At once, a soft warm glow washed over Olivia as the cold wind was cut off from behind her. The scene that greeted her was fairly peaceful, the loudest noise being the quiet chatter of children sitting in the seats at the front of the car. Walking through the crowded aisle, shuffling past the rows of children who had arrived before her, she searched for an empty spot to sit down in. She eventually found one across from a sleeping girl, her dark brown hair spread out on her seat like a mop. Taking one look at the girl's unmoving form, Olivia leaned back to sit down, when the girl across the aisle suddenly stirred.
"Don't sit there."
Olivia turned to the girl, watching as she slowly rose from her seat, and brushed aside a few strands of hair. With a tired groan, the girl stretched a hand out to the seat and pressed it down, causing a sickening squelch from something inside the seat. When she lifted her hand back up, Olivia saw a strange green slimy substance dripping from it.
Someone laughed behind Olivia. She turned her head around to see where it had come from, and was just in time to catch sight of a blur disappear behind the leather seat.
"These kinds of pranks can get really nasty, so you should probably watch where you sit."
Olivia turned back to the girl, who gave her a sleepy smile in return. Casually brushing the slime on her other sleeve, the girl opened her mouth to let out a yawn and arched back into her seat. Olivia's eyes wandered to the row of seats behind them before she turned back to the girl again.
"Are the rest of them also..."
"Trapped? I saw a bunch of kids go back there with buckets of whatever that was, so probably."
Olivia huffed in annoyance.
"You can sit with me if you want to."
Olivia glanced to the side, and the girl stretched against the seat with a groan. The girl slid over towards the window, and invited Olivia to sit down next to her.
"Thanks," Olivia said.
Olivia plopped herself down without a word. They sat in silence, listening to the rythmic clicking of wheels rolling down the track as the train hurried along, and to the quiet chatter of the children sitting in front of them.
Olivia released a sigh and slouched back in her seat. As the calm settled in, she took a moment to reflect on all that had happened so far; she was on a magical train, going away from her home, from the sentimental remains of her family, to meet up with Santa Claus out of all people. She turned to the other girl to ask her something, only to find her asleep.
This was going to be a long ride.