CHP6

She woke to the sound of crickets chirping in the cool night air. The scent of spent diesel and highway blacktop drifted over the scent of the fresh wood.

The train stood still, the vibrations of the tracks long since paused.

Groggily, she reached for her water bottles and sucked down the last sip left in the bottom of one. Then, satisfied, she packed the empty ones away in her bag and gathered her things. She didn’t want to leave a mess behind for the people that had so kindly been negligent enough to allow her passage.

She made her first priority to find a bush, then food, and finally change clothes.

“I’m so hungry, and nothing sounds good.”

“Stick to fruit for now. You’ll do well with it.” The voice said kindly as her eyes lit with delight to see a gas signage in the distance. She put on her jacket, tucked her hair, and trekked from the trainyard to the flickering neon of a truck stop.

“Think I could hitchhike with one of these truckers to the Carolinas?” She asked under her breath as she walked the dark street.

“I wouldn’t. I don’t think you’d get hurt, necessarily, but I wouldn’t ask you to have to fend yourself like that.”

She slipped into a nearly abandoned lobby. A clock on the wall pointed to 11:30 at night. Chintzy souvenirs over wire racks told her she was in Nebraska.

Seneya looked over racks of prepackaged food and saw a small turnstile with a few apples, oranges, and bananas on it. Eagerly, she reached for some.

“I wouldn’t trust the bananas for you yet. Stick to apples and oranges,” the voice told her, and she picked a few of each.

At the counter, a tired-looking older woman stared at her from a creaking metal folding chair for a long moment. Seneya was tall for a girl, and she didn’t realize how tall she was that often, and people mistake age with height. She didn’t garner a second glance.

“Three seventy-five,” The woman said in bored tones.

“And a shower,” Seneya said quickly, and the words of English tasted so sour on her tongue.

“Seven fifty,” The woman corrected, and Seneya pushed a handful of change and crumpled bills across the counter. The woman counted it out and gave her a pitiable look.

“On your own for the first time?” The woman asked, then squinted. “I hope it’s not drugs.”

“Yes, ma’am. No drugs, just on my way to find family,” Seneya said. She hated lying, and it was the truth in its own way.

The woman glanced over Seneya’s face for a dubious moment, then looked away and nodded quietly, letting Seneya take a bathroom key and walk down a hall to the showers.

Seneya felt comfort from the woman and stared straight into her strange grey eyes before walking away.

-

Seneya whimpered when the water hit her, surprised at its heat. More surprisingly, though, the showers sparkled, and all the grout shone a sterile white. Complimentary bottles of shampoo samples lined a little shelf, better than anything she’d ever had before.

She cried as she let the water thunder down over her back, tearing into one of her purchased apples. Though it tasted mealy and old, it went down easily, and her body craved more. She had the shower for twenty minutes and needed to be quick, though.

She daubed under all the important bits with soap and water, shampooed her hair, and let herself have a few moments with the conditioner before declaring herself done.

A fresh towel on a bench waited for her, and an envelope sat on the floor beneath the door.

“The kindness of strangers will carry you far, little star.” Seneya heard the voice in her mind and stooped to pick up the envelope. It had a little over one hundred dollars in mismatched bills inside it with a note wishing her the best of luck in all things to come. At the bottom, a pentagram with the center filled in had been drawn.

“My Lady, You seem awfully young to be out on your own like this. Be cautious, and I wish you the best of luck.”

Seneya dressed quickly, throwing on her shoes and a fresh shirt with a stumble. She slipped outside, down the hall, and back towards the lobby.

Nobody, even for her birthday, had ever given her so much money at once.

Timidly, she tried to thank the woman at the counter who denied it in the coy way old women did. Finally, she placed the key on the counter, nodded serenely, and thanked her before heading back out once more.

She shouldered her pack and glanced around to the side of the building. A large lot with rows of flickering lights and parked trucks spanned as far as she could see. People milled about, and the odd woman not wearing enough clothes sauntered by, out of one truck and into another.

A small sparrow flitted from the top of a light and landed on a yellow barricade against the building wall, a stopgap to keep cars from crashing through. It hopped a bit while staring at her, and she looked away from its curious gaze, still walking.

Finding what she searched for, she slowed to a stop next to the propane tank exchange. The sparrow followed in tow, thinking she probably had food.

Seneya spied a row of water fountains but could have heard them before she saw them from their droning whine and old condensers. She relished the treat of cold water and angled a bottle to the mouth of it, pressing the button with her knee as the crystal stream bolstered forth.

“If we’re in Lincoln, we need to find another Train. The one we we’re on is going Northeast from where we were going,” Seneya said as she recalled seeing destination tags on the pallets.

“North Carolina or South?” Seneya asked cautiously, keeping an eye out as she filled her water bottles from the rattling old water fountain. She swapped one bottle for another and took a few shuddering gulps.

“North. West side of it. I’ll know it once we’re within a hundred miles of it.” Sohken quivered within her mind excitedly. A strange smell met her nostrils, sour, chemical. Then, she froze, pausing her filling, and tucked her bottles.

A ball of dread welled in the pit of her stomach, and she spoke her thoughts out loud. “How do I know to trust you?” She trusted him, certainly, but she disbelieved her own trust.

Something else boiled in her as she chanced filling one last bottle.

“Instinct.” It said. You are supposed to trust yourself, but you don’t.”

“I hope my instinct is right,” she said, and as the last of the words slipped from her mouth, a man politely cleared his throat. In the same instant, she registered body heat in her personal space.

She froze and looked over her shoulder. A sixth sense told her a myriad of things to do, jump, flee, and bolt, but something wanted her to turn first. She twitched, and an image of him hitting the ground slammed through her mind in a flash of an instinct that she fought.

“Sorry to bother, miss,” he said. He shifted a stockily-built frame, several inches taller than herself.

Her eyes narrowed in scrutiny. Being in the foster care system as long as she had made her wary of any man that approached a young woman so readily. She noted his rounded belly and double chin and thinning hairline. His teeth weren’t in much better condition, but his eyes, they darted about wildly.

“Can I help you?” She asked slowly, her eyes darting about in preparation to bolt. Then, she stepped back to get an extra foot of distance. But he didn’t let her have it and moved in closer.

“I just wanted to know what song that was you were singing. It sounded pretty,” he said, his eyes not matching his words. Alarms blared inside her mind.

He looked possessive and desperate.

“Run!” the voice shouted, and Seneya followed her instinct as she let her feet hammer the pavement. Her heart thundered as the backpack she wore bounced up and down atop her spine, sending sharp rivets of pain wracking through her body.

Her adrenaline high made sure she didn’t register pain.

His feet thundered behind her, intense in their own right, as she focused harder and found her feet moving faster than she knew she could. Her breath escaped her, streetlights passing her by. Then she made it over an embankment, into a copse of shedding pine trees, and towards the shipping yard she’d come from.

He still pursued, gaining on her, determined. Pine needles crunched under her feet and released that saccharine sweet smell of earth that came with their rot.

“I wasn’t singing. Why is he chasing me?” Seneya panted out as some strange gut-wrenching instinct kicked in, making her jump hard as she approached the train. She managed to get more height than she thought possible as her hand caught the top ledge, and instinct had her clammoring. She felt her leg swing almost of its own accord, moving on autopilot. Finally, her foot hooked the edge, jerked, and her body sprawled over the top.

She metered her breath and laid flat as possible.

It took another minute for him to catch up as he bustled around the cars. He had a harder time navigating the terrain that Seneya had so easily sprinted across.

Between the truck stop and the trainyard lay a few acres of land, stone embankments of terraced rock, and the windbreak of pine trees. What had seemed but a leap and scramble to her made him struggle.

Did… did I just jump six fucking feet in the air?

“Girl. I just want to listen to you sing some more, please,” He shouted out. Then, something a few cars over clanged, and a door rattled open, echoing as he stumbled through a train car.

His ragged breath played off the tinny metal.

“Girl!?” He called out, “Pretty girl?!” A wave of disgust crawled over her form, and she surveyed her position. Her heart hammered, and she could feel the blackness pressing in on her vision.

The pain in her back suddenly multiplied.

She had to make it. She had to push herself.

“Just a little bit longer,” She whimpered as she moved to push to her knees. Her chest bucked, and she couldn’t quite raise up quickly.

“HEY, YOU! I’VE CALLED THE POLICE,” someone shouted as lights along the loading area flashed to life. Seneya squinted as the newer lights along the building blared a whiter, stronger light.

“No…” Seneya wheezed, squinting under the yellow-orange blare of older sodium lamps looming above her. She didn’t need to be wrapped up in this. She needed to escape.

She pressed her forebody up, preparing to move. Her arms quaked violently. Not yet, can’t move just yet.

“What’s wrong with me?” she cried in a hoarse whisper.

Sohken did not respond.

Footsteps pounded gravel, a dog barked, and Seneya froze still as she heard bodies hit the ground. The new voice sounded higher pitched and more confident than the man that had approached her. Nevertheless, she couldn’t see and didn’t want to risk looking over the edge.

“Give up, buddy,” The second man grumbled as coarse gravel scuffled and clacked beneath their feet.

“You could have taken him down,” The voice within her spoke softly, like a faint whisper in her mind.

“Can’t stay awake….”

“Just bear with me. Kindness comes,” Sohken grew fainter, but she clung on as the pain began to creep up her neck and down to her tailbone. A great pressure within herself wanted to burst free.

“I wasn’t singing,” she breathed to herself, focusing on the voice, trying to keep herself from losing consciousness. She didn’t know why she felt so tired, despite having slept so much.

“Just a lesson learned, little star. Humans don’t always react well to the Acerrai language. There’s magic in it, and you know there’s song in it,” the voice insisted.

“No such thing as magic,” she whimpered.

The two wrestling bodies below concluded, and police sirens rang in the distance. Rocks kicked around as the two tousled.

“THERE’S A GIRL HERE; I WANNA HEAR HER SING!” The man shouted, raving as it sounded like the pursuer had him pinned.

“I didn’t see a damned soul! You’re trespassing.” The other man shouted before a huff of breath, and the dull sound of flesh hitting flesh rang out, knocking the breath from her pursuer.

Seneya clung to consciousness as she listened and waited.

“OVER HERE!” The voice shouted as the doors of a police cruiser closed in the distance. Footsteps broke across gravel, and the restrained man raved.

“There’s a girl here. I want her to come with me. She sings so pretty.” Her assailant started muttering.

“I didn’t see a girl, but if one is here, she’s safer with this man gone,” the second man spoke, putting emphasis on words.

The crack of radios and new voices joined the chaos, softer spoken from two annoyed officers.

A quick pat-down of the man yielded something worth carrying him away for, and Seneya sighed with relief, pushing her head down, trying to get her heart to stop racing.

“Just stay with me.” Sohken’s voice grew weaker still. Seneya just had to wait it out.

“My Lady? I saw you on the camera, and I know you’re up there. Come on down; the coast is clear,” the other man shouted.

Seneya’s sleepiness ebbed as her eyes flew open, and she sat up with cautious effort. Her eyes darted about. Something in the air felt…better. Metal at the side of the car she lay atop of clanged as a weak-jawed face peered up over the edge of it. He grinned. Seneya’s heart froze. Something about the boy woke her up and eased her pain.

“Aha! Found you. He’s gone, and you’re safe,” The man said as he waved her to come down. He had a playful feeling about him and strange silver eyes.

A bird twittered and hopped about on the car next to them. Songbirds didn’t come out this late at night, but when her eyes flitted to it, he looked as well. A small robin blinked back at them curiously. Then, when she caught its gaze, it chirped at her and froze in its spot, cowering.

“Trust him.” Sohken’s weak voice spoke.

Seneya moved to her knees, bracing her backpack. Everything hurt, but she’d figure it out. She shivered, her insides burning. She fought not to let the tears in her eyes leak free.

“You’re a loooong way from home,” The man chuckled as he eyed her with reverence.

She nodded, startled by the sudden interest and respect he had as she climbed down.

“If you’re here, it’s for a good reason.” He averted his eyes to stare at the ground piously.

“I’m just on my way to North Carolina,” she said in a whisper from her lips of strained English, and the man looked pleased as anything to hear her speak, almost overjoyed.

“This isn’t the train to do that. Come-come. I have some keys, and we can get you on the right one,” the man said, eagerly ushering her. She moved to follow, slipped down the ladder behind him, and stumbled in tow as they navigated the rail’s switches and cars.

“This one is leaving soon, and it’ll get you to Raleigh if you stay on through the next stop,” He promised. Seneya listened for Sohken’s voice, and he murmured in ascent before she nodded in hesitant agreement.

“Why are you helping me?” Seneya thought to ask as they stumbled over the harsh gravel and dangerous beams of the railway yard. A chilling breeze flitted its way through, strange for this warmer time of year.

“The Enai always help your kind. It’s our duty. I didn’t know you were around, but auntie called from the station and asked me to keep an eye out, and I could feel you out there,” he said with a wide beaming grin across his rounded face.

“My kind?” She said nervously, “You don’t even know me.”

“Right. I apologize. I have spoken out of turn.” He bowed his head in shame as his cheeks pinkened.

English soured in her throat, cloying at her mind, and its shift made her exhaustion worse. She had burning questions and a mind that wanted to shut down, to close off.

“May I ask who it is that I have helped?” His eyes glistened silver.

“Tell him. We’re leaving a trail of breadcrumbs now,” The spirit in her mind spoke quietly. The boy’s eyes flicked about for a moment before focusing on hers.

“Seneya, and you?” She’d never said the name out loud before, and it felt good to say.

“Troi, and what does your name mean?” A youthful glint twinkled in his eyes, and Seneya realized he couldn’t have been too much older than herself, nineteen, twenty? She’d never seen eyes so silvery grey; they were easy to look at.

He pushed open a car for her, moderately packed full of plastic-wrapped crates loaded with what looked to be laundry detergent. He nodded embarrassedly. “It’s the best I’ve got unless you’d like for us to have you driven somewhere.”

“You’ll be fine to ride. Breadcrumbs, not whole damn loaves,” the voice said.

“My name means little star, and thank you. This is all I could hope for.” Seneya tossed her bag up and climbed up over the rim. She gave an exhausted sigh and watched with curiosity as he leaped up as well. He kept staring at her face then looking away.

The young man shifted nervously for a moment. “You look sick, you know. I’m not a bale, but I might can help you.” It was hard to tell in the light, but he had pleasantly brown locks of hair that curled about in a mess over his head. His face seemed cherubim-like.

A flash of something came to her mind then, a wicked grin on a cherubim’s face and ashen teak curls, part of a dream that she’d had, but it fled her mind in an instant.

“I’m sorry. I do not know what a ‘bale’ is.”

“Right, you guys use the word ‘Baele’ don’t you?” The word sounded close to something.

“That is the other language you know but do not know yet. That is Anael. He says ‘healer.’” Her spirit’s voice whispered weakly in her ear, as tired as she felt.

“I’m on my way to someone that is to help me,” she said, slipping into the Acerrai tongue. The boy sat bolt upright, and his eyes watered, a strange white glow suffusing them, or so she thought—for just a second.

“I do not understand, but you are even further from home than I thought, my lady!” He turned his head and blinked it from his eyes.

“Oh, you’ve given the boy a taste of magic. He’ll follow you to the ends of the earth if you let him, now. Speaking Acerrai to them is a great honor. They can taste it.” The whispering voice of Sohken made her suddenly uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry, it is hard for me. I don’t know much. Nobody has taught me. I’m on my way to someone that will help,” Seneya sagged under her own weight.

“What tribe are you?” His head canted, eyes searching her face and form, looking for something that he wasn’t finding the answer to.

The question bewildered her. “I’m not sure I know what you’re asking.”

“Are you Phoenix or Acerrai, or Anael? You speak Acerrai, but you don’t look anything like them. Also, your eyes… none of the tribes I know should have green eyes….” He asked, then muttered curiously.

This man knew Sohken’s stories, those people… Were they real? Her eyes brightened with curiosity, and a million questions came.

“I don’t know,” Seneya said weakly.

“How do you not know?” The boy said, squinting his eyes and tilting his head.

“I don’t know anything about anything.” Of course, she didn’t, and he coaxed her history of foster homes. But, she didn’t give him her whole story nor tell him of her spirit.

“Aura… So, you don’t even know what you are….” He seemed stunned and sickened. He wanted to ask something. “I am… I’ve never heard of that happening. How could you possibly have this much power in you and not know you’re not human?”

“Power? What am I?”

“I’m not the person to tell you. I’ve not even seen your wings, but I would never ask for that honor-”

“These?” Seneya asked as she scooted around the floor of the car’s ledge and lifted the back of her shirt to show the tribal markings of spread wings up her back, separated by a spear.

He looked away quickly. His face went scarlet red, and fear boiled in him.

“There’s a reason you’re speaking to me, and it’s because you don’t know better than to speak to a servant. I don’t deserve the honor of this.” He made some gestures with his hands, crossing them over his chest and holding thumb to middle finger. He kept his face stern and turned from her, refusing to meet her eyes. “

“If you won’t tell me, who will?”

“Go on to Raleigh. Someone will meet you there to take you wherever you need to go. The train will leave in a few hours. I apologize. I didn’t know better.” He waved his hands fearfully and leaped from the car, running off into the distance as she stretched a single thin arm out.

“Troi! Wait…” He escaped her sighed just as she began to fade, the exhaustion catching her. She knew she couldn’t run, so she shut the door to the unit, crawled into the back, and bundled around her pack.

“You won’t tell me; He won’t tell me. I don’t even know….” Seneya spoke on the edge of a whimpering breath and collapsed into sleep without a response. If she wasn’t human, what was she? Magic? She saw the glow, but then again, she also talked to herself. She thought about the old woman, the money, and how the boy had been sent to follow her. He knew her words, some of them—her stories.

Eventually, sleep took that away, too.