"Alain, you are very lucky I consider you a friend, because otherwise, I would have absolutely bled you dry for even suggesting this."

"I know, Sable, I know," Alain said tiredly. "You've only been saying that all morning."

"Because it's true." She affixed him with a piercing, red-eyed stare. "You owe me one after this."

Alain let out a sigh. Ever since he'd explained to both Sable and Az that they really had no choice except to take a train to San Antonio, he hadn't heard the end of it. Apparently, Sable was still reticent to use the train at all; she still considered them to be little more than steel-metal death traps. Az, being Az, had agreed with Sable; it had taken a lot of convincing before Alain had managed to win them over to his side, but finally, after the tenth time explaining that San Antonio was landlocked and that they'd never make it there in time if they traveled exclusively on-foot or even by carriage, they'd both eventually acquiesced and decided to take the train.

That didn't mean they were going to like it, though, as Alain was rapidly finding out with every complaint that came pouring out from between Sable's fangs.

"-coal power! Can you believe it? Who trusts a machine that runs on coal, anyway? And the tracks – don't get me started on the tracks!"

"Sable," Alain interrupted, getting her attention. "First off, the boat you traveled to San Francisco on was almost certainly powered by burning coal, too. Second, why were you okay with taking a boat across the ocean, but taking a train across a single state is too much for you? That doesn't make any sense."

"It makes perfect sense," Sable argued as the three of them queued up in line to get their tickets. Naturally, the other passengers gave her and Az a very wide berth, not that either of them cared. "You humans have been sailing the high seas for thousands of years. At this point, sailing is in your blood. These machines, though? Much less proven. I trust one about as far as I could throw one."

"Well, believe me, taking a train is far safer than taking a boat," Alain insisted. "Seriously, just give it a chance, and for the love of God, please stop complaining about it so much, would you? This train ride is going to be long enough without having to listen to you bitch the entire time."

"Hmph." Sable crossed her arms and turned away from him with a huff. "You've gotten bold, you know."

"I've always been bold, Sable. It's just gotten a lot easier to express it, given all we've been through together."

Finally, the crowd in front of them parted enough that they could make their way to the front counter. The unfortunate woman at the desk instantly paled when she saw Sable and Az approach. Alain, for his part, tipped his hat to her.

"Howdy," he said. "Three tickets, please."

XXX

"Does it ever get old?" Alain asked as the three of them stepped inside the train and began making their way to the private compartment he'd purchased for them.

"Does what get old?" Sable asked from behind him.

"You know, the weird looks everyone gives you. I'd be pretty damn annoyed by them at this point."

Sable shrugged. "You get used to it, I suppose. And besides, people will grow accustomed to our kind over time."

"If you say so. Oh, right here – this is where we'll be staying."

Alain slid open the door to the private compartment, revealing a sizable room with a bunk bed on one side and a single bed on the other. There was a desk between them, with a single chair placed in front of it. Alain breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of it all.

"Thank God," he said aloud as he unslung his long gun and set it on the top bunk, along with his pack. "I was hoping we'd get to take a load off. Glad they still had this room available."

"Was all this really necessary?" Az questioned. "It looks expensive."

"It wasn't cheap, but yeah, it pretty much was. Something tells me the other passengers wouldn't have appreciated sitting next to you two, and you wouldn't fit in the regular seats anyway, Az. So, as expensive as this little room was… I say it was worth it."

The train suddenly lurched, the whistle blowing as it moved. Sable stumbled and reached out to grab hold of the nearby bed to steady herself; Alain, seeing this, raised an eyebrow.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"You feeling alright, Sable?"

"It startled me, that's all!" she hissed.

"Wow. Good to know that, between the actual hellscape that was New Orleans and the army of undead we've torn through over the past few months, a little movement is all it takes to rattle you."

She glared at him, even as she picked herself up and stood up straight. The train began to move in earnest, chugging along the tracks as it went. She opened her mouth to say something, only for a knock at the door to interrupt her. Instantly, they all paused, Alain's hand dropping to his holstered revolver.

"Who is it?" he asked.

"It's me," an all-too-familiar voice replied. "Open up."

Alain let out a low groan, bringing a hand up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me…"

"What?" Sable asked, confused. "Who's that?"

Alain climbed out of bed, and without answering her question, stepped over to the door. He threw it open, and was immediately met by none other than Danielle Silvera, standing there with a sheepish grin on her face.

"So," she said, "I take it you aren't happy to see me?"

Alain sighed tiredly. "Be honest – why are you here?"

"Why wouldn't I be here? I want to find my father, too."

"That's why you hired us, Danielle."

"Wait, hold on," Sable interjected. "This is who hired us? The senator's daughter?"

"That'd be her." Alain looked back to Danielle, glaring at her. "And she still hasn't really explained why she's here."

"I just told you, because I want to find him, too," she insisted. "So can I come in?"

Alain cast a glance back at his friends. They both shrugged, and he let out another sigh before stepping aside, allowing Danielle entry into the room. She immediately stepped inside and dropped a large bag from her shoulder onto the ground; Alain stared at her, not amused in the slightest.

"You're not staying with us."

"What?" she asked, sounding scandalized. "Come on! This room is big enough for four people."

"Not the point. You shouldn't be here, Danielle. That's why you hired us in the first place."

"I mean, yeah, but… I can take care of myself!"

Alain raised an eyebrow, and she puffed her cheeks out at him. "I can! My father taught me how to shoot. I've got my own gun and everything. I'm a regular Annette Oakley."

"Annie Oakley," Alain corrected her. "You're not exactly inspiring much confidence, you know."

"Look, I just really want to help you find my father, okay?" she insisted. "Really, I want to find him myself, but there's no way I'd be able to get very far on my own. But with a professional monster hunter and two vampires on my side, well… it'll help even the odds."

"And why would we want to bring you along?" Sable asked, crossing her arms. "Because just from what I can see, you're a liability."

"Because I can convince my father to double the reward money out of his own pocket."

Sable blinked in surprise, then looked over to Alain. "I mean… maybe this isn't the worst idea."

"No, it is," Alain insisted. He motioned with his head for Danielle to leave the room. "Look, if you know what's good for you, you'll get off at the next stop and forget about this whole thing. Not trying to be mean to you or anything, but seriously, the stuff we get involved with is extremely dangerous. It's in your best interests to let us work rather than try to tag along."

Danielle's expression narrowed, and for a moment Alain thought for sure that she was going to try and argue the point, but she didn't. Instead, she bent down and picked up her bag with a huff.

"Fine," she spat. "I can see when I'm not wanted. But just know that you're saying no to a lot of extra reward money."

"I can live with that so long as it doesn't carry the risk of getting an innocent person killed," Alain said. "You're making the right choice, Danielle."

She said nothing further, instead turning and marching out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Alain watched her go for a moment before letting out a small exhale, then turning towards his bunk, intending to climb up into it and get some extra rest.

He was stopped by Sable reaching out and putting a hand on his shoulder.

"And where do you think you're going?" she asked.

"Bed," he answered.

She shook her head. "Nope. We've got things we need to do."

"But… bed," Alain protested. She gave him an unamused look, and he rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, fine. What's so important that it overrides a healthy sleep schedule, though?"

"First of all, your sleep schedule is only unhealthy because you'd rather stay up all night drinking or fighting the undead," Sable pointed out. "To say nothing of that one time you tried to do both. Still got that horseshoe-shaped scar on your ass, by the way?"

Alain bristled. "You said you weren't gonna bring that back up!"

"Yeah, well, I'm not the one who signed up for a job without consulting my friends. Still can't believe you did that, by the way – just put your trust into a random stranger like that. No proof, no credentials, no checking to make sure the story made sense, nothing; you just trusted her to be telling the truth, presumably because you were blinded by dollar signs."

"Which is unlike you," Az interjected. "But then again, that is a lot of money."

"Not if we aren't alive to spend it."

Alain let out another sigh. "Alright, alright, I get it – I should have consulted with you two and done my due diligence first. My apologies. But, my mistakes or otherwise, we're involved now."

"And not only that, but Danielle is here, too," Sable pointed out. "You neglected to mention how strange she is, too. That's an important bit of information, wouldn't you agree, Az?"

"Indubitably, my lady," he said.

Alain grit his teeth. "Okay, fine, I get the point. Now, are you going to actually explain what's so important that you're going to keep me awake for it?"

"Simple," Sable told him. She looked over her shoulder at Az. "Could you give us a minute?"

"Of course, my lady." he said. "I'll be outside."

With that, he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. Alain blinked, surprised at the sudden development, only for Sable to cut him off with a quick shake of her head.

"I'll tell him about your apprenticeship later," she insisted. "For now, I'd rather keep it just between us."

"Uh, okay," Alain ventured. "Still, you haven't answered my question yet."

"I said it was simple, and it is – as my apprentice, you are entitled to specific feats of knowledge I would otherwise be forced to keep hidden from mere mortals. As you can imagine, these kinds of relationships don't happen very often. Generally, we just eat you and call it good."

"Ha ha," Alain deadpanned. "Seriously, can you just give it to me straight?"

The corners of her mouth quirked upwards. "If you insist." She cleared her throat, then looked him in the eyes once more.

"How'd you like to learn a bit of magic, Alain?"