Hi everyone welcome to my story! I've been lurking for awhile, afraid to put anything out because I'm a perfectionist and way too hard on myself about things. I decided to take the plunge and see what happens! Thanks for taking a chance on my story!
"This trip is going to be fantastic!" Megan Rayas exclaimed, settling onto the barely padded, blood red bench seat of the old steam train car.
"The colors on the trees even here at the station are amazing. I can't wait to see the tunnel of trees and the valley." Karhys Anders noted, taking her place next to her best friend. The two women had been inseparable since they could both remember, all through grade school and had moved into the neighboring town houses after graduating collage, knowing the two of them would not make very good room mates.
"Ahh the tunnel!" Megan screamed drawing looks from the other passengers on the train car and making Karhys chuckle in the process. The tunnel of trees was one of her favorite places, so she could relate to Megan's' excitement. Beautiful and bright green in the summer the trees had grown to form a tunnel over a half mile long section of the old train tracks. The colors came alive in the fall, the reds, yellows and oranges making the tunnel a truly breathtaking sight and making it a highlight of the color tours. She now found herself sitting on a hard, barely padded bench seat of an old steam train next to her best friend who was at present time pulling fistfuls of her white blond hair out at odd angles and pulling faces at the little girl sitting across from them hugging a stuffed black rabbit closely. About 6 years old by Rhys's guess the little girl was shyly hiding her face in her mothers side but giggling softly at Megan's' antics.
Receiving a jab in the ribs from her best friend, Rhys pulled her own copper wire colored hair up and made wing flapping motions wile sticking her tongue out and crossing her eyes earning a full fledged laugh from the little girl. The two women dissolved into their own fit of laughter when the child pulled a face at them and flapped her own hair.
"Here we go!" Megan shouted over the very loud whistle of the old steam engine, holding her hand out to the younger girl before screeching in mock pain as she received a very forceful high five. "I'm Megan by the way, and copper top over there is Rhys." Megan said holding her hand out to the girl, shaking the small hand that gripped three of her fingers gently.
"I'm Ariel," The little girl states shyly, releasing Megan's hand and gripping onto her mothers. "And this is Mr. Cuddles." Ariel said, holding the little black bunny stuffed toy out in front of her.
"Pleased to meet you Mr. Cuddles," Rhys said gripping the stuffed bunny's well worn paw and shaking gently. "Have you ever been on a color tour before?"
"No, it's my first time!" Ariel answered, excitedly bouncing on her seat, before plastering her small nose to the train window, the bunny propped up on the glass next to her.
"I'm Donna," the girls mother said, smiling and shaking both Rhys and Megan's' hands. "I'm so grateful that of all the people in this train car you two were the ones to get the seat across from us." The other woman stated sending a nervous glance around the car before turning her eyes back on her daughter and smiling. "You seem to be the only ones alright with having a 6 year old on this ride."
"Mmm," Rhys hummed, scanning the car and seeing mostly frowning faces watching them, raising an eye brow when she caught an older woman blatantly scowling at Ariel's back. "Nahh we love kids," she stated shaking her head when the woman looked away quickly and turned bright red, fully understanding Donna's apprehension at being on the train. "Megs is a teacher and I'm a social worker, we kind of have too."
"Are you two sisters?" Donna asked, chuckling when Megan launched into a rousing rendition of 'Miss Mary Mack' with Ariel.
"Nah we aren't, but we have been best friends since before we could walk. What brings you and your daughter onto a color tour? I wouldn't have thought this was something a child would really enjoy?" Rhys asked, easily taking Megan's place in the silly song.
"Ari is an old soul, and she absolutely loves nature. I figured she would love to see the colors." Donna said, chuckling as her daughter abandoned the song and game and turned her eyes toward the landscape outside the trains' window.
"Really? You like hiking Ariel?" Rhys asked, and chuckled at the excited squeal from the little girl as the train rounded started around the very large curve that led to the bridge overlooking the Valley of Trees.
"Yes! I love the pretty colors out there too!" The excited little girl exclaimed bouncing on her seat, before scrunching up her eye brows. "What is that?"
"What is what?" Rhys asked glancing out the window as she heard the delighted murmurs of the other passengers. She had to admit the first glimpse of the old metal suspension bridge floating 1300 feet over the tops of the beautiful carpet of red, orange and yellow was truly exquisite. And then she saw that three cables on the left side of the bridge had snapped and were laying in very dangerous , twisted knot across the tracks that could no longer support the weight of the extremely heavy train.
"Ohh my God," Rhys muttered, jumping to her feet, blinking hard hoping that her eyes were playing tricks on her, and that the bridge was actually fine. "Meg." She said dropping a hand to her friends shoulder.
"Go warn the engineer." Meg said, barely able to brace herself seconds before the squeal of breaks being applied hard was heard, and Rhys pitched off balance into Donna.
"What's going on?" Donna screeched helping Rhys back to her feet before gathering her daughter in her arms and holding her tightly.
"Umm…I'm not sure" Rhys muttered her eyes trained on the broken bridge that the train was still moving toward at much too fast a pace. "Come on, move to the back," She said grabbing Donna's hand and pulling the scared and confused woman to her feet, pushing her gently toward the very narrow doors leading to the other train cars and away from the danger of the bridge that was still looming toward them.
"The bridge is broken!" The first panicked shout could be heard before chaos erupted around them. People screaming and then rushing to get to the same doors Megan, Rhys, Donna and her daughter where moving toward, making Rhys grit her teeth and take a firm hold of the back of Donna's shirt in one hand and her best friends hand with the other, as frantic jostling for position ensued.
"The bridge is broken? What do they mean the bridge is broken!" Donna screeched, gripping Ariel tighter as the little girl began to cry at being elbowed from other frantic passengers.
"They mean, we need to try and get out of this car and to one farther back if at all possible." Rhys muttered steadying the woman, squeezing Ariel's hand gently before attempting to steer the young girls' mother forward, screaming as she lost her balance, slamming her knee against an unforgiving metal seat as the train hit the tangled wires, jerking it to a wrenching stop, throwing all of the passengers to the seats and ground.
"This can't be happening!" Rhys heard Donna cry, and screamed, the train dropping a foot out from under the passengers, metal groaning and shrieking as it gave way under the weight. "Hang on!" She screamed trying to be heard over the shouts of the other passengers as the train tilted under them sending people sprawling.
"Rhys!" Megan screamed, groaning as she laded on the unforgiving unpadded back of one of the bench seats, Rhys hitting hard almost on top of her, scrambling to gain a hold on the slippery surface.
"Mommy!" The panicked scream of Ariel had Rhys sliding over the seat angling down to see where the little girl and her mother were, finding them clinging onto a seat several feet below. "Meg! We have to get to Donna!" She shouted, angling down farther on the seat, screaming again as the train pitched farther forward sending her pitching over the seat back.
"I got you!" Meg shouted, and Rhys felt her friends' hand gripping the back of her jeans, and legs circling her own locking onto her, keeping her from falling head long into the other passengers. "Get them!"
"Donna! Reach!" Rhys yelled, stretching her arm out to the woman slipping of the seat feet below her, but refusing to give up her grip on her child. "Come on!" She urged knowing it was probably futile with the train slipping off the bridge 1300 feet above the tree tops below them. "Grab my hand!"
"I can't!" Donna screamed and released her grip on Ariel. "Ari reach!" She screamed holding her daughter steady as the girl reached for the hand of a woman they had only met a half hour before.
"Come on Ari!" Rhys shouted, feeling the girls' finger tips brush her own and curled her fingers around them. "You can do it-AHHH!" She screamed as the train tipped farther and began to plummet down toward the tree tops. Clinging to Ariel's finger tips, feeling Megan still wrapped around her anchoring them onto the train seat back, and seeing Donna gripping her daughter's waist for all she was worth, Rhys wished that they were anywhere but here. It wasn't fair that Ariel would never see her 7th birthday, that a trip that was supposed to be a fun and exciting time in her young life was now going to cut it short.
Things seemed to move in slow motion inside the car, Rhys becoming increasingly aware of the other passengers being thrown around the car as it free fell, glass breaking, bones crunching as bodies bounced off the unforgiving metal. She heard the rushing of blood sounding in her ears, her vision wavering, sweat coating her fingers making it harder to hold onto the little girl that was still clinging to her fingers for all she was worth. Too much, too loud, too much too much too much. Rhys blacked out still hearing the terrified screams around her, and the blast of the train whistle cutting though it all.
"Rhys! Get up!" Rhys jerked awake, the feeling of falling overtaking her body as she reached out to steady herself, gripping the door of Megan's Jeep with one hand and her best friend's arm with the other as she came awake, the sound of a train whistle still in her ears.
""Rhys we missed the train!" Megan pouted, unbuckling and jumping out of the vehicle, slamming the door hard enough to make Rhys wince.
"The fuck?" She mumbled, fumbling with her own seat belt, finally unlatching it and opening her own door. She stepped out of the Jeep, wincing at a pain in her knee as she stepped down, a hand coming up to her forehead rubbing at a dull ache forming behind her eyes. "Meg?" She called limping to catch up with her friend, rubbing gently at her knee, wonder what it was she had done to it.
"Yeah we missed it too." She heard Megan say to another woman standing on the platform the form looking oddly familiar from what she could see of the woman's back. "Sleeping Beauty back there decided to sleep the whole way down instead of navigate and I may have made a wrong turn or three."
"I slept the whole way down?" Rhys asked, making her way slowly up the steps to the top of the platform, the ache in her knee making her grit her teeth and lean heavily on the railing, her eyes sliding to the small figure opening the heavy door to the station.
"Yeah you did. And speaking of Disney Princesses, Ariel there was going to go on her first color tour, but they hit some wicked traffic on the way down and only just got here also." Megan stating, frowning as the train whistle cut through the air again, signaling that they had only just missed the train.
"Ariel?" Rhys mumbled, looking at the little girl, her face paling, her eyes widening as they landed on the little black stuffed bunny she was clutching.
"Rhys? You don't look so hot. Maybe it's a good thing we missed the train." Megan said, striding over to her friend, placing an outstretched hand on Rhys's forehead. We should get you home since there isn't much sense hanging around here."
"Yeah I guess not." Rhys mumbled not taking her eyes off the little black bunny, but feeling the pressure in her head ease as her best friends hand landed on her forehead. She almost asked her to put it back when the pressure came back as Meg removed it to bid farewell to the Ariel and her mother before leading the way back to the Jeep.
"Seth! What the hell? Someone get Roman in here now!" Hunter Helmsly shouted out the door of his office, jumping up from his chair and rounding the massive mahogany desk he sat behind to run the day to day operations of the Other Corporation. He knelt down next to one of his psychics, Seth Rollins who had dropped from the chair he was sitting in a second ago having a conversation and was now groaning in agony and gripping his head, a thin trickle of blood dripping from his nose. It looked like the young man was in the grip of a psychic recoil but that was impossible, Seth hadn't used any of his powers and knew better then to use anything that would cause recoil without his Anchor present to absorb the excess energy.
"Hunter? You wanted to see…Seth!" Roman Reigns stated coming into the room, rushing to Seth's side when he saw his psychic on the ground in agony. He pulled Seth's shirt up, sliding his hands over the smaller mans chest, the excess energy plaguing the psychic transferring into his body and becoming harmless. "Seth what happened?" Roman asked helping Seth to sit up slowly once the pain of the recoil faded, holding the glass of water Hunter handed him as Seth sipped it slowly.
"Recoil." Seth groaned, leaning into his Anchor, siphoning off a little more energy into Roman, sighing as the vice grip in his head eased a bit more. "Not mine either. Whoever created that did something huge, I've never felt anything like it before, but I've read about extremely powerful gifts being able to send recoil out to other high level psychics." He said, taking the cloth Hunter offered and dabbing the blood under his nose. "You know if I felt it then Drew did also." Seth grunted, accepting the assistance to stand from Roman. "We need to find whoever created that, providing they are still alive that is, before Balor and his crew do. Power like that can change everything. I'll see if I can pin point where it came from." Seth said leaning heavily on Roman, sliding his hand under the Samoans shirt to rest against his bare skin as they made their way out the door. If the person who had generated that recoil were even still alive, they needed to find them and get an Anchor to them to siphon off the excess energy before it killed them.
Don't be too harsh with me please! Thank you for reading! I know there are a lot of unanswered questions here but the time will come!