“Darkness needs a cage. Built from darker thoughts.”
Astrid’s warnings ricocheted in Q’s skull.
“I don’t have a safety waiver for you to sign, Q. There are no emergency exits for any of us to take if something goes wrong. All I know is if you don’t find a way to do this, every soul on board the Elsewhere Express is lost.”
Only one face filled Q’s mind, her features frozen in anger and desperation. This was the last memory of Raya he would ever have whether he succeeded or failed. Q grabbed a stalk by its root. His tunnel of vision shrank the more tightly he squeezed the limp plant. Through it, he saw the lie his father wore from ear to ear, his burning moths, and the train tracks that had invited him to lie down on them and escape. He pulled the stalk out. An obsidian bouquet of paintbrushes bloomed in his hand, dimming the light around them.
“Excellent.” Rasmus’s face crumpled. He doubled over, clutching his chest.
“Rasmus!” Q dropped the brushes.
Rasmus toppled into the mud. Q dragged him out of the paddy, laying him over the ground. Rasmus mumbled, his words lost in his labored breath.
Q leaned over him. “Rasmus?”
“The tether.” Rasmus coughed. “It’s gone.”
Q glanced down at his chest. Though he could not see his link to Raya, it tugged weakly on his heart. “No. It’s still here.”
“Not yours. Mine. And Abbie’s. We shared the weight of the Archive.” He wheezed. “I’m being crushed.”
Q’s heart lodged in his throat. “Should I get Lily? Mr. Goh?”
“They can’t help.” Rasmus coughed. “My pocket. Get—”
Q shoved his hand into Rasmus’s pocket and pulled out a tiny pouch. “What do I do with this?”
“Plant it.”
“Plant it?” Q said, unsure if Rasmus was delirious. He opened the pouch and peeked inside. It was filled with small black seeds.
“The seeds.” Rasmus wheezed. “Plant them.”
“Where?” Q poured the seeds into his palm.
Rasmus coughed. “Anywhere.”
Q dug a small hole in the mud and dropped the seeds into it. An explosion of lavender flowers burst from the ground, overflowing from it and draping the mountainside in a fragrant blanket of powdery florals, evergreen woods, and vibrant herbs. The wind swept the perfume away.
“Now go, Q.” Rasmus closed his eyes. “The door to the train car where the storm is brewing is by your boots. It will take you directly there.”
“No.” Q shook his head. “I can’t just leave you here.”
“Don’t worry about me.” Rasmus smiled weakly. “I’ve sent for the love songs. They’ll smell the lavender and come.”
“What are the duties and responsibilities of the train’s conductor?”
Frequently Asked Questions
The Elsewhere Express
Passenger Handbook
Lily
Lily gathered the fragments that had once been a metal spider from the Archive’s floor. She picked up an eye and added it to the pieces of the spider inside her cap. She walked over to Rasmus’s desk and sank into his oversized chair. She set her cap down on top of an obsolete operating manual of the Elsewhere Express. She laid the broken fragments of metal on the desk, shuffling them until they resembled the spider. A leg was missing. Lily crouched and spotted it next to the chair that Raya had been tied to. She retrieved it and laid it next to the spider’s broken body with a sigh. This was the best she could do. Maintenance would have to take care of the rest. As for Rasmus, she could only trust that the songs would do their job.
She pulled a small notebook from her satchel and reviewed her to-do list. A ham-and-cheese omelet sat at its top. Lily had promised to personally deliver the omelet to Mrs. Pierce’s compartment. She scribbled a note next to it, reminding herself to ask the kitchen to add extra cheese just the way the elderly woman liked it. Lily shut the notebook and stood up, smoothing down her blazer. She placed her cap on her head. Though the cap was made from wool felt, itdug into her skull, weighed down by responsibilities she alone could carry.
