The Murder Express

Chapter 2

Iskall woke up to the sudden halt of the train, the screeching of wheels on the rail hurting his ears. He ran outside, meeting Doc, Stress, and Wels in the main room.

"What happened?!" He exclaimed.

"Not sure," Doc responded, "Something may have happened to Bdubs..."

"We should check it out," Wels suggested. The group nodded, and headed to the cockpit. The train was still dark as the group stuck closely to each other. The door to the cockpit was slightly open, a creepy eeriness hanging over the area. Doc led the group, pushing the door open and peering inside. There, in the front of the train, was the dead body of Bdubs, eyes a pale brown, gut bleeding. Blood dripped from his mouth as he sat there motionless. The group stared at the dead body, shaken from the sight.

"W-what happened here?" Stress asked, running over to the dead conductor, "Who would do this??" Doc followed her, quiet. He checked his pulse, confirming that he was, in fact, dead.

"Does this mean that..." Wels trailed off, as the others knew what he meant. Doc nodded.

"There's a murderer on this train..."

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"I'm sure you're all wondering what that announcement was about," Doc started, looking at the hermits gathered in the main car, "As you may have noticed, the train had stopped. A few of us decided to check on the conductor, to which we saw that he was dead."

Murmurs of worry arose in the car. Was there a murderer on the train? Were they all going to die?

"Now I'm not accusing anyone yet but I would like to know where everyone was," Doc said, "I was with Stress, Iskall, and Wels, so I don't think it was them." The three nodded.

"I was in my room since lights out," Grian said. False nodded.

"I was also in my room, and I don't remember hearing anyone leave their room."

"Hold on," Iskall interrupted, "Why are there so many people missing?" There were only six of them in the room, four of them weren't present.

Why are there so many people missing? Iskall thought, Can one of them be the murderer?

"I think it would be safe to assume that one of the missing people is the murderer," Iskall suggested, "But then again, one of these two could be lying..." It didn't help that all of their rooms were all behind the cockpit, so they couldn't deduce who came from there or not.

"L-lying?!" Grian exclaimed, "I-I swear I'm not-"

"I'm not accusing you, Grian," Iskall said, "I'm just saying..."

"False, u said that didn't hear anyone right?" Stress said, "How would you have heard anyone if you were sleeping?"

"Who ever said I was sleeping?!" False exclaimed, "I could've been lying in bed trying to sleep!"

"Hey guys!" yelled a voice. The group turned to face Ren, who just came in. "Why're you all gathered here? I was in the caboose, so I don't know why you're all here..." He looked at the group, startled by their stares. "W-what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Doc said, looking away, "just wondering why you were in the caboose..."

"I-Is that a bad thing?" Ren smiled nervously, "I was just getting some fresh air...?"

"There's an emergency exit in the cockpit," Iskall pointed out, "You could've escaped from there to the caboose..."

"Escaped? W-what are you talking about...?"

"The conductor was found dead," Stress said, "in the cockpit."

"I-" Ren started, "I swear it wasn't me! I didn't even know there was a murder!!"

"Again, I'm not gonna accuse anyone yet," Doc said, "I need more evidence; I'm not gonna go off only one accusation." His voice got dangerous, "You're safe for now, Ren..."

Ren bit his lip and backed away slightly.

"I would watch Ren from here on out," Wels said, "As well as the people who didn't show up."

"Etho, Zedaph, and Keralis, right?" Iskall asked. Wels nodded.

"I guess we're done here now," Doc said, "I'm going to go to the cockpit, to try and get the train moving again. Everyone should watch Ren for the most part from here on out." The group nodded, then headed off to their rooms. Iskall watched Ren closely, as he walked to his room.

It couldn't be Ren, could it? But then again... He watched the South African enter his room, he is the most suspected, either he's just really bad at covering his tracks or someone's trying to frame it on him...

Iskall sat on his bed, thinking.

What if someone is trying to frame it on him? It definitely could've been someone who didn't show up, but I'll have to figure out who...