Chapter 8 – Games

Mitchell inserted George's debit card into the ticket machine and pushed the numbers of his pin. The machine whirred and clicked and the tickets poured into the little metal tray. He took them over to his friends, handing them each a bright orange ticket. He turned to Annie, forcing a smile onto his worried face, "Now would have been a handy time for you to be invisible, George could have saved thirty quid", George frowned and Annie shrugged and smiled weakly before mouthing the word "sorry".

They walked through the ticket barriers and stepped onto the large, empty platform. The wind blew lightly through the station, making Annie shudder. Mitchell wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "At least it's not busy", he pulled the ghost closer and she wrapped her arm around his waist.

The train slid into the station slowly and George grabbed the bags and stepped onto it quickly, as though it would speed off at any moment. Annie followed serenely; she looked as though she was sleep walking, not really there. Finally Mitchell stepped onto the train; he took one last look around the platform and followed his friends to a seat.

There was almost nobody on the train, only a few exhausted businessmen, a couple of sleeping older people and a teenage couple that couldn't keep their hands off one another. George chose a window seat with a table; Annie scooted in opposite him and Mitchell sat next to Annie after shoving the bags into an overhead compartment. George clasped his hands together on the plastic top of the table and spoke in a whisper, "So where are we going?"

Mitchell flicked his ticket between his fingers, "Whitby", George's face seemed to crumple and Annie let out a small snort of laughter. Mitchell frowned, "What?"

"Whitby? It's a bit cliché isn't it?" Annie giggled and continued, "I mean that's where Dracula was isn't it? I vant to suck your blood", she stuck out her top row of teeth and George sighed.

"It was the cheapest, and it's not a busy city", Mitchell shoved the ticket in his jacket pocket and leaned back in the uncomfortable seat. George wiggled in his seat and tried to make himself comfortable; he stared out of the window, thinking of Nina. Annie twiddled her hair between two fingers and watched as the loved-up teenagers shuffled down the aisle towards the toilet, ew she thought.

*****

George sat with his head resting on the cold window, snoring slightly, Annie had gone for a wander down the train, she'd said she was bored, and Mitchell was starting to drift off to sleep. A metallic voice bleated out of the speaker above Mitchell's head, "Next stop Birmingham Central Station". Mitchell tried to see outside the window but it was black outside, around midnight he guessed. George stirred in his sleep and mumbled something that sounded like "weird" and then went back to his dreams.

The train came to a slow stop and Mitchell could hear the heartbeats of at least twenty people boarding the train; he could smell them too. There were seventeen women and four men and they all decided to sit in the same carriage as the vampire. Most of the women wore a t-shirt that said Shirley's Hen Night and they were all about thirty, with long legs and short skirts. A couple of the men, who were slightly tipsy, were trying their luck with the ladies but were being completely ignored.

George woke up with a start as one of the women popped open a bottle of champagne. He pushed his hands underneath his glasses and rubbed his tired eyes, "Where are we?"

Mitchell pulled his eyes from the drinking women and stretched his arms above his head, "Birmingham".

"Where's Annie?" George looked around, at the women and then down the aisle.

"Went for a wander", Mitchell's hands balled into fists as the fresh smell of the women's blood drifted through the air, he hated trains, "She'll be back soon".

George nodded as a man with a small metal trolley trotted up to the group of women. They whooped and clapped as he asked them if they wanted something to eat or drink or maybe a miniature board game. He quickly pushed his trolley away from the cheers and offered his services to George and Mitchell. Mitchell shook his head and George chose a magnetic snakes and ladders, which he set up immediately. Mitchell smiled affectionately towards his friend, always making the best of bad situations.

Annie trotted down the aisle and sat beside George, opposite Mitchell, with a big grin on her face. Mitchell raised an eyebrow, "You look happier". Annie shrugged and leaned across the table to talk to Mitchell,

"You know that boy and girl? The teenagers?" Mitchell nodded, "Well, a couple of policemen got on the train looking for them", Mitchell sat up straighter but Annie continued oblivious to his reaction, "So, the teenagers ran off and out of the station! It was like something from a film!" She smiled and raised her eyebrows in amazement. Mitchell placed his large hand on top of Annie's on the table, sending a quick electric sensation through the ghost.

"Are they gone now?" Mitchell's eyes were serious and so Annie nodded eagerly,

"Yeah, like I said, they ran off".

"No", he shook his head, "Not the kids, the police. They didn't stay on the train did they?"

Annie seemed to think for a moment and then frowned, creasing her smooth forehead, "I- I think they got off", she nodded firmly, "Yeah, they definitely got off". Mitchell's shoulders relaxed and he leaned back, closing his eyes as Annie rolled the dice and climbed a ladder with her yellow counter.

*****

It was starting to get light and the train had stopped at a few more stations since Birmingham; people started filling more and more seats in the carriage. George and Annie started on their third game of snakes and ladders, Annie having won them all, and Mitchell struggled to concentrate on getting to sleep.

Underneath the table his fingernails dug into his palms and his entire body seemed to be shaking with the need to drink. It was warm in the carriage and the smell of sweat and blood filled his nostrils - his mind - and the sound of heartbeats drummed into his ears. He squeezed his eyes shut tighter and frowned as he tried to think of something other than blood and thirst.

He opened his eyes for a second, just to see who was winning the board game, and something caught his eye. A woman at the table seat opposite was staring out of the window, her forehead resting on the glass. Her head was tilted so that her neck was tight and Mitchell could see the blood pulsing through the thick veins beneath the skin. He felt his mouth begin to water and his eyes felt hot and dark.

George was about to roll the dice when he saw Mitchell look towards the girl opposite. He thought nothing of it but dropped the dice from his hand when his friend turned back towards him with almost completely black eyes. George squeaked, causing Annie to follow his gaze; her hand darted across the table and she grabbed Mitchell's arm firmly, "Mitchell", she half whispered half hissed his name, "Mitchell!" He turned to her, the white had returned to his eyes but his irises were still dark. She shook his arm, "Stop it! Mitchell please!"

Mitchell shook his head swiftly and the hazel returned to his eyes, "I-", he took a deep breath and steadied himself, "I need to get off the train".

George bobbed his head quickly like a nodding dog and got up to grab the bags from above their seats; they could feel the train slowing down as it approached the next station and so dashed along the aisle towards the doors. Annie held Mitchell's hand and dragged him along behind her until they reached the small circular space at the end of the carriage.

The train stopped and George pushed the button to open the door; it hissed open, allowing a gust of fresh air to enter the train, and the three friends stepped off the train and onto the platform. Mitchell inhaled deeply and George began looking around frantically, trying to find out where they were; a large sign said "Welcome to Leeds". Annie's mouth fell open and she pointed towards three policemen who were charging towards them from the other end of the platform. Mitchell turned on his heels to run, only to be face to face with a tall blonde man with broad shoulders and a smug grin on his face. The policeman from the hospital.

"Hello Mr Mitchell", he said.

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