Their footsteps reverberated along the walls as they traversed the dusty platform. Lara was becoming accustomed to the darkness that notated their surroundings, sans the addition of a dim light highlighting the haunting quality of the facility. Each caged lamp was followed by a few feet too many before another lamp lit the way.

  She felt the weight of the two firearms in her jeans.

  “We’re from a place called Circa.” The suit had said the night before when she’d lowered her defenses.

  For once, Lara didn’t feel out of the loop. “I know what Circa is.”

  “Do you, now?”

  “I’m heading out that way.” She responded matter-of-factly.

  “Then we’ll find you.” He crouched down to pull a map from underneath the overturned table as his counterpart worked to reorganize it. Lara analyzed him as he did. He’d pulled back his dark hair which was long enough to tie into a small bun at the nape of his neck. His features were chiseled and rugged, with harsh lines under his dark brown eyes – yet a sense of trustworthiness radiated within them. The sense of familiarity beckoning to her reminded her of Auras.

  He was entirely different in comparison to the lean, slyness of the suit, with his steely gray eyes hosting icy tints of blue.

  “Pardon me if that sounds more like a threat.” She bit.

  The suit rolled his eyes, “Well we’re still talking, and no one’s dead on the ground, so I trust you’re not too worried.”

  Lara studied him sternly before finally setting down the second weapon.

With a sigh of relief, he walked over, reaching for the silver firearm. “I’m not taking them,” he cited in response to her recoil. She relaxed, allowing him to press his pointer and ring fingers against the sides of the handle. He swiped away, and the metal lit up with engraved markings.

  Lara caught herself mid-gawk before she straightened her face, trying to belay her shock.

  He again placed two fingers on its surface – now his index and pinky – and released them. As he did, the markings vanished from sight.

  “And just like that,” he explained, “We can track you once you’re within Circa’s proximity.”

  “That’s unsettling.” She said, unsure if the heat she felt from the weapon was real or phantom in nature.

  “Some say unsettling, others say helpful; I say convenient.”

  “I thought you say efficient,” remarked his counterpart.

  He waved the other man off. “Well then, Miss…?”

  “Lara,” she replied.

  “Ah, Lara,” He smiled with discomforting pleasantry at his counterpart before returning his gaze to her. “The next time we meet, you’ll have a role to play.”

  Now, back in the present and on her way towards the train to Circa, Lara’s heart skipped with excitement. She brightly remarked on the definite improvement of the station, comparing it to her harrowing experience the day prior. “Much more refined,” she joked.

  Auras helped her over a turn-gate before leading her down a long tunnel beside some tracks. Lara had been particularly careful to preserve her secret. As a tribute to her newfound independence, she’d decided to hide the previous night’s encounter from her caretaker, lest he once again upheave their travel plans entirely.

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  “Can’t anyone just come down and take the train?”

  “Unfortunately, they wouldn’t have the ability to access one.”

  “Access?”

  They finally approached a train car, resembling a trolley. It was worn, and a bit abused, but otherwise intact despite its age.

  “What makes you so special that you get to access a train no one else can?” She continued, light-heartedly.

  Its doors slid open as Auras got closer, causing the car to rock gently. Once he stepped on, however, the doors shut before Lara could enter.

  Lara heard his muffled voice state, “And guest,” before the wooden doors reopened as if they could understand him.

  As she stepped cautiously onto the raised surface, the artistic notion of a rustic trolley car disappeared, replaced by pristine, sleek white material. A single large, circular seat made of cool grey leather was bolted to the floor at the center of the trolley.

  “When you said train, I thought you meant an actual… train.”

  Auras instructed her to sit as he pressed his hand to the glass. Lara watched him as she took a seat.

  “Buckle.”

  She looked down and around her, her hands trailing the seat’s harness that supposedly served as her safety restraint. “Fascinating how this has belts but the revolver didn’t.” She remarked as she slipped her arms through each belt. She felt a slight constriction as it fastened above her torso.

  Auras removed his hand while staring at the window’s surface. Suddenly, a map flickered onto the glass. A single red dot flashed onto an area in the middle with a bolded “Indianapolis” appearing next to it. From it, a path traced towards the northeast area of the map, ending in a red x and the word “Circa” beside it.

  As Lara watched, a dull ache began to throb in her head.

  So quickly she wasn’t even sure it’d happened, another map in a musty wooden room flashed across her eyes, along with the echo of a young girl’s laugh in her ears.

  She hissed in pain.

  “Are you alright?” Auras asked, sitting beside her.

  Lara rubbed at her temples, the pain fading. “I think I,” she paused, worried he’d take her back to the stadium. “Yes, just a headache. It’s still quite a bit to take in.” It was only a half-lie.

  He kept his eyes on her for a moment before nodding and fastening his belt.

  “Right, then,” he began, eyes intense as the train car jerked forward and began to quickly pick up speed. “If you can’t see me, either focus on my general vicinity, or put your head down. Do not look anywhere else until I instruct you to.”

  “What do you mean? Why--“

  Lara was cut off by a massive blow to the car. Everything went dark.

  “Did we hit something?!”

  “Remember my instructions.”

  “How fast are we going?!”

  She was silenced by an inhuman screech directly above them. Thuds on the roof of the train car trailed down to the window behind Auras. Lara struggled to maintain her focus on him as instructed, but in the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a pair of ghostly white orbs peering into the car.

  She withheld a gasp, putting her head in her lap. It scurried around the surface, towards her window, the sound of breaking wind against the accelerating train car doing little to muffle the clacking of its nails against the windows.

  It was directly in front of her.

  Three scratches in the glass pierced Lara’s ears, each slow and stronger than the last. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end as she tried not to move, nor breathe.

  It uttered one last screech before cutting off into a yelp as a great bang nearly jostled the car off the tracks.

  Lara attempted to swallow the metallic taste of fear draping her tongue as the lights flickered back, reflecting off the extraordinarily narrow dirt tunnel around them. Shaken, her head rose to find the place where the creature had been, dark-brown blood now splattered across the car window.

  “We should be fine for now,” said Auras, stoic.

  She gawked at the place where the thing had been, searching for the damage its nails -- claws -- should’ve left. But there was nothing.

  Auras crossed his arms and closed his eyes. “You handled that well. Just keep your head down and rest.”

  Lara looked at him in disbelief, unable to comprehend his nonchalance with what had just happened.

  In unanswered silence, Lara shook her head incredulously and gaped at the blood smear behind the window as the map re-appeared, displaying their current location.

  With darkness enveloping them, Lara curled up, resting her head against her knees, and tried to push the event from her mind.