The Silver Arrow

She woke slowly, being dragged from a deep, dreamless sleep by the unfamiliar feel of cold metal and glass vibrating under her cheek. Cracking her eyes open, she reached up to rub the crust from it as she did, wincing as bright, artificial light hit them. Feeling like she had been hit by a bus, she closed her eyes tightly again before opening them again, this time much more gradually until they had adjusted to the gleam of halogen lightbulbs, taking in her surroundings.

The first thing noted was the fact that she was on a train. It looked like an old metro car, the interior dirty and gray, walls covered in graffiti. How had she wound up here? Searching her memory, everything came up fuzzy. She had no idea where the train was going, much less how she had ended up on a train. Panic rose inside her. Standing, she searched uselessly on the hard plastic seat and under it for any signs of her belongings, because surely she would not have gone anywhere without at least her purse. Her investigation turned up nothing and she turned her attention to the other people on the train.

They sat in their seats, staring straight ahead and she felt her panic turn into anger as she stormed up to one of the passengers.

“Hey!” She looked down at the skinny blond seated in a seat close to the exit. There was no response and she frowned, before doing something she hated when other patrons at restaurants did to catch the attention of their servers, and snapped her fingers in front of the woman’s face.

“Hey, I’m talking to you!” she barked, anger and fear making her far more aggressive than she normally would. There was a jerk in the car, and she felt some relief rise in her as she thought it might be coming to a stop, but a look out of the window put that belief to bed as she saw the countryside rushing by, no signs of the train slowing.

It must have been the train hitting an air current. She swallowed down the fear that climbed back up her spine, making her swallow back bile. Her mind was whirling as it tried to put together just what the hell was going on. She had no memory of how she had gotten here, and no idea of where here even was.

“There is no use talking to her,” came a deep voice from the back of the car, and she whirled around to face the person talking to her. There stood a bear of a man with a thick beard, although he looked absolutely terrifying, he smiled sadly at her.

“I am afraid she has been here too long.”

“What do you mean, too long?” she asked, trying to control her voice, swallowing hard.

“I mean you are the most recent addition. She has been here for over six months.”

She stared at him, disbelieving.

“What the hell do you mean, six months?”

“I mean she has been on the Silver Arrow for six months. Possibly longer.”

“Silver Arrow?” she frowned and he nodded.

“Indeed. Once you are here, it is impossible to leave until the train decides it is time for you to leave.”

“Yeah right. How can a train decide anything?” she scoffed, folding her arms over her chest and raising her chin defiantly.

“This one can,” he said, moving towards her, gripping the handrails above his head and she backed away slowly.

“You’re crazy,” she murmured, shaking her head, before saying in a louder voice for him to hear, “Trains aren’t sentient. You’re just making it all up!”

With that she turned and started moving towards the front of the train, glancing over her shoulder warily to see if he was following her. He stood in place, watching her with that same sad smile.

She ignored the tug in her stomach, the silent warning that things weren’t as they seemed, continuing ahead. At first she was worried the doors between cars would not open, but they pushed apart when she shoved against them and she made her way through each car, every single one of them with people staring ahead with that same vacant stare the blond woman had on her face.

So far, the bearded man was the only one to acknowledge her presence and that caused the same worry to rise in her she felt when speaking with the stranger. Car to car she made her way until she reached the locomotive car. She pushed the door open, ready to give the engineer a piece of her mind, then stopped short. The car was empty. Rushing forward she looked down at the unfamiliar panel of instruments, searching for a break of some kind. But it was like looking at a space rocket’s panel. It may as well have been one, every button unfamiliar.

Finally, she spotted a giant red button and she slammed her hand against it, hoping that would do the trick. The train shuddered and she felt a surge of hope that that had done the trick, but after the brief shudder, it plowed inexorably ahead, seeming to pick up speed.

Looking forward, she realized they were crossing a river over a high trestle. She rushed back into the car behind the locomotive car, and stuck her fingers between the slots of the door, trying to pry it open. When it didn’t budge, she searched around for anything that would help to open the stubborn door.

So focused on her search she didn’t notice the door to her car being pushed open.

“That won’t work, Amelia,” came the low voice of the bearded man and she whirled around.“How do you know?” she narrowed her eyes at the man, then realized he called her Amelia, “And how do you know my name?”

“I’m afraid everyone who comes aboard the Silver Arrow gives their name before it wipes their memory. The most recent person, you, gave me your name before you fell asleep.”

“I don’t believe you!” she felt as though she was repeating herself, “The Silver Arrow isn’t real!”

“Oh, it’s very real,” he assured her, “And I am afraid we are here until it decides to release us. Let me introduce myself before we lose our memories completely like…”

He looked over his shoulder at the vacant eyed people in the car with them.

“My name is Lawrence. I’m from Georgia,” he said that same sad smile on his face, “And I have been on the Silver Arrow for three weeks. A relatively short time. Compared to some here.”

Amelia’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“If you have been here for three weeks, then how do you know how long the other passengers have been on the train?”

His face twisted as he realized she had caught him in his lie.

“No one else asked before, Amelia,” he growled, the smile disappearing as he approached her, “As the conductor, I’m afraid it is time for you to forget.”

Amelia backed away, looking for an escape. She realized the window was cracked open slightly and she jumped onto the plastic seat, using all of her strength to pull the window the rest of the way down. Just as she had gotten her head through it, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist, jerking her away. She screamed and fought, kicking at him, but he was as immovable as a statue.

“Amelia,” he murmured in her ear and she felt her body slump, barely registering as he placed her on one of the plastic seats, “Go to sleep and forget.”

She woke slowly, being dragged from a deep, dreamless sleep by the unfamiliar feel of cold metal and glass vibrating under her cheek. Cracking her eyes open, she reached up to rub the crust from it as she did, wincing as bright, artificial light hit them. Feeling like she had been hit by a bus, she closed her eyes tightly again before opening them again, this time much more gradually until they had adjusted to the gleam of halogen lightbulbs, taking in her surroundings.

From the back of the car, the conductor watched Amelia, looking forward to the fun they had been having for the past few years. No one escaped the Silver Arrow without his say and this one would be here for a while. The train continued on its eternal journey, uncaring of those trapped inside.