One-Way Ticket to Oblivion

Continued from Cabin 13, my story entry for the Runaway Train challenge:

As I gazed at the contents of what was inside, my sigh of relief turned to a sigh of discontent. Inside the case, there were only a handful of things, nothing of which seemed very useful in my current predicament - at least not at first glance. There were some papers with various writings on them; drawings of some of the artifacts, more runes, and random notes. These appeared to be the scribblings of a mad man. To be more precise, they appeared to be mine. I couldn't quite decipher what all I had written down, so I placed them off to the side for now. Underneath the papers were some photographs that had been taken of the artifacts and more notes and drawings. There were several pictures of my friend and myself as well. In particular, there was one of him and I together, along with another unknown man, all standing behind the globe I had seen in my vision. We were in what looked like a museum of sorts, though it did not look like one that I remembered. My attention focused on the third man. I did not recognize this man, though as with other things, there seemed something familiar about him. He was an elderly man of perhaps 60 or so, sporting a short, scraggly beard. He wore a white suit and had what looked like a red rose above his right breast pocket. He was a bit blurry, so it was hard to make out for certain. I strained my eyes to look at it. No, it wasn't a rose. It was a red sun – the same symbol that my friend had on his ring!

My memory swirled and I was brought back to some moment before the taking of that picture…

“James, I’d like you to meet Professor Volkov. He is a colleague of mine and works for the museum here. He partners with the university and provides a lot of support to our historical programs. He is also the sponsor for our dig in Norway. He is following your work quite eagerly and excited to see the results of its completion.”

Professor Volkov held his out his hand as he extended a greeting my way. With his other hand he leaned on an ornate wooden cane with a gold handle and red lacing. “It is quite the pleasure to meet you, Mr. Farrow. I have heard all about your expertise in this area and I look forward to your results. Howard has sung your praises a thousand times over. It is a wonder why he didn't hire you right from the start.”

I extended my hand to meet Professor Volkov’s, though I felt some apprehension in doing so. “The pleasure is all mine,” I replied, though I wasn't sure that it was. I shot a quick glance at my friend, who seemed uneasy. I felt as though this man couldn’t be trusted, but for now I decided to play along.

“You said there were others?” I asked him.

“Ah, yes. James assured me that you were busy, so we tried hiring several others to help with the translations.”

I shot Howard a curious glance.

“None of them could make much sense of it,” Volkov continued, “so we promptly ended their contracts. But, none of that matters now. You are here, and Howard has already told us that you've made some progress. I trust that before long you will have some excellent news to report.”

“Yes, we have made some progress. I think I'm beginning to understand some of the runes and lettering in the tome, but I will need more time to be sure,” I told the professor. It was the truth, but I hadn't told him everything. We had actually figured out a bit more than we let on, but Howard told me it was better we kept things under close wraps until we had more to present.

“Excellent,” Volkov proclaimed. “Well, I don't want to keep you from your work any longer. We will send someone to check in with you on the regular to stay up to date.”

With that he bowed, and I returned the gesture. I watched as he walked through the doorway and out of sight. For a man with a cane, I thought to myself, he sure doesn't seem to need it.

The scene slowly faded as I was brought back to the quiet, dull roar of train and track. Well, what provided some more answers, but also, it seems, the indications of something else afoot. I would surely need to keep my wits about me.

Underneath all the photographs was one more item - my notebook. I flipped through its pages and quickly assessed the notes therein. There were several more runes identified. As I flipped through, one specific note caught my attention. It read: Need to see the ruins to understand more. The globe is the key.

The thought back to the globe from my vision. I wonder what I had meant. I'd have to read through my notes more thoroughly at a later time.

I closed the case and noted again the words on the front. “Nova Aurora” it said. That was Latin for New Dawn. Was I working for them? Or perhaps they were the ones who were now imprisoning me. Oh dear friend, I thought to myself. What have you gotten me into?

I recalled from earlier what had been written on the window. It told me to get to 7. I was in cabin 13. Perhaps it meant I needed to move down the cars to number seven. That made the most sense to me. But I still had the predicament of getting through the door.

Use the runes, I heard in my head. The window opened when I drew the rune on it. Perhaps it would work on the door as well? It was my only option.

I made sure I gathered all my things and stood up. I felt a rush of blood flow to my head. I wondered if perhaps they had drugged me somehow. That wound explain these feelings of tiredness and dizziness. I looked again at the bottle of water still on the seat; more drugs, no doubt.

I took a second to gain my composure, then stared down the aisle at the door. I wasn’t sure how I was going to draw the rune, but then I remembered I had seen a pencil or two in my briefcase. I walked calmly down the aisle towards the door, all the while eyeing the door to the next cabin beyond. I was surprised that the conductor had not come back to check on me yet. Hopefully, he assumed I was sleeping, as I had told him I planned to do.

When I reached the door, I bent over and set my briefcase down. I propped it open and fished out the pencil. Luckily, it still had a tip, though it was quite worn. I pulled the paper yet again from my pocket and studied the rune. I’d already drawn it once, so I felt confident I could do it again.

And so I started to draw. Each line was carefully thought out. I didn't want to mess this up, as I had no idea what a failed attempt might bring. I furled my brow in concentration as a droplet of sweat crept slowly down my cheek. It was nearly finished.

I completed the final stroke and held my breath. For a moment I heard nothing. Then, ever so faintly, I heard a slight clicking sound as if the lock had receded. A moment later, the door creaked open.

I breathed a massive sigh of relief as oxygen burst from my lungs. I didn't realize I had been holding my breath. I inhaled and stood up. I placed the pencil back in my case and picked it up. I reached slowly for the door handle and pulled it open. A rush of cool air hit my face; alarmingly cool air. As I stepped forward into the next car, I was instantly blinded by a brilliant white light. As my eyes recovered, I inched them open and what I saw was far stranger than anything I had yet encountered this night.

Before me lay a massive expanse of snowy peaks and deep, white valleys. A chill wind brushed across my face as a flurry of wet flakes pelted my skin. A shiver ran down my spine. I felt cold.

What the hell kind of train is this, I wondered to myself. One moment I was in a train car, the next, I was somewhere in the middle of a frozen tundra.

Oh, my dear friend, I thought to myself again. What have you gotten me into?