Chapter 16: Wraith

Chapter

Sixteen

WRAITH

S talk through the too-perfect train.

Need to find Plague.

His sharp clean scent is easy to track.

Easy to pick out from the incense and spices.

He knows I'm following him.

Has to.

But he doesn't try to lose me or confront me.

Just keeps moving through the train.

Like I'm not even here.

I'm not invisible to anyone else.

The other passengers stare as I pass.

Eyes widen, faces wary beneath veils and scarves.

An old man makes a warding gesture.

Clutches beads at his neck.

They are all whispering.

About me.

About us.

Strangers.

Strangers.

Strangers.

Keep my head down.

Keep moving.

Keep following Plague.

Gold and white walls and plush carpets mock me.

Everything here is so pristine.

So perfect.

I am a stain on their purity.

I do not belong here.

My gaze darts around, mapping exits.

Cataloging threats.

But we are surrounded.

Nothing is safe.

This beauty hides danger.

Has to.

Nothing this perfect comes without a price.

A flash of white catches my eye.

A scarf, abandoned on an empty seat.

Without thinking, I snatch it up.

The fabric is soft on my rough hands.

It slips through my fingers like water.

Bring it to my face, inhaling.

Clean.

No trace of the previous owner's scent.

Good.

No one will come looking for it.

Wrap it carefully around the lower half of my face.

Need to cover my scars.

My monster jaws.

Won't hide everything.

But it's better than nothing.

At least here, I don't stand out as much.

Everyone has their faces covered.

Here, I almost blend in.

Almost.

Push the thought away.

Move through the train.

Focus on the mission.

Find Plague.

Figure out what the fuck is going on.

Reach the back of the train.

His clean scent is stronger here.

The door to the rear platform stands open.

Icy wind whips through the gap.

He wanted to be found.

Strange.

Push it open.

Gilded metal groans beneath my hand.

Loud. Loud. Loud.

Plague stands at the railing.

His lean frame is silhouetted against the gray sky.

Snow swirls around him.

Catches in his dark hair.

He doesn't turn as I approach.

Just stares at the mountains we are leaving behind.

Looks off into the swirling snowy skies.

Stop a few feet behind him.

Waiting.

Silent.

He knows I'm here.

Might as well have announced myself with a fucking trumpet.

But I will wait.

He will speak when he wants to.

Minutes pass.

Only sound is the hum of the train.

Clack-clack-clack of the wheels.

My breath fogs through the scarf.

Finally, Plague speaks.

"It's a beautiful day, isn't it?"

His voice is quiet, almost sad.

So different from his usual clinical tone.

I don't respond.

Don't need to.

He isn't really talking to me anyway.

"I suppose you're wondering why I brought us here," he continues, still not looking at me. "Why I made this deal. What connections I could possibly have in a place like Surhiira where no one gets in and no one gets out."

I grunt softly.

Yes.

Obviously.

He chuckles, the sound devoid of any humor.

"I'm sorry. I can't tell you anything yet."

Pauses, drums his fingers on the railing.

Something he does when he's nervous.

Taps and taps and taps.

"You're a good listener, Wraith. Always have been. Perhaps that's why I don't mind you following me. You won't pry. Won't demand answers I'm not ready to give."

I shift my weight on the padded carpet.

Waiting.

There's more.

Has to be.

"The others..." Plague trails off, shaking his head. "They wouldn't understand. Can't understand. Not yet. Maybe never." He turns slightly, pale blue eyes meeting mine. "But you... you know what it's like to have a past you can't escape. To be something other than what you appear to be."

My jaw clenches beneath the scarf.

He's not wrong.

But what the fuck is he getting at?

"I'm not… who they think I am," Plague says softly, his words nearly lost in the wind. "I never have been. The persona I've crafted... it's a mask. Just like the physical ones we wear."

Don't like that.

Sounds dangerous to Ivy.

I step closer, looming over him.

Get to the fucking point.

Plague sighs.

Looks back to the vanishing mountains.

"I need you to understand that everything I've done, everything I'm doing... it's to protect the pack. To protect her ."

My chest tightens at the thought of Ivy.

Safe.

Warm.

Curled up with the others.

Far from whatever game Plague is playing.

He grips the railing so tightly his knuckles turn white. "I've done terrible things. Things I can never atone for. This is my chance to make it right—at least as much as I can."

I grunt again.

Still not a full explanation.

But it's more than he's given anyone else.

His fingers tap the railing.

Tap tap tap.

Like he's tapping out a code only he understands.

"It's strange," he muses. "I used to think you were barely human. I was wrong. You're the most human of all of us. The only Ghost who has nothing to beg forgiveness for."

An apology?

Ghosts do not apologize.

Something really is wrong with him.

The wind whips around us.

Bites at my skin.

Snow catches in my hair.

Still, I wait.

"And whatever happens," he says softly. Can barely hear him over the hum of the train. "I want you to know I'm glad we were all in this fucked up brotherhood together. Even if it was a mess... it meant something. To me, at least."

He looks back toward the mountains.

They're more distant than ever.

Minute pass by.

So does the world.

He is done speaking.

I can tell.

And I don't know what to do.

How to react.

All I know is how to be silent.

But that seems to be enough.