It just made sense. The way the sparks left drops of that ink-like liquid on the kako’s skin, the coldness that radiated from its body; why wouldn't heat hurt them?

  The hot metal stabbed through the kako like butter, sending a fountain of black liquid pouring out onto Nicolas’ body.

  Kako blood.

  It was as cold as ice-water, as if the kako bled liquid nitrogen: Frozen, light liquid, darker than a shadow; darker than the deepest parts of outer space. It came out of his chest, then his body slowly began to melt into a dark, demon soup; it poured out of his gaping mouth, and even his eyes bled darkness.

  Then, he fell. Like a snowman struck by Luke Skywalker, Zander's melting body fell onto the train tracks.

  Thankfully, Nicolas was just able to close his eyes to keep from watching Zander get crushed and ripped apart by the train. Unfortunately, he couldn’t stop his ears from hearing the sound of the air in Zander’s chest being shot out of his body; the sickening sound of kako skin being melted by the friction of the train tracks below him as that dark, cold liquid filled the air, splashing like a rock being thrown into a lake.

  When Nicolas opened his eyes, he was still laying on the uncomfortable metal hinge, the surrounding area now coated in a black, shadowy liquid.

  I’m alive.

  He lifted himself onto his feet, glancing around at the darkness-stained scene, studying where he was for the first time. He was standing in between two train cars, on the metal bridge he'd crossed while he was running from Zander.

  He had just let out a long breath of relief, when the door in front of him suddenly swung open, so quickly it sent Nicolas’ heart speeding once more as he nearly stepped off the thin bridge of metal.

  “Nicolas!” Ash shrieked, but their surprise instantly became replaced with horror. “What the hell is that?”

  “It was a kako,” Nicolas replied, forcing the words out of his mouth.

  “But- how?”

  Nicolas still couldn’t fully believe what just happened either. Now that it was over, it seemed like a distant memory, not something that just happened. It was like waking up from a dream: When it was happening, it all felt so real; yet with every passing moment, it felt more and more like something that his mind had simply conjured up.

  “H-he fell off the train,” Nicolas said at last. He decided not to tell them that it was him who killed the kako. He wasn't sure if they would even believe him; after all, he still had a hard time processing any of it himself. That cold, black liquid; the way the hot bar had melted right through the kako; or how he had looked so human at first, before transforming into a monster.

  Could all kako do that?

  “Are you okay?” Ryan asked, his eyes fixed onto the bloody scene, his face filled with shock.

  “Yeah,” Nicolas answered. “Just, a little shook up.”

  “I should have known this wasn't a normal train,” Ryan mumbled.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Even the kako build things,” Ryan answered. “Including steam engines.”

  “Why would a demon even need a train?” Nicolas asked.

  “I guess the same reason we do. Transportation, or power, or convenience.”

  “Kako inventions are quite interesting,” Ash admitted. “I've seen some of their airships before; it's like alien technology.”

  To Nicolas, it was alien technology.

  “We should get back inside,” Ryan said, which seemed like a good idea to Nicolas. “No telling how many more of those things are still lurking: At least the two that attacked me and Ash.”

  Nicolas was glad to get away from the cold liquid that coated the metal around him and clung to his skin.

  “Did you two happen to see a shower anywhere in there?”

  ***

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  Nicolas told the story without the part where he caused Zander’s death. He told Ash and Ryan how his eyes had shifted from normal, to those dark and hollow, kako eyes, and the strange substance that dripped onto his face.

  The world felt a lot calmer inside the train, away from the powerful winds. They were in one of the train cars Ash and Ryan found on their search for food, something they hadn't found.

  “So, it died?” Ash sounded as though they didn't fully believe it, but Ryan’s eyes shone with a mix of a few different emotions, none of which Nicolas could read. Fear? Confusion? Disbelief?

  “I think so. He fell onto the tracks, and got ripped apart by the train.”

  Nicolas told the story a bit differently than it actually happened. He felt like one of those kids at the playground who over exaggerate stories to make themselves seem cooler; only, Nicolas didn't want to seem cooler. In the new version of the story, they had both slipped when the train turned. Nicolas was lucky enough to land on the metal bridge thing, but Zander was not, and instead, he fell to his death.

  “But—the kako—it died? Are you sure?”

  “I don't know, but he fell off the train, and it sure looked like he died.”

  He didn't know how something could survive something like that. “At least I found out something useful,” Nicolas added.

  “What's that?”

  “I found that the train is heading to Bonney Lake.”

  “Well, that's definitely helpful,” Ash replied, pulling out their phone. “I know someone who might be able to pick us up once we get there.”

  Outside the window, an unusual noise bled into the metal walls, sounding like those “What Planets Sound Like” videos Nicolas had seen online a few years back.

  Jupiter Ambiance, One Hour Long Space Sounds for Meditation.

  He looked out the window, watching the hills in the distance move slowly left, even though the train was moving faster than any car Nicolas had ever been in.

  They were sitting at a table in the train car, but these tables appeared darker than the last ones they'd seen.

  Then, Ryan interrupted the humming sound by asking a question that Nicolas wasn't sure how to answer.

  “Why are the kako hunting you so badly?”

  This was one of the questions he'd thought the least about. He had so many questions, but he hadn't thought a lot about why the kako were even chasing him in the first place. Part of him assumed the kako chased everyone; like cats hunting mice. But now, he was starting to get the impression that this wasn't true.

  But what do they have against me?

  “Maybe it'd help if I knew what Eirini was,” he asked, turning his head to Ash.

  “You mean like the story?” Ryan asked. “What's that got to do with anything?”

  "These past two days have made no sense to me," Nicolas admitted. "I've never even heard of the kako until the other day."

  "How come?"

  “Because monsters don't exist.”

  There was a long pause, as if Ash and Ryan both knew something that Nicolas didn't.

  "After Sam died, something's felt strange. And that strangeness only got worse when my reflection disappeared, and now I’ve found myself here in some mirrored version of my world, where I'm dead and—” Nicolas paused to catch his breath, before adding in an almost whisper, “I'm not from this world.”

  "Wait, you mean to tell me you traveled through a mirror, from Eirini, into the real world?"

  Nicolas could have argued that his world was the “real” one, but he decided it would have likely been pointless. "Look, I still don't even know what's going on. I just want everything to go back to being normal."

  "I'm not calling you crazy, it's just, well—"

  "Show him a mirror," Ash interrupted, making Ryan turn toward them. "I thought he was crazy too, but he's telling the truth. Nicolas, show him the mirror thing."

  Ryan’s eyes made contact with Nicolas', and a silence fell over them. Once again, it was the curse of awkward moments making itself known. “You’re crazy dude,” Ryan said at last. “But I believe you.”

  “You do?” This surprised Nicolas. He thought Ryan would need evidence, the way Ash had, but he sounded like he really was starting to believe him, for one reason or another. Maybe Ash confirming what Nicolas told him was evidence enough, or maybe Ryan was simply pretending to believe him.

  “Sure, the world’s full of unbelievable things. What’s one more abnormality?”

  This made Nicolas smile, a real smile, the uncontrollable kind that makes it feel as if your own lips aren’t in your own control anymore.

  “So, what is Eirini, exactly?”

  “Eirini is said to be the perfect world, one where the supernatural can't go.”

  “I wouldn't call it perfect.” He remembered how his dad had changed when his mother died: How he'd gone from caring and understanding, to cold, hateful, and arrogant. Like he was a kako, transforming from a human to a monster.

  “Think of it like Heaven,” Ash continued. “Different religions have their own versions, but the general idea goes that there's a version of our world, where the kako are nonexistent. A world connected to ours, parallel, but not identical.”

  “Some stories consider mirrors to be windows connecting the world's together,” Ryan added.

  “Where did these stories come from?”

  “I guess that's like asking, where did the idea of God come from,” Ash answered. “Only, no one actually believes in Eirini, it's more of a concept to get people thinking about what the world would be like without the kako controlling us.”

  Nicolas stared out of the window, watching the distant trees seem to move gently as the alien train sped away from the city where Nicolas had spent most of his life.

  None of this makes any sense.

  He should've been homesick, but he wasn't. Ever since Sam died, it had felt to Nicolas as though any ‘home’ he may have once had was gone; shattered like a reflection in a puddle as someone steps into the inch of water.

  So he didn't care where he ended up, because now, he had nothing to lose.

  Up Next on Nicolas of Eirini...

  Love,

  Ellie Wallace~