t seem to be coming back.
Andrew sat back in his dark leather seat. No matter how long he could try to fight it, he could deny that he somewhat missed the sheriff. He’d always been so polite, and brought some type of joy to the train. His disappearance was so abrupt, and nobody had seen any sign of him. People didn’t normally leave the train unless it was an emergency, so there wasn’t anywhere he could’ve gone. They had investigated it a little bit, but everybody’s attention turned to the paranormal occurrences quickly after. Andrew still wanted to know what happened though. “Andrew….”
What in the Hell was that? That voice was so familiar, but Andrew couldn’t think of who is could be.. “Who are you? This isn’t funny.” The conductor whispered, looking around his room. “I’m sorry…”
The voice was in a different part of the room now. “If you were really sorry, whoever you are, you’d stop messing with everyone. Now show yourself.” Andrew grabbed the pistol that he kept on his bedside. “If you don’t come out in the next 30 seconds, I’ll shoot whenever you do eventually come out.” The conductor threatened. “No!”
A red haired demon suddenly appeared from the corner of his room. Andrew quickly pointed his gun at the worried spirit. “I-I’m sorry, I just didn’t want anybody to forget about me..” The demon has piano keys on the side of his tuxedo jacket, as well as a top hat and bright red horns. “Forget about you…? Wait…Victor?!” Andrew lowered his gun. “I-I’m so sorry for the trouble…I was just upset that everybody forgot about me so quickly. I guess I got aggravated but I wasn’t thinking straight. Y-you don’t have to forgive me, but I really didn’t mean for all of this to happen.”
Andrew’s eyes softened. Ah. That still doesn’t explain why or how he suddenly vanished. “Victor, we didn’t forget about you. Or at least I didn’t. But what happened?” The demon shook his head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t tell you that yet. It would get me into a great deal of trouble.” Andrew looked at him with perplexed eyes. “Please, I won’t tell anybody. You have no idea how long i’ve been wondering about this.” After thinking for a second, Victor sighed. “Okay, but promise me you won’t say ANYTHING.”
“Back a few weeks ago, I was asleep, as usual. But after a while I woke up because it started feeling unbearably hot. So, I opened my eyes, and there was a big man with long, fiery, hair. He had horns, similar to mine, and a big smile. Obviously, I was a little taken aback, but he knocked me out before I could scream. I eventually woke up in, as crazy as it might sound, seemingly Hell. I looked like I do now, and I somehow found my way back to Earth. I’d spent a few days trying to find this train, and seeing nobody notice that I was gone hurt a little bit. I’m sorry, I really didn’t mean any of this…”
Tears started to form in the demon’s eyes. “I-I didn’t mean to c-cause the hot flashes…or the m-medicine shortage, or any o-of this!” He cried. “H-hey, it’s alright. I know that you wouldn’t try to do any of this on purpose. I’ve known you long enough to know that you aren’t that kind of person.” Andrew placed a hand on Victor’s shoulder. “T-Thank you…so much…” The demon tried to wipe his eyes, but the tears kept coming. Andrew had never been very good at comforting people, but he felt a little bad for the man in front of him. It didn’t seem like he wanted to leave in the first place, it was more of a forceful thing. He didn’t exactly enjoy watching Victor cry either, so he’d just have to try his best.
“Um, it’s gonna be alright. I wont tell anybody.” The conductor awkwardly wrapped his arms around the other. The demon hugged him back, with his face buried in the other’s chest. “P-please don’t tell ANYONE though. Inferno Sonata threatened to actually kill me if i told anybody. I don’t think i’m dead dead right now, but i don’t know if i’m fully alive either. I don’t want to find out the hard way, though.” Victor looked up at the conductor with fiery red eyes. “I won’t. What about everyone else though? I’m sure they’re still wondering where you went.” Victor’s eyes filled with sorrow once again.
“This train never stops, and everybody has other things to worry about. I’m sure they’ll just forget about it. After hearing that this might actually kill me, I would rather not have people out trying to find me.” Andrew nodded. “I see. Also, who is Inferno Sonata?” “Ah, I forgot that you didn’t know his name. He was the demon who I saw that night. He was a violinist, hence the musical name.” Victor explained. “Well, obviously you can’t go back down to literal HELL, so you can stay with me. I’ll make sure nobody sees you or asks any questions.”
The red haired man vigorously shook his head. “No, no, you don’t have to do that. I mean sure, Inferno Sonata probably isn’t the safest person to be around, but I can’t just take your room. That’s impolite. I have my own room on the train, anyway.” He protested. “People have been searching your room for clues to where you went, so I don’t think staying in there is a very good idea. I’m usually working the train during the night, so i’m not here very much in the first place.” Victor thought about it for a minute and slowly nodded. “If you don’t mind, then okay…What about the nights you are in here though?” The demon asked. “It’s fine, i have a big bed.” A faint blush creeping on the conductor’s cheeks.
“Um…well…i guess i should go to the front now…Martha’s probably tired of conducting by now. Night.” Andrew put his blue coat back on and headed to the door. “Um, goodnight. And again t-thank you so much…” The demon finally gave Andrew a genuine smile. “I- Uh- You’re welcome..” Andrew slightly smiled back.
This sure would be interesting.