A little apology for my lack of inspiration lately...
Here's something I came up with thanks to my friend who mentioned Colma once^^
Have fun everyone, especially all American readers~!
And just as a warning for future fics, Jaden is always Texan when I make him American because I love him and I love Texas!
(Is anyone from Texas here? If so, could you leave a typical Texan phrase in the review section?)
''I can't believe this...''
Jesse stared at the empty parking lot in front of him while the rest of the partygoers slowly left the club, staggering drunken and laughing down the street and disappearing into the darkness of the night.
''Where is he?!''
He looked at Jaden who just shrugged, not knowing any more than his best friend.
Whom the bluenette was referring to was Jim, a friend and neighbor of his whose father had offered to take them to the club and back since the three boys had wanted to celebrate Jesse's birthday in Daly City.
But now it was five to twelve, Jim's father had already picked up his son, completely forgetting about the other two boys he was supposed to pick up and Jesse knew they were going to get into trouble once they got home.
If they got home.
Neither of them had their cellphone with them and there weren't even any taxis around, not that he had enough money to pay for one anyway.
''Now what are we goin' to do?'', Jaden asked, watching Jesse pace from one side to another.
''We have to catch one of the late buses, I'm afraid... There's a station nearby, we can wait for one there.''
''Sounds like a plan, let's go!''
The station wasn't that far away and Jaden was thankful for that because the darkness made every house and every tree look like threatening creatures wanting to grab him. The moonlight illuminated everything in such a way that it cast a long, creepy shadow, further adding to the uncomfortable atmosphere.
Once they arrived at the station, Jesse went to check on the plan hanging there while Jaden sat down and watched the street, just in case his friend didn't hear the bus.
''3108 should be here any minute now...''
Right on cue, a bus rounded the corner, slowly rolling up to the station and then stopping.
The brunette immediately stepped in once the door opened, yet Jesse was strangely hesitant.
He didn't want to tell Jaden, but he didn't recognize this bus.
''Get in, Jess, what are you waiting for?''
''Yeah, sorry...'' He stepped in as well, feeling uneasy as he walked through the aisle and sat down.
''Normally I don't stop here'', the bus driver mumbled. ''Where?''
''Colma please'', Jesse replied, moving over to the window seat because Jaden wanted to sit near the aisle.
The driver laughed silently. ''Yes, of course, that much is obvious.''
He started the bus again and continued driving down the road.
The steady movement on the even street caused the already tired out Jesse to fall asleep almost instantly, but Jaden stayed awake, trying his best to recognize his surroundings. He knew which station they had to get off, therefore he let his friend sleep and leaned back in his seat.
The bus turned right and sped up a little, passing a station where several people were waiting.
Jaden found this strange, but didn't say anything.
Maybe this station didn't belong to this route...
''1300 Hillside Boulevard'', the driver exclaimed after a while, stopping the bus. In the darkness Jaden could faintly make out two flags, one of which seemed American and one which seemed Japanese.
A group of five people stood in front of the flags, waiting until the bus had rolled up to them before getting in. Three women, two men, all dressed in fine, japanese attire.
They greeted the driver in a language the brunette did not understand -Japanese probably, duh- before they sat down in the front rows, not even once acknowledging the two boys' presence.
The ride continued, although not for long because just a few seconds later the bus stopped again.
''1601 Hillside Boulevard.''
Again, people entered, this time they were American and Jaden greeted them with a ''Howdy y'all'' when they passed him.
A man just laughed. ''A Texan here? How come?''
''Well, I'm visitin' my friend..'' A short nod to the sleeping Jesse. ''..who lives in Colma.''
The man's smile fell, he now looked genuinely upset. ''I'm sorry. I know how much Texans love their state. Must be hard for you to be here.''
Before Jaden could ask what he meant, he had already joined his friends in the back of the bus.
''1801 Hillside Boulevard.''
People speaking in a different language again.
Why couldn't all those people gather on one station? It would take less time to pick all of them up...
Jesse gave a short groan as a new passenger let out a loud laugh, yet he didn't wake up. His head rested against the window and Jaden couldn't help but smile at how adorable he looked.
The bus stopped a total of six times on the Hillside Boulevard alone, each time picking up more weird passengers.
After stopping at what the brunette believed to be a school, the bus was close to bursting due to the mass of people.
Wow, there sure were many people taking late buses...
A man in his late thirties almost missed the bus, only getting on last second before the doors closed.
''Phew! That was a close one!'', he said to a woman who was dressed in a wedding dress. ''I got up too late.''
The woman giggled. ''That's my man~''
Jaden was so caught in watching the man's crushed face that he didn't notice someone addressing him.
He only averted his gaze and looked at the person when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
''Do wut?'', he asked before remembering that no, this was not Texas and no, this man didn't seem to understand him.
''Uh, what was that?'', he tried again.
''You two are so young, may I know...'' The man broke off, obviously embarrassed. ''I mean... how.. uh...''
Jaden didn't have a damn clue what this person wanted from him, but he decided the question had to be about why they were alone in the bus so late at night.
''A friend's dad was supposed to pick us up, but... yeah.''
''Oh... I see..''
The man patted his shoulder comfortingly and went back to his seat, leaving the boy dumbfounded.
What the hell was happening here?
The ride continued in the same weird fashion.
At the next station was a sort of gate with the lettering 'Hope' where many people got off and a few others got on.
''Damn Catholics'', the woman from before muttered, shooting another woman who had a knife stuck in her shoulder a dirty glare.
To say Jaden was beyond confused by now would be an understatement.
He considered waking up Jesse to ask him what the hell was going on here, but after taking a look at the boy's peaceful face, he dismissed the idea.
Jesse needed sleep, he was tired. He shouldn't wake him up for something like this.
''Tony, I haven't seen you since forever!''
A woman shoved a few people out of the way to embrace a man who looked visibly annoyed.
''You're exaggerating...''
''She still looks like a slut.''
The woman turned around and began attacking someone Jaden couldn't see from his position.
''I dare you to repeat that!''
A few more people got on, one of them being a man who was dripping wet as if he had just fallen into the sea.
Upon noticing Jaden's gaze, he smiled at him.
''My wife's doing.''
Jaden smiled back at him uneasily.
''1171 El Camino Real!''
The driver's voice was almost buried under the loud voices of everyone else, yet the brunette understood him anyway.
More people got on, all looking extremely happy.
''It is truly magnificent'', a woman explained to someone. ''My family's very content, your family should try it too.''
''Oh, Steve is still alive?'', someone else asked, laughing. ''I thought your brother had killed him already?''
As the bus filled once again, Jaden decided to just look out of the window instead of watching the other people like some sort of stalker.
He really didn't want to come across as rude even though he probably already did by staring at them the whole time.
His watch told him it was about 12.30 am.
How much longer would this ride take?
Up until now he hadn't recognized a single of the stations...
If this kept up, he'd have to wake Jess up and just get off somewhere before they ended up in another state.
The next station was in front of what seemed to be a castle.
There were also some people running over the street from the opposite side to catch the bus, cursing in Italian as far as Jaden was aware as they got on.
''Haha, they are just angry that their station got wiped off the plan, huh?'', the man who sat in front of the two boys mused, leaning back in his seat.
A smell of moist dirt filled the brunette's nose and he tried to bring some more distance between himself and the man.
This whole situation appeared more than just strange to him by now.
Something wasn't quite right here.
He scanned the rows of people again, trying to figure out what this strange feeling in his stomach was.
A girl in the front stuck her tongue out to a boy who had gotten on, showing her arms which were missing her hands.
Alright, this was... unusual, but not unlikely...
An elderly woman blew her nose at the same time as her supposed husband seemingly took off his nose and held it next to a tissue.
Halluzinations, he was halluzinating.. That made sense.
A man who had been sleeping in his seat fell to the floor as the bus stopped and something rolled through the aisle while he ran after it.
Upon reaching the object which was his head apparently, he picked it up and placed it back on his neck.
''Haha, sorry folks, happens sometimes.''
Jaden had enough of this.
He grabbed Jesse's arm and pulled the other boy with him who, barely awake, wondered what had gotten into his friend.
''We're gettin' off here'', Jaden decided.
A few people looked confused and tried to hold him back. He pushed them out of his way.
Nobody would prevent him from getting off this bus.
The doors opened, bringing him face to face with a teen who seemed to have just recently escaped a fire.
His clothes were all torn up and there was even a little flame erupting from his shirt.
''Hey, hey, you can't get off here'', he said, extending his arm to block the way.
Jaden growled. ''You watch me.''
Some people inside the bus were reaching for his shirt. He could feel their cold, lifeless fingers on his skin wanting to pull him back, but with an enormous force, he shoved the boy on fire back, making him lose his balance.
He crashed to the ground and the brunette used his chance to jump off, his left hand still clutching Jesse's.
And then he ran.
He didn't know where they were, where he was running, but he knew he had to get away from there.
Jesse's parents had been far beyond pissed when the boys had arrived at 12.50 am, but they had cut their lecture short, being incredibly grateful that the two were at least alive.
''How did you even get home?'', Jesse's mom asked the morning after, more curious than angry as she set down a plan of the buses. ''There aren't any buses that drive the route Jaden has described.''
''Didn't we take 3108?''
''Actually, no, the bus was different from the normal ones...'', Jesse admitted, skipping through a few pages to a map of Colma.
A few spots were marked with a red cross and the bluenette pushed the map over to Jaden. ''Are those stations where the bus held?''
Jaden scanned the map, surprised how Jesse could know when he had been asleep during the ride.
''Uh huh, but how-''
Jesse drew a breath.
His next words sent a cold shiver down Jaden's spine as their meaning dawned on him.
''Those stations... are all cemeteries.''
No, no this wasn't a Marvel reference, you're imagining things~
Alrighty, happy early Halloween~!