Mara had been sitting in the dark for ten minutes, and she hadn't heard a single sound the entire time. She tried to keep herself calm, making sure to take deep breaths and focus on anything else but the fact that she was locked in a dark, tiny car on a train that had suddenly stopped running. 

Biting her nails nervously Mara thought about using her phone to call someone to see if they could possibly find out something. When she pulled the phone out though she saw something she hadn't seen before in the Magical Realm.

She had no service. 

Mara was completely detached from the rest of the world. She could try to break through the window of the train, but she assumed the glass was reinforced and nearly indestructible. Even if she could break through the glass, where would she go? She didn't remember seeing a single town, village, or house since they had cleared the werewolf kingdom. And at the rate they had been traveling, and with how long Mara had possibly been unconscious the kingdom could be many miles away. Much too far to reach on foot. 

Just then she could hear them, the screams coming from the other cars. Mara's breathing quickened again as the panic and fear laced through the shrieks of pain. She checked the doors again, knowing there was a gap between her car and the next. If she could get out then she could run for it. 

But would it really be a good idea to test her luck on foot? Mara had no idea what it was causing the panic. What if it's a fire? Mara wondered. The sound of the train hadn’t seemed natural; at least she didn't think it had been a normal train sound. And she couldn't tell which direction the screams were coming from. It was entirely possible that something had caught fire and that's what had caused the train to stop. 

If that were the case, then why was it silent until just a moment ago? 

If that were the case, then why are both of the doors locked? 

The small voice in the back of her mind kept asking her these questions. The more questions it thought of, the less sure she was that it was a fire. 

The screams stopped and Mara stayed perfectly silent, straining her ears trying to hear any sound at all. 

She could faintly make out the sound of whimpering. It was soon followed by the sound of wolves growling and more screaming. Mara smacked her head in realization of how stupid she had been. 

"I'm a witch for crying out loud. I'm not trapped!" She picked the side she thought the screams were coming from and took a deep breath before grabbing the handle to the door. She saw the door opening in her head, and a moment later the material door obeyed her will. Mara stood there thinking only a moment longer about what she intended to do. She then jumped onto the platform of the next car and made her way inside. 

There was a large group of people huddled together. Everyone jumped at her entrance, a few women squeaked in fear, and she could see children hiding under the seats. She knew they heard the screams too, though it was impossible not to. They were twice as loud in that car. 

Mara quickly made her way towards the other end of the car, making sure she didn't step on anyone. She tried to look through the small window to see what was going on in the car next to theirs. The moment her eyes focused on the other car, a splash of blood sprayed across the inside of the window of the next car over. 

Mara jumped back but tried to remain calm. She knew if she had any hope of getting these people out, she couldn't let them know what was going on over there. Not that she even knew what was going on, but it wasn't anything good. 

She thought back to the first time she had snuck out of the school with Marx and Trixle to go to Dorinyaka, and the spell she had accidently cast to make them invisible. She then turned towards the crowd, making her voice sound as even as possible. 

"Does anyone know which way to the closest town?"

One man nodded while his hands shook violently. 

"The same way we were headed. About a mile or two down the tracks."

Mara nodded and looked them all over. 

"You're all going to make a run for it okay?"

"What's out there?" A female voice asked. Mara couldn't trace where the sound had come from so she just replied to the car. 

"I'm not sure what's over there, it's nothing good though. You need to gather your stuff, only what you can carry and if you are with family, stay close. I will help you get out of the train and then you need to run to the nearest sign of civilization."

She could see that some were about to protest, how was someone like her going to get them out of this place? She decided to speak up before they asked their questions to save a little time. 

"My name is Mara Crowland, I'm a witch. I am going to make you all invisible. It will only be temporary, as soon as the time runs out anyone will be able to see you again, so I suggest you make your way quickly. I don't know what is out there, but I know it can hurt you. If you want to stay alive, stay together and move fast. You will have roughly forty-five minutes until the spell wears off."

With that, Mara closed her eyes and pictured the entire room invisible. She murmured a small chant that would put the time limit on their invisibility, and when she opened her eyes, she could see a shimmering veil hovering over everyone that signaled the working magic. Nodding, Mara made her way to the other door again, away from the car full of blood. She opened the door and motioned for everyone to jump out. 

Without much hesitation the car emptied and she saw the people disappearing into the darkness, making their way in the direction of the city that was supposed to be just a couple miles away. 

Mara then stood still, listening for signs of life on the train. She couldn't hear anymore screaming, which either meant whatever it was had left, or it had killed everyone in the other car. Mara's palms began to sweat as she waited for something to happen, but everything remained relatively quiet. 

Mara decided to make a run for it herself. She didn't know what she was up against, and an anonymous enemy was not something she could handle at the moment. She cast the invisibility upon herself and jumped off the train, running in the same direction the rest of the people had gone. 

When she looked back over her shoulder, she could see that nearly three fourths of the train had been damaged. The front, where the driver had been in was completely smashed up and she wondered for a brief moment if a crash is what had caused their sudden, loud stop. 

She didn't want to think of it any longer. She would have to make her way to the nearest town and call someone, if her phone didn't come back into service before she reached the town. 

When Mara looked at her phone screen briefly for the time, she saw that it was one in the morning. The entire Realm ran on the same time, and she was worried that she wouldn't be able to reach anyone at such a late hour. 

Mara just crossed her fingers that she would be able to reach someone that would be able to help her, and she kept running. She found herself wishing that the transportation spell were more convenient, instead of having to know the exact location. If it had been easier than that, then she could have tried to transport the mass of people in the car to the town. 

She could have tried to use the man to share the information with her like she had done the one time Zander had made the portal, but she had never attempted something like that and she didn't know if it had to be another witch. She could tell that the man had not been a witch. 

Mara continued to mentally curse herself and her powers until she could finally see the dim lights just over the hill, only stopping when she made it into the safety of the line of houses. 

Mara bent over panting and then made her way further into the area in search of the people she had helped. They had to have gotten there just before her, they had left nearly five minutes before her after all, and she hadn't passed them. 

She finally found them huddled together in what appeared to be a town square. The area was bathed in light, something that made them feel slightly more comfortable after the situation back at the train. 

House lights started to turn on and people were standing in their windows looking out to see what the commotion was about. A few moved out to their porches, trying to get a better look and to hear what was happening. 

One man stepped out and made his way into the square. The way he moved made Mara think of a man in charge. He must have been some sort of authority figure for the town. He made his way over in flannel pants and a shirt that hugged his chest and arms. 

"What is going on out here?" His loud, powerful voice demanded to be answered. 

The people around just flinched and looked between each other's faces, unsure of how to respond. Mara decided to move up and be the voice for the group. 

"We have come from the tracks, our train was attacked. I was unsure of the situation at first. By the time I realized what was going on, I could only help the one car of people. We were on our way to the town of Idenbro when it happened."

The man's hard gaze locked onto her. The shadows played tricks with the features on his face as he scanned the crowed, always landing back on her.

"And who exactly are you?" The man asked, regarding her curiously. 

"Mara Crowland, I am the repr-"

"I know exactly what you do Miss Crowland. It is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I will see what we can do about the rest of your people for the remainder of the night. Another train won't be through until morning."

"Yes sir." Mara jumped in. "I have a couple people I can call as well to inform them of the situation. They may be able to help. 

The man nodded knowing exactly which people she was referring to. 

He motioned for her to follow him, and she did. The man led her into what appeared to be a house from the outside, but when she stepped through the doorway, it looked like a giant office. 

"Now I need you to tell me exactly what happened out there." The man said as he whirled around to face her, barely a foot between the two of them. 

"I'm not entirely sure. I saw blood, and when I was running away, I saw the state of the train." She paused for a moment, the image of the destruction laid out in her mind perfectly. "If I would have to guess, I would say Nightshades."

"We don't have Nightshades in these parts." He said rubbing his newly forming stubble. 

Mara looked at the desk next to them. A name plaque sat on top of the wood, reading J. Bennett. Next to the name was a coffee cup, the black liquid that had once been in it formed into a dried black-brown ring in the cup. Mara looked back up at the man, guessing the desk was his. 

"Mr. Bennett, I don't think they were from around here. I think they traveled here."

The man rubbed his stubbled chin again, contemplating her words. 

"And what would make you say that? Why would they travel all the way out here?"

"For me."

Mara felt that she had no choice but to explain the situation she and the rest of the Council were in. How they were trying to gather their numbers for what seemed to be an inevasible fight to come. 

He soaked in the information, not interrupting her once, saying nothing until she was done talking. 

"So them Nightshades out there decided to hunt you down. For what? To kill you?"

"I'm not sure what their end goal was, and I wasn't about to stick around to ask them."

"Fair 'nough." He leaned against the desk, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

Mara looked at the clock reading the time, it was nearly three in the morning now. There was no way she would get a reply from anyone, not even Lillian at that time. It didn't matter if Lillian was naturally a creature of the night; she was living on the same schedule as the rest of the Council, especially during a time like this. 

Mara and Mr. Bennett agreed to find housing for the misplaced passengers. There had still been a few towns people milling around their porches and glued to their windows. When Mr. Bennett stepped back out and signaled for the rest of the residents to come closer, they all did. Leaving the comfort of their porches and homes, they slowly made their way towards the center of the square. 

"We have men, women, and children here who are in need of a place to stay. I am asking each and every one of you to find at least one person to bring into your homes for the night. I know this is not customary, but we need to help our fellow people in need." He looked around at the faces he found familiar. 

"Please do not split up families. They have been through enough already." At that, the man started to retreat once more, signaling for Mara to follow. 

"You can stay with me if you'd like. I have a spare room, and I have a feeling you will be up late to fix this anyways." 

Mara nodded, a headache starting to come on due to lack of sleep. She rubbed her sore eyes and followed the man back through the same door as before. He led her up a set of stairs and down a hall. She suddenly got the feeling of being stupid for blindly trusting this man. Just because the people of the town seemed to like him, respect him, and listen to him, didn't mean he was a safe person. 

For all Mara knew, he could be taking her into a back room where he would kill her. 

When she was led to a spare room with a bed that looked softer than a cloud, she felt bad about her thoughts. She hadn't voiced them aloud at least, but her sleep-deprived brain had started jumping to conclusions that she never would have reached under normal circumstances. 

You just went through a traumatic experience. I think you're allowed to have your share of insane theories. At least that's what the voice in her head was trying to tell her. 

Mara thanked Mr. Bennett, and watched him walk off down the hall towards what she assumed was his own room before turning back towards the bed in front of her. Mara stared at it for a long minute, contemplating sitting on the floor. She knew once she crawled into the safety and comfort of the blankets that she would be out before her head even hit the pillow, but she had much to do before she could succumb to the wondrous land of the unconscious. 

She poked at the buttons on her phone until she had typed out a message that she would send to both Torlak and Lillian. It detailed what had happened, or at least what Mara thought had happened, and their approximate location. She told them she wasn't sure she would be able to make the meeting that was in the morning, especially if they didn't get back to her immediately. 

She then set her phone down and looked for her bag for the charger. She immediately remembered she left her bags on the train. She had absolutely nothing with her. 

Mara smacked her head against the wall beside her and all of the events of the night fully sunk into her mind. 

She had to flee the train with a car full of people, a train that looked as if it had been under attack by the military, she had no belongings on her except for what she wore, and she was pretty sure the things that had attacked the train had been Nightshades after her. 

Mara fought back the urge to cry, all she wanted to do in that moment was go back to school. She wanted to see her friends again, she wanted to see her aunt again, hell she even wanted to go back to her normal schedule of classes again. Anything seemed better than the stresses of this trip. 

At least the school was safe.

*******

Oh dang, that was intersting wasn't it? 

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