Hope you like the story's cover. Anyways, the characters have divided into groups. Enjoy Chapter 5.

Chapter 5: Train Wreck

Bilic, Felix and Valge took the west side of Rougeport. Bilic was glad they did as he looked around. The west side was significantly nicer than the rest of Rougeport, with it's clean streets and houses and it's small garden with a fountain in the middle of it.
Valge was still following him and Felix, a little further behind him than he would prefer, looking distracted and vague. Bilic was starting to wonder what was going on with his friend. It wasn't like Valge to be secretive or distant. As the three of them had virtually grown up together, they kept no secrets from one another. But Valge looked like he was hiding something. 'Something possibly vital.' Bilic thought. He tried to ignore it. He was here to look for clues about the demons and their plans. Any knowledge would be important. The only clue they had found was the scrap of paper Valge had found at the inn. Felix carried it now, mulling over the incomplete message every ten minutes.
The three of them wandered around, not exactly sure what to be looking for. Felix was scanning the graffiti on some of the walls, whistling a happy tune. Bilic managed a small smile. Leave it to Felix to have a lighter mood, even when things were completely dark. Valge kept his gaze on the ground as he walked around the park, either looking for traces or sulking. His eyes were constantly flicking around, and he kept looking over his shoulder, expecting something to attack him.
Bilic sighed. He needed to get his friend to focus. He wanted to know whatever was bothering Valge, immediately.
"Valge, what's going on?" He asked, walking up to his friend.
Valge wouldn't meet his eyes. "Nothing."
Bilic folded his arms. He wasn't going to give up easily. "You say that, but it's obvious something's not right."
Valge rolled his eyes. "Just leave me alone." He muttered.
"I have left you alone. But now I want answers: What are you hiding?"
"Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me." Valge said harshly.
"Tell." Bilic insisted.
"No." Valge replied firmly.
Bilic lost his temper. He grabbed Valge by the shoulders and stared into his eyes.
"Valge, this isn't like you." He said. "Now what's going on."
Valge pushed his friends away, fury and sadness filling his eyes. "Fine!" He shouted. "But you won't believe me."
"Try me."
Valge took a breath. "I'm going to die, soon." He held his hand up, even though Bilic wasn't planning to say anything. "Like, really soon. Especially if I stay around with you. A spirit approached me and said that I'd die at the hands of my closest friends." He lifted his head to meet Bilic's focused eyes, his own eyes starting to mist. "That means you, and maybe Felix too."
"That's impossible." Bilic growled.
Valge shook his head. "See?! I knew you wouldn't believe me!"
"What's going on?" Felix asked, having quietly snuck over to the others. He was clearly worried about the argument.
"It isn't the first time either!" Valge continued shouting. "Two years ago, I was hit by a cyclist in Mushroom City, who actually turned out to be another [expletive] demon!"
"Valge, everyone said you were hit by a car while crossing the streets." Felix said.
"That was a lie! You all think I can't remember what I saw with my own eyes!" Valge's voice had risen quite high, expelling his stress with sheer anger, tears streaked down his face. " I swear it was a demon, very similar to the ones that are attacking us now!"
"Valge, for the last time -" Bilic growled, still not believing, but was cut off by a strange sound, one that sounded like an old train coming to rest. Felix curiously ran off north, past a row of houses and underneath a sign that indicated there was a train station.
Bilic took one angry look at Valge. "You and I can start this again later." He pointed at Valge. "But we should check what's going on."
He ran after Felix. Valge reluctantly followed.

Felix turned at a corner and ran up a flight of stairs that led onto a train station platform. A train had stopped right beside the platform.
"Woah, the Excess Express." He breathed in awe, admiring the sleek, black train. "I've always wanted to ride on you." He looked down towards the end of the train, and his heart sank. The carriages attached to the Excess Express looked like they'd been attacked by monsters, or, Felix reconsidered, demons. The first two carriages were intact but covered in dust and grime, the third carriage's windows were smashed in, thick smoke curling from the broken glass. The fourth one was completely crumpled, the roof caved in and the whole carriage overturned on it's side, leaving the wheels spinning loosely in the air. The doors of the carriages opened with a compressed hiss, but nothing, mortal or demon, emerged.
Felix swallowed, nervous. If the train had turned up like this, all ghost-like, Felix wasn't too sure it was the best of ideas to go inside. He clenched and unclenched his hands repeatedly trying to calm himself down. He slowly reached for his hammer and held it tightly in his left hand. Bilic and Valge hadn't followed him.
"Here goes nothing." He said, trying to be upbeat for his own sake, and slowly jumped up into the first carriage.

Felix instantly thought about turning back, but something kept him from doing so.
The inside of the train would have been very posh if it was up to it's regular standards. But whatever had caused it to pull up to the station eerily had left it's damage. The electricity on the train had been cut, leaving only the moonlight that shone through the window as the only light source. One of the doors to the cabin had been broken off it's hinges. And everywhere he looked, Felix saw the unmistakable color of blood as it leaked down the walls and dripped onto the carpeted floor.
"Stay calm." He whispered to himself. "There's got to be some clues around here." He took his first steps down the hall, opening the door to the next carriage. He found himself in a dining carriage, with an array of overturned tables, stained tablecloths (Felix didn't want to know what the stains were) and a terribly messy kitchen. Felix quickly turned off the gas stove, which was still burning openly.
"Yikes, this place is already in bad shape." He said with a nervous smile. "We don't need to set this place ablaze." He spotted a piece of bread and grabbed it, taking a nervous bite out of it. The softness calmed him down slightly. He proceeded to the end of the hall, past the train's souvenir shop and more stained carpeting and into the next carriage.

The next carriage was in shambles, with chunks of broken furniture and bloodstained rags and carpets spread everywhere. Smoke curled out from an open door in the far cabin, but there was no sign of any active fires. Felix swallowed, trying to settle his nerves a little. He cautiously checked every cabin, searching for clues or any sign of demons. Nothing caught his eye. he frowned.
"How come there's nothing easy to find?" He asked himself. "Those demons are really good at not leaving much to give."
He turned, just quick enough to see a piece of paper fly through the air. A freezing wind was blowing through the broken windows. Felix quickly grabbed the piece of paper. The note was incomplete.

'I see them everywhere, horrible figures, the souls of the damned and the vengeful, eternal slaves to the evil mistress herself. They haunt, they kill, they will not stop until they enslave or sedate the living, then will cast the world into endless midnight. The only way to stop them is to -'

The note ended, and scrawl of ink written at the end, as if the writer had had the paper taken away from him.
Felix nearly dropped the paper. This was about the demons, he was sure of it. Felix understood instantly. The demons' plan was to enslave or put the world to sleep, then suck it into and infinite darkness.
"That explains some things." He said. "Though I might have been able to figure it own on my own." His expression darkened. "But this doesn't explain how to stop them. And who's this evil mistress?"
A flash of white lightning streaked across the sky outside, temporarily lighting the room in a eerie white. Felix flinched, then tried to calm himself. He still had one last carriage to check. He noticed a lamp hanging by the door to the next carriage, and picked it up, turning on it's small valve and lighting the kerosene inside. A small flame flickered into life, casting a warm glow of orange around Felix, causing him to relax a little. He unlocked the last door and pushed it open.

The last carriage, the storage carriage, had been overturned, it roof caved in as it lay on it's side, it's wheels spinning uselessly in the air, various crates and suitcases spilling out through the open hole in the roof. A disturbing muttering could be heard from inside the carriage.
Felix could feel his body tremble, but he couldn't stop it. The muttering was freaking him out. He carefully jumped down onto the track and went inside the last carriage through it's broken roof, sidestepping to avoid a razor-sharp piece of wood that jutted out in front of him.
The muttering he had heard had now turned into a growl. Felix felt weak, but still continued. The rest of the carriage was pitch black. Felix held his lamp in front of him to see where he was going. He saw more broken crates, shattered glass and smashed train pieces, but as he looked deeper into the shadows, he swore he saw something move.
felix wanted to turn around and run back to his friends, but something compelled him to move in further. Something moved again, and Felix could identify it as a human figure, wearing worn and battered ghetto clothing, a hood pulled over his face, his body rocking back and forth, growling incoherently, his arms tied at his side to an old wooden chair. Feilx took a step closer and the man looked up, staring straight at him, eyes blazing with rage and insanity, his face hard as a rock.
Felix yelped and stumbled backwards, dropping his lamp, which rolled away. The man regarded Felix with loathing, as if he'd been waiting for Felix for days.
"Felix Hammervan." He growled. "You should never have come here."
Felix recoiled at his full name. "Who are you?" He asked shakily.
"A survivor, a victim tortured by the demons that now walk the mortal world." He replied.
A hiss echoed through the carriage, definitely not friendly. Felix resisted the urge to scramble out as fast as he could.
"You don't have much time, Hammervan." The man growled. "The demons are very difficult to fight and even more difficult to understand. The only way to win is to -" A metallic sound whizzed through the air. A razor-sharp shuriken had embedded itself in the wall, narrowly missing Felix.
"No one spills our secrets." A voice ordered from behind. Felix turned and face-to-face with another demon, one with a skeletal body, hands and no eyes, but his face was that of human rag doll, stitches trailing across his face and over his eyes. In his skeletal hands he held an array of throwing stars, all gleaming in the moonlight. Shadowy vapor swirled around his lower body.
Felix drew his hammer but didn't like odds. He was fighting alone against a creature from a nightmare.
"Ah, brave little Felix." The demon said, his mouth unmoving but his voice echoing in the carriage. "Trying to discover something about us? I'm afraid that's not an option." He threw three shuriken stars at Felix in quick succession, each just piercing his skin as they flew by. Felix winced as he saw hs own blood leak out from cuts in his arms and his left leg. The demon laughed, a sound that was similar to glass being pierced. "Ah yes, the liquid of life." He said, satisfied. "I enjoy seeing it fall from the unworthy."
Felix threw his hammer in a quick move, fueled by anger. Who was this demon to say he was unworthy to be alive? The hammer went through the demon's right hand, not hurting the demon but scattering his shurikens in all directions. The demon turned to Felix, a growl emanating around the room.
"If I were you, I'd watch my mouth." Felix said. The demon growled and threw his other shurikens at him, but Felix ducked this time. Unfortunately, the demon wasn't aiming at him, but to the tied man behind him, killing him instantly.
"Neuken!" Felix shouted, which was about the worst thing he could say in his native Dutch. The man who might have contained the answers to the demons was dead, his body slumped forward and blood staining his jacket. The demon laughed again with pleasure.
"There, problem solved." He said proudly, then melted through the floor of the carriage before Felix could charge at him.
Felix cursed and furiously punched at one of the broken crates. He had been so close to getting some answers, and the demon had shown up and ruined it all. "Fine then, you hideous rag doll." He muttered, as if the demon was still in front of him. "But I will find out what's going on, I promise you on that." He left the carriage through it's broken roof and jumped back onto the platform. Bilic and Valge had finally shown up, both staring at him in surprise and shock.
"What?" Felix asked, then looked at himself and realized he was covered in blood and dust. "This? I'll explain, but we have to move, now."

End of chapter 5.

These next 3 chapters will be one for each group as they attempt to unravel the demons' secrets. Will they succeed?

Until next time, it's Para-Zackovic, it's been an honor.