MYSTERY EXPRESS

CHAPTER 1

Nadia woke up with a gasp as a loud noise split the silence of her slumber. Her cheeks pressed into the armrest of the seat she curled up on. She lunged forward but fell back as a splitting headache threatened to make her lose consciousness. Blinking to orient herself, she started looking around. There was a seat similar to the one she was on across her with a table in the middle. Where am I? She recalled that the sound that woke her was a train whistle. It continued to make a squeaking noise as it moved on the rail tracks.

Wait, a train that whistles? She knew for a fact that there was definitely not a single steam train in the town that she lived in. Her nails dug into the velvet fabric of the soft seat and her breaths came faster in a slow panic. She tried to mentally retrace her steps for the day. She remembered waking up for school as usual, attending all of her classes, she was getting her books from her locker while getting ready to go home and – blank.

Was I kidnapped? Was she dead? She asked herself these questions as panic rose again. The world titled around her so she ran her hands through her hair. Hair! She definitely put on her hijab as she was getting her books. Now, all she was wearing was the jeans and purple dress shirt she wore in the morning. Her phone was in her bag and since she couldn’t see any bag around her, there was no chance to call for help. She searched her pockets for the hankie she knew would be there and draped it over her head in an attempt to cover it. It was small, but she immediately felt relieved. Finally, having an emergency hankie to dab on her always oily face came in handy.

“La ilaha illallah muhammadur rasulullah.” Nadia whispered as she glanced through the curtains to find a clue to where she was.

What.

The.

Hell.

The endless night sky stretched for as far as she could see, she saw some grasses and fields but no houses. There was absolutely no way that this could be anywhere close to her home.

“Hello, is…is anyone there?” Nadia yelled. Her throat tightened and dread began to spread as she heard mumbling from a few seats.

No, could she even trust these people? She decided that she would try to get out on her own. She must have gotten here somehow and there must be a way out. If the coach she was brought to had few people, maybe other coaches would be different. She walked past several seats to make her way to the door.

Locked. Of course, it would have been too easy if it wasn’t. Peeking through, she realized that the other couch may be empty as she couldn’t see anyone. Bracing herself, she started banging anyway.

“Hey! Help! Is anyone there!”

“I wouldn’t do that….”

“……if I were you”

CHAPTER 2

A shiver ran down her spine as two similar voices shared the sentence. Nadia looked back and took in the twins seated at the first seat in the coach. She tried to plaster a friendly smile on her face as she sat opposite the identical twins. They looked like they were in their early teenage years, maybe 12 or 13 years old. They wore black neat suits and dress shoes that made them look more mature so maybe they were younger. While their skin was very pale, their hair was an unruly mess that hinted at mixed races.

“Hi my name is Nadia, you think that it is a bad idea to ask for help, why?” Silence stretched awkwardly between them but Nadia decided to try again.

“Look, I think I was brought here, I don’t know how but I’ve been abducted. The person might…..”

“Where is your train ticket?” the one on the right said with a grin.

“As I was saying, I just woke up here, I don’t have my stuff.”

They looked at each other with mischievous eyes and the one on the left frowned in resignation, he reached into his pocket, pulled out two tickets and handed them to Nadia. The crumpled papers had the seat number, the names Axel and Luca, no destination. It looked like a name tag rather than a ticket.

“This does not make any sense, I did not get one.” She returned the tickets to Luca.

“That’s not good. I’m Axel by the way.” the grinning boy said. That made the boy on the left Luca.

“Hello Axel, why are you guys here, why am I here?” She tried to keep her voice steady but it shook as dread made its way through her body.

The twins stared at each other again, a hidden conversation passing between them. After a while, Luca gave her a ticket. It was a different one this time, it had no name then something strange happened. Before her eyes, the name Nadia appeared at the top along with her seat number.

“You’re lucky, Axel likes you. Use that for now.” Luca sneered, it was obvious that he did not completely agree with Axel.

“Thank you.” Nadia pocketed the ticket. “So, how long have you been here?”

Luca started, “we don’t know….”

“We woke up 2 days ago” Axel completed. Luca sighed in frustration.

“2 days, has the train made any stops? Maybe we could get…” the twins shook their heads in unison. There goes the first escape plan.

“Talk to other passengers,” Luca suggested.

“The other passengers?”

“Last seat on this side, 4th seat on the other side and there, and there.” Axel pointed at the locations.

She did hear mumbles earlier but apart from that, everyone else must be keeping to themselves. Were they all tired or had they just given up. Whatever it was, she was going to find out.

“Wait here” she told the twins as she headed for the seats that they described.

“I wanted to ask, what’s that on your head?” Axel said as Nadia turned back.

Nadia’s hands instinctively went to her head and she felt the hankie. She wanted to sit back and explain fully but also wanted to see the other passengers.

“It’s supposed to be a Hijab, I wear a much longer fabric over my hair to cover it” she explained.

“Why?” Luca scoffed.

“Because my religion says so.”

Axel laughed, “You are interesting.”

Nadia smiled and walked to the position of the other passengers. True to their words, there was a sleeping middle aged woman in the last seat – she was dressed in an over the top suit complete with a fabricator and a fur shawl.

The fourth seat was occupied by an old man with a wide grin talking to himself. The other seats had an emo teenage boy smoking and a cheerleader. The cheerleader was obviously petrified and shivering in her seat while the emo boy seemed indifferent and focused on smoking.

Nadia was about to make her way to the frightened cheerleader when a sound came from the other coach, it was followed by the whistle of the train. The door was being unlocked.

Finally, after some answers, she started making her way to the door.

“Nadia! No!” Axel yelled.

“Go to your seat now!” Luca said.

“What do you….”

“Now!” the twins yelled in unison.

CHAPTER 3

Nadia sat down just as the conductor entered the coach wearing a bright smile. He had a cart of meals and placed one plate of food and a bottle of water per person. There was a heavy air in the room, complete silence but no reaction from anyone else.

The conductor took turns stamping on everyone’s ticket. He reached her and stretched out his hand. She handed him the ticket the twins gave her, he stamped and returned it. It was a decorative seal but the paper soon crumbled in her fingers, it turned to ash. He placed a bottle of water and a pack of food on the table and started moving.

No, she thought. She had to get some information at least.

“Excuse me.” she grabbed the conductor’s arm. “The paper disappeared… where are we going….”

She couldn’t complete her sentence because the man pulled out a bottle and sprayed the contents on her face. Nadia’s cheek was pressed onto the seat when she woke up. She blinked out her dizziness as she concentrated on the rattling of the train engines taking her to an unknown destination.

After gobbling up the food left on the table, she decided that she had to find her way out of here as soon as possible so she slipped out of her seat and went back to the twins. They were bickering between themselves.

“what happened?” Nadia interrupted.

“You learn early not to bother the conductor,” Luca replied.

“What does that mean? Where did the ticket go?” she sat beside them.

“No one knows where it goes, we just give him the ticket for the food.” Axel chewed a carrot from his plate.

“What happens if you don't have a ticket?”

“Hmm, we don't know. Maybe you should ask the cheerleader that was taken” said Luca while stealing some food from Axel's plate.

“The cheerleader was taken?” Nadia went to check the seat the cheerleader was shaking on but it was empty. Was that why she was scared earlier?

She went back to the twins “Where was she taken to? What happened to me when I tried to talk to the conductor?”

“No one knows where the people without tickets were taken but one time, he returned with blood stains on his shirt. You ask a lot of questions.” Luca answered with a frown.

“If you try to talk to him, you pass out and if you are not in your seat when he comes, he takes you.” Axel added.

“Wait, where did you get the ticket you gave to me? Did you steal it from the girl?”

“There were a bunch of tickets when we woke up, you just got up very late.” Axel mumbled as he chewed.

Nadia decided to try talking to other people to find out what they know. She slipped into the seat across from the woman in the expensive suit. Her eyes looked puffy from sleeping but she had strong cheekbones and graceful features that made her look younger.

“Hi, I wanted to ask how long you have been on this train? Do you know where we are headed?” Nadia whispered.

The woman frowned “rude…”

Nadia couldn’t contain her shock “W-What?”

The woman caressed her fur shawl as she spoke in a British accent “You heard me, you are rude. I’m not surprised, that’s how most people behave.”

“I was trying to talk about leavi….”

“No one truly cares how other people feel, it’s all about themselves. The worst people are the so-called ‘friends.” she continued, “I suppose you don’t know what I am talking about, you don’t seem like the type with friends.”

“W-what? I have lots of friends.” Nadia lied as she recalled her endless days walking through the halls alone in school. She was referred to as the class stuck-up because she did not come to school with her hair shining like diamonds or maybe it was because she did not attend parties.

She brought out a powder palette from her purse and started fixing her nearly perfect face. “You’re just like everyone else. Selfish. Can’t you see that I recently woke up? Bombarding me with questions.” she puckered up her lips as she applied lipstick.

“Hey! you don’t even know me.”

“Well, I can guess.” She brought out a foldable fan and started using it. Just how many things are in that purse of hers? Groaning, Nadia decided to find another passenger to talk to.

CHAPTER 4

As she was standing to leave, she remembered that she did not introduce herself and just went straight to questioning the pretty woman so she sat back down.

“I realize that we may have started out rudely, my name is Nadia.” She tried to be welcoming.

She regarded Nadia as one would an insect that had come to their home to invade their space. “My name is Elizabeth Hilton. Call me Beth."

“I couldn’t help but notice that you are in a bad mood, did the conductor make you pass out too?” Nadia whispered.

“Him? He did that once but I was sleeping on my own.” Beth scoffed.

“So, you don’t just like people bothering you? Did someone make you upset?”

“SomeONE? More like several people.” while she spoke bitterly, the woman’s voice was lower.

Nadia began to feel sorry. She has had her own share of people letting her down. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Tsk, like I would speak to you about it” Beth snapped.

“Well, the last time that I checked, you have nothing else to do except of course sleeping.”

Beth looked unsure for a moment but she gave in. “Fine, I guess I can indulge you. I …every friend I’ve had ends up upsetting me and now meeting new people upset me because it is an endless circle.”

It felt weird that someone as glamorous as Beth would have problems with making friends. She stared at her reflection at the window noting her dark eyes, freckled plump cheeks and thin lips. What she felt most conscious about was her chubbiness, girls in her school were model thin and she just wasn’t.

“I find that hard to believe. People treat pretty people nicely.”

“On the contrary, people treat others however they want to. Not every rich or glamorous person has it easy.” Beth wrapped her fur shawl a little tighter as if recalling a bad memory.

Nadia sighed, she could see that Beth was probably bad at making friends with the way she spoke. But she couldn’t blame her for being distrustful after being hurt. Her high school was full of the type of people Beth described. Girls who would grab her hijab trying to pull it off or tell her that her hair was probably smelly underneath. After she got tired, she started taking it off during school hours but it did not stop. Nothing worked. Could she really judge Beth? Maybe Beth was right, people could be terrible.

“You know what? You are probably right.” Nadia agreed.

“Don’t say that.” Beth blurted.

“But you just said….”

“I’ve had years to make friends. How old are you? 16? 17? I can say that but you can’t”

“If you think that people are terrible with your experience then I shouldn’t even try at all.” Nadia looked at her feet. Her social skills were never really high but people made it difficult to trust.

“That’s dumb, you are probably in high school. Everyone has friends when they're in high school.”

“Look at you, of course you had many friends. I’m different…”

“How so?” Beth asked.

Her cheeks heated as she gestured to her face and body.

Beth sighed “The secret to confidence is pretense. Everyone believes that they are not perfect but they fake it till they make it” she paused and looked intensely at Nadia “Look, if you drink spoiled juice by accident would you decide not to take juice again?”

“Well, no.”

“Then don’t give up on friends… yet.” Beth added.

“Isn’t that what you are doing?”

“I said yet… Did you even try being friends with anyone?" Beth questioned.

Nadia wanted to say yes but nothing came out of her mouth. Beth was right, she never really did put in effort to reach out to anyone. Looking back, she regretted taking off her hijab so that she could make friends and fit in when she did not try approaching people. It was something that was important to her and taking it off made her uncomfortable but she did it anyway to please people whose opinions should not matter.

“You know, I assumed that it was your fault that your friends left you but maybe you have just been meeting the wrong people. You give good advice Beth.”

Beth looked awkward at the praise. It was as if she wasn't used to it. “And what’s that on your head? Some sort of fashion statement?” She snatched the hankie from Nadia’s head.

“Give it back!” Nadia yelled “I’m sorry, this isn’t just a hankie, it’s my hijab. I have to wear it… I want to wear it.” Nadia flinched as she realized that she may have been hypocritical. Wasn’t she the type that would take it off for school? Did she really have a right to be mad at someone taking it off when she did the same?

Beth froze at the outburst but she understood. “Well then, you could have found something better to use.”

“I don’t have anything better to use.” Nadia mumbled.

Beth reached into her purse of endless items and pulled out a bundled silk scarf and gave it to Nadia. It felt soft and luxurious when she touched it but when she draped it over her hair, she felt relieved. Being without her hijab had made her feel exposed and now she felt comfortable in her own skin.

“Thank you, Beth.” her voice shook a little “I really mean it”

“You look beautiful, don’t let anyone make you think otherwise. You can have this too” Beth stretched out her ticket to Nadia.

“I can't take this, what would you do?”

“I’m tired of being stuck here waiting to run out of tickets. I’d rather give my last one away.”

“But…”

“Now scurry off, I'm going back to sleep.” Beth didn't wait for Nadia to reply, she just tested against the cushioned seat and closed her eyes.

CHAPTER 5

Nadia got a ticket to help her for the next meal but she felt a cold shiver down her spine as she imagined what would happen to Beth who now had no ticket.

"Astagfirullah" she whispered, asking God for forgiveness.

She ran her hands through the scarf that Beth had given her, it brought her confidence but she had momentarily forgotten that she was in a strange place because of their conversation. She walked to the twins’ seat to check up on them but they were asleep.

Sighing, she decided to speak to another passenger. They generally kept to themselves unless she approached them. The emo kid was still smoking so she picked the old man with kind eyes, while his face was wrinkled, he had a great posture as if he was used to sitting upright for a long time.

“Hello mister, my name is Nadia, I wanted to ask about the train. Do you know our destination? Do you remember how you got..”

“You have the same cheeks as my grandchild.” the man interrupted searching his pockets.

It seemed like everyone was resigned to their fate on the train. “Um, that’s nice. I was thinking we could try to leave…”

“Here you go.” He finally brought out a locket from his jacket pocket and stretched it out to Nadia in shaking hands but it fell before it could reach her.

“My hands used to be steadier than this. You see, I was in the military once.”

Nadia crept under the table to pick up the locket, it had a Joseph Langton written on it and inside it was the picture of a chubby baby with full cheeks. It did look similar to her chubby cheeks.

“He is so adorable… His name is Joseph?`` She returned the locket to the man and he took it.

"That’s my name … It had my picture inside formerly.” he stared lovingly at the picture “Of course, he is bigger now. Not that I have seen him in a while.”

“Why haven’t you?”

“It's different for young people these days but back then, serving my country meant everything to me. I wanted to give my children a hero father that they could look up to. I would spend months on assignments.” Mr. Langton said regrettably.

Nadia recalled resenting her dad when he went on work trips as a little child. She couldn’t imagine spending months without seeing her dad back then. But she learned, she had to.

“When I finally decided to settle, I was like a different person. I couldn’t stop seeing the war everywhere, I would wake up at night screaming so I decided to leave because it was unbearable seeing my children looking at me strangely.”

“You left” her skin went cold because the story seemed too similar to hers “couldn’t you have stayed? I mean, I know it would have been difficult but they may have wanted you to be there for them.”

“I think it was better for all of us that way. they didn’t get to see me at my worst.” he chuckled “I guess I should be happy that I am able to get this much from them, at least in pictures I can still see my family growing.”

“No matter what happened, people still want their dad” Nadia protested “Imagine missing someone for years and then right after coming back he leaves again.”

“You wouldn’t understand. Back then, I would get frustrated easily and when that happened, I would get really angry. I did not want that for them.”

“Did you try explaining it to them? Did they know the reason?” she probed.

“They were kids” his voice faltered as if he wasn’t so sure of his reason anymore.

Nadia looked through the window and stared at the endless field “So? That makes it okay? You can’t leave without telling someone why. They would blame themselves” at this point, she couldn’t tell if she was talking about Mr. Langton or herself.

Nadia reminisced about the days her family was complete. Back then, her parents would take her to visit cousins living in other states and they would all spend Eid together. Now, with her dad and mom separated, she barely got to see her dad anymore. At first, he was consistent with phone calls but as he built a life for himself and got a new family, all that stopped. Well, he could do whatever he wanted, not like she cared anymore. Most days, it felt like only she and her mother were stuck in time while his clock continued without them. Her heart ached as she grasped how much she missed having a complete family.

Only the rattling of the train's engines could be heard as silence stretched between them. It was Mr. Langton who spoke first. “I tried going back once, when I got a hold on the trauma. I saw that they were happy. My wife got remarried and I just…. I couldn’t bother them after seeing that.”

“They still missed their dad, even after a long time.” Nadia realized that she still did. She might have felt resentment for her father for the years that he had been away but what if he was like Mr. Langton? Afraid to visit because it had been too long.

“I did eventually try… but everyone had moved on and I just felt like there was no place for me anymore so I stopped contacting them. I wish I spent more time with the people I care about.”

Nadia froze. Yes, her father had stopped calling, but so did she. With her anxiety, it was difficult for her to approach people or make the first move. She always assumed that if someone wanted to talk to her, the person would call. But what about her? she didn’t put in any effort to reach out to her dad or even make friends.

“I think the fact that you got the pictures of your grandson means that they may want you in their life.”

“Perhaps.” He brought out the locket once more. “You should also try to give the person in your life a chance too.”

“You noticed?” Nadia smiled “I used to think that I did not care anymore but after talking to you, I realized that I still do. He might be going through things too.”

“In all my years, I have yet to meet someone who isn’t going through their own fair share of struggles. You should try to forgive him.” Mr. Langton's face wrinkled as he smiled.

“You know what? I don’t know if I have, but I definitely feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. The Quran says to forgive and forget but I had been holding on to this resentment, thank you.” Nadia added “I think… I really think that your children have forgiven you too. And I think that they miss you too.”

Mr. Langton smiled warmly. “Thank you.”

“You are welcome.”

Nadia continued to stare at the field through the window. So far, everyone had ignored her questions about the train. She wondered if they were doing it on purpose or if she was in some sort of situation where she had to talk to everybody. She resolved to try again but when she looked back at Mr. Langton, he was sleeping. He had left his ticket on the table between them.

CHAPTER 6

The conversation played over and over in her mind and she realized that she did mean every word she said. Maybe he had forgiven himself for missing out on his children's lives. He wasn’t the only one who forgave after the conversation. She felt closer to her father and it felt like she had gotten to understand the reason for his absence. Beth helped her gain confidence and she made a promise to herself to never take off her hijab for the pleasure of others. The twins, although strange, gave her a ticket when she first arrived. She couldn’t allow any of these people to be taken to wherever the cheerleader was led to.

She devised a plan and the time to execute it came when they heard the whistle of the train. It meant that they had a few minutes before the conductor came with the food cart.

It was over in minutes. Immediately he entered, the twins stomped on both of his feet and as he was reaching for his spray bottle, they dashed out of reach. Nadia rushed in after the twins and pushed against the cart. She tied her hijab over her face like a ninja in case he tried to make her go to sleep. She was trying to use her hankie to tie his hands but he pushed back against her.

She fell back and started crawling to the door. She did not involve Mr. Langton in her plan because he was too old. As for Beth, it was because she was sleeping and had an attitude immediately after waking up. Regret filled her as the conductor made his way towards her and her back had hit the door. She had nowhere else to go. Would he be satisfied with just spraying her now? His face was a mask of anger so she could not tell.

The conductor's face froze and he fell forward. Nadia shifted to the side to avoid being toppled by him. Beth stood behind him triumphantly swinging her purse. It’s no surprise that the hit knocked him out, the purse probably weighed a ton with all the items Beth shoved into it.

“Keys, we have to get the keys!” Nadia was hesitant to search a man because she wasn’t used to making physical contact with men that were not related to her by blood.

Noticing her distress, Mr. Langton reached into the conductor’s pockets and pulled out a bunch of keys. With steady hands this time, he unlocked the door. Nadia entered the next coach first and the twins followed. As suspected, it was empty but that wasn’t the strange part.

It did not look like a train anymore. It was devoid of seats, there were just 8 doors with different names. Did they really expect them to open the door with their name and jump out?

“Well, what are you all waiting for?” They all turned in unison. It was the conductor, he had recovered and he stood beside the door rubbing his head.

“You can go all back since that’s what you want. You!” he pointed at Nadia “Still have some tickets so you can stay and take your time.”

“What do you mean?” Mr. Langton asked.

Your time in the real world got frozen. You are all about to die. Time spent here is supposed to give you a chance that may save you when you return to your world.

Was that why no one replied to her when she asked how they got to the train? She could not remember anyone attacking her so maybe it was about to happen to her.

“Why didn’t you just tell us from the start?” Beth questioned.

“I’m not supposed to intervene. Since you all tried to get past me, you might as well leave.”

Nadia turned the group. They were all now familiar faces except the emo boy but she still wanted him to have a chance.

“I’m going.” It was Mr. Langton who spoke first. “I am quite old and before coming here, I was already sick. I don’t know how my time here would help me but I wouldn’t mind….” He couldn’t say the words they all dreaded. “I am at peace with myself. I have forgiven myself and that’s thanks to you Nadia.”

“I was drinking wine then I found myself here. I was with someone I thought was a friend. I already felt my heart burn when I woke up here.”

Nadia felt sorry for Beth. During her time here, she must have figured out what happened and concluded that the train was the afterlife. “You may still have a chance, Beth. I can’t remember any accidents. I must have come here moments before it was supposed to happen. I think we may still have a chance.”

“We live with our stepdad, we got dressed for a funeral he said we had to attend.” Luca explained, for his age he was taking the news of impending death well.

“We did not think it would be ours. Just like Nadia, no one has attacked us yet.” Axel on the other hand looked more shaken up.

“Remember how quick you boys were just now?” They nodded “be even quicker when you get back.” Nadia reassured.

They all joined their heads in a little group hug.

“Give me all of your tickets” Nadia had forgotten that the emo boy was on the train because he refused to converse with all of them. She handed the tickets from Mr. Langton and Beth to him. The twins also gave him a stash of tickets. It seemed like he was planning to stay for a while. No one knew what his story was and he was not willing to share.

Nadia faced the door with her name on it and took a deep breath. Her body shook with anticipation. She wanted to go back and be a different version of herself. She would take the confidence she gained from Beth, the mischievousness she learned from the twins and the forgiving capacity Mr. Langton helped her build. She stepped through not afraid of what she would face.

EPILOGUE

“….with her little dumb scarf”

Nadia felt someone pulling her hijab from behind her in the locker room. it was secured tightly with a safety pin and pulling on it was choking her. Was this how she was going to die? Because some teenage girls wanted to see her hair?

She tried to stop the lead bully, Ami from pulling but she was laughing, probably thinking Nadia was faking it. Remembering how the twins toppled the conductor, she stepped on Amie’s foot hard. She let go of the hijab and her friends started to corner Nadia.

“Leave me alone! Just leave me alone!”

“What did you say?” The girl closest to Nadia hit her across the face but she pushed back.

“All you freaking bombers should go back to your country.”

“It’s just a piece of cloth on my head! I don’t bother you about your see-through shirts!” Nadia banged the door to her locker hard and the girls flinched. She was usually quiet so it must have been surprising.

For good measure, she picked the biggest textbook in her locker and held it up like she would hit anyone who came close to her. She must have looked insane with her disheveled hijab because the girls started backing away and left.

“Alhamdulilah” Nadia said as she sank to the floor when she was alone. She couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face as all of the day’s events came back to her. It was a scary experience but meeting everyone on the train made her confident enough to fight back and it may not have permanently stopped her bullies but she was now at peace with herself.