Summary: Every month was exactly the same. Every month she took the same trip north to the same small town, tucked away on the coast of Maine. She didn't know why she did it, or even when she began her monthly pilgrimage. And yet, without fail, she found herself sitting in the same seat on the same train, going to the same place, each and every month.
Everything was always the same.
Until she saw the most beautiful woman she had ever seen, sitting on the opposite side of the train car…
A/N: Hi everyone! Welcome to my new fic! And it's a Halloween themed story! Halloween, autumn and spooky season is my favorite time of the year and I'm so excited to be able to write a spooky themed SwanQueen story!
As always, there's some housekeeping to be done before we dive in,
First, let's take trigger warnings, and the BrendaChenowith guarantee. While this story does have less trigger warnings than most of my work, it is not without any warnings. First is the subject of serious illness in chapter 4, as well as the discussion of suicide in chapter 5. As always, I will tag the beginning of each chapter when the appropriate warning. Also, please note the archive warning of Major Character Death.
As most of my followers know, all of my stories bear the BrendaChenowith guarantee of a happy ending, no matter how dark and angsty they may be. This, however, does NOT carry said guarantee.
And as always I do not own Once Upon a Time, nor any characters, locations or events associated with it. The story belongs to me, but the world belongs to them.
And now, without further ado, I present "The Woman on the Train"!
Chapter 1
November
Emma sat on the bench at the train station, waiting for her train to arrive. Her head was pounding and the late morning sun was making her eyes , I wish I had stopped for coffee before coming here…she thought to herself as she gently rubbed her aching temples.I better stop and grab a cup when I get there, or I may not survive the trip.
Suddenly, the conductor of the train was calling all the hell? When did the train arrive?she thought as she rushed through the threshold just as the automatic doors closed behind her. She shuffled down the aisle and found her usual seat, plopping down onto the well-worn cushion. The train started to move as she fished her wallet out from her back pocket to retrieve her ticket, sticking it under the small flap on the seat in front of her while she waited for the conductor to come around and collect it.
The gentle swaying of the train lulled her to sleep, and a moment later she was dozing off, settling in for the four hour train ride she had ahead of her. She perked up slightly when she heard the gentle clicking as the conductor collected the other passenger's tickets. A few minutes later the door in the back of the train opened and closed behind her as the clicking sound disappeared, along with the conductor. She cracked her eyes open to see her ticket still sitting in the same place, untouched. "One more free ride for me!" she said out loud as she returned the unused ticket to her wallet, shoving it back into her back pocket.
Once a month, Emma Swan took the twelve o'clock train from Boston, Massachusetts to the small town of Storybrooke, Maine. She always took the same train, stayed in the same room at the same inn for the night and ate at the same diner while she was there. And on Sunday morning, like clockwork, she took the same nine o'clock train back to Boston. She couldn't remember when she began this monthly ritual, nor could she remember why she started doing it, but none of that seemed to matter. Because it was just something she did, and something she always did. No matter what was going on, once a month she returned to the small town for the night.
She settled into her usual seat and looked around. She was already bored and the ride had only just begun. Reaching into her pocket to grab her phone, she quickly discovered that she had forgotten it before she left on her trip. Cursing herself for being so careless as to leave something so important behind, she began to scan the crowd, taking in each of her fellow passengers.
Her heart instantly skipped a beat when her eyes fell on the most beautiful woman she had ever seen in her entire life. She was sitting on the opposite side of the train car, her seat facing towards her, which meant she was riding backwards. Emma hated riding backwards, it made her motion sick when she was forced to ride the train in reverse. For no reason she silently hoped the woman was alright, and didn't get car sick during the ride.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't pull her eyes away from the beautiful woman on the train. Her face was soft and peaceful as she slept, her head bobbing slightly with the gentle sway of the train. Every fiber of her being was drawn to this woman, as if every cell in her body was a magnet, attracted only to her. And yet, she couldn't bring herself to get up and move closer to her. Emma stared at the woman for the entire ride, blinking only when absolutely necessary so as not to waste even a single second. She was so mesmerized by the woman that she nearly missed her stop, rushing out of the train just as the doors were beginning to close. She shoved her hands in her pockets and walked across the street, making her way towards Main Street in Storybrooke, Maine.
December
It was chilly as she stood on the platform, waiting for the twelve o'clock train to Storybrooke, Maine to arrive. It had yet to snow for the first time, although Emma could feel it in the air. The holidays were over, and now it was smooth sailing until New Years. Her mind drifted, thinking silly thoughts about making a New Year's Resolution to eat more like an adult and less like a child, when she heard the final boarding call for the train she didn't even hear arrive. She jumped onto the train with only seconds to spare before the doors closed, giving her just enough time to take her usual seat before the train started to move. Leaving her ticket on the flap in front of her as usual, Emma sat back and closed her eyes, waiting for the conductor to come through the train to take their tickets. She listened to the soothing click of the conductor's hole puncher as the train sped down the tracks, waking up once she heard the conductor leave the car and move onto the next one. She shrugged when she discovered that the conductor forgot to collect her ticket again, which meant one more free ride. Her eyes were idly scanning the crowd, taking in each of her fellow passengers when she discovered that she had forgotten her phone back in Boston once more.
Her heart skipped a beat the instant her eyes fell on the same beautiful woman she had seen the previous month. She was sitting in the exact same seat, her head falling the same side as before, bobbing to the gentle sway of the train. She looked exactly the same as she had the month before, down to the same slightly strained expression on her face. She stared at the woman, watching as she slept peacefully while the train continued to move, not stirring a muscle as the conductor made announcements and people shuffled on and off the train.
The more Emma stared, the more she noticed tiny details about the woman, like the way her eyes were squeezed closed, as if she were forcing them to stay shut. Or the way she twitched slightly in her sleep, as if remembering something unpleasant. She wanted to know what the woman was dreaming about, but she didn't want to disturb her. So she continued to stare at the woman for the remainder of the trip, and before she knew it the train was pulling into the Storybrooke station. She stepped off the train and into the cold Maine air, pulling her jacket around her body a little smells like snow,she thought as she inhaled deeply. She reached for her phone to check the weather, only to be reminded she left it back in Boston. With a shrug she made her way towards the exit of the station, which led to the streets of Storybrooke, when she saw the woman walking down the stairs a few feet ahead of her. Of all the stops that train was taking that day, the woman had to get off in Storybrooke, Maine.
She rushed towards the stairs, running down them quickly yet carefully in an attempt to reach the woman, only to find she was already gone by the time she reached the street. She must have taken a waiting cab or grabbed a ride with a friend before Emma made it out of the station. With a sad sigh she crossed the street and made her way down the road towards Main Street and the center of the small town.
Main Street was booming with people hustling and bustling around. Not even the bitter cold could stop the residents of Storybrooke from enjoying life. Personally, Emma would have preferred to stay inside under a warm blanket with a large cup of hot chocolate than being out in the cold. She felt the first snow flake land on the tip of her nose just as Granny's Bed and Breakfast appeared on the horizon.
January
Emma saw the woman on the train for the third month in a row, sitting in the exact same seat, always sleeping for the duration of the trip, her head bobbing back and forth as the train moved along the track. Emma watched her as she slept, her mind wandering to thoughts of who the woman might be, and what she might be doing in Storybrooke.
Did she live in Storybrooke and was returning home from a trip to Boston? Or was Boston where she called home and she was visiting the small town?
Who was she?
What was her name?
What did she do for a living?
Was she taking these trips for business or pleasure?
All of a sudden this woman was all Emma could think about. She wanted to speak to her in the worst way, but couldn't. Something was stopping her from simply walking up and sitting in the open seat next to her, something unknown. Maybe it was because she didn't want to disturb her while she was sleeping. Or maybe Emma was losing her confidence as she grew older. Whatever the reason, Emma continued to watch her as she slept, until the train reached Storybrooke, all the while unable to pull her focus away from the woman sitting on the opposite side of the train car.
The most beautiful woman Emma had ever seen in her entire life.
Emma walked out of the door closest to her seat and watched the door on the other end of the train car until she saw the woman exit as well. She took off towards her, following her down the stairs and out to the street below, watching to see where the woman went when she left the train station. Instead of catching a ride as Emma had previously thought, she saw the woman cross the road and walk towards Main Street, the exact same direction Emma was going.
She followed the woman, her eyes trained on her back as she walked, not wanting to let her out of her sight. She followed her down Main Street, trying to catch up when a small group of people cut in front of her as they entered Granny's Diner, causing her to lose sight of the woman for a split second. Once she cleared the group she looked up, only to find the woman missing. She cursed the rude people for cutting her off as she approached Granny's Bed and Breakfast, where she would be spending the night.
She walked into the familiar building and moved towards the small reception desk, finding it empty as always. She would have been annoyed by the lack of service in the small inn if it had not been for the large key she already had in her pocket. Emma stayed at the same inn one night every month, and stayed in the same room each time. At some point in the past she must have made arrangements with the owner of the inn and diner, which allowed her to keep a copy of the key to her room, so she wouldn't have to bother the staff. She could let herself into the room as soon as she arrived, saving everyone involved the aggravation of check-in. She walked down the familiar hallway and let herself into the familiar room, closing the door with a silent click. Even though she stayed in the same room month-after-month, it always felt like there was something missing, yet she could never remember what was unaccounted for.
The next morning she stood on the freezing platform at the Storybrooke train station, waiting for the nine o'clock train back to Boston. It had snowed the night before and Emma was grateful she remembered to wear her boots, as the sleepy town was a little slow in clearing the streets of the white powder. The train arrived right on time and she stepped onto the familiar car, sitting in her usual seat, preparing for the four hour trip back to Boston. The trip back was usually a quiet one; not many people take the train so early in the morning from such a small town. Movement at the other end of the car startled her as she saw the woman climb on board, taking her usual seat facing her. This was the first time she had seen the woman's face while she was awake; all other encounters she had only ever seen her sleeping.
She stared at the woman, not caring if she was being rude. She couldn't take her eyes off her face even if she tried. The woman had the most amazing brown eyes she had ever seen, and she felt herself getting lost as she stared into them from across the train. The brown irises disappeared once the train left the station, as the woman sat back and closed her eyes, preparing for her customary nap to pass the time. She was so infatuated with staring at the woman that she didn't see the conductor skip over her while collecting the tickets for their ride back.
The woman woke up shortly before they arrived in Boston, exiting from the same door she had entered four hours earlier, disappearing into the crowd on the train platform. Emma tried to catch up, but the woman was gone, already being swallowed by the flow of the people exiting the train and making their way into Boston. At least Emma had her answer. The woman, whoever she was, lived in Boston and was visiting Storybrooke for the night.
February
Emma pulled her jacket around her body tighter as she stood on the platform in Boston, waiting for the train to arrive. She knew she should probably buy a warmer jacket because clearly this one wasn't cutting it, but she loved her red leather jacket so much that she couldn't bear the thought of separating from it. She started to pace a little to try and keep warm as the train pulled into the station, letting off a large group of people before she was able to board. As soon as she took her usual seat in the back, her eyes began searching the train car for the beautiful and mysterious woman. Just as the train left the station, she spotted the woman in her usual seat, this time she was gazing out of the window to her left. It was the first time she had seen the woman awake and alert while the train was moving, and she couldn't take her eyes off her. Emma was so enthralled, she didn't realize that once again the conductor had managed to forget to take her ticket. It wasn't until the woman turned her head to get settled into the seat for their long ride did she realize that there was a young man sitting two seats away from her. She thought it was odd, seeing as though the woman had always occupied that row alone the past three months.
The boy looked no older than ten, and spent most of the ride staring down at something in his lap; his phone or a portable video gaming system she guessed, based on the way his eyes rapidly, yet chaotically, jutted around. After a few minutes of pondering, she realized that the two people were strangers who happened to be accompanying the same row on the train, based on the fact that there was an empty seat between that's her son, wouldn't they be sitting next to each other, or at least interacting with one another?she thought as she continued to watch the woman sleep, only slightly concerned that she was being inappropriate.
As the train was approaching the Storybrooke station the woman stood from her seat and stretched slightly while she waited for the train to stop. The young man next to her stood as well and joined the crowd that had congregated around the doors, waiting for them to open and let them off the train. Emma rushed through the doors and tried to follow the woman as she had done the previous month. But no matter how fast she was, she still managed to lose not only the woman but also the young man who had been sitting next to her on the train. She thought she might have seen them walking together in the distance, but she couldn't be certain, as the unexpected snow storm that blanketed Maine with powder obstructed her view. She made her way through the familiar streets of Storybrooke, Maine to the same Inn and into her room, all the while her eyes scanning every person she saw to make sure it wasn't either of the people she was searching for.
Her usual room was warm when she finally made it inside, and she shook the snow off her shoulders and out of her hair as soon as the door closed. She didn't know why she liked this room so much, there was nothing special about it. The room was quaint and homely, and there always felt like something was missing whenever she was there. But for some reason, every month when she visited Storybrooke for the night, she stayed in the same room. She laid on the soft bed for a few minutes, dozing softly as she stared out the window at the snowflakes that fell from the sky. Although she was peaceful and comfortable, she knew she would need to get up and begin her monthly ritual. Every month it was the same, and she knew she needed to get moving.
Pulling on her jacket once more she left the warm comforts of her room and ventured back out in the snow. She walked for a few minutes down the Main Street until she reached the small side street, one that you could easily miss if you didn't already know it was there. Taking a few more precise turns she stopped outside a small blue house near the end of the street, surrounded by a perfect little white picket fence. The house was quaint and small compared to those around it, but there was something about the small house that always intrigued her. She could almost picture her car, the vintage yellow bug that she loved almost as much as she loved her red leather jacket, parked in the long driveway leading to the small two-car garage attached to the house. She didn't know who lived there, or even why she felt so drawn towards it; nevertheless, she always found herself walking past the house every time she visited Storybrooke.
One of these days,she thought to herself after staring at the house for a while,I'm going to knock on the door and find out who lives here. Then maybe I'll understand my irrational need to walk past a quick shrug she resumed her walk, turning right at the end of the street, continuing her monthly tradition in Storybrooke.
The next morning the streets were piled with snow, as she made her way back to the train station to catch the usual nine o'clock train back to Boston. The snow had continued to fall after she finally made it back to her room the previous evening, and the townsfolk were just beginning to dig themselves out. Eventually the train arrived and she rushed on, eager to warm up and begin the ride home. Just as the day before, she found the mysterious woman and the young boy in the same seats as before, with the same empty seat between them. Whether or not the two were related, it was clear they at least knew each other.
The ride back to Boston was almost identical to the ride to Storybrooke; the woman napped while the young man stared at his lap, until they were finally pulling into the station in Boston. She watched as the woman and young man stood and exited the train into the bitter Boston air. It wasn't nearly as frigid as it had been in Maine, but it certainly was a cold day in Boston. Emma rushed forward, hoping to catch them leaving the station, and gain some insight as to where they might live in the city of Boston; but the crowd was too thick and dense that afternoon, and as much as she tried, she couldn't keep up with them, eventually losing them within the mob.