A/N: The long requested second chapter is finally complete! No turning back now.

And I really cant think of much to add...

Between Sleep and Awake

As Misery walked onto the trolley, she was greeted with cheers and group hugs, and whatever else they could think of to remind her that she was amongst friends. But for some reason, there was one thing nobody thought of saying, at least not until they arrived at the train station:

"Misery, what made you decide to change your mind about coming with us?"

Misery stared into the air for a few seconds, and as on cue, a whistle blew and a voice over the calling announced that the morning train would arrive on the platform in approximately two minutes.

"I just got sentimental."

Ruby looked uncertain at her friend. She knew Misery well enough to realize that she wasn't telling them the whole truth. But for now, they probably shouldn't pressure her much more. The whole of the gang was together again, and that was enough for now. And by the time the gang had gotten themselves seated, moods were high, and the awkward feelings were gone for the moment. Most of them were chatting on light subjects, although some of them had big plans:

"Now we can finally do some out-of-town gigs!" Len exclaimed.

"I wonder who we should contact first, a concert organizer or a radio producer." Frank pondered.

"I hope we brought enough vinyl's"

"Ah well, about those phonograph vinyl's...You might have to transfer them to a new medium" Poe pointed out.

"You mean like a cassette?"

"Maybe even newer. Nowadays, I've been told, they record albums on small aluminium diskettes. They call them...compress diskettes."

The two brothers gave out and "Oooh".

"How fascinating, Poe." Ruby said encouragingly. "Can you tell us more about technology in the outside world?"

Poe smiled. "Well, the trains don't run on coal." He began. "Instead, they run on gasoline, like the automobiles. They have more automobiles, too. Oh, and they have television instead of movie theatres."

"What's a television" Skull Boy asked.

"It's like a movie theatre in your home, only with more newsreels and matinees."

"How does it work?", Skull Boy wanted to know.

"Ah, well...you get the film rolls sent home to you, and then you project them on a small screen in your living room." Poe explained with certainty.

"Does television come in colour?" Scardey asked. "Back home, the cinemas were showing films in colour. I was a little surprised to see that the cinema in Gloomsville only shows films in black and white. But then again, films in Gloomsville seems to be quite different from the ones we had back home. For once thing, they seem to sing and dance a lot less. A lot less than the films back home, I mean."

"Uh...yes, I do believe they come in colour." Poe replied, although he sounded a little less certain, mainly because he got confused by Scardey's digression.

So far, Misery had been keeping herself busy with her knitwear, but now she looked up.

"Ruby", she began, "where are we going exactly?"

Ruby hesitated. Misery had asked her this in a tone of voice which seemed to suggest that she was the only one who didn't know. But in truth, Ruby hadn't told anyone. That is to say, anyone except for Poe, and that was only because he had volunteered to go and buy the tickets in advance. It occurred to Ruby that everyone had trusted her so much that they never even bothered to ask her exactly where they were going. Deep down, it worried her a little that everyone trusted her so blindly – even Misery, in the end. The whole gang had so much faith in her, and expected her to lead them on the right path. She had just as much faith in herself too, at least that's what she liked to believe, but she wasn't invincible. What if she let them down?

But she put herself together. "To, a city just outside the borders of Gloomsville county" she explained in her usual perky voice, "Mundania."

"Sounds harmless.", Skull Boy commented.

"Sounds boring", Iris muttered, sounding disappointed.

The gang resumed to chatting about more casual stuff, and Ruby was thankful for the pressure that was now being taken off her shoulders, if only for a while. Nevertheless, she was beginning to feel a bit uneasy, and she wasn't certain why.

After fifteen minutes, Skull Boy stepped outside. He wanted to have a look at the engines, if the crew would allow it. A few minutes later, Iris put on a hooded sweater and stepped outside as well, hurriedly muttering something that the rest of the gang didn't quite catch.

Ruby's breath was getting heavier. She wondered if the others noticed this. If they did, their attention was soon drawn elsewhere – to the sound of a loud "WOO-HOO" coming from the ceiling. A few seconds later, Skull Boy returned to their compartment, looking bewildered.

"Has anyone seen Iris?" he asked.

"She's up on the roof." Misery answered. "Again."

"That can't be good. This looks like a modern train. It's faster than the ones going through our district."

Misery got up. "You're right, this can't be good. And I know not good. I'll go check up on her."

"Isn't that like sending the leopard to keep the wolf out of trouble?" Scardey asked anxiously. While the rest of the company pondered at this metaphor, Misery walked through the wagons, following the sound of Iris' footsteps from above. She was thankful for an excuse to step out for a moment. Not because she wanted to be alone – not any more than she usually wanted to, anyway – but because she sensed a presence.

"Misery" said a voice coming up from behind her. It was a voice she knew very well, but the surprise made Misery jump.

She turned around and exclaimed "Malady!" The woman she was addressing looked at her with bored indifference, not showing any signs of being sorry or embarrassed for sneaking up on Misery like that.

"We need to talk."

"Not right now, cousin, I need to get my friend down from the roof before an –"

There was a loud, smacking sound, followed by the sound of a dump, as the train was passing right underneath a low bridge.

"- Accident happens…" she finished with a sigh.

"Sorry about your friend" Malady began, "But in a few minutes, I'm sure she'll be –"

"I'M GOOD!" Iris shouted, and the two relatives heard quick little footsteps from the roof.

"Is she a distant relative of ours?"

"No, just experienced. And thick-skinned. Was there anything in particular you wanted to talk to me about?"

Malady nodded. "I see you have been attentive enough to follow Skull Boy on his two most recent excursions out of town. However, you let him wander off on his own prior to that. You allowed him to leave town unattended for a few weeks. I was trying to tell you-"

"Whoa, is Skull Boy that important?" Misery interrupted her.

"Yes, haven't your auntie Morose told you that?" Malady didn't wait for an answer. "Anyway, I was going to tell you this when you met me and my sister on your last train ride, but you didn't give me enough time because you were busy playing Whodunnit."

"We weren't playing, we really thought Poe could have been kidnapped or killed."

"Whatever. The point is, don't let Skull Boy out of your sight."

Misery was puzzled. Why was Skull Boy so important, and was she supposed to know about this already? Her pride got the better of her; Misery didn't want to look like a fool in front of one of her elders. So she didn't ask. She just nodded and promised that of course she wouldn't let Skull Boy out of her sight again.

Then some randomly bypassing, well-meaning lady was careless enough to ask Malady about her foot. As Misery left, Malady was enthusiastically describing her gout in excruciating detail to the poor woman.

"What's so important about Skull Boy?" said a voice from the ceiling as Misery went into the next wagon.

Misery looked up, and frowned. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"What else can I do? Nobody ever tells anything." The voice responded. "You guys are always leaving me out!"

"That doesn't give you the right to listen in on private conversations. Maybe if you weren't –"

"Hi, Misery, who're you talking to?" Iris interrupted upon entering the wagon.

Misery looked up. "Show yourself Boo Boo."

The kid ghost slowly began to materialize

"As I was about to say", Misery said, facing Boo Boo, "it might help if you weren't always hiding from us. How do you expect us to trust you, kid?". She sat down.

"Aww, what's getting into you, Misery?" Iris asked. "I thought you were feeling better."

"I just have a lot to think about right now. Tell me something, Iris…"

"Yeah?"

"Have you noticed anything particular about Skull Boy?" Misery realized that the question was too vague, but it was the best she could think of right now.

"Sort of."

"What do you mean?"

Iris sat down as well. "Half an hour ago, Skull Boy told me he's worried about Ruby…"

That's not what Misery had meant when she asked the question, but it seemed interesting enough in its own right. She listened attentively.

"Apparently, she's feeling ill."

"Since when?"

"Since a while after we got on the train. She's not saying anything, but Skull Boys says she looks fatigued, and she slouches. I haven't noticed, but Skull Boy is probably just more observant than me. He usually is."

"Same here - Meaning he's more observant than me as well." Misery specified. "But what could be making her ill? She's never had a problem with motion sickness."

"Well, she's been sitting next to the window all this time. But then again, so have I, and I'm feeling great."

"Whoa, think about it!" Boo Boo butted in, to the surprise of the two girls who had already forgotten that he was still there. "It's sunny outside!"

Iris winced. "So what does that have to do with anything? Do you think she's getting a sunstroke?"

Misery leaned forward. "I think I know what the kid means."

"Huh?" Iris looked confused, and momentarily distracted. Her eye was fixed on one of the windows.

I know it! I just know it!" Boo Boo exclaimed triumphantly, as much to himself as to the two girls. "Ruby's a –"

"Sssh!" Iris interrupted him. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Boo Boo asked, visibly annoyed. But both girls already seemed to have forgotten about the curent topic of discussion. Like Iris, Misery was leaning towards a window, curious about an unpleasant, frictional sound from the outside.

Misery suddenly got a look of wild panic about her face, as if she had realized something important. Freaking out, she knocked Iris to the ground while shouting:

"Shrapnel!"