"The Engineer" by Twisted Zero
*************************************************************************** The Engineer (#5)
"Hey, kid--you O.K.? Oh...I guess not."
Bluestreak was sitting in his living room about an hour after Tin dropped him off, watching t.v. and trying to calm down a bit when he'd heard someone run up and trip on the sidewalk outside his house. He heard the person crying and immediately went out to see who it was.
His house is on a half-hill. I say it like that, because they had to did out part of a hill to make the road flat, and his house, as the rest on his block, are about eight feet above the road. He stepped out onto his patio and took the three foot walk to the concrete steps down to the sidewalk. He saw what he assumed to be a fourteen year old kid, on his hands and knees, shaking and crying his eyes out. He asked if the kid was O.K., but at that point the kid threw up. Not a lot, but enough to let anybody know he wasnt O.K.
Bluestreak got down beside him and put a hand on his back.
"O.K., I think we better get you in the house, make sure you're O.K.," he suggested. Paul really didn't want to go with the stranger, but he was too weak to put up any kind of fight and he certainly couldn't run anymore. He simply nodded and Bluestreak put the kids arm over his shoulder and carefully walked him up the steps and into the house, letting him down on the couch in the living room.
"O.K., uh, neither of my folks are home right now," stated Bluestreak. "Do you feel O.K. now? Or do you think you might get sick again?"
Paul looked up at him with very sad, very tired eyes.
"muh...My brother...." he started, then closed his eyes and swallowed.
"Yeah?" Bluestreak prodded, knealing down in front of him.
"He's dead," said Paul, and he started to cry again, his face twisting up.
"Oh, my God," whispered Bluestreak.
"I saw it happen," said Paul. "He just stood there--I couldn't move him. Then--then that other guy sh-showed up, and..." Paul started really shaking, trembling. Bluestreak put his hands on his biceps and tried to hold him still.
"Whoa, calm down, pal, calm down. I know this is hard, my best friend's mom was just killed, too, about four hours ago, to tell the truth. Just try to relax as much as possible, and we'll talk about this when you're ready, O.K.?"
Isn't Bluestreak awesome?
Paul nodded. Then he remembered that their car was still sitting at the crossing. He looked at Bluestreak, who'd sat down beside him.
"Our car is still there," he said, quietly.
"Where's that?" asked Bluestreak, gently rubbing Paul's back.
"Herklin street, just before you sniff get into town."
Bluestreak's eyes almost exploded.
"I think we'd better go get your car, pal." said Bluestreak.
"But...but shouldn't we call the police?" asked Paul.
"We will, no doubt about it. But first, I gotta check up on something." Bluestreak said. "Is that O.K.?"
Paul nodded. "Yeah. We can do that."
They'd decided to walk, mainly to do with the fact that Bluestreak's car had died on him about a week ago. They'd made it back to Herklin street, and there was a small grocery store and a little used car dealership on either side of the road just before the tracks. These were not huge, popular places.
Bluestreak and Paul, who had, by now, exchanged names, walked slowly and cautiously, now that they could plainly see the abandoned car and the silent railroad. They came up to the car, covering the distance of about fifty yards, and Bluestreak reached in the open driver door and shut the car off, then closed the door. He turned and saw Paul standing behind him a few feet.
"You O.K., man?" he asked him.
"Y-yeah," said Paul. "Check the tracks. Th-that's where Reggie was...standing."
It was nigh completely dark now. Luckily, there were two mercury lights on the tops of the telephone poles that graced either side of the street on their side of the tracks, which gave the area a nice glow. Bluestreak walked up to the tracks and saw nothing more than the tracks themselves.
"I got nothin' here, man." Bluestreak called. He turned and saw Paul slowly walking toward him, shock and confusion on his face.
"But he was right here!" he said, loudly. Paul looked up right at Bluestreak. Streak was about to ask him something, but noticed Paul's bangs kinda quivered a bit, and then felt somebody watching him. He turned and saw the Engineer, standing perfectly still with his arms crossed over his chest.
"I figured you'd be back," he said looking at Paul.
"That's him! That's the guy!!" screamed Paul.
"Leave him alone," demanded Bluestreak, stepping in front of Paul and glaring at the Engineer.
"How many brothers does that little --" he started, rolling his head around like he wa sick and tired of something. But when he caught a glimpse of Bluestreak's face, he stopped, and his eyes widened just a bit. "Hey, I know you," he said, pointing at Blue. "You're that kid who speared me and then ran off like lightning! You're good, kid, you a track star or somethin'?"
"Yeah, somethin'," said Streak. "Now where's Reggie?"
The Engineer got a curious look.
"Who?" he asked.
"Reggie, the kid you killed here." said Bluestreak, forcefully.
"Oh, Big Brother." said the Engineer, like he just remembered. "Yeah, cleaned that mess up."
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Bluestreak The Engineer rolled his eyes.
"I ate him," he said, sarcastically.
"You /what/?? You fucker, I'll--" started Paul, trying to get past Bluestreak, but Streak had little trouble keeping him in place.
"Relax, Paul." said Bluestreak, still glaring at the Engineer. "He may be pretty tough on the tracks, but that's all he is. I don't know what happened to Reggie's...body...but trust me, this fuckhead is just a ghost. He doesn't eat, he doesn't sleep, and he sure as hell can't hurt /us/."
"Really?" asked the Engineer in a sardonic tone. He stepped off the tracks and became darker. That is, his slight glow had left him and he was now solid, so the light from the mercury lights didn't filter through him, making him appear lighter than he actually was. Bluestreak and Paul both stepped back a little.
"Can't do anything, huh?" he asked, in mock conversation. He stepped over in front of Reggie's car and lifted his left arm up, then in a powerful blow, thrust his arm through the hood of the car, about elbow deep. He put his foot on the bumper, and after two solid jerks, he ripped the engine--AHH!--/motor/ right out of the car. The hood stayed in place, but was shredded like hell when the motor came through it. He held his arm up, his wrist shoved halfway into the motor itself, so that the motor was nearly above his head.
"Does this fall into the 'Nothing' category? Uh...I don't think so." he said. He then threw his arm down and shattered the motor against the pavement, freeing his wrist. "Now, just imagine what I can do with your guts, Track Star." he said stepping closer to the two. They were now in the slowest game of cat nad mouse ever witnessed. Each side would take a step back or forth, respectively, about every four seconds.
"O.K., so...I misjudged you." said Bluestreak. He'd been managing to hide his fear very well so far, but now his voice was starting to quiver just as much as Paul's. Of course, by now, Paul was way past the point where he could make any vocal sounds, but that's beside the point.
"Boom," said the Engineer, almost sneakily, and snapped his arms up into the air at 90 degree angles. When he did this, the mercury lights exploded, droppoing dustings of glass and sparks down to the now darkened tracks and street. Only the store and dealership lights were on now.
"You do realize that we're gonna stop you...right?" asked Bluestreak, nervously, and still slowly backing up.
"Not after thirty years, kid. Sorry," the Engineer growled.
Paul slipped, kicking his leg out in front of himself just missing Bluestreak's knee, and landed on his back. Instinctively, Bluestreak looked back to see what happened, and saw what Paul had fallen on.
"Shit!" He yelled, and grabbed Paul's hand, pulling him up. Paul looked to his side when he took Bluestreak's hand and saw that he was sprawled out on a pile of oddly shaped "cubes". He didn't quite register what they were. He was almost to his feet when Bluestreak took a very blunt slam to his upper back and they both toppled onto the pile. Bluestreak opened his eyes and saw Paul looking at him, eye to eye. Between them, though, was part of what used to be Reggie's head. When this idea struck them, they began to scream.
"Aw, come on," said the Engineer, "Don't come apart on me now!" He got in a single "Ha" and then Tin's bat klunked against his head, sending him tumbling into the driver door of Reggie's car. Bluestreak and Paul had just jumped away from Reggie's remains, about a foot in front of them, and were sitting up, still too scared to move. Upon seeing Tin, Paul screamed again, but Streak calmed him down.
"It's O.K., It's O.K., this is Tin. Tin good. Tin friend." he said.
"Oh," was all Paul could manage.
"Are you guys alright?" Tin asked, franticly, bending down to them.
The Engineer stood up, an insane rage written on his face. He growled, and Paul gave a loud "Hey!!" and pointed. Tin swung the steel stick from his position and clubbed the Engineer in the head again, this time on the other side and knocking him the to the ground in the other direction.
"Let's go now, move it, move it!!" yelled Tin, and the other two scrambled from the pavement and ran in the direction they came from, and I mean they were nearly twenty yards away in no tme. "No!" yelled Tin, and both of them stopped and turned. "This way!" he yelled, motioning to the other side of the tracks. "My car's over here!" Paul and Bluestreak wasted no time. But as Tin turned toward the right direction, the Engineer grabbed his throat and took the bat from his hands.
"Tin!" Paul squeaked, but Bluestreak told him, "Paul, get across the tracks, find an empty car, that'll be Tin's! We'll be there in a sec!!"
"But Bluestreak--" he started.
"Just GO!" he screamed, and took off at top speed for the Engineer.
"How about I use your head to make a couple o' grand slams?" he asked, slowly, intimidating Tin while cutting off his air supply.
"Slam this!" shouted Bluestreak. The Engineer looked right at him just in time to get another spear to the stomache. Blue hopped up right away and looked at Tin, who was holding his throat.
"You O.K.?" he asked.
"Wonderful," said Tin. "Now please, let's get the fuck outta here!"
They bolted across the tracks and a few yards further, Paul was nervously siting in the back of Tin's car. Bluestreak jumped and slid over the hood, landing in front of the passenger door as Tin got to the drivers'. They got in and, intelligently enough, Tin had left the car running in park.
"Hold on to your teeth!" he exclaimed, then slammed the car into drive and gunned it over the tracks. As they were over the tracks, the Engineer, who was now half sitting, half laying, waved an arm sideways, and just as they'd passed, his train came speeding by, missing them by a good three inches. As they sped past him, they could hear him yelling and cursing at them, but mostly just "Aaaugh!"s and "Grrrr!"s. That is, until they were at the intersection, when they heard him loud and clear.
"You're dead, you know that? Dead! All three of ya; Little Brother, Track Star and Bat Boy! I don't know when, but I hope it's soon, and I don't know how, but I'll sure make it FUCKING painful!! You are ALL...FUCKING...DEAD!!!" Paul turned around in the back seat and looked out at the tracks. The car was still there, the pile of Reggie was still there, but the Engineer was gone.
"I'm gettin' to really hate that guy," said Tin.
"I thought you were goin' to Jay's house?" Bluestreak said, curiously.
"Oh, yeah?" asked Tin. "I thought you were gonna spend a quiet evening at home."
"Touche," said Bluestreak. The light changed and they were on their way. Neither Paul nor Bluestreak were even thinking about asking where Tin was taking them. At least, not until Tin pulled over in front of a house and shut off the car.
"Come on," said Tin, getting out of the car. He crossed in front of the car and got to the sidewalk as Bluestreak and Paul got out of the car on the passenger side. They stood together, looking up at the house.
"Who lives here?" asked Paul.
"Bluestreak's friend," said Tin.
"His name is Floyd," said Blue. "Well...what're we waiting for?" They walked up the stone pth to Floyd's front door. Bluestreak knocked on the door, Floyd opened it and said "No," then shut the door. Paul and Tin looked at Blue. "He's a little shy now and then," he explained. He knocked again, and this time when Floyd opened the door Streak kinda pushed it open all the way and made his way into Floyd's house, Tin and Paul following.
"No!" Floyd kinda whined, in a defeated voice. "No, God, what are you people doing in my house? And why is there a small person with you?"
"Give us a minute," Bluestreak said to Tin and Paul over his shoulder. He cracked a small smile and put an arm over Floyd's shoulders and said "Come here a sec..." but the rest of their conversation was held in the kitchen.
Tin and Paul sat down in th living room, semi-across from each other.
"You O.K., bud?" Tin asked Paul. Paul just looked at him.
"No," he said, plainly. "I just saw my brother get hit by a train...but not. And then I tripped and fell in what was left of him. So no, I'm not O.K. I have to go home. I gotta tell my parents," he finished, started to get a little excited again, staring at the wall beside Tin and not Tin himself.
"Whoa, slow down there, Paul," said Tin. "What exactly do you plan on telling them?"
Paul opened his mouth to answer, but then he closed it and made eye contact with Tin again.
"That's what I thought," Tin said. Tears started to fall freely from Paul's eyes. "Hey, look, we'll think of something." said Tin, but Paul kept crying. Tin moved and sat beside him, pulling him into a hug. Tin was patting and rubbing his back when Streak and Floyd walked in. Floyd already had an iritated but willing air to him, but when he saw Paul in that state of emotional destruction, his heart melted into pure pity. His face showed more than enough, but he spoke anyway.
"O.K.," he said, both to Tin and Paul. "I'm in. I don't wanna be, make no mistake, I mean, I am really, really scared of this thing. I'd at least like to know why there's a dead engineer...guy...thing...in the first place, I mean come on, why is this happening? sigh But, yeah... I'm in."
"So what do we do now?" asked Tin.
"First thing's first," said Bluestreak. "We've gotta get Paul home."
"O.K.," said Tin, "That's good. But what does he tell them?"
"I don't know..." said Bluestreak. "We may just have to tell them."
"No way," said Floyd, "Nobody's gonna buy it."
"Actually," said Tin, "There's somebody who I think will buy it."
Father Breaker, of the Holy Evangelist Lutheran Church, stood on the tracks nearest his home; those of Highland Avenue. He carried a bible in one hand, and held out his crucifix, which was on a purple ribbon around his neck, with the other. He was a very religious and, as some would say, superstitious man.
"Come out, Demon!" he called into the air. "Come out, and face the power of God!"
The wind picked up--well, blasted, I suppose. The air around the tracks in a fifty foot radius, it seemed, began blustering and swirling, as powerful as any storm. Trees were shaking and the bars on the signals swayed. The light appeared, white, with the bluish tint, about thirty yards ahead of the priest, and with it a sudden trail of smoke. An eerie whistle blew, sending chills into the air itself.
The train pulled into veiw, Engine and coal car alone, and the light twinkled and vanished. The Engineer hopped out of the back of the engine, and walked, with no letting on of his state of mind whatsoever, toward Breaker.
"Hi," said the Engineer.
"Creature of Hell, I command thee, by--" started Father Breaker.
"Whoa!" interrupted the ghost. Father stopped. "'Creature from Hell'? Were we the drama king, or what?"
"I command thee, by the Grace of Go--" he tried to continue, but was interrupted a second time.
"Com-MAND me?! Who the fuck are you to command me to do anything?" he asked, poking him in the chest, but phasing into him about a quarter in. Father Breaker was surprised by the sensation of having a "demon" poke your chest, but he would not be distracted.
"I command thee, by the Grace of God, to return to your eternal peril in Hell!" he finished, clinging toghtly to the book now held under his arm. The Engineer just looked at him for a second, then leaned back a bit, as if to get a better veiw of the preist's whole image.
"You gotta be kiddin' me," he said in disbelief.
"Go, Demon! And leave these rails your evil has possessed!" shouted Father Breaker, and he reached into his pocket and grabbed a small glass bottle with a cork only slightly in place. He thumbed the cork out in one motion, and, half covering the top of the bottle with that very thumb, he waved the bottle in the Engineer's direction, and spalshed holy water at him with two swishes; one upward, one sideways. The Engineer chuckled as the water went right through him, then suddenly lurched forward, roaring as loud as any demon could, distorting his face in as many ways as he could think, and raising his arms as if to pounce. Despite his great faith, this action definitely frightened the man. He nearly lept from the tracks.
"Father forgive me," he said, his eyes closed, as he caught his breath. "My fear of this demon is great," he continued, but then a lavender hand slapped down onto his shoulder. He froze and his eyes moved quickly to it.
"Trust me, Pops," said the Engineer, "This ain't no holy war."
They'd arrived back at Sheila's house in just a few minutes, Bluestreak and Tin banging on the front door. Sheila ran to it, opening it quickly, a look of confusion on her face.
"Hey," she said. "What's wrong?"
"We need to talk to your dad," said Tin. "It's an emergency, the likes of which you could never possibly fathom!"
"uh...O.K. Well, sorry, guys, but he's not here right now."
"Oh my god," mumbled Floyd. Bluestreak and Paul started scuffing around and making growling sounds, and Tin gave out a big ol' "Where the fuck is he, then?!" Sheila had never seen Tin so upset, and it kinda scared her. Derrek came up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist.
"We don't know--he didn't say where he was going. Just something about 'sanctifying the tracks', whatever that's supposed to mean." he said.
The four of them just stopped perfectly still and stared at them in disbelief for about five seconds.
"Oh, for cryin' out loud," said Floyd.
"Did he say where?" asked Tin.
"No, I told you, he just left, rambling about some demon thing. We figured he went somewhere to pray or whatever." said Derrek.
"God--what's the closest set of railroad tracks around here?!" shouted Bluestreak.
"I dunno," Derrek said. "Is something wrong?"
"Yeah," said Tin, frustratedly, "Sheila's dad is about to die, that's what's wrong!"
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Warren Street!!" shouted Floyd, sticking out his arms and squatting a bit. Everyone turned to him.
"What?" asked Tin, kinda shocked.
"Warren Street is the closest set of tracks over here!" he said, a smile on his face.
"Good!" said Tin, then he turned to Derrek and Sheila. "Let's go!"
The four on the porch bolted back down the stairs of the porch.
"Where?" asked Derrek, stepping out of the house, Sheila behind him.
"Warren Street," shouted Bluestreak, with out turning. Then he looked up at them as he got into Tin's car. "To save Harry's life!"
**************************************************************************** O.K., this is about to be really, really cool. See, I know this was the shortest installment yet, but in the next chapter, no matter how long it gets, everything will start to become quasi-clear on who the Engineer is and why he's gone psycho. Cool? Cool. See ya then!
--Twisted Zero (TwistedZero@thevortex.com)