The Blue Express

Building Bridges

I get up to stretch and see a small group of people gathered around talking. I approach, curious of what is going on. The people are surrounding Bella, a celebrity known for acting in numerous box office hits. I back away from the crowd and head back to Laura. She's looking up at one of the TV's. "An unidentified person has gone on a killing spree around Paris. With a total of three deaths, the authorities are searching for this man and doing their best to secure the city."

The dining car goes silent at the sound of the news-woman talking. Laura turns back and faces me. You can see the fear filling her eyes. I look at her with a sincere look, "It's going to be okay, I promise you." I say, but I knew Laura always sees the negative side of things, things like this made her worry so badly, my heart began to sink.

Everyone in the dining car seems to be looking at each other silently, I ponder on whether anyone on the train but immediately dismiss the thought. A woman enters the dining car. She sits down at a table in the corner of the car. Laura and I approach the table, "Do you mind if we sit with you?" Laura asked her.

The woman quietly nodded, Laura sat down first and started a conversation with the woman. "So, where are you headed?" Laura asked her. The woman thinks carefully for a second before replying. "Blue City." she tells Laura in a quiet tone. I look at her for a second. "What's your name?" I ask her out of curiosity. "Ashleigh." she says to me, "Yours?" Ashleigh asks me. "Caleb and this is Laura." I tell her.


A familiar face enters the car, our friend Norbert. He walks over to us with his typical bright smile. "How are you guys doing?" he asks while standing over the table. "I'm fine." I say to him. Laura gives him a thumbs up. "Well, I just got off a group facetime with my boyfriend, Brighton, and he is going to meet up with us in Blue City! I cannot wait for you guys to meet him!" he says, excitedly. Ashleigh quickly introduces herself to Norbert.

I get a text from my friend Sara. "I'm waiting at the station for the train to arrive. See you shortly." the message reads. I send her a simple 'okay.' Laura, Norbert, and Ashleigh strike up a conversation but instead of joining I look around the car. I notice Axel and Mahdi whispering something to each other but I can't seem to make out what they're saying.

Ashleigh excuses herself from the conversation and heads back to the seating car. Norbert looks down at his phone just before asking us, "There's so much tea. Have you guys heard about the killing spree?" I nod my head and Laura leans closer to Norbert. "Do you think it's someone on the train?" she asks. I let out a simple laugh, "Of course not. That's absurd." I tell her. Norbert shrugs, "I mean.. you never know guys. Maybe it's me."


Laura and I laugh until we're breathless. "You? A murder? You can't even tell who changed your nickname in discord!" I say trying my best not to laugh. We get some dirty looks from some people on the other side of the car but we don't let it get to us. Although I did hear Laura say under her breath, "The fuck you looking at?" Everyone turns their attention to the TV screen above the counter, the news-woman alerts us of some disturbing news.