I posted this a while ago (on Archive of our own,look me up under Chancey Rose) forgot about it, found it, scared myself by my horrible writing, and updated it... so yeh.
This little one shot comes from a RP my girlfriend and I did a while ago.
Because New Zealand doesn't have an official name yet, I've named them Kealin for this. Why NZ? Cause why not? They need more attention in this community, damnit.
Alfred stared at the old tracks in front of them. Most of the wooden post has rotten away and the long girders were badly rusted. He frowned.
It was an old track, so what?
He had seen plenty of old railroad tracks before, why was this one special?
It was a quiet evening, the air was cold and frosty. They were sitting on an old wooden seat outside a tiny disused train station. Sitting beside him, Kealin hummed softly to them-self, looking down every few minutes at a tattered piece of paper in their hand. The hellhound was currently using a glamor to appear human. Well, almost human. From a distance they looked like a simple small teen who was currently rugged up in an over sized trench coat and scarf, their unnatural curly blonde hair hidden with a large beanie. But up close, it was plain to see they were a supernatural been, what with the glowing red eyes the glamour couldn't cover and all.
"So...?" Alfred began.
Kealin glanced at him and smiled "Not much longer"
Alfred really didn't know how to reply to that so he stayed quiet and went back to starting dully at the surrounding trees. After thirty seconds of occasional bird call, the creaking of the station behind them and silence, he started to hear what sounded like the far off whistle of a train. Though that could be expected for this area. After all there was another, more active train station not to far way. Getting up, he decided to ease his boredom by walking over to the edge of the platform and peering down along the track. Nothing but dense foliage and large brambles creating a sort of net across the line, making it impassible. He heard Kealin give an irritated huff.
"You shouldn't step over the yellow line, Mutt."
Alfred looked down at his feet, sure enough there was a yellow line on the concrete, though it was hard to notice due to most of the paint being faded and peeling off. A grin toyed on his mouth, he looked back up at Kealin. "Why shouldn't I, hound?" he asked. Kealin's eyes narrowed, the red glow seemed to intensify.
"You just shouldn't, unless you want your flea-bitten butt dragged to the underworld. Now get back here before it arrives."
Alfred chuckled. He had somehow found the small hellhound at a crossroads, and unbeknown to him had released it. Now it was following him around like a lost puppy, complaining and correcting him the whole time, but never once leaving his side. He found this amusing.
He shuffled closer to the edge. He could play along with this little game. If Kealin wanted to play the "let's wait for a ghost train", he could at least have some fun with it. The only reason they were here, was because Kealin said he apparently knew a faster, as well as cheaper, route to his brother's house in Canada.
Alfred jumped down off the platform and walked onto the track. The wooden struts crumpled as soon as his feet touched them, while long thorny weeds reached out and clung to his jeans.
"Get off the tracks!" Kealin had now risen from their seat. Despite their face set in a scowl, there was a panicked tone to their voice. "You're gonna get hurt."
Alfred scoffed to himself, these tracks hadn't been used in decades. The worse that could happen to him was if he got a splinter. Or if some idiot put silver on the track. Werewolves and silver didn't mix. He looked back up at Kealin,
"Oh no, I'm gonna get run over by the "ghost train"! What ever should I do!" He cried mockingly, holding his hands up in a helpless gesture.
"Trains, there are two main ghost trains that run over the world" Kealin began, much to Alfred's annoyance. "The first doesn't stop here, it just goes straight to the underworld carrying the damned along with it. The other is the one were are boarding, it's more for commercial use."
Alfred rolled his eyes. "That's if this these apparent trains come" he said emphasising on the 's' in trains, earning himself another irritated huff from the hellhound. He started to walk along the tracks, ignoring his complains shouts. He stomped along on the disintegrating wooden beams. Why had he listened to Kealin's idea in the first place. He could have been halfway across America right now, sleeping. But no, they had been waiting for hours in the cold, waiting for a "ghost train", that would never come. He felt stupid for letting the hellhound talk him into it.
He could vaguely hear Kealin shouting at him, their voice was beginning to sound shrill and panicked. Alfred stopped and frowned.
The temperature around him seemed to have plummeted. Not only that but everything except for the creaking from the old station had gone silent. Looking around in the fading twilight he could make out figures and shapes moving among the trees. A growl started to form in his throat as the hairs on the back of his neck prickled. Something was wrong, this wasn't right. He turn and briskly walked back to the station, climbing back onto the platform. Glancing back, he could see grey fog begin to seep out of the ground, rolling across the tracks on either side of the station.
Kealin stood with their arms folded across their chest, red eyes now ablaze as their form flickering from being a late teen to something more larger, darker and sinister.
"Alfred, that was stupid, even for a wolf." They growled.
Alfred looked away, and was about to reply when, without warning, the train station came alive. People bustled past and glanced at their watches and then the tracks, kids tugged at parents' arms, and old men checked their train schedules. No one seemed to notice the two strangers standing on the station platform itself looked as new as the day it was opened. The yellow line standing out brightly, signs and posters covering the notices boards and light flooding out from the station windows.
Alfred stared at the people bustling around him, his jaw slack, while Kealin looked on amused, his anger seemly vanished with the sudden life of the station.
"They don't know they're dead. For all they know they're waiting for a train that will never stop for them." they stated, waving an arm absentmindedly through a woman as she hurried past. Her image flicked but she didn't seem to notice. "An easy place to find lost souls."
A train whistle sounded again, this time closer. Alfred glanced the the empty tracks in front of them and his eyes widened as a large black steam engine came whistling past, carrying the screams and shouts of those departing to the underworld. Faces, hands and bodies were pressed up against the glass in desperation, faces contorted in fear and rage.
"Holy crap, that's a literal ghost train." he muttered in horror.
"And lucky for you, that isn't your train, at least, not for a while. Next one is though" Kealin replied with a content sigh. The train disappeared into the thick fog, along with it's disturbing cargo. Another whistle sounded in the distance and a second black steam engine rolled onto the empty track, slowing down and stopping. The steam engine itself and its carriages look like they were made out of polished obsidian, each with elegant gold railing and trim along the windows and doors. Each window was shut and cover by curtain embroidered with elegant designson. Kealin grinned and walked over to one of the cabins door, flashing a black card to the hooded train conductor.
"Come on Alfred, you'll start catching flies soon if your mouth stays open like that,"they snicker before disappearing onto the train. Alfred hesitantly followed, glancing at the looming conductor.
The conductor didn't say anything.
Stepping onto the train, Alfred was greeted with a rush of warm air as well as a brightly lit cabin with an ivory white interior. The style of the cabin matched that of an old Victorian house, full of small intricate detail and lush carpentry. Kealin, who had taken off their large coat and beanie was seated comfortably beside one of the windows. In front of them on a small wooden table was a platter of tiny cupcakes and other beautifully made treats, all resting on a gold and white china platter. He felt out of place, and no doubt looked out of place too in such a bright and expensive room. In fact, they both did.
"Not what you'd expect, is it?" Kealin said with a grin, popping one of the cupcakes into their mouth. "So, think you'll trust me next time?"